"So I wanna get myself attached to something bolted down so these winds of circumstance won't keep blowing me around"

Philippians 4:4-8
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

About Christianity, ask not if it's helpful, but if it's TRUE. Cause if it's not, eat/drink/be merry, for tomorrow we die (see 1 Cor 15:32-34)

"Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die." Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God.

Stabilizing truth at the core of your being. nothing really lasts. Jesus comes to make all things new. Recall the mission, the big story, WHO YOU ARE, "whose names are in the book of life". To grow that anchor, you should be doing everything you can to grow that depth! To be able to bring the big story to bear on smaller things. When you have circumstances at the center of your life, you will always be unstable.

Stabilizing lifestyle
1. Gentleness-- a radical evenness of temper.
you can weep and have REAL sorrow, but ultimately you are not destroyed! With good things, you say "careful heart", it could be gone in a second. Only Jesus never forsakes. Holy moderation. Rejoice that your name is written in heaven (not rejoice in successes).

2. Insistent prayer with thanksgiving! Funnel all through the wise and good God's love. How often we say "unless I get a full explanation of the bad things... God is bad." We say "what good could possibly come of this!??!" Jesus stood before the cross and did not run away. ONLY TRUST HIM NOW. "the picture's far too big to look at kid, you're eyes won't open wide enough"! I must insist on God's wise love, even as I pray for relief.

Isaiah 55:8-9

⁸ "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

⁹ "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

And we'll keep working on the problem we know we'll never solve
Of Love's uneven remainders, our lives are fractions of a whole.
But if the world could remain within a frame like a painting on a wall.
Then I think we would see the beauty.
Then we would stand staring in awe at our still lives posed like a bowl of oranges,
like a story told by the fault lines and the soil.

3.A beautiful mind (vs 8) Think about such things!!! Feed your mind, fill it with good (not evil, worldly) things! Garbage in, garbage out (so passe but so true, i've seen it in my life!). [Not be separate to avoid or chastise the world, but for SURVIVAL!]

Thank you City Church SF! (I added my own thoughts/reflections to Sunday's sermon)