No Place for Fear
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· 39 viewsWhatever confronts us, we can be assured that God is with us!
Notes
Transcript
10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
3 I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, 4 greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, 5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. 6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Intro:
We are blessed to be smaller in number as we gather here today, because we are under the 250 size gatherings that are banned by the state!
And yet, our numbers are smaller than ever because of caution, but also because of fear!
I. God commands us to not fear.
I. God commands us to not fear.
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy
The difference I see in the faithful compared to the world, is that we don’t need to fear!
Covid 19 may be a real threat, but the problem is, we just don’t know.
But if we can see anything by all this, it is that one little disruption in life sets off an entire global panic!
We need to be at peace! Because in Christ there is no fear!
Why?
Because as out text says today, “I am with you.”
Jesus tells us the same thing in the great commission statement of
“And I am with you always, even to the end of the ages!”
II. God strengthens us in every situation.
II. God strengthens us in every situation.
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Even if i were to get sick from Corona virus or any dreaded disease, what should my attitude be?
The Apostle Paul says it this way in Philippians, “for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”
Can we really go through life with this type of attitude?
I believe the answer is unequivocally, yes!
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
We must assess who and what we trust!
Do we trust in our pension plans? Well, there is a lot to fear there.
Do we trust in our health? Well, that may be gone with one exposure to a cough or sneeze.
Do we trust in our government? We honor those in office, but only a fool would trust the government.
Do we trust in the constitution or the bill of rights? They have already been suspended for safety sake.
Do we trust in our stock piles of hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, or toilet paper? They will run out and then where will you be?
As Joshua said, I say here, Choose you this day whom you will serve? As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
You see, God’s strength is manifested in our explicit trust of Him in every situation!
It is God who strengthens us, who encourages us, who gives us clarity of thought!
1 I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
He is my
III. God holds us up in Christ.
III. God holds us up in Christ.
1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
His righteous right hand is Jesus!
When we are ready to give up!
When we have no strength left!
When the world and its craziness has us at the brink of insanity!
God holds us up by His Son!
How will He hold us up in the current situation, you might ask!
Well, through drawing closer to Him and obeying His word.
For example:
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
Phil
1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
Gal 6
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Personally, I have my opinions about this whole panic stricken event! But, that doesn’t matter, just like your opinions don’t matter, because the scriptures point the way of action on our part, as I’ve shown you in the past several verses.
The very thing that restrictions or bans, or isolation, or quarantine, cannot hinder - is our prayer time!
And even if we can’t get together in person, we can call, text, or engage in social media platforms.
You can even give with our online platform!
Seriously- we can lead the way in this pandemic, and we should!