Sermons from Good News: Don't fear; God is here

Blogger's Note: On Sundays, I will be copying and pasting on this blog notes I take in my phone from sermons at the church I attend. I'll be sharing sermons from the current week. On Wednesdays I'll also be sharing sermon messages dating back to October, when I first began attending my current church. Because of the backlog of sermons, I will be running posts on Wednesdays until sometime in May. My goal on Sundays is that sharing these sermons will theoretically be perpetual, or until I feel God nudging me to do something different. I want to also clarify that these are not my sermons, but rather the bullet point notes I put together. I enjoy our pastor's messages very much, and more importantly he preaches the Word of God as-is, which means the Spirit of God is imparting wisdom and knowledge through him. To God alone be the glory.

Church 3/20/2021

Offertory scripture:

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
John 12:32 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=John%2012:32&version=NIV

Sermon message:

God loves you and wants you blessed. Blessed: Mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, etc. because He loves you.

Thesis: don't fear, God is here

Here = inside you. When you accept Christ as Lord, He sends into you the Holy Spirit to be your companion or guide.

God wants to lead us and He wants to supply us our needs.

Review:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Psalm 23:1-3 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Psalm%2023:1-3&version=KJV

You are accepted. You are requested. You are valued.

And you are celebrated. Not mocked. Not ridiculed. But celebrated.

Tonight's focus verse:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Psalm%2023:4&version=KJV

God is with you. Not only so, but He is in you.

The point of this is to build your faith.

We need to build our faith. Especially in a world of fear.

Faith puts us in a position to receive from God.

Of course Satan will try to not let you get in position.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Ephesians%202:8&version=KJV

Analogy of the receiver position in football, the football is grace or favor from God, the quarterback in this analogy is God, and the defenders who try to stop the quarterback and receiver, that's the enemy. The goal of course is for the football receiver to receive the football from the quarterback. The analogy is that we need to be in position to receive God's grace and favor.

Mark 5:34:

And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
Mark 5:34 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Mark%205:34&version=KJV

He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Mark 5:34 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Mark%205:34&version=NIV

Mark 9:23:

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mark 9:23 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Mark%209:23&version=KJV

23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Mark 9:23 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Mark%209:23&version=NIV

Luke 18:42:

And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
Luke 18:42 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Luke%2018:42&version=KJV

2. Fear will take you out of position to receive from God

Repeat of focus verse:

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Psalm%2023:4&version=NIV

But faith in God can overcome fear.

But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
1 Samuel 17:34-37 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Samuel%2017:34-37&version=NIV

Fear... it takes you out of position to receive from God.

Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
1 Samuel 17:21-24 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Samuel%2017:21-24&version=NIV

But instead, David was living in faith.

Psalm 23:4. "I will fear no evil, for You are with me." This is the most recited verse in the entire bible.

Don't fear; God is here (in you).

God can build your faith through this psalm and especially this verse. (Verse 4) Read it out loud. It'll make a difference.

3. When things don't happen like you thought they would, remember that God is still with you.

4. When you are in a storm, God is with you.

Passages where Jesus said and demonstrated that He is with us, even in the storm.

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=John%2016:33&version=NIV

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:11-15 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=John%2010:11-15&version=NIV

David met Goliath in a valley. Goliath is just a shadow.

5. Our reaction in a valley is really important.

Do we give in to faith and trust God, or do we give in to fear and turn away from Him?