10-31-2021
10-31-2021
Dr. E. Dale Locke (Loxahatchee & Online), Rev. José Marrero (WPB), Rev. Efrain Silva (Español)
Sermon Series: Deep Peace: Finding Calm in an Age of Anxiety
Week 1: Threat-Level Midnight
English PDF file for printing.
Para imprimir el archivo PDF en Español
Icebreaker: If you have some sort of silly irrational fear, share with your group about it.
1. Anxiety, fear and insecurity are at epidemic levels in our culture, robbing us of a sense of wholeness and calm. What are some reasons why you think people are feeling so much fear and anxiety now?
2. Some people think being a Christian means you’ll only experience health, prosperity and happiness, but that’s not what Scripture teaches. One Christian author wrote that Jesus promised three things to those who follow him: “that we would be absurdly happy, entirely fearless, and always in trouble….”
What do you think of that?
3. Horatio Spafford wrote the song It Is Well with My Soul at the spot in the Atlantic Ocean where his children had drowned in a shipwreck months before. He wrote: “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well with my soul.’” What gives a person that kind of peace in such a tragic situation?
4. Read our memory verse - Isaiah 26:3: “You, (God) will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
What do you notice in this verse?
5. Read Matthew 14:22-33. The background of this passage is that Jesus had just finished feeding 5,000 people with two loaves and a few fish. Then he told his disciples to go across the Sea of Galilee and said he’d catch up with them later.
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
What questions or comments come to your mind as you read this passage?
This event teaches us several things about fear:
· Fear (itself) is not the problem.
6. Fear actually has an important place in our lives. Christian pastor and author, John Ortberg, wrote in his book, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat, “At its simplest and most benign, [fear] is an internal warning cry that danger is nearby and we had better do something about it. It is designed to be what researchers call a ‘self-correcting mechanism’ - something designed to be unpleasant enough to motivate us to take action and remove ourselves from whatever is threatening us. It readies our body to flee, hide or fight.”
What are some of the good functions that fear has in our lives?
7. Science writer Rick Dozier speaks of this kind of fear which is centered in our limbic system and can respond within a tenth of a second, before our conscious decision-making has a chance to kick in. When our mind senses danger, our bodies go into action: adrenaline is released, blood drains from the skin’s surface and is re-directed to our core, our heart pounds, our pupils expand to take in more information, and our mouth gets dry. These physical responses also take place when the fear is based on something you imagine rather than an actual present danger. Have you ever experienced this? If so, share about that.
· Genuine Faith is not the absence of fear.
8. Note that Jesus does not rebuke the disciples for their fear. Fear itself is not wrong. At what point, or in what situations, does fear become a problem for a Christ-follower?
9. Note that Peter actually had more courage than the rest of the disciples, because he was willing to get out of the boat. What can you learn from that?
10. If there is something you haven’t been willing to step out and try because of fear, share about that with your group.
11. The Bible talks about fear a lot. In fact, the command, “Fear not!” appears 366 times in Scripture. Why do you think God repeats that command so often?
· Faith that focuses on Jesus brings deeper peace.
12. Peter had faith that allowed him to conquer his fears, as long as he was keeping his focus on Jesus. When he started looking at the waves, he began to sink. Share about a “storm” from your own life in which you knew you needed to keep your focus on Jesus rather than the “storm.” What helped you do that?
13. One effective way to deal with fear is to name it, talk with others about it, and attach one of God’s promises to it. Share some promises of God out of Scripture that have helped you deal with fears in the past.
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