FBLC “in home” 3/22/20
Worship Service
You may want to look the songs up on youtube and sing along. Don’t forget to lay up your tithe & offering in a safe place until we meet again (or mail it to Don). If you know someone who doesn’t have email call them & share something from this. Above all, let’s encourage one another and build up one another in the faith.
Song – page 747 “Why worry when you can pray”
Our verse for the month – Jude 1:21 “keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
Prayer of thanksgiving for the day
Welcome – Contact someone & say “hello” (by phone, email, or message)
Prayer for someone else
Song – page 598 “Standing on the Promises”
Scripture Reading – Psalm 56
Presenting of tithes & offerings
Song – page 794 “His Eye is on the Sparrow”
Message – “Fear to Faith”
Song – page 733 “I Just Keep Trusting my Lord”
“The Lord bless and keep you, the Lord make His face shine upon yoy; the LORD lift up His face upon you, and give you peace” Amen
With Christian love and prayer,
Pastor Larry T
Message, 3/22/20
“From Fear to Faith”
Psalm 56:3,4
The coronavirus is here! The unknown and unprecedented nature of the disease is stoking fear among Americans. Every hour, some news event is coming out — that’s creating a lot of fear and anxiety among Americans. It’s a global event pervading nearly every aspect of people’s lives, causing them to worry not only about getting sick themselves but about Grandma’s health, what to do with out-of-school kids, and how to absorb their rapidly shrinking 401(k)s. It’s natural and good to fear – it’s a God given response to danger – Fear! What is it? A painful emotion or passion excited by an expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger. Yet it can be dangerous to us. The potential effects of chronic fear on physical health include headaches turning into migraines, muscle aches turning into fibromyalgia, body aches turning into chronic pain, and difficulty breathing turning into asthma (Luke 21:26). God also has a response to our fear -… We can go from fear to faith.
1. The Admission of fear (v. 3) – “what time I am afraid” Psalm 55:4, 5 – My heart is severely pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me
David did not hesitate to admit that there were times when he was afraid. He saw himself to be in danger, and he had apprehensions as to the result. There is a natural fear of danger and of death; a fear implanted in us: Fear is one of these things, designed to make us feel that we “need” a God, and to lead us to him when we realize that we have no power to save ourselves from impending dangers. He wasn’t the only one in the Bible to fear – Genesis 26:7; Exodus 2:14;1 Samuel 21:12; 28:5; 1 kings 19:3; Daniel 4:5; Matthew 8:25; 26:56; 2 Corinthians 7:5, 6
the great thing about this honest confession is that he immediately follows it up with an affirmation of his trust in God. How about us, where do we turn when fear comes (and it will)?
2. The Antidote of fear (vs. 3, 4) -“I will trust” Turning to friends, family, and experts is not a bad thing, but turning to God is the best thing.
Trust and confidence in the Lord is the best antidote against fears; who is unchangeable in his love, in whom is everlasting strength, and who is faithful and true to every word of promise; Look at the results of trust – Psalm 31:19; 32:10; 34:22; 125:1; Proverbs 3:5,6; 29:25; and how about Isaiah 26:3 and the testimonies of God’s faithfulness – 1 Kings 8:56; Psalm 37:25; 2 Timothy 4:16-18.
Trust is rolling over, resting on, depending on another’s word – it’s learning to lean on Jesus; it’s jumping in a wheelbarrel and being wheeled across Niagra Falls on a tightrope because someoneone said they could do it! I’m learning to lean, how about you?
3. The Absolving of fear (v.3) – “In your Word” Instead of dwelling on the terrifying things around us we need to learn what God has said to those who love Him. He has “spoken” as an encouragement to us. We can be thankful that he has given me promises on which I may rely in the times of fear.”
He now had triumphant confidence and rejoiced in the certainty of hope. The ground of his joy was God’s Word; and so his fears gave way to faith and though the danger was still there he cling to the promises of God. vs.10,11 – Psalm 34:4 and He encourages himself in God, and in his promises, power, and providence. 1 Samuel 30:6 Psalm 119:28, 78, 114, 147; Why we should “Fear not” Genesis 26:24; 2 Kings 6:16; Psalm 46:1-3; Isaiah 41:10; 43:1-3;Matthew 10:30,31; Hebrews 13:5-8.
My life verse is Nahum 1:7, I go to it when fear comes, I was given Deuteronomy 29:29 at a time of great heartache, I have found great hope and comfort in Psalm 62 and go to it often when fear comes. The Bible encourages me so when fear knocks on my heart’s door, I let faith answer it and I find no one there. How about you? Do you rejoice in God’s Word?
He made God his confidence, so when dangers were most threatening he could say, “What time I am afraid, in the day of my fear, when I am most terrified from without and most timorous within, then I will trust in thee, and thereby my fears shall be silenced.”. Can we?