River Church NOLA
Wed October 8 Wednesday
  • Trading My Sorrows
  • It Is You
  • I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever
  • Revelation Song
  • Replacing my fears with Faith
    For the last 4 weeks we have been teaching a series on how God turns setback into comebacks. Everybody loves a comeback. (Saints game - Looked like it was going to be 0-5, but they came back)
    During the series, we have looked at several important points about setbacks and comebacks.

    Truths About Setbacks to Remember

    There are no comebacks without setbacks

    You can’t have a comeback without a setback. Setbacks are a part of life. We all go through them. It may be a health setback, a financial setback, a relational setback, a career setback, a spiritual setback, an emotional setback… or many other setbacks. We live in a broken world.

    Every setback is a setup for a comeback

    If you never experienced any losses, you would never have any wins. But when you experience a setback, you are being set up for a comeback.

    A setback is intended not to punish me, but to prepare me for my next stage of responsibility.

    The setback you are experiencing right now is not intended to punish you, it’s preparing you for what’s next. God uses delays and difficulties and even dead ends to get us ready for what he has in store for us. And He uses setbacks to build our character and to deepen our faith and to strengthen our resilience and to teach us stuff that we could never learn any other way. The setback is not intended to punish you but to prepare you for your next stage of responsibility.

    Setbacks are the stepping stones to my future.

    Setbacks are not the barriers in the path to your future. They are the path to your future. If you get this it'll change the way you look at all your problems.
    Last Wednesday, we looked at the life of Joseph, the son of Jacob, in the book of Genesis to illustrate when others cause your setbacks. All of his setbacks were painful, but Joseph could look back and say, What you meant for evil, God meant for Good. He recognized that these setbacks were actually stepping stones to where God wanted him to be.
    The same is true for you. The setbacks you are experiencing are actually stepping stones to where God wants you to be.
    So why am I spending so much time on setbacks in this series? Because when we experience setbacks, we tend to panic. When things don’t happen as fast as we want, or the way we want, we become filled with doubt and think God doesn’t know what he is doing. Listen, Fear ius your greates enemy. Fear, worry, anxiety… none of those are good.
    So today we are looking at What do we do when a setback fills us with fear? If you are filled with fear, your life will be broken by the setbacks in your life. But if you are filled with faith, you will benefit from your setbacks.
    Everyone has fears… secret fears. It might be a fear that no one will care about you… that no one will even notice you… or the fear of dying alone… or that if people really knew you, they wouldn’t like you.
    Joke about fear
    You know, I read that the average person is afraid of public speaking more than death. That means at a funeral, most people would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy!
    👉 “Fear can make us do strange things — but God calls us to stand up, speak truth, and trust Him even when our knees are shaking.”
    All types of fears.
    Astraphobia - fear of the weather. thunder and lightening
    Ablutophobia - fear of bathing
    Aphnphosmphobia - fear of being touched
    Theophobia - Fear of religion
    So tonight we will look at the Christmas story because it’s a practical illustration of how to turn fear into faith. The Christmas story messed up everyone’s plans. And it actually caused a lot of fear for those involved. It’s significant that the phrase “don’t be afraid” was repeated 4 times. The Angels say it to Mary, the shepherds, to Zachariah, and to Joseph. And today, we know it’s the good news, but it scared those who heard it back then. It scared the entire city of Jerusalem. Each character in this story had to deal with a different type of fear.
    I don’t know what is causing you to worry, to be fearful, to not sleep, to be anxious… but I do know that God doesn’t want you to be fearful and full of worry.
    so in the Christmas story characters, we will see 5 different types of fears.

