Christians Are Witnesses for Jesus. Amen!

Introduction
I'm not a die hard sports fan, but if I chose favorite teams, I would probably choose the Georgia Tech and Washington, and I'll tell you why.  My brother went to Georgia Tech.  He was eight years older than me and sometimes would invite me to come up and stay with him at college.  It was really cool.  And though we were never hard core college football fans, I guess if I had to choose a college team, I would choose Georgia Tech.  But really, our family's team was the Washington (formerly Redskins).  Why?  Well, even though I've lived most of my life in Georgia, I was born in Maryland (along with my brother and two sisters).  We all moved to Georgia when I was only about 7. So we left everything we knew behind and came to a strange new place--Macon, Georgia.  People thought we talked funny and we felt the same way about them.  And my family still rooted for Washington; it was sort of our thing we were proud of because of where we came from.  

In church service this past Sunday, I asked three people why they chose to be fans of their favorite team.  One was a Green Bay Packers fan.  One was a Georgia Southern fan.  Another was a Ole Miss fan.  I didn't warn them ahead of time that I was going to ask them why they liked that particular team.  I just asked them write in the middle of the sermon.  Not surprisingly, each one of them could easily share why they loved their team and each had a great story.  The Packer fan had a family connection to Wisconsin, near the Green Bay area.  The Georgia Southern fan and his wife both attended the college and actually met while working together at the original Zakby's in Statesboro.  The Ole Miss fan grew up near Oxford, Mississippi and saw a friend with an Ole Miss notebook when she was a young kid and eventually went there.

We usually don't have a hard time talking about our favorite teams.  If we're not into sports, there are probably lots of other things we love to talk about that seem natural--our kids, our favorite movies or TV shows, etc.

We like to support our favorite teams.  They’re important us for many reasons.

Today, I want to talk about being a witness for Jesus, because Jesus commanded His followers to be His witnesses.  I want to talk about 3 ways to be wintess for Jesus. If you are ready to learn, say Amen! Amen!

Acts 1:8
⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Explanation
The Book of Acts tells the story of how the early Church, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, told people everywhere about Jesus.  Every Christian told their family, their friends, their neighbors, their co-workers about Jesus.  It started in Jerusalem, where followers shared the amazing Good News that Jesus died and rose from the grave.  The Holy Spirit enabled them to do miracles, like the supernatural ability talk to people in other languages they didn't know so that those people could hear and understand the Good News about Jesus in their own native tongue.  No one was in need in the early Christian community because everyone loved each other and they looked after one another as family.  It was a beautiful movement--the original "Jesus Revolution". 

Then persecution broke out.  The temple authorities got jealous and started killing Christians and driving them from their homes and canceling their businesses.  Christians stared leaving Jerusalem and going out into the countryside.  They went out into Judea and told people there about Jesus and more people believed and followed Jesus.  Christians even went to Samaria—a country that was traditionally rivals and enemies of the Jews.  The Jewish Christians didn’t care.  They went to Samaria and told them about Jesus and the Samaritans believed and got saved and became Christians too!

Then the Christians went up into Syria and Turkey and told people there the Good News about Jesus.  Then they went to Greece and Macedonia and even to Rome.  Everywhere they went, Christians told people about Jesus.  They told about his death and ressurection.  They told how Jesus changed their lives.  Even when talking about Jesus could get you in trouble or even killed, Christians were faithful witnesses.  In fact, the Greek word for being a faithful witness--martyr--became synonymous with giving your life for your Christ.  Christians are faithful witness who tell people about Jesus.

Today, I want to talk about three ways to be a witness for Jesus.  1) Sharing Your Love for Jesus. 2) Inviting People to Church. 3) Recruiting people for Jesus.

Sharing Your Love For Jesus
It wasn’t hard for me to decide who to ask about their favorite team.  I knew, because some people are such devoted fans of their team, everyone knows who they support.  You can probably think of several people you know and which team they support.  You could ask them why and they would be glad to tell you.

Being a witness for Jesus can be as natural as sharing about your favorite team.  I hope your love for Jesus is something that everyone knows.  Hopefully, Jesus is the most important thing in your life and that comes through to everyone everywhere, all the time.

It doesn’t have to be hard to be a witness for Jesus.  If you have a real relationship with Him, people will know.  Sometimes, they will just see it. Maybe they saw you wearing a cross or overheard you talking about your faith or they knew you went to church last weekend or saw you doing Christian service.  

If you live for Jesus, people should be able to see your faith at work.  Are you doing the kinds of things that show people Jesus is your Lord?  If someone was looking to find out more about what it means to be a Christian, would they know to come talk to you because they know you’re a Christian?

