New Series – “Anxious For Nothing”

New Series - "Anxious For Nothing"
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May 11, 2024

Once again, thank you to everybody who has made a commitment to support Woodmont’s ministries for another year as a part of our “Loving God, Loving Nashville” campaign. We have now received 444 pledges totaling $3,723,658. This is an increase from this past year. We are winding down this campaign and our finance committee will be meeting soon to set the operating budget. Thank you for your generosity and support! It makes a big difference in the life of our church.

This Sunday, we will honor all of our mothers and grandmothers at all three of our services and begin a new sermon series called “Anxious for Nothing.” Anxiety has been on the rise in our culture for many years now. Anxiety has been defined as, “Fear of the unknown.” Many people find themselves afraid and uneasy, but they are not sure why. Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has just published a groundbreaking book titled, The Anxious Generation where he shares his extensive research on what has happened to our young people since they have obtained access to smartphones and social media. Haidt calls this, “The great rewiring.” Parents need to pay attention to the data he is sharing. When it comes to anxiety, there is no simple cure. But recognizing how technology and social media are making this worse is a very important first step. In the book, Haidt makes four specific recommendations that parents need to consider:

1. No smartphones before high school – only basic phones with no internet capacity
2. No social media before 16 – let their brains develop first
3. All schools from elementary to high school should be phone-free zones (put in locker)
4. Bring back unsupervised play so that kids can develop social skills and become self-governing

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat and what you will drink or about your body what you will wear.” Paul says, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything with prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God. And the peace that passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind.” (Philippians 4)

We know these words but we have a very hard time following them. We can all name the many things that keep us fearful and anxious on a regular basis. So how can we live better? How can we pray more? How can we trust in God fully? How can we live our lives in the present, one day at a time? That is what we will explore in the coming weeks with this new series. We will be looking at both the words of Jesus and the words of Paul. In addition to The Anxious Generation, I am also recommending Max Lucado’s book Anxious for Nothing.

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