Strike Out For Jesus

Strike Out for Jesus

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30

Purpose: to share how we can overcome the fear of failure in our lives.

Last week - What can we Spare for God? Usually we think of “what can I give that will not hurt or cost me too much?”

*PARADIGM SHIFT*

Bowling analogy - What can I spare for God? What amazing things does God want to help me accomplish as I walk with Him?”

What is stopping us? for many, in some form, it is the fear of failure.

Blind Prisoner: You do not fear death. You think this makes you strong. It makes you weak.

Bruce Wayne: Why?

Blind Prisoner: How can you move faster than possible, fight longer than possible without the most powerful impulse of the spirit: the fear of death.

Bruce Wayne: I do fear death. I fear dying in here, while my city burns, and there's no one there to save it.

Blind Prisoner: Then make the climb.

Bruce Wayne: How?

Blind Prisoner: As the child did. Without the rope. Then fear will find you again.

The fear of failure is not really new. It’s been around for ages. In fact, Jesus told a story about it in Matthew 25 about a master who has three servants. He divided his income among them and said, “I’m going on a trip. I want you to take my money and invest it.”

The first guy took the money and doubled it. The master was satisfied. The second guy took the money and doubled it. Again, the master was satisfied. But then we come to the third guy. We pick up his story in verse 25,

(Matthew 25 25-27) “’So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent

in the ground. See here is what belongs to you.’ His master replied, you wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well, then, you should

have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.’”

Jesus wants us to learn from this story that when we refuse to take risks, we’re refusing to live by faith. How do we conquer the fear of failure anyway?No one likes to talk about his or her Failures. So how then can we overcome the fear of failure so that it does not paralyze us to move forward? There are four things we need to understand if we are going to take risks that will honor God.

first way to conquer the fear of failure is to know ...

I. EVERYONE FAILS – You are not alone!!

A. The starting point to overcoming the fear of failure is to realize, that it is a universal experience. Everybody fails. James is very specific about this. He says,

“We all stumble in many ways.” (James 3:2)

1. A study has been done and they’ve discovered that the failure rate of human beings is 100%.

2. Nobody is perfect. We all blow it. You can’t get away from that principle in Scripture. Great men of the Bible failed.

- Abraham failed to believe that God would give him a son so he slept with someone who wasn’t his wife, but God didn’t give up on him.

- Jacob was a thief, and God allowed him to bless the world through his children.

- Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, survived the flood but ended up getting drunk.

- Moses was a murderer.

- David committed adultery with Bethsheba, and then murdered her husband to hide his failing. Yet, David became known as a man “after God’s heart.”

Folks, the list could go on and on. Everyone fails!

3. I love (Romans 3:23): “for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”

- Everybody fails. You’re a superstar in baseball if you only make an out 700 times out of a thousand at bat. If you’re a professional basketball player, you’re at the top of the game if you miss 50% of your shots.

4. Have you lost your job this week? Have you been fired? Join the club. How many other people have been fired in life? Failure is universal. That’s why we all need God’s grace.

- “Failure is when you feel like your best just isn’t good enough.”

- Discover that everybody fails. But there’s a second way to overcome the fear of failure. We also have to...

II. FAILURE IS NOT FINAL.

A. Look at (Proverbs 24:16), “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”

1. Even good guys stumble! History is filled with the biographies of failures who got up and kept going.