    Common Fears at the Birth of Jesus

    1. Mary faced the fear of inadequacy.

    This happens when you have a setback in your life. Think about this. Mary is a young teen, 14 or 15 years old and she is engaged to be married. It is a happy time for her. She probably has an idea of what she wants her wedding to be like and her life to be like with Joseph.
    Then an angel shows up and tells her, “By the way, You are pregnant.” Mary is going how can this be, I have never had sex with anyone. So then the Angel drops the second part of this bombshell… Oh and by the way, you are not just pregnant, you are pregnant with the SOG. God is coming to earth and He is coming as a baby and you are going to be the earthly mother of the SOG.
    That’s a setback to Mary’s simple plans she had for her life. She must have been filled with fears and some panic… maybe wondering why she was chosen… feeling inadequate to raise the SOG… You would ask the same thing. You would be a little fearful too.
    Luke 1:29–34 NLT
    29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” 34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
    You would ask the same thing.
    Mary is going to have to deal with skepticism from her family, from Joseph and all of her friends and even the whole town. She was about to be an un-wed mother. She has to make a long journey on a donkey right at the time of birth. Then she has to raise the SOG.
    There is a second fear in the story.

    2. Joseph faced the fear of disapproval

    That’s what Joseph struggled with. Think about it. You are engaged and your fiance comes to you and says, Honey I am pregnant. Now you know you have not had sexual relations with her. She then claims God made me pregnant. Even if you did believe her, how would you explain that to the town? Imagine the ridicule, the shame, the gossip. People would think he was crazy to believe her.
    And the Bible tells us that joseph’s first reaction was to break off the engagement privately.
    Matthew 1:18–20 NLT
    18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
    Now he is pretty scared when the angel shows up. So the Angel has to tell him, to fear not. This is the 2nd time the angel has to say that.
    Whose disapproval are you afraid of? or Whose approval are you living for? The fear of man or of disapproval is a trap that will cause us to miss God’s will for our lives. If you are worried about what other people think, you not going to hear what God has for you. Joseph could have missed out on the greatest blessing of his life.

    3. Shepherds faced the fear of unexpected change.

    We have all had this one in our lives. Unexpected change. That’s a setback. Their plans all of a sudden changed. They were in the fields with their sheep on a quite and probably pretty night. The sheep are bedded down… it’s quiet. Maybe the shepherds are talking among themselves… maybe eating something or telling a joke or two.
    But all of a sudden, the entire sky lights up. It’s like an explosion. They didn’t know what was going on. Then a choir of extraterrestrials begin singing loudly. It scared them, it would scare me and I’ll bet it would scare you. Their plans for a quiet evening were interrupted. In fact, they would never be the same again.
    Luke 2:8–10 NLT
    8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.
    This is the 3rd time, the angels had to say, don’t be afraid. I mean, do you like being caught off guard? I don’t. Do you like unexpected changes in your life? I don’t. If shoots adrenaline into your system and you enter fight or flight mode.
    Sometime a setback is God showing up in your life and you just don’t realize it. That can be unsettling and scary because the status quo is being interrupted. I planned to be in the business world but God showed up and interrupted my plans with his and called me into ministry. Maybe something like that has happened to you.

    4. King Herod faced the fear of losing control.

    Herod was appointed by the Roman Emperor to rule the Jews in Israel while they are under occupation of Rome. The Jews hated him and considered him an imposter and an enemy. On top of that, herod was incredibly insecure to the point of being paranoid about being overthrown.
    Herod was most likely mentally ill… paranoid Schizophrenic. He killed his brother in law because he was afriad he wanted to overthrow him. He killed his own mother. He killed his wife and two of his sons. He was paranoid that someone would kick him off of the throne.
    Throw into the mix that there were prophecies about the Messiah, the king of the Jews and King Herod was past control. He panics. He is so afraid of being replaced that he orders all of the children in Bethlehem under 2 years of age to be killed to make sure the Messiah was dead… all that to make sure Jesus didn’t live. Herod was facing the fear of losing control. It’s a common fear and most of us have faced that fear at many points in our lives.
    Matthew 2:1–3 NLT
    1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” 3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.
    At Christmas we sing Silent Night, but not everyone was calm on that first Christmas. Herod was frightened to the point of panic.
    So let me ask, What are you afraid of losing control of? or Whats out of control in your life and is scaring you to death? or What’s out of control in your life that you are still trying to control? How do you know when something is out of control? When you are trying to control the uncontrollable. Worry is a warning light that you are trying to control the uncontrollable.
    Now there is one more

    Zachariah faced the fear of being disappointed.

