Living Easy-Don't Be Afraid

Good morning.

Say Jesus is pretty amazing.

And in just a few minutes, we're going to talk about one of the amazing things he does and one of the amazing things that he teaches us.

If it's uh your first time, glad you're here.

Hope you can tell that uh you can uh just relax and be yourself.

It's Telgate Sunday.

And I imagine for uh some of us we had a pretty good uh football weekend already.

I know.

For others, maybe not as much.

I know my team won 70 to 14 yesterday, so that's tough to top.

I was uh I grew up in Oregon, and so I've been an Oregon Ducks fan my entire life, and I'm 51, so that means for 48 years, uh the Ducks were not only not good, but not cool.

And now they're not only good, but uh very cool.

And so if I ever doubt God, I can just think, wow, 70 to 14 in the best-looking uniforms in the whole country.

But I digress.

Um it's Telgate Sunday, and finally we get some Telgate weather.

You know, it looks like it's gonna be uh great.

If it does rain, we'll just move inside, but I think it's gonna be uh really good.

And so after we're done, about 15 minutes um later, we'll start the chili cook-off out in the parking lot.

There'll be there's two uh uh types there's traditional and and outside the box.

And so we'll all get to taste uh as much as we want and then vote for the the ones that we like best in both categories.

We'll do that with a uh by texting, you kind of like American Idol, um, except it's free.

And uh it'll keep scores and and uh we'll have a lot of fun out there, listen to tunes, got face painting and some football throwing contests and and different things.

And then about one o'clock we'll come in here, and that's where I'm hoping Dante and Kyle's day turns for the worst because the Falcons are playing the Eagles on um in high depth on the big screen.

And uh hopefully the Dirty Birds will go to 7-0 today.

They uh it's tough to win on the road in the NFL.

And so on Telgate Sundays, it's always a road game, and it's tough for us to get a win.

So I'm hoping today uh today will be the one.

Um today is also uh a day that we do we do this a couple times a year, and it's just try to make it easy to get involved.

And so when you sat down and you saw this form and and hopefully a pen, if if when someone asks, you know, how do you join the church or or any of that type of stuff?

I mean, there's not a a membership class or a membership track.

It's it's uh it's like going to the park and there's a baseball game and there's a big pile of gloves, and if you want to play, grab a glove and and uh and jump in the game.

And we're a volunteer church.

Uh you know, as you know, I mean Susan and I volunteer.

We only have two people that are are uh um full time on staff, which is remarkable for uh the number of us that they serve.

And uh and so it's uh it's all you.

And and I should start by just saying thank you so much.

I mean, really, the amount that you do is just incredible.

I mean, that with the this size of building, with as many needs that people have and and different situations, uh, you know, to to be able to do all that uh just us pitching in is is really incredible.

So thank you very much for that.

And if you've been here for a while and are ready to jump in, just look at this form.

And there's all different types of areas.

I think they're pretty self-explanatory, give you kind of an expectation as to what the commitment might be.

But we would love your help, and I think you would love to help.

It's a great way to meet friends, and it's just what it means to be uh part of his hands.

The information section on the top, even if you're already, if we have all of your information and you're already volunteering, if each of us could fill that out, that would be uh great, because we're trying to update and make sure we've got all the right emails and and and cell phones, and so if we have an emergency or if we have a potential snow day or whatever, you know, whatever comes up, we'll have a way of getting a hold of everybody.

And so we want to make sure that that those are um accurate.

So if everyone could at least fill out that top part, that would be fantastic.

And then also, just finally, there might be something uh a way you'd like to contribute that that isn't on this form.

I mean, there's like I can think right now we could use a graphic artist um to help in some things.

You might have a special skill or experience or a company that does something or or whatever it is.

And uh if there's something like that, just write it down anywhere on the form.

And again, um I'm just blown away.

Really, every time I come here on a Sunday, there's people just pretty much everyone we see is volunteering and helping out.

And right afterwards, you know, just watching people grab vacuums and and trash and just do what whatever it takes and help out.

And every time I come during the week, there's you know, a whole group of people that are here helping out in different ways, I mean, every day.

And so it's just exciting and encouraging, and it's uh cool to be part of.

So thank you all for that.

Uh next week's another exciting day.

