Praise the Lord Church, today's church service is all about letting go of our fears.
Today's main scripture is 1st John 4 verse 18 through 19 and this is taken from the
NIV version. It says, there is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because
fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love
because he first loved us.
So the scripture is saying to us, God's love is perfect. When we're holding on to our
fears, it means that we don't believe in God's perfect love. We look at the problem as if
it is in control, then God who is actually in control. God's love, perfect love, casts
out all of our fears. That doesn't mean that we won't get fearful, it means we can find
rest in him, peace in him, and assurance in the love of Christ. Fear means being double-minded.
That means we have faith, then we don't have faith. So are we going to love and trust in
God's perfect love because he first loved us?
Our second scripture is Isaiah 41 verse 10 and this is taken from the ESV version. It
says, fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you.
I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. God is with us. That's
what the scripture is telling us. He is living inside of us through the Holy Spirit in our
hearts, in our minds, and in our spirits. Letting go of our fear means we surrender it to God.
That means we stop fighting. Instead we say that it is in your hands, Lord, not mine because
he is the one and only and true God. And he will strengthen us in our time of despair
and help us in our time of need. He will uphold us and keep us in his righteous firm right
hand. All we have to do is release it to him because he is our anchor. All we have to do
is put our faith into him. Our last scripture is 2 Timothy 1 verse 7 and this is taken from
the New King James Version. It says, for God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power
and of love and of a sound mind. So this scripture is saying, a sound mind means a strong mind.
That means we are rooted and planted in Christ, in the fullness of Christ. That means God
is living inside of us and God is as bold as a lion as the scripture says. So we need
to remember who lives inside of us and we need to remember that God is greater than the fear
that seems to have a strong hold on us because God is in control. God has given us a spirit
of power and of love and a sound mind. So our points today are 1. Cast out. God's perfect
love cast out all fears. A punishment of worry and of stress in this life. Because when we
let go of the fears that seem to have a grip on us, it means that we are resting in the
peace of God and not being double minded. That means we are choosing faith over fear.
2. Anchor. Stop fighting against God and start trusting in Christ because he is the one and
only true God who is upholding us in our times of despair and will give us strength.
3. Lives. Christ lives within us through the Holy Spirit in our hearts. But we have a choice
to make. Are we going to choose to believe and trust what God says or are we going to
choose to believe what we see? So if you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
then this message will help you. But if you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ, then I invite you to give your heart to the Lord today. To receive Him into your
heart, go to Romans 10, 9 through 10. It says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes on to righteousness and what the mouth confession is made on to
salvation. If you said this prayer with sincerity, you are saved and now have eternal life with
Jesus. You are saved from all your sins, past, present, and future sins you may commit. This
truth is not a free past sin anytime. Instead, Jesus gives you power over all wrong choices
and empowers you to spread the gospel to others. You are saved forever and your name is really
written in the book of life.