Who's Leading You?

Introduction:

Welcome Everyone

Any Star Wars fans?

Explain scene in Episode I Phantom Menace

Yoda : How feel you?

Anakin : Cold, sir.

Yoda : Afraid are you?

Anakin : No, sir.

Yoda : See through you we can.

Anakin : I miss her.

Yoda : Afraid to lose her I think, hmm?

Anakin : What has that got to do with anything?

Yoda : Everything! Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.

A similar conversation happens in Episode III;

Yoda : Premonitions, premonitions. These visions you have...

Anakin Skywalker : They are of pain, suffering. Death.

Yoda : Yourself you speak of, or someone you know?

Anakin Skywalker : Someone.

Yoda : Close to you?

Anakin Skywalker : Yes.

Yoda : Careful you must be when sensing the future Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.

Anakin Skywalker : I won't let these visions come true, Master Yoda.

Yoda : Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed that is.

Anakin Skywalker : What must I do, Master Yoda?

Yoda : Train yourself to let go... of everything you fear to lose.

While Yoda is a wise species, Yoda wasn’t the first to come up with this wisdom. This wisdom is found in the Word of God. My goal tonight is to show what life looks like when we operate out of a spirit of fear vs. the Holy Spirt.

2 Timothy 1:7 CSB

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

(Prayer)

Four Words We Are Going To Focus On:

Spirit

Habits

Actions

Results

In the verse we just read, Paul encourages Timothy, who is a young pastor of the church in Ephesus, to not live in the spirit fear. We can infer then that Timothy is encouraged to live by a spirit that brings power, love, and sound judgement. That comes from the Holy Spirit.

“In life we either choose to live by the Holy Spirit or some evil spirit.”

The spirit we choose to live by will determine our habits.

Habit: Determine moral and ethical actions and reactions.

Are habits are either Christ-like or sinful ones.

Path 1 SPIRIT Path 2

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Holy Spirit HABITS Spirit of Fear

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Godly Habits ACTIONS Sinful Habits

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Courage RESULTS Coward

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Blessings Death

1 John 4:16–19 CSB

And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love. We love because he first loved us.

(Prayer)