Advent - Fear Not
December 1, 2024
Most people don’t like to admit the things we’re afraid of. What are your fears? It seems like fear is much more prominent today than it was back when I was a kid. Sometimes I think we can blame the media and social media and the fast pace of news spreading.
When I was a kid, life was much simpler. We had our fears, but it didn’t seem like there were that many. I know I was afraid of thunder. Those loud claps of thunder would get to me and I’d yell out for my mom. Not screaming, but I would hope she would hear my first whispers.
I didn’t like being home alone and in bed. I always heard the house creaking. I’d assume someone was there, but nobody ever was.
I also didn’t like and still don’t like scary movies. Scary movies in my day was Frankenstein or Dracula. Nothing to crazy. But I remember watching one of those Friday the 13th of Halloween movies and I couldn’t sleep. In fact, I was out of town and I couldn’t sleep near the edge of the bed. I was an adult on a business trip, but I still could not let my arm hang off the bed.
It’s amazing what fear can do to us.
For some of you it might have been the need to make sure your closet doors were closed or you had certain lights on.
Now that I’m a grown up, actually moving closer to the end of life, than the beginning, you realize there’s more things going on in the world and there’s things to be afraid of. You know what I'm talking about?
We worry more about the impact of politics. What will happen next year when Donald Trump becomes president again? Will it get better? Will things get worse?
What about health care? What about your kids or grandkids? Are they making the right decisions?
There’s jobs and family and wars. Now there’s the fear that AI is going to take over the world, and how do you even know what’s real and what’s not?
I wanna talk to you today about fear, and some would say this about fear, they would say that fear is the opposite of faith. That sounds pretty good, right? Fear is the opposite of faith.
But I would suggest to you that fear is actually faith. It's putting faith in the worst possible outcome. And I wanna remind you today, if you are worried, if you have uneasiness, like most people that I know --- fear is not from God. In fact, 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us this,
"God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but God has given us a spirit of power, and of love, and of self-discipline."
God has not given us a spirit of fear. So as we approach this Christmas season, I want to show you three different portions of the Christmas story, one each week. And we're gonna look at 3 different times in the Christmas story that an angel of the Lord appears and tells us, "Do not be afraid."
If you find yourself with some weighty concerns on your heart today, I believe God's Word is going to speak to you.
In Luke Chapter 1, we're going to look at Mary. If we look at the story from her perspective, she did not plan to be the mother of Jesus.
She's just a teenage girl who’s probably dating what she considers to be a very cute guy named, Joseph.
She is engaged to be married to Joseph, and she's probably thinking Joseph’s a carpenter, and he's gonna start his carpentry business and God is going to bless it.
And we we're going to get married, and she already has a date booked at the Bethlehem Wedding Chapel, and they're setting some money aside for their honeymoon on the beach. And they're gonna rent a very cute, little one bedroom apartment. And she's already got the colors picked out for the apartment. Then, they're gonna have about two years of getting to know each other and loving each other. And then they're gonna try to have a baby, and boom, they're gonna have a baby. And she's already got a name for the boy baby and a girl baby.
Mary had a plan, but God interrupted her plan. Has God ever interrupted your plan, raise your hand? Online, you can type, God has interrupted my plan. Why does God do that? Why would He interrupt your plan? We have to remember that even though we think we're pretty smart, He's actually smarter and His ways are higher than our ways.
And that's why it's important to remind ourselves that God's purpose is often very different from our plans. God's purpose for our lives is often very different than what we think is best. And we see this in Luke 1:26, when scripture says this, - - - -
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
Now, that's pretty exciting, an angel appears to you. You weren't expecting that. I'm like hashtag blessed, this is fun. But what did Mary feel? Look at the next verse - - - -
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
What's interesting is the way Luke worded this. She's not just confused, but Luke uses a word that's translated, disturbed.
She felt confused and disturbed. Confused, she wasn't planning this. Disturbed, this is out of her comfort zone. Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. She's a teenage girl. She has plans for her life. An angel appears to her and interrupts her plans. And she was confused and disturbed.
Like wait a minute, God, why in the world are You choosing me? And if I'm highly favored and you're choosing me, what is it that you're gonna ask me to do? Because I've got a plan.
Not only am I confused, but I don't like this, God. In other words, don't mess with my plans. I wonder how many of you have ever felt like that? You know what you want and you're going in a direction, and then God closes a door or something comes in and disrupts it, and you're thinking, "God, I am a little bit confused, AND I'm also not happy about this."
I love that it's in there, because sometimes, we think that's not really spiritual, but that's just to be human, to say, "God, I don't understand, and I'm a little bit concerned that you're asking me to do something I don't wanna do. You're taking me to place that I don't really wanna go."
