Sunday March 7,2021
Welcome our scriptures this week we find in, Matthew 14:22-36, and 2 Timothy 1:1-14.
Matthew 14:22-36.
Jesus Walks on the Water
(22) 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. When evening came, he was there alone, (24) but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
(25) During the fourth watch of the night 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. (30) Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 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.”
(34) When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. (35) And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him (36) and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
2 Timothy 1:1-14.
(1) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
(2) To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
(3) I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. (4) Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. (5) I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. (6) 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 did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
(8) So, do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, (9) who has saved us and called us to a holy life–not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, (10) but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (11) And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. (12) That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
(13) What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. (14) Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you–guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
This is the word of God, for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
As we are “Moving Forward “, this third Sunday of Lent, our focus is on “FEAR”.
It seemed appropriate that our reading today should be from 2Timothy. Where Paul encourages Timothy on how to deal with fear. In verse 7 we read, ”For God hath not given us the spirit of timidity, (or as it’s written in the King James Version),the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
In the story of creation found in the Book of Genesis, we read where Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, something which had been specifically denied them. Knowing that God is searching for them, they attempt to hide. It is a scene perhaps reminiscent of many of our childhoods when we had done something that we were not supposed to, and we literally hid from our searching parents. God finds them, as we know that He will, for, after all, where can we go to hide from God? God asks them why they are hiding. Do you remember the response that Adam gave: “Because, I was afraid.”(Genesis 3:10).
I think that account reminds us that fear is so basic to who we are as humans, it goes all the way back to the beginning of time. To be human is to experience “FEAR”.
In our Gospel reading in Matthew, Simon Peter and his fellow disciples are out in the boat crossing the lake of Galilee after a long day with the crowds. Earlier that day they saw Jesus take the bread and fish and feed 15,000 people. It’s now between 3 and 6 AM, tired from fighting the waves all night. When they see what appears to be a ghost, walking on water, straight for them. In verse 26 it tells us that they were terrified and cried out in “FEAR”. They let their imaginations run away with them. Not until Jesus identifies himself does their fear, subside. The next thing we read is about how Peter deals with his “fear”. He gets out of the boat into the storm trying to imitate his Master walking on the water. Trying to overcome his fear and be an example to his fellow disciples. He’s successful for a moment but the situation gets the best of him. Fear rises and his body sinks.
Over and over again the message of the Bible is clear: Fear not, fear not. Over 365 times this is mentioned in scriptures, more than any other human emotion. Did you realize that? So, if you have your fears, you are not alone, trust me, it’s part of the human condition. Paul, writing to the young disciple Timothy said, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind.” Once we have grasped this most basic understanding, then we can go about dealing with our ”FEAR”.
Our world today, in dealing with this pandemic, is living in fear of contracting or infecting others with COVID 19. This past week the FDA has approved the third vaccine. And we’re told the best defense against this virus is a vaccine. In my limited knowledge of how the vaccine works, I’m told that it’s not a cure, but it gives our bodies the ability to lessen its effects.
Paul, in our reading today is writing to Timothy, who is also struggling with the emotion of, as Paul puts it, the ”spirit of timidity” the “spirit of fear”. He reminds Timothy and us that when we received Christ as our Savior, we have been given the vaccine for “FEAR”. All we need to do, to lessen its effect, is to take it!
Fear infects us all. And many times, when we least expect it.
A couple of years ago, during a sports clinic at Princeton High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, Dan Woodruff, the softball coach, lent his office to Dave Redding, the “strength” coach for the Cleveland Browns. Dave wanted to shower before his scheduled appearance at the clinic.
Dan showed Dave the facilities, then left while he was in the shower. When Dave finished showering, he went to leave the office, but found he couldn’t open the door! He wrote a note and slipped it under the door, then sat back and waited.
When Dan went back to his office about an hour later, he heard someone yelling, “Help, help!” Then he found the card outside his door. He opened the door and found Redding. “What’s the problem?” Dan asked. Dave told him that he had been locked inside for over an hour. Dan told him the door wasn’t locked, that he had only to push a button on the handle to make it open.
“We laughed about it a lot when we walked down the hall,” said Dan. “The 230-pound strength coach of a professional football team being trapped behind an unlocked door.”
I know many Christians today, are trapped behind an unlocked door, and the door is the door of timidity, the door of ”FEAR”. Beyond that door lies a world of opportunity. There is no lock on the door, except in their own mind, but there might as well be a hundred padlocks because they lack the will, the courage, the inner strength to push the button, turn the handle, open the door, and step into a fearless world of love and service to God.
