Sermon Central
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What Are You Afraid Of? The Barney Story
Contributed by Michael Deutsch on Sep 11, 2012 (message contributor)
WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? THE BARNEY STORY
A few years ago, a church in Seattle, Washington was having a big kick-off Sunday. They wanted to do something for their children's programs. So they brought in Barney the Dinosaur. They learned, Kids like Barney when he’s on TV or in a stuffed animal. But when you bring in a 7 foot tall Barney, he becomes a little intimidating to kids.
In fact, the church had Barney scheduled for two weeks, they ditched him after the first week. But there he was. One little boy absolutely flipped out. His mom was teaching a Sunday School class, so she couldn't take him. So his dad took him and finally got him calm.
During the worship, the dad was supposed to help take the offering. The church met in a large warehouse and had partitioned off several areas to the side of their worship.
So the dad said to his son, "You stay here. I’ll be right back and you’ll be OK." But the dad didn’t know, that was also Barney's dressing room.
Right in the middle of the offering, Barney opens the door. This kid is trapped. He just goes wild. He’s screaming and everyone hears him. Barney doesn't know what to do, so he tries to help out by taking his head off.
The kid then starts screaming, "He's eaten someone. He's eaten someone!"
If we were to be really honest, we could make a huge list of things we are afraid of, including Barney. Some of them seem totally irrational, and we admit them, but they still bring fear. There are lots of things out there to be afraid of, isn't there?
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