God interrupted Mary's plans, and what I've discovered in many, many years of studying God's Word and many, many years of watching God work through lots of people. I've discovered that what we call God's disturbing interruptions are often God's divine invitations, what we call as an interruption, God says, "I may be taking you out of your plans, but I'm actually leading you toward my purpose, right?”
God, I don't get this. I mean like this is what I had on my five-year plan. I had it on my dream board, God. You know that dream board that I prayed about and I put everything on there, that this is the way it's supposed to be, God, and I don't understand what you're doing. You're interrupting my plans." And God said, "No, actually, your plans weren't my purpose. I'm interrupting you to take you to my purpose."
And we see this many times in scripture. God interrupted Moses with a burning bush, and suddenly, he's standing on holy ground and God says, "I'm gonna call you out of where you were, and you're going to deliver my people."
God interrupted David when he was tending sheep. Instead, I've got a much bigger assignment for you. You're gonna be the next king of Israel.
God interrupted Saul while he was persecuting Christians. And God sends a light from heaven and interrupts his plans, and said, "Hey, I have chosen you as my instrument, my chosen vessel to take the gospel to the Gentiles."
And God may interrupt your plans. What you think you want, you knew you were gonna marry that person, but God interrupts that plan, because He has something else for you now or someone else for you later.
You thought you were supposed to go to that school, you've always dreamed of going that school. You've been wearing the jersey since early in your life, and then you get interrupted and you can't go to that school, because God has someone for you to meet or something for you to do somewhere else, and He's taking you out of your plans into your purpose.
Some of you right now, you're watching a video and you weren't planning on watching it. You had just watched one, and suddenly, YouTube recommended another one, and here you are.
You had a plan, but God had a purpose. Mary tried to think of what the angel could mean."
How many of you find yourself sometime interrupted by God, and asking, "I wonder what God is trying to do. I just want some details. God, if you give me the reason, then I can take it. If you show me what's going to happen, show me the good that's gonna come out of this bad, then I'll praise you and be much more willing. I just need to understand, God, help me to understand."
And I wanna remind you that you don't have to understand the plan to trust that God has a purpose. God is good enough and big enough not to give you all the details. In fact, there are some times where God's gonna take you on a journey that if He gave you the details, you would not go.
Because sometimes, He has to take you through something you would never choose to do something in you that you could never achieve otherwise.
God, I just wanna know what this means. I really need to understand what You're doing. But the truth is, you and I don't have to understand the plan to trust that God is good, that He's working, and that He does have a purpose for us.
So the angel speaks to her in verse 30, and says - - - -
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
"Do not be afraid." I like the way the King James puts it . . . "Fear not."
Fear not. Do not be afraid. And Mary, the angel told her, You have found favor with God.
How many of you would say that you want favor from God? I want favor from God. What is favor? I looked it up to see how different people defined it. I'll give you their definition, I'll give you mine.
One commentary called favor, demonstrated delight. It's God's demonstrated delight. Someone else said, "It's visible evidence of God's blessings." I would just define it this way, what is favor? Favor is the undeserved blessings God lavishly pours out on His children whom He loves. It's His visibly displayed lavish blessings that we do not deserve, that He just pours out.
Sometimes, you just get the favor of God. And what's amazing about the favor of God is it's not just a nice seat on a plane. And it is not just material blessings or financial blessings, it's just that sometimes, people just like you. People just... people bless you and people say they show you favor. And sometimes, favor is like really good relationships. Sometimes, favor is just being a part of a great church. Sometimes, favor is like having good health, especially with what we eat in this world, right?
How many want the favor of God? Mary found favor. And if I'm Mary and I'm thinking God is giving me favor, I'm probably thinking my wedding is going to be a reality show, and it's all gonna be paid for.
Something like that, God's gonna pay for my wedding and my honeymoon. And what does the favor of God look like?
Verse 31 tells us - - - -
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
The favor is - - - - I'm gonna be pregnant, I'm not even married and you're already naming my kid for me? Jesus, "He will be very great and he will be called the Son of the Most High."
Okay, now she's getting nervous. I'm gonna give birth to a kid I didn't choose, and you named it, and He's gonna be the son of the most high?
When we just read the story and don't think like, what's going through her mind. This is not my plan. "The Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David, and he'll reign over Israel forever. His kingdom will never end."
I can picture Mary looking up toward God, toward this angel and thinking ‘that's crazy! I’m just a kid and not married!’ How would you feel about raising the son of God?
You're gonna raise the son of God in your home. What do we know about God's favor? Sometimes, God's favor doesn't seem favorable at first. Sometimes, the favor of God is not what you would immediately choose.
You're dating somebody, you think this is the one, and suddenly, it comes to an end. And I go, "This isn't what I wanted, God." It may be the favor of God, that one day you look back, and one of your biggest praise reports is that you didn't marry the one that you wanted to marry.
