Moving Ahead – When You R Scared Series

Sermon Brief

Date Written: January 04, 2014

Date Preached: January 05, 2014

Where Preached: OPBC (AM)

Sermon Details:

Series Title: Moving Ahead

Sermon Title: Moving Ahead – When You R Scared

Sermon Text: Acts 9:10-19 [ESV]

Introduction:

10Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.

Introduction:

Safe is a comfortable place… we have all heard the phrase ‘safe and sound’… in our house, ‘safe and sound’! Safe is a place where we ALL want to be!

But feeling safe can be an illusion… Feeling safe and being safe and taking it safe can lead us into a false sense of security! Playing it safe, leads to no movement… no movement leads to stagnation and stagnation leads to nothing good!

But moving forward can be a scary thing… Think about the early settlers, many were content to remain where they were but many were willing to take the risk and MOVE west… a decision that was fraught with danger and the unknown… but a decision that moved them to a better place!

Are there risks moving ahead in life? YES there are ALWAYS risks when we move out of our ‘safe zone’ into the unknown! But there is also great risk in staying where we are and NOT moving forward…

Billy Graham was a young preacher who had a vision from God to preach the gospel to the world… can you imagine what his legacy would have been IF he had played it safe… if he had stayed in N.C. and just preached at local rallies in his association?

BUT what we know is that he did NOT play it safe, but launched an all out campaign to preach youth revivals all across our country… and God opened door after door for Him to further the Kingdom!

Playing it safe, may ‘protect’ us from what we fear? But when it comes to serving God, playing it safe also keeps us from experiencing the great blessings God has in store for us when we step out on faith and serve Him on HIS terms…

The issue for us is our expectations! We usually think about what WE want to do for God and NOT what God wants us to do… we have our own view of what God is asking! Let me give you an example…

I remember a particular incident when I was in basic training for the Air Force. One of the 1st mornings we were there, our Drill Instructor came in and gathered us around and with great enthusiasm asked the question, “Who here wants to be on the bowling team?”

Quickly 8 or 9 hands shot up in the air… then the Drill Instructor said, “Great!! You guys are going to be the latrine detail! You take ‘bowl’ #1, you take ‘bowl’ #2…” I cannot tell you how many disappointed airmen there were in that dorm room that day… MANY of them wanted to RUN away!

So often, as believers we find ourselves in a similar situation… We know God is calling us to serve and we agree to serve, but when God reveals what He wants us to do… we want to RUN away!

It is NOT that what God has for us is bad, but it is that we so often have the wrong expectations when it comes to what God wants from us… Like I said, so often our expectations are about what WE want to do for God and not what God wants us to do for Him!