It's uh Baptism Sunday, and uh more than 50 of us are gonna be baptized next uh Sunday morning, right after we're finished.

And it is such uh it is such an exciting thing.

It's not a ritual, it's a statement, you know, it's I'm I'm all in, and we get to do what what Jesus did specifically.

Yes, he is baptized, but also symbolically, where we where we you know die and are buried, but then raised again just to a whole uh new life.

And so if that's something you thought about but never done, you can still sign up today.

Um in the lobby, there's a table, but uh again, it'll be an exciting uh day next Sunday.

And if you can stay, even if you you or a loved one's not being baptized, I mean you'll you'll just love it.

It's cheering and the Holy Spirit, and it's really a not i it's a praise, if you will, not just for what God's going to do, but really for what God's done in our lives already to get us to this point where we want to make that kind of statement.

So it'll be a great day uh next uh Sunday.

And then also next Sunday is the first day that we can take stars for Christmas Angels.

Uh Christmas Angels is uh just a fantastic way that we get to bless our community.

And we provide really the entire Christmas for families that the counselors choose at Woodstock Elementary and uh Carmel Elementary uh this year.

And so it's obviously young kids because it's in elementary school, but if there's older kids in the family, then all the kids are on our list, and there'll be hundreds of them uh combined.

And so you might be wanting to think, you know, be thinking ahead about that.

For a younger child, it it takes about$100.

It's really their um their whole Christmas that we're providing.

For a teenager, it might be$125 or so.

So you could plan on that, or even maybe get together if you wanted to do that together for a child or or a family.

Uh the gifts themselves don't have to be bought until December, and it'll probably be the first Saturday in December when we when we bring them all back and then deliver them the next Saturday.

I'm not sure if that's right, but it's somewhere really close to that.

And so that's something exciting to do.

You know, if if last year's any indication, all the stars might be gone next Sunday.

And uh and so just be thinking ahead about that, and that'll be the next two Sundays we'll have the Christmas Angel stars that we can take.

Um I guess finally just reminding us uh about giving.

You know, we don't uh pass a plate, you all everybody's really uh generous.

We've got some things coming up that are a little unusual.

The building has gotten uh a little more than seven years old, so there's things that need uh replaced and and those types of things.

And so it's a great time for us, you know, to be generous, and it's also a way that God really works in our lives and blesses us.

So thank you for that.

Uh let's pray.

Father, we just praise you.

Thank you for adopting us as your kids.

Thanks for us being here uh today.

Holy Spirit, I just ask that you would um give something to each of us.

We each leave knowing that you spoke directly to us.

Jesus, we thank you for being our Savior, our friend, our teacher.

Uh in your name, I uh I just bind any fear today, and that the this uh time would be a time of love and faith and rest.

And Jesus, we just thank you and praise you, and it's your name we pray.

Amen.

So we're taking some weeks uh together talking about something beautiful that Jesus said, a promise actually, that he made to each of us.

We started this conversation a month ago, uh, talking about the Franklin expedition in 1845, where Captain Franklin led two ships uh to explore the Canadian Arctic.

And both ships got uh trapped in ice.

And when they eventually found the ships, there were no survivors.

And uh but they found something unusual, and that that was the ship was weighed down with just a lot of items that were uh luxurious and personalized, but not really useful uh for their mission.

In particular, they two men had uh taken wood from the ship, built sleds, uh, loaded them up, and then drugged them 65 miles through the snow and the wind and uh and the ice where they finally collapsed and died of exhaustion.

And on those sleds, they were both loaded up with engraved silverware.

You know, and it seems like a bad idea.

I'm sure there was a reason, and it made sense at the time, but the challenge is whether we do the same thing.

You know, live life heavy, pulling along a lot of stuff that we don't really need, that's not really going to be helpful in our lives.

You know, Jesus did not intend for our lives to be a constant stress test.

You know, of course, life is hard at times, but Jesus knew something that I haven't learned exactly how to do, but I I am learning.

Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you.

Let me teach you, because I'm humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

And so a few months ago, when when I read that verse, and it just really God used it to kind of jump out at me, the words that actually jumped out the most were, let me teach you.

You know, and when Jesus says something that we we can count on it.

And so there is a way to live easy, there is a way to live lightly, there is rest for our souls.