The favor doesn't seem favorable in the moment, or you just know you're gonna get the promotion, or you know you're gonna get the job, and you don't get the promotion and you don't get the job. And I go, "This is favor?" Doesn't seem favorable, but you don't know that God has something different or some other plan that you can't see just yet.
The angel continues, giving her more detail - - - -
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David,
33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
This is getting pretty intense. Details are coming that are overwhelming Mary. She’s not against this, but she’s what? Confused and disturbed . . . greatly troubled.
So, she asked a legit question - - - -
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
OK, God, how are we gonna get there? Sometimes, God will start taking you down a path that doesn't make any sense, because you don't see the means to get to where you think God wants you to go. Mary's gonna look on and say, "Hey, this isn't just impossible. This is like absurd, I am a virgin. I have never had physical intimacy with a man. There is no way a baby can come from me, there is no way."
And in verse 35 and 37, we see this.
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be called holy — the Son of God.
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Nothing is impossible with God. The angel reminds us that no matter what you are facing or what you need, with God, all things are possible.
What's weighing on you today? What are you worried about? What are you afraid of? Whatever it is, God can intervene. I wanna tell somebody.
God can bring the right person into your life at the right time.
God can do that all day long.
God can transform the wrong person who's acting in the wrong way into a person with a right heart toward the things of God.
God can do a miracle in the life of the person who is far from Him today.
God can provide and meet any need that you have in your life right now.
God is a healing God, and He can heal any sickness.
God is your savior. God forgives. God can forgive any sin that the devil continues to throw back at you saying, "You are what you did."
And God says, "You are not what you did." You are forgiven by the power of the risen Christ that is gone.
The person in your family, the person in your life that is very far from God, you think there's no way. They're an atheist, they're mad at God, they hate God, they'll never believe in God, they're never gonna come to God.
God is so big by the power of His spirit, He can draw someone far to Him very, very quickly.
All things are possible with God.
So I believe the question that God would like for you to answer is this.
What is God asking you to do or believe? What is God saying to you today?
Like, Mary, is He calling, is He interrupting your plan, and calling you to do something different? Is He calling you to trust Him in an area that you've been trying to control? What is God calling you to do or to believe?
What God is calling you to do will vary for so many of us. It may be to go back to school or to reach out to someone, and to try to heal a broken relationship and believe that God is a God who restores broken relationships.
For some of you, God might prompt you to give something and you think, "How could I give that? I need that or I might need that in the future." Or God might prompt you to trust Him with a tithe. I return back to you 10% of what you trust to me. You think how can I do that? God says, "You gotta test me. You gotta trust me to see my provision."
God might speak to someone and lead you to break up with the person that you're dating that is not honoring God. "But I've invested so much time and what's going to happen?"
God is prompting someone to continue to believe for healing. When you've prayed and prayed and nothing's happened.
God may prompt someone here to witness to a friend that you've witnessed to over and over and over again, and they continue to reject you. But God says, "No, no, love them anyway. Keep reflecting my love."
What is God calling you to do or believe? And an angel of the Lord tells a teenage girl, "You're gonna give birth to the Savior of the world." Fear not. Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God. And what does Mary realize? She realizes she has a choice to make. Does she continue on in her plan, or does she trust in God's purpose?
The angel says, "Fear not, you found favor with God." And Mary realizes something that I hope that you realize, and that is this, that the outcome is God's responsibility, and obedience is ours.
The only thing that we can actually do is to trust God's voice, to trust His word, to trust His purpose, even when we don't understand the plan.
We can't control the outcome. The outcome, that belongs to God. Our assignment is simply to obey Him. And so Mary, who had a very real plan for her life comes to a crossroads. God's asking her to do something she didn't have planned. And her response is what I pray my response will be. And that is this, in verse 38, Mary responded, saying, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you've said about me come true."
Do you really want God's will? Or do you want your will? All Christians say, "I want God's will, God's will, God's will."
I don't know about you, but I want God's will until it's different from mine. Can I say that? Sometimes, I'm like, "No, no, no, God, I want my will." And sometimes, the biggest blessings are gonna be in the other side of surrendering your will, and trusting God's purpose. I am the Lord's servant. I am the Lord's, my life belongs to Him, because of who He is, Jesus, the Son of God, who never sinned. Who is perfect in every way, who gave His life on the cross, who rose again, so I could be forgiven, 'cause of what He did for me, my only reasonable response is all of me, all of me.
What does that mean? That means we lay down our lives. Jesus said, "You pick up your cross." That means I die to my plans. You deny yourselves and you say, "I wanna live for you, I wanna follow you, I wanna be your disciple. I wanna show your love, my life is yours. I am the Lord's servant." May it be done unto me, according to Your word.
So whatever you're facing today, whatever is weighing on you today, know this - - - - God has not given you a spirit of fear. And the same God that was with Mary is with you at this moment.
So hear the truth of God. You don't have to be afraid. Fear not. The Lord is with you.
* Based off a series by Craig Groeschel
