RockRidge Church The Quarry What are You Afraid of?
Transcription
RockRidge Church The Quarry What are You Afraid of?
What Are You Afraid Of? Week 1 Introduction Dr. Mike McNeff RockRidge Church Alektorophobia . . . Alektorophobia: Fear of chickens Metrophobia. . . Metrophobia: Fear of poetry or rhyming verse Ephebophobia. . . Ephebophobia: Fear of youths Ergasiophobia. . . Ergasiophobia: Fear of work Optophobia. . . Optophobia: Fear of opening one’s eyes Neophobia. . . Neophobia: Fear of the new (people, situations, food) Anthophobia. . . Anthophobia: Fear of flowers Pteronophobia. . . Pteronophobia: Fear of being tickled. Estiophobia. . . Estiophobia: Fear of clothing Phronemophobia. . . Phronemophobia: Fear of thinking. Terrorist Attacks Spiders Death/being killed Not succeeding in life/failure Heights Crime/violence Being alone The future Nuclear war Speaking in front of a group Heights Insects and bugs Financial Problems Deep water Sickness Death Flying Loneliness Dogs Aviophobia: Fear of flying - Jennifer Aniston, John Madden, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg Xenophobia: Fear of strangers – Barbara Streisand Mysophobia: Fear of contamination, infection, and diseases – Michael Jackson Woody Allen: Fear of insects, sunshine, dogs, deer, bright colors, children, heights, small rooms, crowds, and cancer.(Jeremiah, David (2013-10-01). What Are You Afraid Of?: Facing Down Your Fears with Faith . Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.) George Washington: Fear of being buried alive. Richard Nixon: Fear of hospitals Napoleon Bonaparte: Fear of cats Worry Anxiety Dread Unease Unsettledness Distress Apprehensiveness Might “I’m afraid of what might happen.” Fear is future oriented “The illusive monster of fear lurks in the shadows, waiting to claw my soul to shreds. As one prone to melancholia, I see its ugly face often: when I’m struggling with the emotional stress of a difficult relationship, when I’m afraid failure is just around the corner, when success seems too hard to handle, and on days when free-floating anxiety is getting the best of me.” - Don Wyrtzen [ 1]Jeremiah, David (2013-10-01). What Are You Afraid Of?: Facing Down Your Fears with Faith . Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. Free-floating anxiety. . . Paralysis Immobilization Withdrawal Passivity Depression Psychosomatic disorders or maladies with no apparent physical cause When I ask, “What are you afraid of?” I’m asking, “What is it that immobilizes you? What is stealing your joy and destroying your hope? What is robbing you of sleep, night after night? What keeps you from living by faith and being a risk taker? What keeps you from giving your life wholly to a loving God who wants nothing but the best for you?” Jeremiah, David (2013-10-01). What Are You Afraid Of?: Facing Down Your Fears with Faith . Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. Fear is a thief. It erodes our faith, plunders our hope, steals our freedom, and takes away our joy of living the abundant life in Christ. Phobias are like the coils of a snake — the more we give in to them, the tighter they squeeze. Tired of fighting, we succumb to the temptation and surrender to our fears. But what seemed like an easy way out is, in reality, a prison of unbelief — a fortress of fear that holds us captive. – Neil Anderson quoted by [ 3]Jeremiah, David (2013-10-01). What Are You Afraid Of?: Facing Down Your Fears with Faith . Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition . “Fear and worry reveal us. They reveal the things that we love and value.” Welch, Edward T. (2007-11-01). Running Scared: Fear, Worry & the God of Rest (p. 14). New Growth Press. Kindle Edition. Discuss possibilities “I suggest to you that in joy there is always a feeling of power and strength. . . .: there is never anything flabby or superficial about it. Joy is one of the strongest powers in the world. Someone who is in a state of joy is, in a sense, afraid of nothing. When you are truly joyful, you are wound up by some mighty dynamic power; you feel strong, you are lifted up above yourself, you are ready to meet every enemy from every direction and quarter; you smile in the face of them all; you say, ‘I defy them, they can never rob me of it.’ – Martin Lloyd Jones For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (ESV) Jesus came to “proclaim liberty to the captives,” and I believe that includes those held captive by fear (Luke 4: 18). He also says that truth is the key to freedom (John 8: 32). And here is the truth: God is good (Psalm 119: 68), God is love (1 John 4: 8, 16), and God has a future filled with hope for His children (Jeremiah 29: 11; Romans 8: 28-29). God is a refuge and a fortress, a shield and a defender for those who trust in Him (Psalm 91: 2-4). Jeremiah, David (2013-10-01). What Are You Afraid Of?: Facing Down Your Fears with Faith . Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. “Do not be afraid.” Gen. 15:1 Gen. 21:7 Gen. 26:24 Gen. 46:3 Ex. 14:13 Find some more on your own. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 jThomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am lthe way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Future Grace It doesn’t say that I will be spared suffocation. What it says is that, if I am called to death by asphyxiation, I will have grace when that time comes. What does that mean? I don’t know. I can’t imagine such grace. I can’t imagine anything that would make drowning tolerable. And that is exactly what we should expect: At this moment I don’t have grace to drown because I am not drowning! of course I will worry if I try to envision a drowning scenario. I will project the grace I have received for today onto tomorrow, not comprehending that I will receive grace as needed tomorrow.Welch, Edward T. (2007-11-01). Running Scared: Fear, Worry & the God of Rest (p. 144). New Growth Press. Kindle Edition. Fear of losing your salvation Natural disasters Disease Financial failure or collapse Failure Being alone Rejection Danger Dying