Sometime people will see your faith and know you are a Christian.  Other times, you will tell them.  If you’re a serious Georgia Bulldog fan (or Alabama or whatever), no one has to twist your arm to get you to talk about your team. Right?  You probably look for opportunities to get in a conversation about them.  You love to talk about the game that's coming up this weekend or you want to celebrate the win last weekend (or cry about the loss).  It just comes natural.  Are you that quick to talk about Jesus?  Do you look for reasons to tell people why you love Him?  Do you relish the chance to share the difference Jesus makes in your life (or even be honest about how He's helping you overcome your shortcomings)?

Inviting People to Church
Following Jesus isn’t just a private thing.  We live out our faith in a community.  One of the ways you can be a witness is to invite people to experience Jesus at Church—the body of Christ.  Here again are some striking similarities with sports fans.

Being a fan of a certain team means being part of a community.  Right?  I mean, you get together with other fans and watch the game.  There’s a whole community.  It can be electric to be in the stands with thousands of other cheering fans, all rooting for the same team.  Or how many of you have gotten together with friends to watch the game on TV?  Even if you watch the game all by yourself, there’s this sense that you are part of something bigger.  You are part of a community and that matters.  And if you really want your friends to experience what it’s like to be a fan of your team, you would probably invite them to go to a game with you (or watch it on TV with you).

The same is even more true for Christians.  If you want people to experience the risen Jesus you know, you might want to invite them to church (or a Christian retreat or Bible study, etc.).  Christians experience the fullness of our faith in a community of believers.  Yes, your relationship with Jesus is personal, but it’s not only personal.  It’s something that takes place with other people.  Stories about Jesus always took place in a group setting.  Jesus called twelve Disciples and they worked together asa group.  Jesus was transfigured in front of Peter, James, and John.  The Last Supper was a meal shared with all the Disciples—even Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus.  When Jesus rose, he appeared to hundreds of people—often in groups.

Christians experience the love of Jesus most fully through other Christians.  We learn in groups.  We worship as a body.  Jesus said in Matthew 18:20, “Where two or three gather in my name, I am there with them.”  That doesn't mean Jesus isn't present when we are all alone.  He's with us when we are alone too, but there's something something sacred and essential about Christians gathering together.  And if you want your friends to experience what it means to really be a Christian, you probably should invite them to Church—the Body of Christ.

Recruiting For Jesus
There’s one more way to be a witness that I want to talk about:  Recruiting.  Sometimes, you just need to be direct.  Sometimes the situation calls for it.  Sometimes all it takes is, “Hey, come to church with me.”  But recruiting could also mean:  “Hey, my church is packing sack lunches on Wednesday nights for the school next door.  Why don’t you come help us out?”

Again, let’s go back to the sports analogy.  In order to build a winning college team, coaches have to get out and find the best high school athletes and convince them to come to their college.  Right?  But it’s not just the coaches that do the recruiting.  How many of you who went a certain college and had a good experience and you try to encourage others to go to that school too?  And it's not that you're trying to sell something people don't need, right?  If you know your school had a great nursing program and you have a friend that's looking for a nursing school, you'd be like, "Hey, the college I went to has a great nursing program.  You should check it out."  We would be doing them a favor by hooking them up with our great alma mater.  Right?

If we believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, I hope we will recruit people to be part that.  Don’t you?  We’d be doing people a favor to recruit them to be on Jesus’ team.  So why not?  A lot of people out there are looking for a team—they’re looking for meaning and hope and peace and love and healing…  Jesus is all of that.  Why not be the ones to tell people where they kind find what they’re looking for?

So there's three easy to understand ways to be a witness: 

1. Sharing your love for Jesus,
2. Inviting people to Church, and 
3. Recruiting for Jesus

I Challenge You to Be A Witness for Jesus.
I’ve been giving you challenges throughout this series. Here’s one for today.  Make a list of specific people you know to whom you could be a witness.  Pray about how you could witness to them.

Could you share with them a spiritual struggle you need Jesus to help you with? 
Could you share with them a way you are growing spiritually because of Jesus?
Could you invite them to come to church with you (or Sunday school or Bible study…)?
Could you ask someone if you could start praying together. (Maybe you and a co-worker go out to each lunch every Tuesday.  Could you ask to start saying a blessing before you eat?)
Is there someone you know who needs to pray to accept Jesus as Lord?  Could you pray with them about it?

Start with a list of people. Write down their names.  Look at it every day and oray that God would show you how you could be a witness to them.  Let the Holy Spirit guide you and empower you to be a witness for Jesus.