You know, we've talked about what our souls are.

Sometimes we have, you know, think of souls more in a spiritual sense.

You know, I mean, there's that element, but really our souls are our mind, our emotions, our personalities.

When we think of ourselves, you know, we're really kind of thinking um of our souls.

And so sometimes I have trouble turning my mind off.

You know, you may as well.

Um, sometimes we can't sleep cu because we can't stop thinking, or we wake up in the middle of the night and we can't go back to sleep because already, you know, our minds just uh uh spinning.

You know, we worry about things, we we tell ourselves, hey, let's I I can't fix that, I'm not gonna worry about it, but we can't stop.

We just uh uh keep worrying it, or worrying.

We might take a vacation and it could take days before we can actually feel ourselves unwind.

It might take the whole vacation, and it might be that we never really unwind.

A lot of uh alcohol abuse, prescription drug misuse, um, all those types of things are trying to find rest for our souls.

Jesus says, You can trust me.

I am gentle, I am humble, you will find rest for your souls.

And so that's what we're taking some time uh talking about.

Jesus said, Let me teach you.

So that's what we're uh we're doing, taking them up on that offer.

And we're looking mostly at the red letters, you know, the words that Jesus actually spoke himself.

You know, the words he spoke about how to live a life that is easy and light and where we can find rest for our souls.

And so the first thing Jesus taught was really the specific context for that verse, Matthew 11, 28 through 30.

It was, come to me, you know, and not religion.

The religious people had just been beaten up on Jesus.

There was nothing he could do right, there was no way to please him.

And he says, forget all that, come to me.

Forget the rules, forget the man-made stuff, come to me.

You know, then we noticed that Jesus saw God everywhere.

He saw God in everything.

And so he always had that strength and that comfort from his abba father.

Two weeks ago we we looked at how Jesus encouraged us to not live in the past and not live in the future, but to make the most of every single day.

Last Sunday, Justin shared a great insight into how we can uh lose the weight of formality like Jesus did, and have a real relationship with our Abba Father.

Um Justin suspended this morning because he was funnier than I am.

But uh but he'll be back soon.

Um he did great, didn't he?

Um the he's a great great guy.

He had ankle surgery and a great friend.

He had ankle surgery Monday, it was a little harder than he thought, and he'll probably put on a really brave face today.

But uh you want to encourage him and pray for him, that'd be great.

Um but today we're gonna talk about the one thing Jesus taught the most often.

He said, Don't be afraid.

You're more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

He said, Don't be afraid.

Take courage.

I am here.

Don't be afraid, little flock, for it gives your father great happiness to give you the kingdom.

Don't let your hearts be troubled.

Trust in God and trust also in me.

Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body, they cannot touch your soul.

Why are you frightened?

He asked.

Why are your hearts filled with doubt?

And Jesus came over and touched them.

Get up, he said.

Don't be afraid.

I'm leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart, and the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.

So don't be troubled or afraid.

The one statement that Jesus made the most often was don't be afraid.

You know, and obviously there's a fear that is wise.

God gives us that.

If if we or someone we love is in you know imminent danger, it helps us uh to uh react and and resolve that uh situation.

But living in fear is a weight and it's a burden that Jesus does not want us to carry.

I was raised by two really good uh people, but in our home we had a lot of fear.

You know, we were probably two different types of fear.

You know, many of us were raised in homes with fear.

You know, it might have been uh an abusive uh situation where there was a constant underlying fear, might be fear of losing a job or economic ruin, it might be the fear of illness or or even death, fear of rejection, fear of failure, a fear of being alone.

But I was raised in a home that had a couple specific kinds of fears.

The first was a physical fear.

And my mom mostly struggled with this.

It really wasn't her fault.

She was raised in rural Oregon, way out in the woods, and she had a bunch of brothers, and they entertained themselves by scaring her.

You know, and they were actually, I mean, they didn't mean to be, but they were pretty uh mean and aggressive about it.

And and so she has a lot of fear.

And we we lived in a in a safe neighborhood, in a safe house, but our house was like Fort Knox.

I mean, all the deadbolts and chains and uh all the curtains shut compl you know completely tight, fear somebody was gonna break in or do something to us.