    Zachariah’s wife Elizabeth, who was Mary’s cousin, was pregnant in her older age. Mary, when she found out she was pregnant went to stay with Zach and Elizabeth. Zach and Elizabth had prayed for years to have a child, but it hadn’t happened. They had one setback after another trying to get pregnant, but couldn’t. Now they are older… too old to have a baby and they have given up hope.
    But one day God shows up and tells Zach that your prayers are about to be answered. At first Zach didn’t believe it. He was afraid to get his hopes up. He had been disappointed so many times that now he even doubted God.
    This is a common fear that we have. When we have suffered many setbacks, you develop a fear of being disappointed. Zach had this and many of you if not all of you have experienced it too. You become afraid to get your hopes up. Look at …
    Luke 1:11–13 NLT
    11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.
    This is the 4th do not be afraid. Is anybody getting the point that our God doesn’t want any of us to be afraid? God doesn’t want you to be afraid no matter what you are going through.
    By the way, Zach’s long awaited son was just a little famous… His name was John the Baptist… Jesus’ cousin.
    Look at these 5 fears and think about which one you have struggled with in your life.
    Feeling inadequate?
    Fear of disapproval? of being Rejected?
    Fear of Unexpected change?
    Fear of Losing control?
    Fear of being disappointed?
    Listen to me.

    For God to turn your setback into a comeback, you have to exchange your fear for faith.

    You have to exchange your fear of whatever the circumstance is to faith in God. How do you do that? How do you exchange fear for faith?

    How Can I Replace My Fears with Faith?

    1. Surrender my life completely to God everyday.

    If you want to reduce your fears, anxieties, the panic attacks, the first thing you have to do is to surrender your life to God every day. You don’t just do this once… you do it every day. This is how Mary overcame feelings of inadequacy. The Bible says that Mary prayed a prayer of surrender and she put everything into the hand of God and trusted him completely.
    Luke 1:38 NLT
    38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
    That is a statement of surrender. I am willing to accept whatever God wants for my life. I want to challenge you to whisper that right now. I am willing to accept whatever God wants for my life. God will never ask you to do something without giving you the ability to handle it. He doesn't call the equipped. He equips the called. And if you say, "I'm willing to do whatever He asks me to do," He's going to give you the ability. ]
    Job 11:13–18 CEV
    13 Surrender your heart to God, turn to him in prayer, 14 and give up your sins— even those you do in secret. 15 Then you won’t be ashamed; you will be confident and fearless. 16 Your troubles will go away like water beneath a bridge, 17 and your darkest night will be brighter than noon. 18 You will rest safe and secure, filled with hope and emptied of worry.
    Does that sound good to anyone besides me? Surrender to God and we can have confidence instead of fear and shame. Our problems will go away like water under the bridge.
    How do we do this? We begin with surrender.

    2. Stop listening to the voices of fear.

    Stop listening tot he voices of fear in your head and around you. All around us are naysayers and all kinds of fearful and anxious people. The media is particularly like this… the worse they can make something sound the higher their ratings are. However, sometimes those voices are inside our heads. Sometimes you need to stop listening to yourself.
    Like I said earlier, we have to replace fear with faith.
    Romans 14:23 GNB
    23 But if they have doubts about what they eat, God condemns them when they eat it, because their action is not based on faith. And anything that is not based on faith is sin.
    IOW, when we do something not from faith, we are sinning. And when we walk in fear we are not walking in faith. Listen, fear is contagious. If you hang around fearful people, you will be fearful.

    Practical suggestions to lower Fear in Your life.

    A. Turn off talk radio and negative TV news.

    Studies show that the more you listen to those shows the more angry you become and the more fearful you become.

    B. Hang out with people of faith in stead of people of fear.

    This is one of the reasons you need a church family.