Jesus Saves Us From Sin. Amen!

Introduction
The Bible is the Word of God and contains everything necessary and sufficient for our salvation. Today, want to talk about sin and salvation because the Bible says sin and salvation are two basic elements of the Christian faith.  The Bible teaches that Jesus saves us from sin.  

Ephesians 2:8-9
⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Explanation
The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Christians living in Ephesus—an important Greek settlement in what is now modern day Turkey.  Paul started out life as a Pharisee whose goal was to earn salvation by obeying the letter of God Law perfectly.  But Jesus appeared to Paul from heaven and Paul became a Christian.  As a Christian, Paul realized that there was no hope of salvation through living a strict, sinless life because no one can do it.  It is only by grace you are saved when you believe in Jesus.

And so Paul writes to the Ephesians: “God saved you by his grace when you believed.”
We see three words in that statement we must understand:  Saved.  Grace.  Believed.

First there is the word saved.  I think everyone understands the concept of being saved.  If you are trapped in a burning building and a firefighter rescues you, you might say, “You saved my life!”  In that instance, you might feel tremendous gratitude to the firefighter that risked their life to save yours.

But what does it mean when Paul says, “God saved you?” Do you feel like you need to be saved?  The Bible says we should.

Romans 1:20-23
In Romans 1:20-23 Paul wrote: “…ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God…  …but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused…  And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.  So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.”

We chose to worship idols and false gods instead of God.  We may not bow down to a golden statue, but we are so prone to give our primary focus to other things when we should focus on God first.  Anytime we serve something or give our resources to something or seek fulfillment from something or try to find security in something when we out to seek these from God we are worshiping an idol or false god.  And we do it all the time.  It's is a sad reality of our fallen human nature.

And so, Romans says, "God abandoned [us] to do whatever shameful things [our] hearts desired."  And this is indeed what we see in our world.  Even animals understand sexual identity, but humans have abandoned the natural order of things.  What should be common sense has become ridiculous to us.  We think we can redefine male and female and God's design for human intimacy.  And people think they are heroic and wise when they follow these crazy ideas.  But who is really wise?  God or people?

Sin Infects All Humanity
Throughout history, there have been self-righteous people who believe everyone else but them is guilty.  Paul started out life that way.  He thought because his was a Jew who strictly follow the Law, he was safe.  But Jesus knocked him on his butt and made him realize he was a fool and a sinner as much as anyone else.  And God tells us this in the Bible.

Romans 3:10-18, 23
“No one is righteous—not even one.  ¹¹ No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.  ¹² All have turned away; all have become useless.  No one does good, not a single one.”  ¹³ “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.  Their tongues are filled with lies.”  “Snake venom drips from their lips.”  ¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”  ¹⁵ “They rush to commit murder.  ¹⁶ Destruction and misery always follow them.  ¹⁷ They don’t know where to find peace.”¹⁸ “They have no fear of God at all.” 

And Romans 3:23 sums it all up: “²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

Wow!  That's pretty harsh!  No one likes a preacher to tell them how sinful they are, but it's the only way to help people see how desperately we need Jesus to save us.  Unless you're facing some terrible crisis, you may not feel like you need to be saved.  Romans helps open our spiritual eyes to see that (figuratively) the walls are on fire around us and we're trapped and Jesus is our only hope!

The Truth of the Human condition according to The Word of God is pretty dark.  And when we are tempted to excuse ourselves, the news from around the world condemns us.  How many times have you heard the most awful stories of human depravity?  We hear the stories of the awful things people do—often people we thought were good, admirable people—and then we find out despicable things they've done when they thought no one was watching.

And if we try to say, “Well, I’m not like that!”  A small voice in our own conscious convicts us.  "Yes you are."  If we’re honest, we know there is darkness in us too. Even if we haven’t acted upon it, there is evil in our hearts.  And God’s standards are holiness and perfection.  He made us perfect.  But we are far from perfect now.  And so we know God’s Word is true in Romans 3:23.  “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

That's the bad news.  But grace is the good news we find in Romans 6:23.

Romans 6:23
²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is why we need to be saved.  We have all sinned.  We all deserve death.  And that’s where Grace comes in.  Grace is God’s free gift of divine help, even though we don’t deserve it.  We deserve death, but instead, God gives us the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.   

Eternal life is more than just living forever.  You see, if you live forever in a broken world where there is still evil and darkness and suffering, well that's no blessing; that's a curse.  The eternal life we have in Jesus is absolute fulfillment.   It’s what we’re made for.  In Genesis, eternal life is described as the Garden of Eden that's a paradise where everything was good to eat and where Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with each other and God.  They were completely naked but felt no shame or vulnerability.  They had nothing to hide and felt completely safe.

Isaiah 11:6 says: “In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.”  Revelation 21:4 says God will “wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Those who reject God’s free gift of grace will be cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  But those who accept God’s gracious salvation through Jesus Christ will have eternal life.

And that’s where the third word comes in—Believe.

Romans 10:9
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Believe in Jesus Christ.
Believe that He is Lord and don’t hide it.  
Declare it openly.  Live out your belief.
Believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.
Believe it, not just as an idea, but as the Truth that guides your whole life—everything you do.

Declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.  And you will be saved.

Let me pray for you.
“Lord, I pray for everyone reading this today. 
Lord I pray You will guide them to search their hearts right now.
Lord I ask You to show everyone they desperately need to be saved.
We are all in danger of death—spiritual death, eternal death.
Help us to see how much You love us—unconditionally, completely, perfectly.
Help us all to see that You want to save us, and will save us if we believe.
Help everyone today to claim Jesus as our Lord—
to declare in everyway possible to the world that Jesus is our Lord.
Help us to truly believe in our hearts that You raised Jesus from the dead
and that You will raise us to eternal life because of our faith in Him.
Thank You, Lord, for saving us today. Amen.”

Doubt is Essential to Faith

The following blog is from a very special guest blogger, my 16-year-old daughter, Abigail Mullis.  Abigail shared this very honest and thought provoking message on Youth Sunday, and I share it with you today.  Do you ever doubt?  Read what Abigail has to say about faith and doubt.  Click Here to Watch Abigail's Message on YouTube

  This is your fair warning. First of all, this is a very scattered message if you can even call it that. I like to think of this more as a look into the teenage mind, or at least this teenage mind, that's what I’m calling it. Secondly, today I am going to be completely honest with you. I’m the kind of person who loves to sugar coat things, but recently I’ve felt like what I need is to be the complete opposite. So that's the warning. I’m not gonna go crazy, it's still me, but sometimes it is the most helpful to look at things from an … overwhelmingly… honest point of view. So here we go, and please bear with me.

Today, I want to focus on doubt. It's something I’ve experienced a lot. I have thousands of questions and very, very few answers. I want to read you something word for word that I wrote a while ago: “people often call this phase of life “typical teenage questioning” it’s just a phase. I hope so. Or they try to explain it away, but once it gets difficult it always falls on the flimsy shoulders of “Ask God when you get there. I guess we’ll never know. God works in mysterious ways.” I hate these phrases.” I still agree with that statement that I made over a year ago. At some points I’ve just decided that God isn’t real. Other times I’ve decided to put it away and stop wondering at all. Maybe it would be easier if I tried not to think about it. Doubt is a big struggle in my faith. So first of all, why do we have doubt at all? Here comes my first piece of brutal honesty. 

The Bible is literally insane. It starts out with an all powerful, all knowing God who has just … always been there? He created everything out of nothing. Weird. It ends with a magical man god who dies a brutal death and then rises from the dead, as not just a ghost, but a holy ghost. Then he goes up to heaven to sit at the right hand of his father, who is also him, but at the same time he is down here with us but in like air form. If you believe in this ghost guy then when you die you live in paradise, and if you don’t believe in him, when you die, you live in a fiery pit. Please don’t accuse me of blasphemy. I promise this all has a point. Do you realize how ridiculous that story sounded? But you know what else sounds ridiculous? Every other story of creation ever. Even the Big Bang is straight up bonkers. There was just space (which first of all how did space even get there in the first place?) and then boom there was literally the entire universe. It's all crazy. We are just a bunch of crazy humans trying to navigate a crazy existence. My favorite thing to say is “everything you can believe is crazy. It just depends what kind of crazy you believe in.” Even [Paul] admitted that. 2nd Corinthians 5:13 says “If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ’s love controls us.” I guess that kind of sums it up, huh. 

We all experience doubt. God asks us to believe in a crazy story. Of course we will be skeptical. I’ve been reading Jerimiah lately. So far, I’ve seen that Jeremiah was going through a bit of a difficult time. That’s nowhere near an exaggeration. Jeremiah 20:18 says “Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame.” That's definitely pretty hefty. In my notes beside that verse I wrote “Even Jeremiah had doubts. He questioned his purpose and miserable life.  He would have been better dead, but God used him. Even a prophet questioned.” That’s a pretty comforting thought to me. Maybe it's terrible, but my favorite quotes from the Bible always seem to be the depressing ones. I think it's because those are the quotes that show us humanity the most. For example, Ecclesiastes 1:8 (another depressing one) “Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.” I think this sums up doubt pretty beautifully. Everyone has experienced it. We will all continue to experience it. Why? Because we are humans. Because we will never be satisfied with not knowing.