If uh if mom had sp and dad had spent the night last night, uh for one thing Susan would have been a lot more stressed this morning.

But um besides that, you know, in our home we've got uh shades, and a lot of them are up all the time.

Some of them are partially closed, you know, some we close at night, but but mostly a lot of them are open to let in the light.

And if if my folks had been with us last night, when we came downstairs this morning, all the shades in the entire house would be down.

There'd be chairs maybe leaned up against a couple of of the doors, you know, and um and it was annoying growing up, and uh but honestly it's it's right now it's it's it's sad and I wish I wish I could do something to uh um to change that because it it it's uh it's heavy and it's hard and it's difficult living with that constant um type of fear.

But I didn't really absorb that fear.

If anything, I did like we do sometimes and went to the opposite extreme where I would take stupid, foolish risks, you know, and and that type of thing.

Um a couple of my brothers, there's five of us kids, a couple of my brothers do have that.

I mean, they're constantly armed, they're always afraid someone's out to get them or is gonna do something.

They'd fight this fear that that is is difficult for them to overcome.

Now the other fear in our house was completely different.

My dad was a preacher, which is one of the many reasons I never wanted to be one.

Um the uh the denomination was was, I would say, very legalistic.

And and so in religion, part of the deal is there's so much concern about outward things, you know?

And and you can't really be yourself and show that you need help and show that we're not perfect and we're all in process, because you're you're trying to be somebody to someone, you're trying to earn a person's um approval.

And and so in our house there was kind of a constant part of that's the uh goes along with that role for some.

But um But there's just this constant fear of what people uh thought.

And so that's one of the fears that that I picked up.

And and I noticed it most when uh when Susan and I had Andrew and and then Paige and they were young, I say I noticed it.

Susan actually noticed it, not me.

Um but I would be harsher with the kids.

The kids were great, I mean uh well behaved, wonderful.

And but I would be harsher with them in public than I was at home.

And I'd be specifically harsher with them at church than I was at home.

If they were you know being loud or running around or or talking during church or whatever, whatever it was.

And and the reason was I thought it wasn't that I was training them, you know, it was that I was afraid someone would think I was a bad parent or we weren't doing a good job.

You know, it was a fear of what um other people thought.

And and along with that, you know, is an inability just to be ourselves.

I mean, there might be a movie you like or a band you like that you can't don't really want to say because someone might disapprove of uh of it.

You know, it's like the difference between Baptists and Methodists, that the the Baptists don't make eye contact in the liquor store.

And uh that's actually a really old joke.

Um I apologize to all Baptists and most Methodists everywhere.

Um and I didn't hang out at the liquor store, but I did worry way too much.

I mean, way too much about what other people thought.

And and if if you've lived through that, you know what a burden that is.

How you can never really just relax and uh and be yourself.

And so it's affected me.

It's something I've had to fight through.

It's probably one of the reasons I get nervous, you know, speaking in public and doing those types of things.

Um Proverbs 29 says, the fear of human opinion disables.

Trusting in God protects you from that.

There was a man that didn't worry about what other people thought, and it actually changed his entire life.

It's in Mark 10.

Then they reach Jericho, and as Jesus sent.

His disciples left town, a large crowd followed him.

A blind beggar named Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, Bar always meant son of, so it'd be Bar Jonah, son of Jonah, Bartimaeus, was sitting beside the road.

When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

Be quiet.

Many of the people yelled at him.

But he only shouted louder, Son of David, have mercy on me.

When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, Tell him to come here.

So they called the blind man, Cheer up, they said, Come on, he's calling you.

So Bartimae threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

What do you want me to do for you?

Jesus asked.

My rabbi, the blind man said, I want to see.

And Jesus said to him, Go, for your faith has healed you.

Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

You know, and so many people were yelling, Be quiet, be quiet.

This guy didn't care.

He didn't care what other people thought.

You know, and the result was not only his sight, but an eternal connection that he made with Jesus.

Most fears cost us something.

Opportunity, joy, or peace, or health, or healthy relationships.

The fear of something doesn't keep it from happening.

If I'm afraid I might be embarrassed, you know, I still might be embarrassed.

Or maybe not.

But either way, you know, I've lived with the fear.

It robs me of joy.

You know, if I feared death, that doesn't change whether or not I'm going to die.

