Set Free from Fear

Luke Frank is back to talk about fear. He talks about lies that we get caught believing, how they leave us imprisoned to fear, the truths that the Word teaches us, and how they lead to freedom.

KEY POINTS:

• What is fear? It is being afraid, worried, and being anxious, all very present realities in our life
• Fear can be wrapped up in a lot of different forms (money, failure, future, not good enough, missing out, decisions, who will be president, unseen, the will of God, death, suffering, what others think of us, etc..)
• Fear moves us from freedom to bondage, from trust to doubt, from presence to separation, from living in our true identity to a false identity.
• If we’re not careful, we slowly start to believe the lies of fear, and find ourselves living a lifestyle of conforming to our fears. The false identity of fear, guilt, and shame is the false identity we live in. We often know it, feel it, and can see it playing out, yet we hide it, try to cover it, and try to tune it out.
• The number one exhortation in the Bible is “fear not / do not be afraid / do not fear”
  • Isaiah 41:10
  • Psalm 34:4
  • Deuteronomy 31:6
  • Psalm 23:4
  • John 14:27
  • Psalm 27:1
  • Joshua 1:9
  • 1 John 4:18
  • Matthew 6:31-34
• Almost every verse in the Bible that exhorts us to not fear does so because His presence is with us / within us. It’s about accepting His presence and receiving His truth about our fear and choosing to live in that truth.
• There is a fear that is good, the fear of God is good. To fear God is to have allegiance, or loyalty, to Him above all. 
  • Proverbs 19:23
  • 1 Peter 2:17
• When we’re fearful to anything other than God, we’re giving allegiance and loyalty to an inferior source.
• We overcome fear with the fear of God. When fear comes up, it’s a question of allegiance. The fear of the Lord draws us near to God, and away from our fleshly fears, in a deeper, abiding relationship with Jesus.

COMMUNITY GROUP DISCUSSION:

1. Read Isaiah 41:10 and 2 Timothy 1:7 together and answer the following question: Lord, what do you want me to know about you from these verses?
2. In your own words, what does it mean to fear God?
3. What are you afraid of right now? What are you fearful of right now? What are you worried about? What are you anxious about? What fear do you have that you can’t seem to shake? Take some time confessing these answers to one another, and then pray that your allegiance would shift from the false belief you are carrying towards a faithful God that will never leave nor forsake you.