"Are You Fearfully Afraid Or Faithfully Focused?" (Mark 6:45-52) Series

The Ministry, Message, and Messiah in the Book of Mark Week 14:

"Are You Fearfully Afraid or Faithfully Focused?" (Mark 6:45-52)

Crossroads Community Church

Rev. Ricky A. Rohrig Sr., Founding Pastor

Webster-Merriam defines fear as verb or action word meaning:

• to be afraid of (something or someone)

• to expect or worry about (something bad or unpleasant)

• to be afraid and worried

At some point in your life we have all been scared or feared something. Let me ask you what are somethings that you are scared of or fearful of?

One of the ways to overcome your fears is to face them head on. For some they may need a little extra encouragement and there was a show that not only made people face their fears head on, but if you were strong enough, brave enough, and maybe even crazy enough you could win $50,000 for doing it.

The show was called Fear factor, hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan, in each pulse-racing "Fear Factor" episode, contestants (sometimes solo, often paired with spouses, siblings or best friends) recruited from across the nation must decide if they have the guts and determination to face their most primal fears. Under the supervision of professional Hollywood stunt coordinators, contestants are confronted with a series of challenging stunts. If they complete their task they advance; if fear stops them from completing a stunt or they fail the mission, they are immediately eliminated. The contestant who wins the final challenge takes home the prize.

• The first stunt is designed to physically test each of the contestants or teams (for example, jumping from one building to the next or hanging from a helicopter and collecting flags on a ladder). Usually, the two men and the two women, or the three teams, that gave the best performance (such as the fastest time, farthest distance, or number of flags collected in under a certain time) will move on to the second stunt. The others are eliminated.

• The second stunt is meant to mentally challenge the contestants or teams. The three most common types of stunts in the second round are eating stunts, animal stunts, and retrieval/transfer stunts. Eating stunts entail ingesting vile animal parts, live bugs, or a blended concoction of multiple items; animal stunts entail immersing one's head or entire body in animals considered to be disgusting or intimidating (such as rats, spiders, snakes, or worms); retrieval/transfer stunts entail retrieving items or gross objects (often by mouth) hidden in disgusting substances (for example, blood or lard), or live animals (such as sit in a tub of snakes as long as they could). Less often, the second stunt involves a pain endurance challenge or embarrassment tolerance challenge, such as outlasting competitors in a tear gas chamber, walking on broken glass with bare feet, getting a tattoo, having their head shaved, getting piercings or ingesting habanero peppers. With the exception of retrieval/transfer stunts, contestants are usually not eliminated after this stunt unless they did not complete it, or if vomited before finishing. In the case of teams, one team may be eliminated for performing the worst.

• The third and final stunt is usually something from an extreme type of stunt seen in an action film. Like the first stunt, it usually involves heights, water, vehicles, or some combination of the three. In order to avoid ties, this stunt is always competitive. The player or team with the best performance this round wins the grand prize, usually $50,000, and had the privilege of being informed by Rogan that "evidently, fear is not a factor for you".

So who’s ready to sign up? Fear is something that is not uncommon and has been around as long as people have. We all have had circumstances, situation, or surroundings that have made us fearful at one time or another. As we continue in our series The Ministry, Message, and Messiah in the Book of Mark, I would like to start by asking you this question, "Are You Fearfully Afraid or Faithfully Focused?" (repeat) We are going to unpack this today together and see why even in the midst of desperation, your darkest hour, or your deepest fear, God is there with you, Jesus can calm your storm, and the Holy Spirit can lead and guide you from scared to safety. The words of the Apostle Paul to his young protégé Timothy will be our baseline scripture I want you to remember today and the next time you are afraid.

2 Timothy 1:7

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

If you have your Bible today I would like you to turn to Mark 6:45-52. Similar passages are found in Matthew 14 and John 6 and I will be cross-referencing those today too.