Week 5: WISDOM AND ANXIETY

 

If you would like to print this study, or have trouble viewing it on your screen, you can download the Microsoft Word document below.

 

On Sunday at church Leon preached on “What does Wisdom Say to Our Anxiety”. Please make sure you have watched Sunday’s sermon before Community Group.

 
 

Read this overview

The Bible tells us over and over to not fear.

For I am the Lord your God

      who takes hold of your right hand

and says to you, Do not fear;

     I will help you.

God's answer to our fears is to have confidence in His control and care. 

He's not only involved He's in control. He can be trusted to be working for our good.

You can commit your anxious thoughts to Him because He cares about you (1 Peter 5:7).

 

The Lord also tells us not to be anxious.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.…” (Philippians 4:6).

 

Easy to say – but hard to live out

How can we live without fear? How can we be a non-anxious presence?

Begin with silence and prayer 

[5 minutes]

Sit down, get comfortable and ask someone to pray aloud for the study.

Then spend a few minutes in silence. Ask God to help us remove distractions from our minds, listen to what He is saying to and through each of us and change our lives accordingly.

 

DEBRIEF

Reflect on last week’s study application (smaller groups)

[10 minutes]

Last week Daniel had us thinking about Friendship and what a loyal wise friend looks like. 

If you are in a Community of seven or more, divide into small groups of 3–4 people each (ideally same gender). 

Spend a few minutes catching up on life and then talk about the following debrief questions: 

  1. Can you share an experience this week where a friendship blessed you in some way?

  2. What wisdom is staying with you on the topic of Friendship? What keeps surfacing in your mind?

  3. Are there somethings that impedes you making or maintaining friends? What are they? Share some practical solutions.

 

DEEP DIVE

Open to the Bible together (whole group)

[15 minutes]

Have somebody read the following texts: 

  • Matthew 6:25-34

Repeated throughout Jesus’ ministry He wanted for his followers to be without fear.

Consider a verse like Matthew 14:27 ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ Incredibly this is said by Jesus as he approached his terrified disciples – as he walked to them upon the stormy waters.

Talk about the following questions: 

1.     Does it surprise you to know that the command to ‘not be afraid” – “fear not” is the most commonly repeated command in all of scripture? What does that tell you about human beings? What does it tell you about God?

2.     Why doesn’t God want us to be anxious?

3.     Is there a relationship between anxiety and sin? Stop for a moment and think how many different sinful actions and attitudes come from anxiety:

 i.     Anxiety about finances can give rise to . . . 

 ii.     Anxiety about failing at some task can make you . . . 

iii.     Anxiety about your health can make you  . . .

 iv.     Anxiety about relationships can make you  . . . 

 v.     Anxiety about how someone will respond to you can make you  . . .

4.     Four times in this text Jesus says that we should not be anxious [verses 25,27,31,34]. 

a.     When is wrong to anxious? 

b.     When is reasonable to be anxious? 

c.      When is OK to be anxious?

i.     Follow up question: Have you got comfortable in thinking that Jesus’ expectation [actually, his command] not to be anxious/worried doesn’t apply to you?

5.     According to the passage, what does Jesus think the root of anxiety is? [HINT: 6:30 is the key]

a.     Do you agree or disagree with Jesus’ analysis on the relationship between anxiety and faith

6.     Psalm 56:3 “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Notice it does not say, “I never struggle with fear.” The Bible does not assume that believers will have no anxieties. Instead, it tells us how to respond when they come. Remember 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.” It does not say, you will never have any anxieties to cast onto God.

a.     So – what is God’s wisdom wanting to say to you about the anxious thoughts you have?

b.     What is the “impossible application” of Jesus teaching on worry in the Sermon on the Mount?  [What can’t you believe if Jesus is to be trusted on this topic?]

c.      Now the hard question: Are you living out the ‘impossible application’ of the text?

 

DISCIPLESHIP

Application for the coming week: 

[10 minutes]

There has been a growing interest in the idea of being “a non-anxious presence”

The first time I heard that phrase I was drawn to it, thinking: “That’s what I’d love to be – in every area of my life.”

What does it mean?

It comes originally from Edwin H. Friedman [Jewish rabbi – family therapist – expert in family-systems theory] who believed that the West is built around the myth of progress that we are getting ever better and reaching ever closer to a better version of everything. This is evolutionary theory applied to human behaviour and progress. Friedman was convinced that, whilst economically and technological you can make that argument, you can’t make it when you look at humans emotionally and relationally – there it is regressing.

Friedman identified five aspects that describe how society is regressing:

  1. Reactivity – people react to the external events with fear, anxiety, outrage and isolation

  2. Herding Instinct – people gather around themselves those that reflect the same belief structures

  3. Blame Displacement – people frame themselves as victims and blame is posited onto others

  4. A Quick-Fix Mentality – Instant gratification means people want immediate relief with no need for resilience

  5. A Lack of Well Differentiated Leadership – People are entangled with an inability to own what issue belongs to you and what is mine. 

All of this creates FEAR and PANIC and ANXIETY – and it goes round and round.

 

Friedman believed that the only way to break the cycle was occupy the system as a “non-anxious presence” 

That is: a well differentiated person, that is calm, patient, compassionate and able to active without being enveloped because they have a clear sense of boundary and a bigger perspective.

 

It actually sounds a lot like what Jesus is like and what Jesus calls his disciples to be.

 

So – Finally – here is the application bit:

How might you be that non-anxious presence where you:

  • Live?

  • Work?

  • Worship?

  • Play/Recreate?

  • Other?

 

If you want to explore this more – Below is a link to a John Mark Comer talk that he gave to Bridgetown Church back in March this year - at the beginning of Covid-19. 

It is a succinct and engaging summary of these ideas:

Five Practices for Becoming a Non Anxious Presence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsTpDeUmdjA

 

Close in prayer 

[15 minutes]