 So, why did God give humans skeptical minds? Isn’t that why so many people turn away from him? Why would God do it? I’m not sure, and we will never know for sure. After all, even if we did, we wouldn’t be satisfied with the answer. But here’s a little hypothesis of my own. If you were forced to love someone, would you really love them? If you had never known any different, and you never questioned your love for that person or even thought about questioning your love, would you really love them? If there was no other option, if it was just a fact of life, would it really be love? Why did God put the apple in the garden? Why would he give the potential for something so awful to happen? Why didn’t he just not give humans the option to sin? I don’t know, but I’ve always thought that the apple was there because if it wasn’t, and if there was no other option, then Adam and Eve wouldn’t have really loved God. Love is a choice.

Romans 4:13-15 says “Clearly, God’s promise to the whole Earth and Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God's promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)” What’s important in Adam and Eve’s story was not the law they were breaking. It was their decision to not love and obey God. It was the idea that they could have faith and trust what God said about the apple, or they could disobey him and eat the apple. They could love God, or they could simply not. And if there is no law to break then what would show their faith? Adam and Eve had free will through the apple. 

Free will is tricky and that is what has always played on my doubt. It's so confusing to me because how can God be all knowing and still give me the option to choose him? Doesn’t he already know what I will do? When he creates someone does he not see their whole life? Does he not see that he is creating this person, and in the end they will go to hell because he knows exactly what will happen? How is that free will? I don’t know. God himself is incredibly confusing to me. Jeremiah 23:23-24 says “Am I a God who is only close at hand? Says the Lord. No, I am far away at the same time. Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and the earth? Says the Lord.”  He is everything and nothing. Past and present and future. Kind and understanding, but still vengeful and angry. I mean after all, the whole book of Jeremiah is about God putting the Jewish people through horrendous things because they broke his laws. Then later, Jesus comes in, and as I cited earlier from Romans, he says that the laws aren’t really what matter. It’s all very confusing to me. I hope I’m not making you dizzy. 

A couple months ago, Amy asked us who Jesus was to us. This question comes from Luke 9:20 when Jesus asks his disciples “ ‘But who do you say I am?’.” This was a great question. It’s so great that I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. I started to wonder, if someone asked me why I believe in God, despite all the crazy stories in that Bible, what would I say? Would it be, I just always have? Would it be, that’s what is expected of me? Would it be, I’ve never thought of another option, or I never stopped and questioned it? Doubt is the apple in our garden. You can’t love God without having a reason. You can’t find a reason, without searching for an answer. You can't search for an answer if you don't have a doubt. Believing isn’t seeing, but believing certainly isn’t blind. It is calculated. It is a risk, and I wouldn’t take a risk if I didn’t have a reason. Why do I believe in God if I doubt him so much? I have seen his love. I have seen it in places you wouldn’t stop to think about. It is a different kind of love. God didn’t come down and give me a hug, but every friend I’ve ever had was there for a reason. Every bit of love I’ve felt was there for a reason. My existence is unexplainable and it has been filled with an unexplainable love. That’s what I choose to believe in. It's crazy, but so is everything else.

Here is the last piece of scripture I will leave with you, not to make you feel all better, but to keep you thinking about this important aspect of faith. Luke 22:66-70 says “At daybreak all the elders of the people assembled, including the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. Jesus was led before this high council, and they said ‘Tell us, are you the messiah?’ But he replied, ‘If I tell you, you won’t believe me. And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. But from now on the Son Of Man will be seated in the place of power at God’s right hand.’ They all shouted, ‘So you are claiming to be the Son Of God?’ And he replied, ‘You say that I am.’ ”  

I don’t know a lot of things, but I hate to let questions fall on flimsy shoulders, so I will try to put all of these doubts on something a little more solid. Maybe it’s not the best answer, and I know it certainly won’t satisfy me, but it's what I have to offer. Doubt doesn’t make us bad people. I think it makes us better. It makes us question who God is to us and why we want a relationship with him at all. Doubt makes us question our faith, but in the end, it will be the thing that strengthens it. Don’t blindly believe, always question. Search for answers and when you don’t find them, question why they aren’t there. Why do you believe in God? Why have you doubted him? What makes you CHOOSE to love him? 

So, thank you for bearing with me, and I hope you got as much out of this as I got writing it!

