Pocket Sermon: Faith vs Fear

I’m just going to assume that you know this already but…next Wednesday is Halloween. Anybody in here love Halloween? I love most things about Halloween. I love the weather, fall is the best. I love the candy, Because who doesn’t like getting free stuff?! Costumes are cool. But I hate scary movies, and around Halloween, it seems like everybody only wants to watch scary movies. I’m not about it. So, I’ve been thinking about fear recently, and I did some research, and I found a Gallop Poll which came up with America’s Top 12 Fears.

What do you think is on the list?

America’s Top 12 Fears

Public Speaking

Heights

Bugs, Spiders, Snakes

Drowning

Blood/Needles

Claustrophobia

Flying

Strangers

Zombies

Darkness

Clowns

Ghosts

Fears are real you guys.

Fears are powerful.

Fear can shake your faith and paralyze you from movement toward what God is calling you to.

But the hard thing for me about this list is that I often feel like the things that I’m afraid of never appear on lists like this.

That’s not to take away from these fears, they’re legitimate for sure. But bugs and needles and zombies and ghosts don’t reveal anything about the state of my heart.

If i told you that i’m afraid of spiders and heights you wouldn’t think those fears have the power to shake my faith in Jesus. You wouldn’t think they’re capable of making me question my calling as a pastor.

My Fears

Loneliness

Not being good enough

Failure

Being real and genuine

Fear and Faith are often opposed to one another.

It’s hard to be afraid when you have faith in Jesus, and it’s hard to have faith in Jesus if you’re afraid.

So lets look at the relationship between faith and fear that we see in Matthew’s Gospel

Read Matt 14:22-32

Faith is Fueled by time alone with God

Jesus’ retreat to solitude was a response to being with huge crowds

In order to pour out, you have to be filled up

Jesus just got done preaching to a massive crowd of people. He fed 5000 (more like 20000) with 5 loaves and two fish. It was draining for him spiritually and physically.

I don’t care if you’re an introvert or extrovert, I don’t care what your enneagram type is, or your Myers-Briggs, or your StrengthsFinder. You need to get filled up before you can pour out.

It’s spiritual hydration. If you don’t hydrate before a game, you’re going to be slow and weak and you’ll start cramping up.

You know what they say: Hydrate or die-drate.

Power in prayer. power in solitude.

Jesus doesn’t just go sit down to be by himself. He doesn’t throw headphones on to listen to music. He doesn’t turn on the TV to zone out. he doesn’t play video games to decompress.

Jesus recognizes his need to be with God and the power that comes through time in solitude and prayer.

One of our most unspoken fears is silence. We can’t pray because we’re cared of silence. We’re afraid of what happens in our minds when we finally listen to ourselves. [Jefferson Bethke Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDCz5qxyK9k]

Noise from everywhere - we are never not connected.

Your faith cannot grow, you can’t see more of who Jesus is, you can’t love people well if you’re not being filled up - hydrated by intentional time alone with God.

So if you come to me and tell me that you’ve been struggling in your faith. If you tell me you don’t “feel God”. The first thing I’ll ask you is when was the last time you hydrated? When was the last time you put away your phone, got away from all the noise, and got fueled up by the Word of God and through talking to God?

Our faith, our whole walk with God is fueled by that alone time with God. If Jesus needed it, you better believe that you need it too.

Faith is drained by fear

Jesus walks on the water out to the disciples…and they are terrified. Why? What’s happening here?

Here’s what I see going on. I’ve formulated it into an equation for you math people out there.

Their circumstances (huge waves, crazy wind) + the unknown (Jesus walking on water) = FEAR.

Circumstances make us fearful because we falsely believe that we’re in control.

We’re afraid of the unknown because we think that if we knew it, we could control it.

Fear boils down to a fight for control. I try to handle my life. I try to figure it out all on my own. I don’t trust anything or anyone besides me. So when I feel that control start to slip my natural response is fear.

Did you know that the Bible tells us not to worry almost 400 times? Why would the authors of the Bible repeat themselves like that?

Because we forget!

We have to constantly be reminded that God is telling us not to be afraid because it’s actual Him that’s in control and not us.

Faith is practiced by following Jesus

We put our faith into practice when we actually start following Jesus. What does Peter say? Peter says something really dangerous. He says, “Tell me to come to you on the water.”

When you feel God moving in your life what do you do? Do you stay in the boat? Or do you step out in faith?

Jesus calls Peter out of the boat. And Peter begins to walk on water.

Right now, I think Jesus is calling you out of a boat. He’s calling you to practice your faith. And you have to decide what happens next. 

The boat is safe, and stepping out in faith is dangerous.

But the second Peter’s eyes come off of Jesus and onto the waves, he begins to sink. It wasn’t that the task of walking on water was too difficult or too dangerous, it was that without eyes firmly set on Jesus, the immensity of the circumstances that we’re walking through pull us under.

I don’t know what circumstances and unknown things you’re walking through right now. 

Maybe you’ve been stressing about the future. You’ve got big decisions to make about which high school you’re gonna go to or what college you’re gonna go to.

Maybe you’re life at home isn’t great and you feel like you’re the one holding everyone together.

Maybe you’ve been struggling with anxiety or depression and you don’t know how to break out of that mental prison.

Maybe you’ve been playing games with God, and the jesus part of your life is Wednesdays only or Sundays only.

Maybe there is sin in your life that has had control of you for years, and those chains seem impossible to break.

I don’t know what it is for you, but if you’re trying to do it all on your own strength it’s time to start trusting Jesus.

So let me end here with the truth of the Gospel:

Jesus doesn’t let you drown.

He could have laughed at Peter’s weak faith and let him panic and drown.

No. Jesus immediately reaches out his hand to catch Peter.

You don’t have to do this thing perfectly. You’re going to mess up, you’re going to fall, it’s going to be hard. But Jesus never said you have to earn your own way to heaven. He never said you had to walk on water to prove your worth.

The truth of the Gospel is that when Jesus said “it is finished” he meant it.

The truth of the Gospel is that when Jesus said “come to me all who are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest” he meant it.

So if you’re like me, and your fears have been shaking your faith and keeping you from walking out God’s calling for your life - it’s time to trust Jesus.