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Mac Frazier, Pastor
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 Greetings!
Welcome to the first ever issue of New Way Church's email newsletter! I hope your summer is going well. Mine's been quite busy, moving my family, getting ready to launch the church, and all the minutiae that go with both those tasks. As things go along this newsletter will evolve, and your feedback is most appreciated. So send me an email with your thoughts and suggestions. |
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 How to Break Free from Worry
by Mac Frazier
Everyone worries about the future from time to time. Personally, I worry about being successful at my job. I worry about my children being happy and healthy. I worry about things in the news, like war, and politics, and terrorism. What do you worry about?
Thankfully, I don't worry all the time. In fact, because of the New Church, I have learned how to deal with worry so it doesn't last. Sure, fear about the future returns from time to time-sometimes quite forcefully. But I now know three powerful truths that help me escape from anxiety, when I remember to use them. Following them transforms my life, and I would love to share them with you.
The Lord God Jesus Christ is in charge of everything. This is the best news ever declared! Think about it. If we could put one per- son in charge of absolutely everything- the laws of physics, the workings of our very bodies, the events of our lives, our eternal destiny-who would we choose?
First of all, it would have to be some- one wise enough to handle all of the decisions and complications in life and the world. This means someone with the ability to see the big picture while at the same time managing every last tiny detail without messing things up. Just as importantly, though, it would have to be someone who loved everyone equally. In fact, it should be someone whose capacity for loving is unlimited, whose patience is infinite, whose heart desires to make every one of us, no matter our faults, as happy as we can be. Finally, it would need to be the most powerful person we could find.
Well, that person is the Lord. He created everything, and He continually rules over all of it and each of us in every last detail. He is Love itself and Wisdom itself, and He is in charge. As it says in the Writings for the New Church, believing in the Lord is the most basic form of faith, and "to believe in Him is to have confidence that He saves" (True Christian Religion 2:3).
So why do I ever worry?
There is a part of me that wishes I was in charge of everything. You see, we're all born with the desire to run our own lives. This sense of self- ownership is natural, and-in its proper place-useful. It's one thing to have faith that the Lord is in charge of every last detail of our lives and another thing entirely to be constantly aware of it.
The Writings for the New Church teach that if we were actively aware of "the working of divine providence, we would not act freely and rationally, and nothing would seem to be really ours" (Divine Providence 176).
So the Lord keeps His government of everything hidden behind the scenes. He doesn't want us just to wait around passively for Him to act, and He doesn't want us to feel cramped or over- controlled.
But this sense that we own our own lives often gets out of control. Because we don't see the Lord's hand actively running everything, we naturally tend to assume that everything that happens is caused either by ourselves, by other people, by nature, or by chance. And that's where worry starts. How can we trust that other people will make the right decisions? How can we leave our lives at the mercy of uncaring nature? Or of blind chance? It's too risky!
So we try to control everything around us. We try to control our environment. We try to control future events. Eventually we try to control other people. In the end, our natural desire to take care of ourselves leads us to the selfish desire to control everything. In short, worry comes from the false idea that we are in charge.
But we aren't infinitely wise, or infinitely powerful, or infinitely loving. Only the Lord is. I know that if I were truly in charge of everything, I'd make a complete mess of it all in very little time.
So what do I do when I find myself going down this path of worry?
If I ask the Lord to take away my need to control, He will, because He loves me. More good news! In the Writings for the New Church we are taught that when we pray for heavenly and spiritual things, the Lord will answer us in our hearts with "hope, comfort, or some inward joy" (Secrets of Heaven 2535). They also teach that to change our lives, we need to examine ourselves, identify something that is against the Lord's will, and then pray to Him to remove it from us. This is real repentance, and it works.
So when I find myself starting to worry, I name that worry for what it is: my selfish desire for control. Then I ask the Lord to put it back in its place, to take away some of my selfishness so that I can once again have faith in how He runs the universe. And when I am sincere in this prayer, He acts. And He will do the same for you. He's just waiting for your permission.
Now, He doesn't take away our need to control all at once. We wouldn't like that. But gently, over time, as we repeatedly invite Him in and acknowledge that He is in charge, He transforms us, little by little.
Does this mean that we shouldn't think about the future at all? No. The Lord wants us to plan for the future-to take care of ourselves and our loved ones. Once we've made our plans, though, He wants us not to worry about them. As He said to His disciples, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32).
