God's Life Hacks For Dealing With Anxiety - Including Lessons From A Controversial Musical... Series

This sermon was first preached 8th February 2026 at St Joseph the Worker Northolt

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How you can tell when it's going to be a rotten day:

You wake up face down on the pavement.

Your car horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell's Angels on the motorway.

Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.

You turn on the news and they're showing emergency routes out of the city.

Your twin forgets your birthday.

Your boss tells you not to bother to take off your coat.

The bird singing outside your window is …a vulture.

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Question = What makes people anxious? What things cause people to worry? It may be things that make you anxious. It may be things that you see people around you getting worried about?

I’d like you to turn to your neighbour and share – In 2026 in England what sort of things leave people feeling worried?

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[take feedback]

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We live in a time of mental health crisis.

The government tell us that the country is going bankrupt because of the huge number of people unable to work because of mental health issues. In July 2025, 633,000 people unable to work and claiming PIP for anxiety or related conditions.

The bible society commissioned You Gov to do research into the attitudes of people ages 18 to 34 year olds – and found 56% of them reported “I frequently feel anxious or depressed.” [2]

And we are clearly not the first generation where people have felt anxious – It was enough of an issue in 30 AD for Jesus to his disciples and say -

“ ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little trust? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.’” [Matthew 6:25-34]

Anxiety can be crippling – but in his word and in the Christian tradition – God has given us wisdom to get us through that if we are suffering from it. The same Bible Society survey that showed that 56% percent of under 34s in general were anxious or depressed showed that only 44% of church goers were.

Now I have to be very careful in saying that. Because you may hear that and think I'm saying “Christians are never anxious”

On Friday – I went to see the Book of Mormon musical – don’t go to it if you don’t like “fruity” language. But even though it is about Mormons rather than Christians, there is a lot in it that is worthy of theological reflection.

There is one bit where there are a group of young Mormon missionaries and one of them is feeling uncomfortable thoughts – and his comrade sings a response

“You say you got a problem

Well that's no problem

It's super easy not to feel that way

When you start to get confused

Because of thoughts in your head

Don't feel those feelings!

Hold them in instead

Turn it off, like a light switch

Just go click!

It's a cool little Mormon trick!

We do it all the time

When you're feeling certain feelings

That just don't seem right

Treat those pesky feelings

Like a reading light

And turn 'em off

Like a light switch, just go bap!

Really, what's so hard about that?

Turn it off!

Turn it off!” [3]

Its easy to mock the Mormons for that – but we Christians can be in danger of doing the same things. Pretending rather than dealing with it.