Fear - May 19th, 2013 Sermon

By Pastor Greg

I am a book guy. Always have been and probably always will be. The book is always better than the movie. Such is the case with the recent miniseries on the History channel called The Bible. The Book is so much better. For example, in the one episode I did see, the movie omitted the great speech Moses gave as Israel was trapped next to the Red Sea. If you remember the story as it is told in the book, the Egyptian army began to chase Israel, and closed in against them at the Red Sea. With their back to the sea and the Egyptian army before them, the people of Israel began to fear. But that’s when Moses addresses that fear. He says, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” And it is at that point the great pillar of cloud and the Angel of the Lord came and stood between Egypt and Israel; something the History Chanel forgot to include. I thought it was the best part of the story.

Fear had gripped the nation of Israel. And as they began to fear they began to fight with one another. They turned against Moses, the very man who only days before had led them out of slavery. But that’s what fear does. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. So Moses calls the people to Faith. It is only faith that can cause a person to be still, and calmly wait upon the Lord.

What you may not know about this story is that the Angel of the Lord had led the nation to this very spot. The Lord brought Israel to this place knowing full well that the Pharaoh would harden his heart once again and pursue Israel. Yes, the Lord brought them to this place where they would be trapped. But He did this for a reason. He did this to teach Israel to place their faith in Him, and to demonstrate that if He is with them, who could ever be against them. And I find this lesson extremely interesting because it appears God will bring His people to a place where He is their only hope. And He will challenge His people to move from fear to faith.

You would think that after witnessing the plagues back in Egypt and experiencing the first Passover that the people of Israel would be long on faith and not struggle with fear and doubt. But fear continued to plague them; to define who they were. The sin of fear poisoned Israel so deeply that a whole generation was denied entrance into the Promised Land. They held on to fear and missed all the great promises of God.

I think that is where we are today. We are at a place as a church where God is trying to move us from fear to faith. And I fully believe He has brought us here today to in order to teach us faith; to help us become a people who do not live in fear, but a people who place their confident trust in Him.

I truly believe God is working among us and has been doing this for some time now. A short glance inside the Family Life Center right after church will reveal the number of children God has brought to this place. Truly we should rejoice over this; rejoice that the Lord has indeed found us faithful enough to allow us to love, care, nurture, and teach these children. It's as if God has said to us "I trust these children into your care. And I have faith that you will do the right thing". If you take the time to watch these children you will see a desire and passion for God. Such enthusiasm is contagious! I hear children talking about their friends in this place and about their church. They squeal with delight when they are in this place. And they want to be here. Praise God!

Truly the Lord is at work among us. He has brought us children. He has created within us a desire to minister to these children. He placed within us the idea of calling someone to leadership for this ministry. And the Lord has brought us a man willing to pour his life into these children, helping them build a sense of belonging, an understanding of God, and to direct them to Jesus. I am convinced that the Lord has brought us to this place today. He has been leading and directing us, which is exactly what we have been asking Him to do. We’ve asked Him to send us children, and the Lord had heard our request. But as we stand at this place, I am sensing something other than excitement for what God is about to do. Instead I am sensing great fear.

As we stand at this crossroad today, I sense great fear among us. Fear that we will not be able to afford this ministry, fear that perhaps we are calling the wrong man, fear that this ministry might fail, and fear of how this ministry will change us. Just like the people of Israel, it is fear which is causing us to quarrel among ourselves. And fear will cause us to miss out on what God has in store for us. Fear will cause us to fight and devour one another. Fear will cause us to resort to politics and manipulation in order to make sure things go our way. Fear creates an Us vs. Them mentality. Fear generates suspicion and distrust. Fear creates anger. Fear divides. Fear enslaves us and holds us captive. Have we learned nothing from all that God has done for us in the past? Will we really sin against God by not believing He can do what we cannot do on our own? Will we sin by questioning what God is already doing? Will we sin by telling God we don’t trust Him? This is why we must not let fear guide us or direct us. We must be a people who walk by faith.

The Angel of the Lord did not lead Israel to the banks of the Red Sea so they might parish, but so that they might witness the depth of His love and His strong arm of protection. They were called to move from fear to faith, and in the end found their faith confirmed. I strongly believe the Lord still does the same today. I am convinced that the Lord leads His people to a crossroad (or perhaps a cliff) not to destroy us. God forbid! He is not against us, He is for us. But He leads us to these situations to call us out of fear and into faith.

The Lord has led us here, and here we find ourselves struggling with fear. The only solution is to move our hearts toward faith, and watch what God is about to do in this place. As a church we must be at peace this day and remain calm. The Lord is in control. He is about to do something (although no one knows what that might be). So we dare not stand here trembling in fear. We must stand in faith believing that God is at work and that God is in control. We must have faith believing that since the Lord brought us here, He will do something to bring us through. In faith we stand lifting our hearts to Him, allowing Him to mold us and make us according to His will.

In a few moments we will be taking a vote whether to call a man to this ministry. How you vote is between yourself and God. But may I simply remind you that God has brought us to this place. So He must have something good planned in all of this. So please, make a decision out of faith and not fear. To chose fear is to deny that God can and will overcome all that we might worry about.