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From the Pastor
I am an ocean guy. I love the waves, the crash of surf, the infinite variety of ripples upon waves upon swells upon currents. I'm not too hot about mysterious pointy things that stab your ankles, but that's beside the point. I just plain love the ocean. On one visit to the ocean, I had an experience I'd like to share with you. I was standing on the edge of the surf, looking out at the waves, and beyond them at the seemingly infinite horizon. My then-four-year-old son's little hand was gripping my right hand, and he stood there with me. Occasionally he would get a little more adventuresome and take another step deeper into the water, and I'd step with him. Sometimes he'd back out a few quick steps, and I'd calmly retreat with him. However deep he wanted to go, I would go, and no deeper. And holding my hand, he felt totally free to explore safely. And I got to thinking... First, I reflected that my own recently-deceased father had probably done the same with me, although I cannot remember it. I prayed that my son would remember this somehow. Then for a moment I felt a yearning pang, thinking, "Who do I have to hold my hand and guide and protect me as I stand at the edge of the ocean?" Of course, I immediately realized that I had my Father in Heaven, who was always willing to hold my hand. And then is when it really hit me. The Word of God is an ocean of truth. We first approach it unable to swim, unable to fathom its depths, unable to cross it. It is an immense mystery that draws us. We spend much of our time just playing in its surf. Even as we get older and go deeper, we still are only just splashing in its edges. We can build boats (construct a studied understanding of doctrine) with which to cross it, but even then we are only just on its surface. We can swim in it, and explore its depths, and yet we are still only just barely comprehending it. Put on a mask and dive deep, and you may think you are seeing everything down there, but the reality is you can only see a short distance. You could explore it forever. Read Secrets of Heaven, and it is not hard to get the same sensation one gets when gazing at the ocean. I later shared this thought with one of my older sons (who at the time was ten), and he added another angle that I love: when you look inside it, you see fish and realize that the whole thing is full of life. Give me more... |
Something to Think About
The following is from number 1787 of the book Secrets of Heaven...
'Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to you' means protection against evils and falsities which is able to be trusted. This is clear from the meaning of 'a shield', to be dealt with shortly. These words which declare that Jehovah is 'a shield' and 'an exceedingly great reward' are words of comfort following temptations. Every temptation entails some kind of despair, or else it is not temptation; and for that reason comfort follows. A person who is being tempted is subjected to anxious fears which produce a state of despair over the end in view. The conflict brought about by temptation does not consist in anything else. One who is quite certain of victory does not experience any anxiety, nor thus any temptation.
Since the Lord underwent the most dreadful and the cruelest temptations of all it was inevitable that He too should be driven into feelings of despair which He put to flight and overcame by His own power, as becomes quite clear from His temptation in Gethsemane, which is described in Luke as follows,
When Jesus was at the place He said to the disciples, Pray that you may not enter into temptation. But He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and kneeling down He prayed, saying, Father, if You are willing, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not My will but Yours be done. And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. And when He was in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. Luke 22:40-45.
In Matthew,
He began to be sorrowful and in agony. Then He said to the disciples, My soul is utterly dejected even to death. And He went forward a little and praying fell on His face, saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will but as You will. Again, for the second time, He went away and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cup cannot pass from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done. And He prayed for the third time, saying the same thing. Matthew 26:36-44.
In Mark,
He began to be terrified and in great agony. He said to the disciples, My soul is wrapped in dejection, even to death. He went forward a little, fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible the hour might pass from Him. He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible to You; remove this cup from Me; yet not as I will but as You will. This happened a second and a third time. Mark 14:33-41.
These quotations show the nature of the Lord's temptations - that they were the most frightful of all; that He suffered agony from the inmost parts of His being, even to the sweating of blood; that He was at the time in a state of despair over the end in view and over the outcome; and that He received comfort repeatedly. The words 'I am Jehovah your shield, your exceedingly great reward' in a similar way embody the comfort received after the conflicts brought about by the temptations which were described in the previous chapter.
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Our First Series
Hey, folks! I'm excited to announce what our very first series is going to be: "Life: What Does That Mean?"
It's a four-part series that touches on different ways of looking at the meaning of life. Hint: happiness is involved.
We've finally locked in the location for our first service. We will be meeting at the Hotel Allandale, near the Northcross Shopping Center, near the intersection of Anderson Lane and Burnet Road. The address is 7685 Northcross Dri, Austin, TX 78757.
The time is set as 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. This is for our first gathering. Later worship gatherings may happen at other locations. Subscribe to our newsletter (if you don't already) to be sure you get notified as things develop.
The dates for this series are August 29, September 26, October 24,
and November 21, which are all Sundays, in case you wondered. If you
find you can't make it to all four parts, don't worry: each of these
stands alone pretty well, and I'll be sure to recap what you missed at
the beginning of each talk.
Dress is casual. Come as you are.
So make a note on your calendar, sign up for our newsletter,
and pass this information along to anyone else you know of in Austin
who might benefit from connecting with our brand new community, here.
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Inspirations
"And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
-Matthew 28:20
"Once I knew the depth where no hope was, and darkness lay on the face of all things. Then love came and set my soul free."
-Helen Keller
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| Upcoming Events |
Monthly Worship Gatherings10:00 - 11:00 AM August 29, September 26, October 24, November 21 August gathering is at: Hotel Allandale 7685 Northcross Dr, Austin, TX 78757 Click for map |
| Closing Thoughts |
I hope something in this newsletter is helpful to you. Help us shape future issues by sending me email or visiting NewWayAustin.org with thoughts on what issues you are dealing with right now. What do you worry about? What are you thinking about? What challenges are you facing? And please, share this with anyone you might know who could benefit from something in it. Finally, please come to our first ever worship gathering on August 29th. Come as you are, but bring a friend! |
| Contact Information | |
Mac Frazier
Pastor, New Way Church
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