ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS …LESS ANXIETY

What causes you anxiety? What prompts you to drift into worry?  There are so many possibilities for our lives.  From the news cycle to nuisances, from vaccines to virtual meetings, from the possibilities to the problems of life, from family to fake news, everything contains the grand potential for anxiety. Sometimes it is the simplest problem that becomes the focal point of our greatest stress. Our Christmas sermon series seeks to help us, especially with the stress of the Christmas season, with the sermon, All I want for Christmas is…Less Anxiety.  Jesus tells us not to worry, but it is easier said than done!  The Apostle Paul tells us not to be anxious in anything, but he did really have all the stress that we have?  God wants us to worry less than we do today. God wants to share with us a vital confidence, rather than a whimpering anxiousness.  How is this possible?  We turn to one of the greatest visions of hope in the entire Bible, Micah 4:1-7. The nation of Israel was confronting uncertainty about their future. There were forces at work which were trying to conquer them. The message seems so contrary to their circumstances and it speaks to a future that seemed to be an impossibility. They were broken and struggling with things far beyond their control. So it is with us.  This is not just a hopeful vision, but also the path out of anxiety and into the power of faith!  As you read these words, let them share with you the hope of a new day, but also the strength of sharing your worry with a living God who is able to do more than we can ask or think! Micah 4:1-7: In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 4 Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken. 5 All the nations may walk in the name of their gods, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. 6 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. 7 I will make the lame my remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever. (NIV)