Pastor Barry Briggs

The Springs Church

135 N. Grant, Cedar Springs

Nobody carried greater stress in life than Jesus. Not only did He carry the weight of being the Savior of the world on His shoulders, but there were constant demands on His life. People wanted to see Him. People were trying to trap Him. People were trying to kill Him. Nobody has ever experienced greater stress than Jesus did.

Yet, if you look at His life, He doesn’t seem to be bothered by it. He handles all the pressures with peace. In fact, we never see Jesus in a hurry, even though He had the most important assignment in life. No matter what the world threw at Him, He handled it with grace.

I want to learn how to do that. I want to learn how to be at peace under pressure. I want to learn how to handle stress. Fortunately Jesus gave us a model. And if you will follow Jesus’ example, your stress will go down and your fulfillment and joy in life will go up.

So how did Jesus handle stress? He did it in three ways: By getting alone, by getting away, and by getting together. Let’s unpack those.

First, the Bible says if you want to learn to be stress free like Jesus you need to get alone with God. Mark 1:35 (NIV) is the secret of stress relief.  It says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.”

What’s Jesus doing? He’s having a quiet time. He’s getting alone, getting quiet, and spending time with God. Over and over in the Gospels we see Jesus doing this. Look at Luke 5:15-16 (NCV), “News about Jesus spread even more. Many people came to hear Jesus and to be healed of their sicknesses, but Jesus often slipped away to be alone so He could pray.” Notice it says Jesus did this often. You need to do this often too. You need to have a quiet time every day to reflect, renew, and recharge.

Next, if you want to reduce the stress in your life you have to take time to get away. Trust me, Jesus had more important work than you or I do. But He frequently took the time to relax, to go to parties, go to weddings, to kick back and have fun. Jesus said, “I, the Son of Man, feast and drink…” (Matthew 11:19 NLT).

The Pharisees accused Jesus of being a party animal. They said this guy’s always going to parties, always eating and drinking. Do you want to be Christ like? Go to a party. Enjoy life. If you’re too busy to take your vacation time, you’re too busy. If you’re too busy to pray, you’re too busy. And if you’re too busy to relax, you’re too busy. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not merely endured.

Jesus lived a stress free life because He would get alone, get away, and finally because He would get together.  Look at Matthew 26:38 (NIV), “[Jesus] said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”

The night before Jesus went to the cross He went to a place called the Garden of Gethsemane. He went there to pray, but He didn’t go alone. He took His friends with Him. Even Jesus needed a group of friends to help Him through the tough times, and He was perfect. Like Jesus, when we’re going through stressful times we need friends to be there with us too.

Stress is increasing in our culture. So you’ve got to take some intentional steps to combat the stress in your life. What are the steps? Jesus modeled them for us: get alone, get away, and get together. Do this often and it will reduce your stress.

Hear the full sermon at thespringschurch.info. Click on media.

Barry Briggs, Senior Pastor

The Springs Church

135 N. Grant, Cedar Springs

Everybody wants to know the answer to the question, “What happens after I die?” In a recent survey, from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, they found that only 59 percent of Americans believe in Hell, compared with 74 percent who believe in Heaven. Even a well-known pastor, at a large church in Grand Rapids, wrote a book recently suggesting that Hell—as it has been traditionally understood–d oesn’t exist.

Those who challenge the notion of a place of eternal torment wonder, “How could a loving and gracious God send someone to Hell?” And, when the question gets framed like that, it does seem at odds. But what if God doesn’t send people to Hell? What if people choose to go there? What do I mean?

Hell is total separation from God. 1 Corinthians 16:22 (NCV) says, “If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be separated from God—lost forever!” The choice is ours. If I don’t want God in my life now, why would I want to spend eternity with Him? Why would I say I want to live without God on earth, but I want to live with God in Heaven? That doesn’t make sense. God says, “You get to choose. If you don’t want Me in your life, I’ll stay out of your life—forever.” We can choose to accept Christ and live with Him forever, or we can choose to reject Christ and be separated from Him forever. So God doesn’t send people to Hell, they choose to go there.

What is Hell like? Think about this—if Hell is total separation from God, then it’s the exact opposite of everything God is. We know that “God is love.” That’s His nature. So what is it like to live completely separated from God? There’s no love there. God is light, so Hell is complete darkness. God is good, so there’s absolutely nothing good in Hell. God is life, so that means it is eternal death. God is gracious, that means there’s no grace there. You don’t want to choose Hell.

One of the big myths about Hell is that Hell is going to be a big party for all the people who like to party. Hell will be no party. For one thing, no one will see anybody else in Hell. It’s total separation from God and everybody else. There are no relationships in Hell. There are no friends in Hell. It’s total aloneness. It will be like being by yourself, in a pitch dark room, with no windows and doors, for all eternity. There’s no way in or out. In Hell you are alone and afraid, for all eternity, because there is no love.

Sometimes you hear these guys preaching about Hell on television—the hell, fire and brimstone preachers—and they’re yelling and they’re sweating. When you listen to them you think they want people to go there. What’s with that? I don’t want anybody to go to Hell. And God certainly doesn’t want anybody to go to Hell. Jesus doesn’t want anybody to go to Hell. That’s why He died on the cross.

So how do I avoid Hell? Colossians 1:21-22 (NCV) tells us. “At one time you were separated from God. You were His enemies in your minds, and the evil things you did were against God. But now God has made you His friends again. He did this through Christ’s death in the body so that He might bring you into God’s presence [that’s Heaven] as people who are holy, with no wrong, and with nothing of which God can judge you guilty.” The key that unlocks the door to heaven is friendship with God. If you become a friend of God in this life you will remain friends forever. If you are not a friend of God in this life, you will not be friends in the next.

Jesus says in Revelation 3:20 (NLT) “Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear Me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends.” Friendship with God is the key that unlocks the door of heaven.  Jesus is standing at the door of your heart right now. He is knocking. He is calling to you. If you open your life up to Him and let Him in, He promises to open the gates of Heaven and let you in. Why don’t you take a moment to do that right now?