If Jesus doesn't come, I'm going to physically die.

So I can live my life afraid.

It doesn't change anything other than it creates a heavy and burdensome life.

Jesus does not want us to live that way.

And one thing is we shouldn't feel guilty or condemned about being fearful.

Jesus understands.

You know, it's not a sin to be fearful.

Jesus understands that we're fearful.

That's why he took so much time encouraging us, teaching us, wanting us to live lighter.

It's because he loves us and he wants to help us.

There's so much to say about overcoming fear.

You know, the Bible talks specifically about different types of fear, the fear of pain and suffering for ourselves or for people we love, fear of death, uh, fear of people and what they think.

Sometime maybe we'll we'll take more time and look at each of those.

That sounds like a blast, doesn't it?

Maybe we'll take two months and talk about all our fears, but uh but we'll see.

But this morning, we're uh we're just gonna quickly look at three basic tools that God gives us to help us with fear.

And all three take supernatural help.

The first is probably the most important, and uh it's 1 John 4.

This is the verse that uh Susan read.

She read it in the um in the message version.

This is the NLT.

It says, We know how much God loves us, and we've and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

As we live in God, our love grows more perfect.

So we'll not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face it with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

So love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear.

If we're not afraid, it is for fear.

I mean, if we are afraid, it's for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

And so the first thing, and really most important in overcoming fear is to experience God's love.

I went to church from probably a month after I was born, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday nights, and it wasn't until I was 32 years old that I knew God loved me.

And I mean, I knew God loved other people.

I just couldn't imagine that He could love me.

And my experience is there is nothing more life-changing than getting it in our hearts, not just in our heads, but in our hearts that God really does love us.

You know, it is so amazing.

In some ways it's so unlikely and so amazing that it's just hard to believe.

And that's why it's supernatural.

That's why we need God's help.

You know, that's why Paul prays in Ephesians that the eyes of our hearts would be opened.

And so that we could know the height and depth and breadth and width of how great God's love is for us.

It's hard to really get.

But when we do, it's life-changing.

Jesus, read letters again, says something that is pretty cool.

It's in John 17.

He says, I'm praying not only for these disciples, but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.

And so this is something, you know, we take what Jesus says, and we have, you know, he may be talking to the Pharisees or he may be talking to his followers.

He is talking to us.

We are all that are who are going to believe.

He is praying for you specifically.

He says, but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one, as you are in me, Father, and I am in you, and may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one.

I'm in them, and you are in me.

May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me, and that you love them as much as you love me.

You are the them.

Literally, God loves you as much as he loves Jesus.

God loves you as much as he loves Jesus.

He's not mad at you, he's not given up on you, he's not abandoned you.

He loves you.

And he is for you.

And if God is for you, who can be against you?

What could we really have to fear?

You know, and so we're talking about our souls resting, and we really can rest in God's love.

Knowing that he loves us, knowing that he'll make even the tough things work out for our good.

You know, he loves you.

And his perfect love expels all fears.

And so if there was one thing, just one thing that we could do to help us live a less fearful life, get over some of the fears we have, it would be just to try and embrace the truth that God loves us, to pray that God will supernaturally get that in our hearts, to ask other people to pray with us, that we could feel and experience God's perfect love.

It expels all fear.

The second thing is, you know, maybe the antidote and also the opposite of fear.

In Mark 4, as evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, Let's cross the other side of the lake.

And so they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind, although other boats followed.

But soon a fierce storm came up.

High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion, and the disciples woke him up shouting, Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Silence, be still.

Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.

Then he asked them, Why are you afraid?

Do you still have no faith?

And faith is basically the confidence that God is with us and we can trust him.

You know, God being with us, knowing that we can trust him, is not a new thing with Jesus.

It's not a thing that Jesus even introduced.

It's the way our Abba Father has always been.

You know, Abraham in the Old Testament had gotten back from a battle.

Uh he'd actually gone to save his nephew, which he did.

Um, but when he got back, he was afraid that maybe God wasn't pleased with that and the lives that he had to take in the battle and all those types of things.

And God came to him in a vision.

He said, Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.

You know, Isaac had dug a bunch of wells, and that day, you know, I mean, a well was a lot, you know, because that's where you'd get your water supply, and that's how you could live and prosper.