    3. Fill my mind with music that praises God.

    If you are having problems with panic, anxiety and fear, fill your mind with music that praises God and panic, anxiety and fear will leave. Praise and worship is the antidote for fear, anxiety and panic.
    We do this instinctively when a crisis pops up. We cry out to God. Why? Because when we do we lose our fear.
    When Mary felt inadequate and fearful, she filled her mind with music that praised God. She wrote a song.
    Luke 1:46–56 NLT
    46 Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. 47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! 48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. 49 For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. 50 He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. 51 His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. 52 He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. 54 He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. 55 For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.” 56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.
    She is filling her mind with who God is and what he can do.
    We are using the Christmas story for this illustration. It's no accident that Christmas is the most music centered holiday because at the very first Christmas everybody sang. Elizabeth sang. The angels sang. The shepherds sang. Zachariah sang.
    Mary Sang! Luke 1:46-56
    Elizabeth Sang! Luke 1:42-45
    The Angels sang! Luke 2:13-14
    The Shepherds sang! Luke 2:20
    Zechariah Luke 1:67-79
    If you're having a problem with anxiety and fear you need to fill your life with music. You need to sing the songs of worship on the weekends at church.

    You lose your fear when you feel God is near!

    4. Base my hope on the promises of God.

    Don’t base your hope on what you can do. base your hope of what God has promised to do. This is what gave Mary and Elizabeth confidence. Look what he said to Elizabeth…
    Luke 1:45 NLT
    45 You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
    Do you believe the Lord will do what he said? In Psalm 56:3-4 David says…
    Psalm 56:3–4 NLT
    3 But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. 4 I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?
    That’s the 4th antidote to when you feel overwhelmed with anxiety or full of fear or pummeled by panic.
    I don’t know every setback you are facing today. I don’t know what fear is holding you back… what anxiety is keeping you awake at night… But if you will take these 4 steps you will move towards a comeback and you will move out of your setback. And then you will see that your setback was a stepping stone to where God wanted you to be all along.
    Review:
    Surrender your life completely.
    Stop listening to the voices of fear.
    Fill your mind with music that praises God.
    Base your hope on His promises.
    Prayer -
    Father this stuff is so practical it's simple. Anybody could understand it. And yet only if we do it will it make a difference. To hear a message will not change our lives. But to practice it, to do it, to put into application in our lives will make permanent changes.
    And Lord I pray for everyone listening to this message right now. There are people who are filled with fear. They're panicked about things in their lives. Or they've been trying to control the uncontrollable. They've been worried about what other people think. They've had setbacks that have changed the agenda and all of a sudden their plans have been thrown out the door and they don't know which way to turn. And just like Herod and just like Zachariah and the shepherds and Joseph and Mary, what they thought was gonna happen and where they thought they were headed, it didn't happen. And they're going in a different direction right now. And there've been setbacks. And Lord we know that the natural thing is to be afraid and be fearful and to be scared. But you've told us these simple steps so may we take them today.
    Why don't you pray this prayer in your heart. Say God, I surrender my life completely to you… Including the things that are scaring me to death. Including the things that have me worried and anxious. Including the things that are causing me panic or anxiety.
    I give this to you. I surrender it to you.  And then say Lord, I want to fill my life with faith not fear. So I'm going to stop listening to the voices of fear. Even my own voices. I want to listen only to your voice. I want to listen to your Word, to your promises. And I want to fill my life with the music of praise and replace panic with praise. And replace worry with worship. And when I start to worry help me to turn my thoughts to You, the solution, instead of the problem. And I ask You, Lord, to help me to move into the days ahead trusting in your promises, putting my hope not in myself or even in my plans. But putting my hope in you. If you've never invited Jesus Christ into your life say Jesus Christ, come into my life right now and become the manager. I want to follow you as best I know how from this day forward.
    Father, I ask that you give everyone in our church family a sense of peace this next week. Bless them in every area with peace and with power and with your presence. In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

      • Luke 1:29–34NIV2011

      • Matthew 1:18–20NIV2011

      • Luke 2:8–10NIV2011

      • Matthew 2:1–3NIV2011

      • Luke 1:11–13NIV2011

      • Luke 1:38NIV2011

      • Job 11:13–18NIV2011

      • Romans 14:23NIV2011

      • Luke 1:46–56NIV2011

      • Luke 1:45NIV2011

      • Psalm 56:3–4NIV2011

River Church NOLA
robert@riverchurchnola.com
504-578-8317
https://riverchurchnola.com
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