Allow me to introduce you to, Charles E. Boles, or alias, C.E. Bolton. Do either of those names ring a bell with any of you? If not, then let me give you another name that he was better known by. In the late 1800’s, Mr. Boles was the most wanted man by the Wells Fargo stage coach company, in conjunction with a series of robberies from their stage coaches. Robberies that happened at the hands of a man who went by the alias name of “Black Bart”! Black Bart was a professional thief whose very name struck fear as he terrorized the Wells Fargo stage line. From San Francisco to New York, his name became synonymous with the danger of the frontier. Between 1875 and 1883 he robbed 29 different stagecoach crews. Amazingly, Bart did it all without firing a single shot. In fact, Black Bart never even carried a loaded gun when he robbed the Wells Fargo stage coaches! Because a hood hid his face, no victim ever saw his face. He never took a hostage and was never trailed by a sheriff. Instead, Black Bart used fear to paralyze his victims. His sinister presence was enough to overwhelm the toughest stagecoach guard. And because of His time and experience serving in the military during the Civil War, Boles knew how to set up decoys at the scene of his robberies, that gave the illusion of there being other men present, who were armed, and who were assisting him in the robberies! He was also well known for leaving witty poems at the scene of each crime, for the law officers to find and to so allow him the ability to gloat in his escapades! He was eventually caught and sentenced to 6 years in prison, of which he only served 4, due to good behavior. During the 8 years of his chain of robberies, it was always said of him, that he was a most distinguished gentleman to everyone that he robbed. And yet, because of the lore of his reputation and because of the essence of FEAR that he employed on his behalf, through the unknown and elusiveness of the mask that he wore, he had his way with the coaches, each and every time!

Now, I know that this past October, I did a three part message, entitled, “Things That Go Bump In The Night”, in which I spoke about people’s irrational and unhealthy fascination with FEAR. Specifically, the FEAR that comes from people’s unhealthy fascination with the macabre and the occultic and demonic.

Think about everything that I just said to you for a second and let that sink in. In a nutshell, it boils down to this. We, as Americans, as a world superpower, have a nation of people who are stressed and worried and fearful and angry and anxious, a lot of the time. And the churches in this country are filled with these same people. People for different reasons, will fill these buildings, looking for something that “religion” can offer to them.

The next part of this passage in Philippians that I want to look at and which is the key verse in this passage, is that of verse 6, which says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Look, anxiety and fear and worry, are part of this life. They exist and the enemy will constantly try to get into your heart and mind via these things. They are temptations that he presents, that serve only to detract from our trust in God.

Look at the promise that the Bible gives to us about taking our worries and anxieties and fears to God and leaving them there with Him and in His all powerful hands. Paul says in our passage in ,