And Isaac would dig these wells, and the Philistines would come take them.

And he was afraid of the Philistines, and so he would let them take them.

And he kept doing that and doing that until God came in to him in a vision.

He said, Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you.

When Jacob was old, he found out that his youngest son Joseph was alive.

He thought he'd been dead, but he found out he was alive and living in Egypt.

And all Jacob wanted was to go see his son.

But he was afraid to go to Egypt.

And so the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not be afraid to go to Egypt.

I will go down to Egypt with you.

When the Israelites were trapped at the Red Sea and the Egyptian armies baring down on them, they're all scared.

And Moses says to them, Don't be afraid.

Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today.

Joshua took over for Moses, and the Lord came to Joshua and he said, This is my command, be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid or discouraged.

For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

David said to his son Solomon, Be strong and courageous and do the work.

Don't be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.

He will not fail you or forsake you.

God spoke to the prophet Isaiah, he said, Don't be afraid.

He said, Don't be afraid, for I am with you.

Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you, I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

When Jesus was born and the angels announced it to the shepherds, the very first thing the angel said, Do not be afraid.

And even after Jesus ascended to heaven, he comes to John in a vision.

We call it the book of Revelation.

And John sees Jesus.

And it says, When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead.

But he laid his right hand on me and said, Don't be afraid.

I am the first and the last.

I am the living one.

I died, but look, I'm alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and the grave.

So we can see this theme runs through the entire Bible.

All the stories, all the encouragement is for us.

Do not be afraid.

I am with you.

And when we know he's with us, we call that faith.

Don't be afraid.

You know, and we can build our faith our knowing that he's with us.

And by asking God to supernaturally give it to us, we can borrow some faith from others.

You know, one of the reasons God says for us to get together like this is to encourage one another.

You know, encourage, to put in courage, so we won't be afraid.

You know, the we've got a great prayer team, just amazing.

And they're loving people filled with faith.

And sometimes I don't have enough faith.

Sometimes we don't have enough faith.

And we talk about sharing our faith in the sense that that's telling someone else about Jesus, which is, which is a great thing.

But when someone prays for us or we pray with someone, we are literally sharing our faith.

We're borrowing somebody's faith.

Maybe I don't have it in me.

Maybe I can't believe right now.

Maybe I don't trust enough.

Maybe I don't think God's going to do it for me.

But someone does.

And we can borrow their faith.

And they'll pray for us, and then our faith will build.

We can decide to have faith.

We've had a family situation for the last couple of years.

And about a year ago, and I was very fearful about it.

And a couple about a year ago, I I knew that it was going to be prolonged, and I could not stay at the level of fear that I had.

I was just too stressed out about it.

I had to decide.

You know, I had to decide I was not going to fear.

That I was going to trust God.

And so every time that fear, you know, I'd think about something, and that fear would well up, I'd say, nope, I'm trusting God.

I'm just going to trust him.

Even if I don't see it, I'm going to trust him.

And over and over, that's the way it's been.

And you know what?

It just, the fear got less and less and less.

And we can trust God.

You know, our faith grows as we experience God.

You know, I started a business about 20 years ago, sold it about seven and a half years ago.

And the first five years I was stressed out and fearful because I was afraid we're going to go out of business.

I mean, it was just really difficult getting going.

And then the last five years, it actually got going better than I could have ever hoped it would go.

And so now I was afraid that somehow I was going to screw it up or it was too good to be true, or, you know, something bad was going to happen.

And then about a year and a half ago, started a similar company.

And again, it's going great, but you know what's really amazed me is how I'm not even stressed about it.

You know, I'm not fearful.

If something happens, we don't get a deal.

I don't worry about it because I've seen over and over how things work out better than you know than I had planned, and how God's got our backs and how he's with me in that.

And I don't really stress about it at all.

And that's just experience.

You know, it says in the Bible that that faith, uh, what's it say?

We live by faith, not by sight.

But but another truth is the more we see God, the more faith that we have.

And eventually we sort of live by faith and by sight.

Because we've seen God so much, it gives us more faith.

And we're not afraid.

The more our faith grows, the more we know God's with us, the less fear we have to overcome.

Okay, so we've talked about overcoming fear with love, which is the most important thing, with faith, and then the last key is really action.

