Faith Soars! Fear Crawls.

FAITH SOARS! FEAR CRAWLS.

2 Tim 1:6-7

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. There are a lot of things in our lives that cause us to worry. Rick Majerus, men’s basketball coach at the University of Utah, recently captured a common concern: “Everyone’s worried about the economy this year. Hey, my hairline is in recession, my waistline is in inflation, and, altogether, I’m in depression.”

2. Sometimes our kids make us worry. On her forty-first birthday, a woman received an expensive wrinkle-removing cream from her teenage daughter. Someone asked, “What did she give you last year?” The mother replied, “The wrinkles!”

B. GREAT OPPOSITES

1. The Wise..............the Foolish;

2. The Wicked..........the Righteous;

3. The Good..............the Evil

4. Life....................Death;

5. Truth.................Error;

6. Light..................Darkness;

7. Fear...................Faith

8. Faith is the great power by which God created the universe, Heb. 11:3. Faith is the ‘muscle’ behind His power; but Fear is the muscle behind Satan’s power.

9. Fear is a paralyzer. It weakens, daunts, and debilitates.

C. SURVIVAL MODE OR VICTORY?

1. Many Christians have settled for survival existence; they’re not expecting the abundance or the supernatural of God. They have been crippled by anxiety, disappointments, or fears. God commands us to wake up to faith. This morning we’re looking at a man who struggled with fear and see the prescription by which he overcame it.

2. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Tim. 1:6-7.

3. The title is “Faith Soars, Fear Crawls.”

I. TIMOTHY’S STRUGGLE WITH FEAR

A. FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY

1. Paul met Timothy when he was in Lystra in Acts 16. Timothy’s father was Greek but his mother was Jewish. Paul circumcised him and took Timothy with him on his missionary journeys. Timothy was put into ministry in Ephesus.

2. Timothy evidently suffered from feelings of inadequacy. Paul wrote to him in 1 Tim. 4:12 NIV to encourage him not to let people intimidate him because he was a young pastor.

3. In Paul’s second letter, Paul reminded Timothy that any cowardice in his life didn’t come from God’s Spirit. Paul also mentioned (1 Tim. 5:23) that Timothy had stomach troubles, which many expositors believe was related to fear in his life.

4. Unless Timothy mastered his fears, he would become ineffective for God and not accomplish God’s destiny for his life. Israel didn’t enter the promised land because of fear! It’s the same with us!

B. COURAGE: MASTERING YOUR FEARS

1. What is courage? Mark Twain described it best: “Courage is Resistance to fear – NOT absence of fears.” We all have fears. Courage is a decision of the will, not to let fears cripple us.

2. Napoleon often referred to Marshall Ney as the bravest man he had ever known. Yet Ney’s knees trembled so badly one morning before a battle that he had trouble mounting his horse. He shouted at them contemptuously, “Shake away, knees, you would worse than that if you knew where I am going to take you!”

3. Fear can cripple us. Resigning ourselves to fears and phobias can keep us from truly living life and chain us to survival mode.

4. The Los Angeles Times once (1992) carried the story about a man who had a fear of heights. He could only cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland if his wife drove the car and locked him in the trunk!

II. THE NEED FOR COURAGE TODAY

A. IN ORDINARY SITUATIONS

1. Here I’m not talking about heroic actions such as cliff diving or mountain climbing, but the need for daily courage.

2. Every single day we make choices that show whether we are courageous or cowardly. We choose between the right thing and the convenient thing, to sticking to a conviction or caving in to peer pressure. Will we take a risk or crawl into a shell of safety?

3. To say “yes” to Jesus Christ is the first courageous act – to admit your vulnerability. Christianity is not for weak, cowardly people. It takes backbone to obey God and go against the culture.

4. It takes courage, because God call us to go places we’ve never been. He gives us tasks we feel inadequate for. That’s why many people begin with faith, but settle for religion. Living by faith is sometimes scary!

B. RELATIONSHIPS TAKE COURAGE

1. Marriage takes courage; intimacy must be developed. You must have courage to drop your guard and be real with your spouse, “Honey, we’ve got serious problems in our marriage and we need to do something about it.

2. It takes courage to say, “Let’s fight to keep this marriage together. Let’s go see a counselor. Let’s go to that marriage retreat.”