Sundays keep getting better at Team Church!

Sam Kennington preached the last message of the InterFEARence series, and did a great job.  The Old Testament story of Elisha opening the eyes of his servant was a tremendous way to complete the series.  Not only has this series taught us to view our fears differently, but also this last message shows us how to turn the interference around…instead of things interfering with you…God interferes with the things that scare you!

Think about it.  If God were to pull back the spiritual veil that shrouds angels and demons, I imagine that we would faint from what we would see.  But the point is not that there are scarier things that we don’t even know to be scared of…the point is that God will win in the end!  Elisha’s prayer teaches us how to preemptively “run interference on FEAR.”

Another great moment about Sunday was the Souper Bowl of Caring...read what Scott reports:

Sunday, February 7^th our local help agency K.A.R.E., Kershaw Area Resource Exchange, called for area churches to raise money and canned goods for the Souper Bowl of Caring, an annual event which raises resources to feed folks who are in need.  Team Church set a goal of $350 and 75 food goods (that’s about 10% of what they received last year).  We are so excited to report that we exceeded both goals!  Thanks to you we delivered to K.A.R.E. $383 and 130 food goods.  Way to go Team Church!

I also want you to know what an awesome time the band had yesterday evening.  Hyde Park Baptist Church’s youth pastor invited the Team Church band to play at their pre-game gathering.  Man! We had a blast.

Thanks to everyone at Team Church…you guys give us life to share!

When I read the Bible, I imagine the scene taking place.  I try to put myself in the story just as if I’m watching a movie unfold.  That’s what I did when I read the first “wind and waves” story of this message series, called InterFEARence. By doing that it led me to questions that maybe I would have never asked of Scripture.

For instance, here is the beginning of the scene where Jesus and Peter walk on water:

²²Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

When I visualized this, I wondered about Jesus praying up on the mountainside.  This passage is more than just information, you know.  I thought about what Jesus must have seen up there.  He would have had a great vantage point for watching the storm, obviously.  So, why did He do what He did…

Think about Him high up overlooking the boat.  And now imagine that Jesus looks up and sees the start of a massive storm on the horizon. Rather than run, Jesus prays.  He doesn’t leave just.  He stays until the storm arrives.

As the storm buids He may have been tempted to go quickly back to the disciples on a rescue mission, but He didn’t.  Jesus stays put and prays harder.  If Jesus can walk on water (which we know He can), then Jesus could have come to the disciple’s boat at any moment.  So, why is the moment He left theperfect moment in the storm?

Well, hopefully you have some intriguing questions too as you read God’s Word.  For me, I believe this exercise brought some good thoughts such as the fact that Jesus purposefully wanted these men to encounter what they did alone.  It was a sort of test.  I believe Jesus was up on that mountainside praying for their faith to be strengthened through the test.  Jesus told Peter at another time that Satan wanted to sift him like wheat, but Jesus was praying for Him.  So,  prayer is obviously a key to facing the scary things in our lives.  I noticed that when things got rough, Jesus didn’t bail, He prayed, and then He prayed harder.  Jesus didn’t just fly down to the boat like Superman, even though He certainly could.  Jesus knew it was good for the disciples to go through this test of faith.  Jesus doesn’t save us from every hard situation.  Only our God could know the perfect time to bring deliverance through the storms of life.

So from this passage, I am reminded that prayer,intercession and patience is a key to trusting God to come through when I’m facing a test.  Try visualizing the Scriptures as you read.  It could mean so much more as you immerse yourself in the story God is telling you.

A couple of years ago I went to a conference center when I was feeling especially down.  I don’t even remember what the conference was about, but it gave me a getaway experience where I could reconnect with God and sort out some serious issues.  One thing I will never forget is that God told me that I should ask for Him to take away my fear.

I couldn’t even tell you exactly what I was so afraid of.  I wasn’t staying indoors, afraid of what may be lurking around the corner.  In fact, I don’t think it hindered me much from doing the sort of things I always do, but … God pegged it.  I did have a deep sense of fear underneath the surface.

I think maybe I was afraid that I didn’t have what it takes to be a success.  I was afraid that everyone would find out how nonspiritual I was.  I was afraid that I had failed to be the father and husband my family deserved.  Each week I was afraid that I had wasted the time I had, and afraid that time would run out before I could do what I needed to do.

Fear had settled in and bound me up on the inside.  And God wanted to deliver me from that.  So, I asked.  I can’t really explain it, but when I asked, He took my fear away.   For days and months afterward, I felt free.  Unbound.

I believe fear has come back from time to time, but I’m trying to give it less and less power over me.  One verse of Scripture that I continue to think about is 2 Timothy 1:7

⁷For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

God did not make the human spirit to be bound in fear.  And He cares if your spirit is troubled.  Ask him to reveal what has a choke hold on you, and then ask him to free you.

We had a great start to the InterFEARence series, and I hope after thinking through the frightening wind and waves experience Peter had with Jesus, you’ll be ready to return next week to consider your own life hindered by inner fear.  See you Sunday!