12-08-2019
Dr. E. Dale Locke, Rev. Trevor Johnston, and Pastor Efrain Silva
Sermon Series: Fear Not
Week 2: Not Enough
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1. Continue to practice our theme verse together as a group: Luke 2:10-11: “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.’”
2. During the four weeks of Advent we’re looking at four times in the Christmas story when an angel told someone not to be afraid. And we’re seeking to understand how God’s love and presence helps us deal with fear and anxiety. But it’s also important to acknowledge that healthy fear can actually be a good thing that helps keep us safe. Talk about some situations where it’s natural and healthy to be afraid. What are some good things that fear does for you in those situations?
3. Anxiety is an unhealthy form of fear that comes when we get focused on unlikely possibilities of danger and let ourselves be driven by “What if?” thinking. Why do you think it’s become so common in our modern culture for people to struggle with anxiety?
4. Last week we talked about the fear that we “missed it” in life – that our dreams and goals will never come true. And we saw in the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth that God is always at work and is never late in His timing. Read Revelation 21:5, “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” How can this verse help with the fear that our dreams for life may never come true?
5. Read Luke 1:26-38, 46-48a:
“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her….
46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. And from now on all generations will call me blessed.”
6. What questions or comments come to your mind as you read this passage?
When I’m Gripped by the Fear of not being enough…
7. Mary would have had many reasons to feel inadequate to take on this important role of raising the promised Messiah. She was just a teenager. She was uneducated. She was a woman in a time when women had no rights, and only men were valued. She was from Nazareth, a town which had a reputation that nothing good could come from there. Many of us struggle with the fear of not being enough. Share about a time when you felt inadequate.
God Sees Me
8. Note in verse 46 where it says God was “mindful of” Mary. Some translations translate this as, “God has seen my humble state.” When you’re just an ordinary person, like Mary was and most of us are, it’s easy to feel invisible - like no one sees or notices you and what you’re going through. What’s it like to feel invisible, unnoticed or unknown? How does that feeling impact a person?
9. In Mary’s “song” in this chapter of Luke, Mary was encouraged that God saw and noticed her in her humble situation and that He had selected her to serve in this amazing way, even though she didn’t have impressive credentials. The angel said in verse 30 that God did this because Mary had “found favor with God.” The word “favor” here is the same word for “grace” in Greek. “Grace” means “unmerited favor.” We all need God’s grace – His unmerited favor. Talk about some areas in your life where you need God’s grace.
I Can Rely on God’s Power
10. Often God intentionally chooses someone who appears to be weak, in order to show His power. Read what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” How have you seen God’s power made perfect in weakness in your own life?
I Can Trust in God’s plan
11. Imagine being Mary in that situation. 2,000 years later, we can see what a good plan it was, but it must have seemed like a crazy and scary plan at that time. Share about a time when – in hindsight – you recognized that God’s plan was good, even though it was hard to recognize it at the time you were going through it.
I Can Depend on God’s Presence.
12. Notice in verse 28 that the angels said Mary didn’t need to fear because the Lord was “with her.” When you feel afraid or feel like you’re not enough, how can an awareness of God’s presence help you?
13. Talk together as a group about who you could invite to our Christmas services and about how you could serve to help us offer the many services we’re having to make it possible for our community to hear the message of Jesus in this season. Take time to pray for the people you want to invite.