Click Here to Watch Abigail's Message on YouTube

You Are Not Alone

Introduction
Kids are scary.  Once, when my daughter was maybe two years old, I was sleeping peacefully when I was startled from my sleep in the middle of the night.  There, in the dark, just inches from my face, I saw two big blue eyes staring at me!  After just a moment of shock, it registered that this was the face of my blonde-haired, blue eyed daughter.  She'd woken from a dream and was scared in the dark, so she silently wandered into her parents' room for comfort.  We welcomed her into our bed, where she immediately curled up and fell back asleep.

For some reason, we often don’t want to be alone when we’re afraid.  When we’re afraid as kids, we run to our parents or someone strong who can protect us.  When we’re afraid because we’re facing uncertainty, we want the company of those who have faced our situation before.  Sometimes, we just want someone to be with us so we’re not alone.  

Today, I want to reassure you:  you are not alone in your fear.

Hebrews 11:1
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see

It Starts with Faith
Faith is the key to so much in life because we can’t see what the future holds.  We don’t know what tomorrow may bring, let alone what will happen next week or next year.  We hope for something good and the Bible says God has good plans for us, but we can’t see the good that will come or the God who promises to give it to us.  

That’s where faith is the key.  Faith shows us the reality of what we hope for.  We hope that God is good, that God loves us, that God has the power to do good for us. That is our hope.  Faith shows us it is true.  Faith is the evidence.  

Through the lens of faith, we can see the love and power of God through all the events of life.  Where others who lack faith see nothing, we see the power and goodness of God.  Where others, who lack faith, see terror and tragedy and disappointment, we see God helping us, healing us, and even using bad things that He didn't want to happen for our good.  Faith in the lens that enables us to interpret events as the work of  good God.

The 11^th chapter of Hebrews gives a long list of people whose faith helped them do amazing things.  Noah built the Ark and saved the animals and his family from the flood so the world could have a fresh start.  Abraham left his homeland and went to the Promised Land where God gave him so many descendants we can't even count them all.  His wife, Sarah, was able to have a child even though she was barren and too old.  By faith, Moses was saved from the Nile River and raised by Pharaoh's daughter.  Later, by faith, Moses delivered the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.  By faith, Joshua led the Israelites to conquer Jericho and all of Canaan.  By faith, Rahab, who was a Canaanite, was saved from destruction and became one of God’s chosen people—and ancestor of King David and later Jesus the Christ.  By faith, all these people did amazing things because they trusted God and He helped them.

But there are others mentioned too—people whose life story did not have a happy ending—at least, not by the world’s standards and not in this life.  Some were scorned, some were abused, tortured, or even murdered because of their faith in God.  But by faith, they understood they were not defeated because God vindicated them in the afterlife.  These faithful martyrs from the past faced persecution and death willingly because their faith helped them see it was better to honor God than keep their life.  They believed in God’s goodness and trusted Him even to the point of death.  As Hebrews 11:35 says, “They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.”  And so, now they have it.  We need not feel sorry for them.  We can even envy their eternal reward because they where special crown in eternity that honors their faithful witness in death.

Through faith, we can see that God didn’t abandon the world, even though our sin was terrible.  “For," John 3:16 says, "God loved the world so much, He sent His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life.”

Faith is the key to so much in life.

Have Faith in Yourself
You have to have faith in yourself.  You have to believe you can succeed.  Of course you have to put in the effort to train and prepare for success.  But even if you full prepare for success and don't believe in yourself, you will fail.  You have to prepare and have faith that you will succeed or you have already defeated yourself.  So you have to believe you can do it or you can't.

 

Have Faith in Others
The truth is we can't fully succeed in life on our own.  We need other people.  That's the life works.  You need to be able to have faith in other people.  You need others to succeed.  That's why it's so important that you surround yourself with people you can count on--people who will tell you the truth, people who will help and encourage you, people who will help you be your best.  Otherwise, if you can't have faith in the people around you, they will pull you down.  (It's also important to say you should be the kind of person others can have faith in too.  They need you to help them also.)

Have Faith is God
We also need to have faith in something bigger than ourselves.  If we only having faith in ourselves and others, we will be very limited in what we can accomplish.  We may accomplish some good things, but greatness will elude us because we will be limited by our human abilities.  God has big plans for you, bigger than what you can do on your own (or even with the help of others).  If David (from the Bible) only trusted in his ability (or even the ability of the army of Israel), he never would have stepped forward to fight the giant, Goliath.  He was just a skinny kid who couldn't even wear armor or pick up a sword.  David trusted God was able to give him the victory and he went to battle based on his faith in God.  When we trust God, He enables us to do great things--greater than we can do on our own.  So we must have faith in God.