Have you ever been driving and discovered that you forgot to release the emergency brake? You wondered why you felt something holding you back, but you did not know what it was. That is what a spirit of timidity or fear will do to us. We live our lives with the emergency brake on, never risking, never letting go, never living life to the fullest.
Today I want to say to you, in a loving and yet a direct way, you are a sinner! That’s a surprise, isn’t it? I bet you have never had anyone tell you that timidity that fear is a sin. I don’t mean to be rough with you this morning. I want to help all of us who are cowering behind that unlocked door to see that we are cheating ourselves, we are cheating our neighbors, and ultimately, we are cheating God.
Listen again to the words of Paul, writing to the young pastor Timothy, “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Please, listen to me this morning, your fears are a spiritual problem. They are keeping you from being the kind of effective witness for Christ that he needs for you to be. You need to leave here today a new person. Is that possible? Yes, it is possible. Paul gives the formula right here. You see, he is concerned that young Timothy be a bold, confident, forthright preacher of the Word. He knew that in the ministry you cannot afford to cower behind an unlocked door. So, he is giving young Timothy some important advice-advice that many of us need as well.
Let’s consider that advice for a few moments. Paul says that God didn’t give us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind. Let’s consider these in reverse order.
THE FIRST VACCINE FOR FEAR IS A SOUND MIND.
That is, there are some real fears in life, but the fears that cripple most are those that exist only in our own imagination, like the disciples, in our gospel reading. I like the story about the mountaineer who had been gone from home for over a week and when he came back home his clothes were torn, his shoes were worn thin, and it was obvious that he was exhausted. His wife put her hands on her hips and said with suspicion, “Where in tarnation have you been?”
“I went out in the woods to check the still,” replied the mountain man, “and a giant bear stepped out in front of me. I took off running ahead of him and finally lost him. I never ran so fast in my life!”
“But that was a week ago,” said the wife. “Where have you been since?”
“I’ve been walking back,” he said.
If you happen on a bear when you leave church this morning, you might be justifiably afraid. However, if you are afraid of the person next to you, if you are hesitant to reach out with a smile and say, “It’s good to see you this morning. How have you been doing?” then something is wrong. Yet there are people who would rather face a hungry bear than talk to their neighbors. It doesn’t make sense, yet fear has an ability to cause people to run, to sit and wait behind an unlocked door.
God has given us the vaccine, the spirt of a “sound mind”. Sometimes our greatest need is to face up to our fears, to deal with them rationally with a determination that they will no longer be our masters. Like Peter did that night on the lake in a storm. You haven’t been given a spirit of fear but of a sound mind. Analyze your fears, see them for what they really are. Usually, they are imaginary locks on the door of opportunity.
THE SECOND VACCINE FOR FEAR, IS A SPIRIT OF LOVE.
When we are intimidated by a spirit of timidity or fear, it causes us to break the 11th commandment. What is the 11th commandment? “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another.” (John 13:34). Fear, when it manifests itself as timidity, is the most selfish emotion of all. As Christians, you and I cannot afford the luxury of giving in to a spirit of fear because Christ has called us to love one another, and how can you love someone else if you are scared to even speak to them?
Now, admittedly, people are not always loveable. In a “Peanuts” cartoon sometime back, Lucy speaks to Snoopy: “There are times,” she says, “when you really bug me, but I must admit, there are also times when I feel like giving you a great big hug.”
Snoopy looks up, with a grin on his face, and says to himself, “That’s the way I am, huggable and buggable.”
That is the way all of us are. Sometimes we are huggable and sometimes we are buggable, but we dare not allow our fear to prevent us from making the effort of love.
In I John 4:18, John writes; “Perfect love casts out fear.” Once after giving a sermon on love, a person confronted me with this question. What do I do when I show love to someone and they don’t respond? My answer was, ”Increase the dosage.”
Wouldn’t it be tragic to go to your grave with a heart full of regret over the people you could have reached out to and did not? For some of us the only thing that is keeping the door locked is our fear. We know that it is God’s will for us to share our love with others, but we are afraid. The vaccine, of course, is to increase the dosage. Keep loving until you reduce that door to splinters.
Perfect love casts out fear. It really does. We have been given, a spirit of sound mind, a spirit of love!
THE THIRD VACCINE THAT PAUL GIVES US FOR A SPIRIT OF FEAR IS A SPIRIT OF POWER.
