We’ve been learning how God our father doesn’t want his children to live lives clamped by worry and fear. We’ve been learning how to live courageously in the face of fear laying siege to our hearts.
- Rejection in our relationships
- In our financial calamity
- Fear of failure, disappointment with myself
- Fear for our families
- Apprehension about death
There’s one last topic we want to address. There seems to be a growing fear among Christians in the United States. The American church is feeling more and more like the outsider at the table. In our television shows and in our judicial decisions Christians are more frequently being painted into radicals who are infringing on the rights of others. Who are standing in the way. Fundamentalist is code word for radical. Evangelical is code word for judgmental. Christians are feeling this mounting sense of scapegoating, cultural labeling and ostracism. People are asking “where is this all heading.”
Fear of mounting societal ostracism, and impending persecution. If we’re not careful, we can pick up the shame attached to these accusations. Victim mentality. And we can let fear cramp us into a corner. Shame, Victimhood, Fear. Since when have those three been our friends. The Bible tells something completely different.
Fearless in the Face of Death
March 6, 2016 • Lester Zimmerman
Fearless About Your Family
February 28, 2016 • Jeremy Leaman
Today's message will specifically speak to parents and their fears for their children. But I do want to say that “Fearless about our Family” includes much more than the temptations that parents face regarding worrying about their children.
You might be a young teenage worrying over your last remaining grandparent because of recent health issues, perhaps you have a cousin who you love like a brother, or maybe you are knees pleading with the Lord to change her husband’s heart. Or great-grandparents who are watching their family in the 3rd and 4th generation drift away from the Lord—no matter if you are single or married, parent or grandparent, childless or just a child—you have family that you love and care for. So I trust that as I share, God will apply my words to your specific life situation and challenge you and encourage you towards a life that is free from worry and anxiety regarding your loved ones.
Fearless in the Face of Finances
February 21, 2016 • Lester Zimmerman & Rob heagy
We are going to talk about some of the fears and worries that surround the issue of finances. Rob Heagy is joining me in sharing some insights and about he and Tara’s journey in the area of trusting God with their finances. Rob works for High Concrete and Tara has a hair salon.
The fear surrounding finances is one of the top fears and causes of anxiety in people’s lives. The fear of not having enough or the fear of losing what you do have is something people struggle with.
Jesus talked a lot about money. He taught 38 parables that dealt with money management. He talked more about the role of money in our lives then he did on prayer. I believe he did this because he knew the power money can have over us if we don’t learn how to handle this issue in our lives. One of these teachings of Jesus about material things in our lives is found in Matthew 6.
Fearless About Failure
February 14, 2016 • Jim Wetzel
Isaiah lived around 700 B.C. He was called to the southern Kingdom of Judah. The northern Kingdom had already collapsed and been taken captive by Assyria and know Assyria was threatening Judah. Judah had reason to be afraid, their fortified cities were attacked and captured by Assyria and now they were coming to the capital city, Jerusalem.
Isaiah was a prophet, a seer which meant not only did he see the current situation and what God’s word was for that situation but he also saw into the future. He is seeing about 100 years into the future when the Jewish people would be slaves in Babylon and is speaking to these people as well.
Living Fearlessly
February 7, 2016 • Lester Zimmerman
Today we begin our 6-week series called “Fearless”. In addition to the many great passages in the bible we are also using the book called “The Fearless Life” by Jentezen Franklin as part of our personal devotional and small group discussion guide.
This study is about helping each of us to embrace a courageous faith. God our father does not want we his children to live lives full of worry and fear. It is possible to experience peace in the midst of all the pressures of life that come at us.
Max Lucado writes about the power of fear. He writes….
[Fear] turns us into control freaks … [for] … fear, at its center, is a perceived loss of control. When life spins wildly, we grab for a component of life we can manage: our diet, the tidiness of our home, the armrest of a plane, or, in many cases, people. The more insecure we feel, the meaner we become. We growl and bare our fangs. Why? Because we are bad? In part. But also because we feel cornered….. Fear releases the tyrant within.