One of the great things God does for us is save us from our sin, through Christ, for eternal life.  Do you trust God?  Do you have faith in Him?  Will you let Christ be your Lord?

You Are Not Alone
In the Old Testament, God spoke to reassure His people in their time of distress in Isaiah 41:10, “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.”

You are not alone!  In the New Testament, Jesus reassured His followers in Matthew 28:20, “Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end

of the age.”  I'm sure the Twelve Disciples were afraid and overwhelmed by the prospect of going out into the whole world to make disciples for Jesus.  The "whole world" is a big, scary place!  So Jesus said they could be sure He was always with them.  And Jesus said He would be with His disciples to the end of the age.  "The Age" hasn't ended yet and we are Jesus' disciples if we call Him Lord.  So that means Jesus is with us too!  And it means we have a big job to do--to make disciples of all nations.

So we see that God is with us in the midst of everything we face in life.  Hebrews 12:1 gives even more encouragement to those who have faith.  You are not alone!  Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

You are not alone in your fear or in any of life’s struggles or victories.  All the famous heroes of the Bible are cheering you own!  Abraham, Moses, David, the Twelve Disciples are cheering for you!  Not only that, your friends and love ones who trusted Jesus and have died and gone to be with Him, they are cheering you on too!  You can think of many of the names of your Christian loved ones who have gone to be with the Lord.  They are cheering for you!  You are surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses to the life of faith who are rooting for you!

So, DO NOT BE AFRAID!  God is with you!  His faithful people are with you too!

Closing Meditation
Imagine a great cloud of witnesses surrounding you.  Among them are Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah and the prophets, and the Twelve Disciples.  Among them are the many Christian martyrs who gave their lives for the faith over the last 2,000 years.  Among them also are so many of the people you've loved who have died and gone to be with Jesus in Heaven.  

They are so proud of you.  They are cheering for you, encouraging you, rooting for you to succeed.  They understand the difficulties you face, because they faced them too and they made it through.  The know you are scared or overwhelmed, but they know you can make it through.  They are rooting for you!

I also want you to know that God, in Jesus, is with you too. He is not angry.  He is not disappointed.  He loves you.  He loves you so much He died for you.  Imagine Jesus calling out to you.  He says, “Come to me, you who are weary and carrying a heavy burden. Give it to me. I offer rest for your weary soul.  I have something better for you.  It isn’t hard to carry.  And you don’t have to carry it alone.  I will walk with you and help you.  And all these saints around you will be there too, cheering you on.  And there will be many Christians in this world who will help you too.  For in my Church, we are family—brothers and sisters in Christ.  You are not alone.  Don’t be afraid.  I am with you."

Let the reality of this scene wash over you.  You cannot see it with your physical eyes.  See it with the eyes of faith and believe,  Amen.

Imagine A Future Beyond Your Fears

Introduction
Fear is a universal emotion felt by people throughout all times and in every part of the world.  Fear serves a valuable purpose—to help keep us safe when threats arise by motivating us to cope with potential danger.

A fear of heights can be a good thing because if you fall from a great height, you could be injured or killed.  The fear of heights warns you to take care in that potentially dangerous situation.  Other common fears triggers are:

• Darkness or being unable to see your surroundings
• Social interaction or rejection
• Snakes, rodents, spiders and other animals
• Death and dying

Anxiety is a form of persistent fear where people feel constantly worried without knowing why.  It can be an especially crippling form of fear because the anxious person doesn’t know why they’re afraid and can’t address the cause of their fear.

The Grand Canyon
Though unpleasant, fear is not necessarily a bad thing.  We are told many times in Scripture to “Fear the Lord.”  Fear in this sense counsels us to be careful with God, to respect and revere God, for He is holy and awesome.  We should approach God with care, as one might approach the edge of the Grand Canyon because it is beautiful and inspiring, but a careless misstep could be the end of you.  Fear is useful, but when it rules you, controls you, incapacitates you, fear has exceeded its purpose.

The Bible also tells people again and again, “Do not be afraid.”  And this indicates we are often fearful in the wrong circumstances.  It is when there is a guardrail protecting us from the edge of the Grand Canyon, but we still cannot approach.  It is when the snake is securely behind the glass of a terrarium, but we still cannot look and admire the beauty of a creature God made.  Our fear is out of control and keeping us from the blessings God wants us to have.  

There is something wonderful waiting for you on the other side of your fears.  What is it?  Who will you be and what will your life be like if you overcome your fears?  On the other hand, who will you be and what will life be like if your fears conquer you?  The life God wanted to give Israel in the Promised Land was beautiful and prosperous, but they had to overcome their fears to enter it.  Listen to God’s Word to Israel as they were poised to enter the Promised Land.