One scholar has translated “power” to mean “a confident faith.” Isn’t that what spiritual power really is a confident faith in God? David was but a shepherd boy, but he could face the giant Goliath because of his confident faith in God. Esther was a shy teenaged beauty queen, but she could approach the mighty king Ahasuerus because of her confident faith in God.
When you and I give in to fear or timidity, we are, in effect denying our faith in God. Pardon me if I seem somewhat harsh at this point, but God needs mighty men and women for the facing of this hour. And he will give us the power to overcome the spirit of fear if we will allow him. If we don’t run and hide, if we don’t wait behind an unlocked door and give in to temptations of the spirit of fear.
Remember what the scriptures tell us. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13). He’s provided the vaccine. The spirit of power! “A confident faith.”
Have you ever watched lightning strike a tree? I hope you have never been that close. They tell us, though, that it is an illusion that lightning comes down from the sky to strike a tree. Actually, only a tiny “leader bolt” comes from the sky. When you see that massive flash as lightning strikes a tree, you are actually seeing a tremendous charge of electricity come up from the ground through the tree. That is what lights up the sky. The charge was already present in the tree. The “leader bolt” simply freed it up. That is what can happen when we put ourselves in God’s hands. We have tremendous power, tremendous energy, tremendous potential within. Placing our faith in God, receiving his peace, his joy, his love, simply sets us free to be what he created us to be.
We have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power. Maybe we should be like the poor sailor in a shipwreck, who was thrown upon a rock. He held onto that rock for all he was worth until the tide went down. Later a friend asked him, “Didn’t you shake with fear when you were hanging onto that rock?” The sailor answered with a sigh of relief, “Yes, but the rock didn’t.”
When Peter step forward in faith as he climbed out of the boat, with a “confident faith” his eyes were on Jesus. The minute he took his eyes off the Lord he was afraid. He was infected with the spirt of fear. But in crying out ,“Lord save me!”, he took that vaccine of the spirit of power. We too have that same spirit of power.
Believe me when I tell you, when you excepted Christ as your Savior you were vaccinated, for the spirit of fear. When “FEAR”, infects you, don’t let your imagination effect your decisions, you have the spirit of a “sound mind”. When “FEAR” reveals itself, as a rejection of love, increase the dosage. You’ve been vaccinated with a “spirit of love”. And finally, when “FEAR” challenges your faith. Remember you have the “spirit of power” within your grasp. Cry out as Peter did. “Lord save me!” Pray! Use that power of a “ confident faith” and Jesus will reach out and catch you, as he did for Peter.
Life could offer us so much more, and even more importantly, we could offer life so much more if we could push open this door that is locked only in our minds. The vaccine for,
”FEAR”, has already been given. It’s within us. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Keep “MOVING FORWARD!”
In His Service,
Pastor Joe
Listen To Audio: Sermon 20210307
Listen To Audio: Service 03072021
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pastor Joe is available at the church every Thursday from 2 to 4pm If you wish to speak with him, his contact numbers are:
570-465-7303 or his cell 570-267-4570 or E-Mail joe.s.travis@gmail.com.
Sunday School starts at 8:30am and we have just begun a study of the book of Galatians. A good time to join us.
Loose change offering, (coins & bills), goes to Local Mission.
One Great Hour of Sharing is now until Easter. If you wish to donate please indicate on your envelope and make check payable to FHPC
PW will meet Thursday March 11 at 11:00.
Ladies… Please join us for our Easter Bible Study on Saturday from 10-11. We will be discussing Week 3 THE GARDEN TO THE TOMB See Bonne if you have any questions.
PW is putting gathering recipes for a church/community cookbook. If you have a favorite recipe and would like to share it, it can be emailed to Bonne, or give it to her handwritten.
Men’s Action Group meets March 17 at 8 for breakfast and discussion.
Newsletter deadline is Tuesday March 30. Please get articles to Carolyn White.
If you are in the parking lot, PLEASE TUNE YOUR RADIO TO 89.5 FM TO HEAR THE CHURCH SERVICE.
PLEASE NOTE: We ask that you wear a mask as you ENTER the church. Winter Months – Session discussed the procedures the congregation will follow during the winter months. People will enter and leave the Church by the front door. Mask must be worn as they enter and go to a pew. Mask must be worn when they leave the Church. Pastor Joe will stand near the pulpit when the service is finished to speak to people before they leave. He will not stand by the front door. Session is asking that people do not congregate in the vestibule or loiter for a long time in the sanctuary when they leave. Hand sanitizer is located by the front door for your use.