Joyce Myers had a teaching that really affected Susan.

And she later wrote a book by the same title.

It says, Do it afraid.

You know, we don't have to live in fear.

Most of the people that we admire for being brave were actually afraid.

They just did it afraid.

You know, we're going to experience fear, but with God's help, we can just push through.

With his strength, we can overcome.

You know, Nelson Mandela said, I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

The brave one is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

General Patton said if we take the generally accepted definition of bravery as a quality which knows no fear, I've never, ever seen a brave man.

You know, even the worst things are rarely as bad as we fear, and even if they are, God helps us get through it.

And so we might as well just take action.

You know, look it square in the face, ask for God's help, and do it afraid.

Each time we do that, our faith gets a little stronger and our fears a little bit less.

So we might as well take action.

Be courageous.

Like he told Joshua, because God is with us.

Each time we do that, faith gets a little stronger, fear gets a little less.

The Bible talks about going from glory to glory to glory, which means really that our life is a process.

You know, it doesn't happen overnight.

But when we know God's love, and we have confidence that He's with us, and we push through our fears, slowly but surely we find rest for our souls.

You know, and if God is with us, who can be against us?

We have nothing to fear.

Man, I'm talking long on Telgate Sunday.

That's got to be a bad move.

But we got till one and I'm almost done.

Um but we have nothing to fear, not even death.

You know, I mean that's I mean, the two biggies, honestly, are the fear of death and the fear of others.

I mean, those are the two biggies that cause so much other type of fear.

But we really do not need to fear anything.

Not even death.

Not even our children or loved ones dying.

Paul says we don't really die, and it happens just like in a blink of an eye.

And then we're back together, healthy and whole forever.

In Hebrews it says, Because God's children are human beings made of flesh and blood, the Son also became flesh and blood.

For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.

Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

There is nothing for us to fear.

Don't be afraid.

Jesus said, Don't be afraid.

But isn't it good to know that we have a God that understands, a God that gets us, a God that knows that we fear things, worry about things.

And so he gives us over and over and over.

He talks to us, encouraging us, don't be afraid, don't be afraid.

I'm with you, don't be afraid.

You know, and so we can rest.

We can rest in his love.

We can know that he's with us, and with his help we can push right through and do it afraid.

So Jesus says, Let me teach you.

And the one thing he says the most is don't be afraid.

And so we'll stop there.

If worship team comes up, let's stand and we'll get ready for this last song together.

And for some chili together.

So here's the question.

You know, this type of conversation, you know, stirs things up because it kind of gets us thinking about what is it that I'm afraid of?

You know, is there a fear that I have?

And I really think that most of us, and hopeful, and hopefully some of them are small, but most of us have something like that that we're um we're dealing with.

And so the question would be, what is it for you?

You know, and can we just take like a minute and even in a one-sentence prayer, can you just give that to Jesus and say, Jesus, I am afraid.

This is what I'm fearful about.

And let him carry that burden.

Let him lighten up your life.

Let him help you find rest for your soul.

So we can do that.

Thank you for we trust you with that.

You know, the first thing he taught us was, come to me.

You know, and that's the easiest or simplest, I guess, thing to do.

And and and it's just in our own words, in our own way, saying to him, Jesus, I need you.

Jesus, I want to live my life in connection with you.

Whatever it is.

It might be Jesus, I'm scared.

It might be Jesus, I'm sorry.

It could be whatever.

But it's in our own words, in our own way.

Just turn into Him.

You know, we're created with God's image, with the Spirit inside of us.

You know, that Spirit comes alive, connects with God's Spirit, and that whole process of changing from the inside out.

And one of the things Jesus wants to do with that process is to change us to the point that our life feels easier and our life feels lighter.

And we do have rest for our souls.

So let's pray.

Father, we praise you.

Thank you for being such a great God.

Thank you for adopting us as your kids and caring so much that you would tell us over and over and over not to be afraid, that you are with us.

And so supernaturally, we ask this morning that you would just uh speak into our hearts and let us feel and experience your great love for us.

That you love us as much as you even loved uh Jesus.

And give us more faith, God, and help us to just step right through when we're confronted with fears.

And we thank you, and we love you, and we trust you.

Jesus, it's in your wonderful name we pray.

Amen.