Deuteronomy 6:10-13
¹⁰ “The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. ¹¹ The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, ¹² be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. ¹³ You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name”

Who Should Fear and Who Should Trust?
There are two groups of people to consider in this story.  The first group is pretty obvious, because it's who the passage directly addresses.  The Israelites, had nothing to fear because God was with them.  They are told the blessings they will receive because they trust God.

The other group in the passage is less obvious.  It is the Canaanites.  God is about to take their land away and give it to the Israelites.  The Canaanites had every reason to fear because they rejected God.  They lived in Canaan for over 2,000 years.  Unfortunately, they rejected the one true God and devolved into evil, sexually immoral people who even sacrificed children as part of their religious rituals.  Furthermore, these evils had been ongoing for at least 400 years.  Finally, God was about to punish the Canaanites and give their land to the Israelites.

So the Canaanites who rejected God had everything to fear.  Their day of reckoning was at hand.  A Canaanite woman named Rahab revealed their fear in Joshua 2:9.  “I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror.”  When you reject God, you have reason for real fear.  That’s a dangerous situation.

The Israelites had nothing to fear because God was with them.  They put their faith in God.  He described the blessings Israel would receive as they conquered Canaan.  They would take possession of prosperous cities, homes already stocked with everything a person could need.  There would be wells, city infrastructure, and farmland already cultivated and producing fruit.  The towns God would give them were built by others and developed over decades and centuries.  Everything was ready for the Israelites to live in the Land.  God was with the Israelites.  They simply had to trust God more than their fear and enter the Promised Land.  

In verse 13, God reminds the Israelites “You must fear the Lord your God and serve him.”  In other words, don’t be afraid of the Canaanites.  Don’t be afraid to enter their land and conquer it.  Don’t be afraid of the scary things of this world.  Fear the Lord and obey Him.  For then you will be on God side and God’s side is always the winning side.

God’s Great Plan For You
God has a great plan for you too.  He wants you to live a life of confidence and faith.  He wants you to know He is with you and see His mighty hand at work.  Just as Jesus called His disciples, He calls you, “Come follow me.”  It is an amazing journey for all who answer the call to follow.  We see God’s power at work.  We see lives changed.  We see fearful people find confidence.  We see sinners transformed into saints.  We see the hopeless find hope.  And God supplies all the needs of His people as they embrace the mission of Christ. 

Among the blessings of those who follow Christ is a peace that passed all understanding.  You have peace in your heart.  You are at one with your Creator and His creation.  You know you have nothing to fear, nothing to hide, nothing to lose.  You trust God, not only with your own life, but with the lives of those you care about most.  You know you belong to God’s special family, for God adopts you as His own child.  Regardless of your social status in this world, in God’s sight you are a royal priest—kings and queens in the eternal Kingdom of God.   

There are still storms and trials and troubles.  There may be resistance.  (Look what they did to Jesus; they crucified Him.)  However, Christ is with His followers throughout all the trials of life.  Hebrews 13:6, “So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?””

Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave, those who follow Jesus also follow Him through death to ressurection and eternal life.  That means we no longer even need to fear death.  We are free to live with incredible faith and and boldness and confidence! 

Choose Today Who You Will Serve
There is something wonderful waiting for you on the other side of your fears.  What is it?  Who will you be and what will your life be like if you overcome your fears?  On the other hand, who will you be and what will life be like if your fears conquer you?

Whether you live in fear or live in faith all comes down to your choices.  Will you be like the Canaanites who continually rejected God and chose to live for themselves?  Or will you be like the Israelites, whom God chose and they chose to serve and obey God?

If you continue to choose your own way, you are in great danger—eternal danger.  A day of reckoning is coming for you, for we all must face God’s judgment one day.  Those who reject Christ will be rejected by God and cast out of the Good Land into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

But if you repent of your selfish sin and chose to put your faith in Christ, God will save you.  There will be nothing to fear because Jesus has already paid the penalty for your sins.  Now you are free to live in God’s love and share His love with everyone around you.  You didn’t earn these blessings.  Christ earned them for you.  So live a life of grateful obedience.

Who will you choose to serve today?  Will you serve your fear and continue to miss out on the Promised Land God wants to give you?  Or will you choose to serve you own selfish ambitions and reap the wrath of God?  Or will you choose to serve the One True and Living God and be His chosen sons and daughters for eternity?  

As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Take time to pray and chose who you will trust and follow and obey.  Be clear with God and yourself about your decision today.