Strengthening Your Grip: How to Be Grounded in a Chaotic World

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In an aimless and confused world, it is easy for believers to lose their footing. In this 16-part classic series, Pastor Chuck Swindoll offers a practical “grip” on the essentials of the Christian life. By exploring a wide range of topics—from money and leisure to aging and integrity—Chuck provides changeless truths from God’s Word that offer courage and direction. This series is a call to move past a “slippery” faith and to plant your feet firmly on the biblical values that glorifying God in every area of life.

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1. Strengthening Your Grip on Priorities (1 Thessalonians 2)

• Overview: Addresses the “priority crisis” in modern life and ministry. Using the example of the Apostle Paul, Chuck outlines how to root our lives in God’s approval rather than human applause.
• Key Fact: Ministries and individuals aligned with the Lord prioritize authenticity and eternal impact over immediate results or image.
• Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 2:4 – “But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.”

2. Strengthening Your Grip on Involvement (Selected Scriptures)

• Overview: Challenges the “spectator” mentality in the church. Chuck encourages believers to find their specific place of service and to invest their lives in others.
• Key Fact: Spiritual health is directly linked to our willingness to get “involved” in the work of the kingdom rather than just observing it.

3. Strengthening Your Grip on Encouragement (Hebrews 10:24–25)

• Overview: A call to become a “hope-bringer” in a critical world. Chuck highlights the power of coming alongside others to stimulate them to love and good deeds.
• Key Fact: Encouragement is a vital spiritual discipline that prevents believers from hardening their hearts against God.
• Scripture: Hebrews 10:24 – “And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.”

4. Strengthening Your Grip on Purity (1 Thessalonians 4:1–8)

• Overview: Addresses the difficult topic of moral purity in a sex-saturated culture. Chuck provides biblical boundaries and motivations for living a life that is “set apart” for God’s purposes.
• Key Fact: Purity is not just a list of “don’ts”; it is a positive commitment to honor God with our bodies and minds.
• Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:3 – “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.”

5. Strengthening Your Grip on Money (Selected Scriptures)

• Overview: A practical look at financial stewardship. Chuck warns against the love of money and the “trap” of debt, providing a biblical framework for earning, giving, and saving.
• Key Fact: Your checkbook is one of the most accurate indicators of your spiritual priorities.

6. Strengthening Your Grip on Integrity (Psalm 15)

• Overview: Explores the definition of integrity—being the same person when no one is watching. Chuck describes the characteristics of the “upright” person who can stand in God’s presence.
• Key Fact: Integrity is the “foundation” of a grounded life; without it, every other success is temporary.
• Scripture: Psalm 15:2 – “He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart.”

7. Strengthening Your Grip on Discipleship (2 Timothy 2:1–2)

• Overview: Focuses on the multiplication of faith. Chuck explores the process of “investing” what we know into “faithful people” who can then teach others.
• Key Fact: Discipleship is not a program; it is a relationship that ensures the Gospel is passed to the next generation.
• Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:2 – “The things which you have heard from me… entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

8. Strengthening Your Grip on Aging (Psalm 71; 92)

• Overview: Provides a biblical perspective on the later years of life. Chuck encourages older believers to finish well and to view aging as an opportunity for increased spiritual influence.
• Key Fact: You never retire from the Christian life; “gray hair” is a crown of glory when it is found in the way of righteousness.
• Scripture: Psalm 92:14 – “They will still yield fruit in old age; they will be full of sap and very green.”

9. Strengthening Your Grip on Prayer (Selected Scriptures)

• Overview: Addresses the “struggle” of prayer. Chuck provides practical tips for developing a consistent, honest prayer life that moves beyond religious formulas.
• Key Fact: Prayer is the “umbilical cord” of the spiritual life; it is our primary means of staying connected to the Source of strength.

10. Strengthening Your Grip on Leisure (Mark 6:30–32)

• Overview: A unique message on the importance of rest. Chuck argues that “leisure” is not a luxury, but a biblical necessity for spiritual and physical health.
• Key Fact: If you don’t “come apart” and rest, you will eventually “fall apart.”
• Scripture: Mark 6:31 – “And He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.'”

11. Strengthening Your Grip on Missions (Matthew 28:18–20)

• Overview: Focuses on the “Great Commission.” Chuck explores our responsibility to take the Gospel to the “ends of the earth,” whether through going, sending, or praying.
• Key Fact: A grounded church is a church that looks “outward” toward the world’s needs.

12. Strengthening Your Grip on Godliness (1 Timothy 4:7–10)

• Overview: Defines godliness as “God-centeredness.” Chuck explains that godliness is the result of intentional “training” and discipline, similar to an athlete’s preparation.
• Key Fact: Godliness is profitable for both the present life and the one to come.
• Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:7 – “On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.”

13. Strengthening Your Grip on Attitudes (Selected Scriptures)

• Overview: Addresses the power of choice. Chuck argues that while we cannot control our circumstances, we have absolute control over our “attitude” toward them.
• Key Fact: Your attitude is more important than your facts, your past, or your education.

14. Strengthening Your Grip on Evangelism (Selected Scriptures)

• Overview: Provides a natural, non-threatening approach to sharing your faith. Chuck encourages believers to focus on their personal “testimony” and to rely on the Spirit’s timing.
• Key Fact: Evangelism is simply one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.

15. Strengthening Your Grip on Authority (Selected Scriptures)

• Overview: A difficult message on submission. Chuck explores the biblical role of authority in the home, the church, and the government, and how our response to it reflects our response to God.
• Key Fact: Authority is God’s “umbrella of protection”; submitting to it brings peace and order to our lives.

16. Strengthening Your Grip on the Family (Selected Scriptures)

• Overview: The series concludes with a focus on the home. Chuck offers principles for building a strong, grace-filled family that can withstand the “chaos” of a secular culture.
• Key Fact: The family is the “ground zero” of spiritual formation; if we lose our grip here, we lose it everywhere.