Trinity Fellowship Church
We live in a world filled with evil and pain and many scary things. It doesn’t take much effort to find monsters living among us. But what’s worse than monsters living among us — is the fact that there are monsters living inside us. There are things that lurk just below the surface of our lives. We all have them. Things like: Unbridled wrath, and Envy, Lust, and Fear. And when these things are left unchecked — they have the potential to derail us from God’s best and lead us into dark and destructive places. But through this series — I hope you are able to discover just how the gospel of Christ empowers you to confront and conquer the monsters that haunt us.
1 Samuel 17:4-24 NIV
DEFEATING FEAR: LIVING FREE & UNAFRAID
MONSTERS — Message #1
Pastor Chuck Hill — Trinity Fellowship Church
Sunday, October 7, 2018
1 Samuel 17
We live in a world filled with evil and pain and many scary things. It doesn’t take much effort to find monsters living among us. Today we will discuss how to defeat the monster of FEAR and learn to live free and unafraid!
“Fear activates the enemy’s work in our lives—in the same way faith activates God’s work in our lives.”
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)
“The Lord is my light and my salvation – so why should I be afraid? The Lord protects me from danger – so why should I tremble?”
Psalm 27:1 (NLT)
CONSIDER A FAMILIAR STORY:
4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. 8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
1 Samuel 17:4-11 (NIV)
16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
1 Samuel 17:16 (NIV)
23 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. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
1 Samuel 17:23-24 (NIV)
1. FEAR IS A RUTHLESS MONSTER!
“Worry weighs a person down…” Proverbs 12:25 (NLT)
Fear’s best weapon is to immobilize you and hold you back!
2. JESUS IS A MIGHTY HERO!
While David was willing — it was God who was able!
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 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, 35 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. 36 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. 37 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.”
1 Samuel 17:32-37 NIV
40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine 41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!” 45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.
1 Samuel 17:40-46 (NIV)
3. DEFEAT YOUR FEAR WITH FAITH IN GOD!
— See things from a different perspective.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:2 (NIV)
— Ask for the Lord’s help.
“I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears”
Psalm 34:4 (NIV)
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ”
Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
— Face your fears with others.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him ump. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV)