“Faith, Not Fear”

**INTRODUCTION 

Welcome to “Key to the Kingdom.” I'm Bret McCasland. There are many things in life that make us afraid, from being on the top of skyscrapers to snakes that crawl along the ground. We might be afraid of mean and cruel people, or being in an unknown city by ourselves late at night. Lots of situations bring fear into our lives, and rightly so. In those fearful times, we can allow fear to overwhelm us to the point it keeps us from living a normal life, or we can develop the courage and faith to meet our fears head-on and to overcome them. It is a choice we are called to make on a regular basis. And the bottom line is, we can either live a life of fear or we can choose to live a life of faith. The disciples of Jesus were caught in a really bad storm one night, and they were filled with fear. They did not know how to respond, and they feared their lives would be swept away. But when Jesus came on the scene, He inspired them to respond with faith. In our lesson today, on “Key to the Kingdom,” we will consider how Jesus' words inspire us to live with faith and not fear when the uncertainties of life appear. I hope you will stay tuned to the station for the next few minutes, as we think about what that looks like for us today. I encourage you to open your Bibles and your hearts, now, with me, as we study together.

**LESSON

“My life is just about to fall apart. I talk about faith all of the time, but I don't seem to be living it, right now.” Those are not my words. They are the words of a man whom I greatly admired, who has since passed away. But perhaps we can all relate to those words, or something similar to them. In fact, one of the greatest questions Christians ask is, how can I maintain my faith in the Lord when things are falling apart all around me? And when we find ourselves struggling in our faith, we read those familiar passages in the Bible that try to encourage and inspire us in our faith; passages like Hebrews 11, verse 6 -Without faith, it is impossible to please Him; or Hebrews 10, verse 38 -The righteous shall live by faith; or even 2nd Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7 -We walk by faith and not by sight. And we know those passages of Scripture. We even commit them to memory. And yet, when the difficulties of life come, they don't seem to do us much good. When we experience hard times, fear overtakes us, and sometimes life is overwhelming. We think about all of the different things that concern us and seem to overwhelm us, problems with our health or our relationships, maybe our job. We think about our family members. Perhaps we think about the various things in our world, the economy and the hatred and the abuse and the injustice. Over and over we can think about all those different things that cause the stress and the anxiety in our life. We might even get frustrated or abandon our faith (that we do have), when those things come. And before we know it, we are full of fear instead of full of faith. We try to read the Bible. We try to go to God's Word and get some kind of encouragement or strength from Him. We say our prayers, or at least try to, and those words are hard to generate and to express to God. And we really begin to wonder if we are going to have enough faith in order to overcome the problems we encounter. Well, in the Gospel of Mark, we read a story about a group of men whose faith was wavering. They did not know how to handle their problems; and yet, Jesus was with them the whole time. The story is found in the 4th chapter, beginning with verse 35. <That day when evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. There were also other boats with Him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to His disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!”> The Sea of Galilee is about 14 miles long, from north to south. It is about 7 miles wide at its widest point. The Jordan River runs right through the Sea of Galilee, from the north to the south, and it is surrounded by hills and small mountains on three sides, with only the southern end being open. And when the winds sweep down onto that sea, it is somewhat trapped by the hills and that sea begins to be stirred up. There is a great deal of commotion that goes on there, and it becomes quite treacherous. Well, as we just read, one evening a sudden storm developed, and it is called a furious squall or a windstorm; and that storm was driving waves into the boat to the point the boat was filling with water. And as the storm grew in intensity, Jesus was there asleep in the stern of the boat, seemingly totally unaware of what was going on around Him. Yet the disciples were afraid. They did not know what to do. They perhaps took all precautions and did everything they knew to do to take care of themselves, but now they were out of options. Well, certainly the disciples had seen such a storm on the Sea of Galilee before. They were aware of the damage it could cause and the danger it presented. But this time was different. They were now in the midst of such a storm. Well, they were hesitant to wake Jesus. No doubt He had a hard day of ministry, of serving and blessing a various number of people. They knew He needed His rest, so they did not want to wake Him; but finally they did, because they were out of options. And in the next four verses, we notice that Jesus and His disciples exchange four questions. Jesus asked two, and the disciples ask two. We begin with verse 38. The disciples asked Jesus, “Teacher, don't you care if we drown?” They wondered why Jesus was not more concerned about the storm. They were worried about drowning. They were worried about not seeing their families any more. Fear had overtaken their lives and they wondered if they would live or if they would die. Today we might say something like this; Well, Jesus, what's your problem? Why aren't you as worried as I am? Come and join me in my misery, in my anxiety. Don't you see what's going on in the Sea of Galilee, and don't you have any regard for my life? In the disciples mind, it appears Jesus simply did not care. It was not necessarily a question of what do we do, but rather of what is wrong with you. Well, Jesus got up and He rebuked the wind. He spoke to the waves and immediately there was calmness. The winds quit blowing, the waves quit coming into the boat, and everything was calm. It was now Jesus' turn to ask a question, and so He asks this question, in verse 40, "Why are you so afraid?" Basically Jesus turns the table on the disciples, and He asks, well, what's wrong with you? What is your problem? Why don't you have enough faith to handle what's going on here in the Sea of Galilee? And Jesus wants them to realize who is in the boat with them. It's not just some teacher, it's just not another fisherman, but it's Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, and He is not intimidated by the wind or the waves. Oh, these disciples were so focused on the storm, they forgot about the One who had power over the storm. And so now Jesus asked them a third question. He asked in verse 40, "Do you still have no faith?" You know, Jesus questioned them as to why their faith was lacking. Why did they not believe in His power to make the storm go away? Then there's one more question, and it's there at the very last, in verse 41. The disciples were terrified. They were in amazement. They stood in awe of what Jesus had just done. And so they asked this question; Who is this, even the wind and the waves obey Him? Suddenly the disciples’ eyes were opened and they realized Jesus indeed was more than just a teacher. He was more than just another fisherman. He was somebody special. Here is a group of men who struggled with their faith. They were in perhaps the greatest storm of their life and they did not know what to do. And yet Jesus was right there in the midst of that storm with them, and yet they were still filled with fear, and Jesus wondered what had happened to their faith. The storms of life have a way of doing something similar to us today, don't they? When the storms and the problems and the issues of life come our way, sometimes we feel a little bit overwhelmed. We might feel like these disciples, and we wonder, how am I going to survive? What am I going to do with this situation? And we fear for our life. We don't know if we're going to be able to survive that problem or not. Our world, as we know it, comes crashing in all around us, and it takes away our hope. We begin to fear the worst. The faith passages in the Bible that we noticed at the beginning really don't make sense in a time like this, and it may be a time when we begin to feel like the disciples. Fear overtakes us. Our faith is gone. And then we might hear the words from Jesus, as He spoke there in Mark 4, what's wrong? Don't you realize what's happening? Or we might turn the tables and we ask Jesus, well, well, don't You care what's going on? Don't You see what's happening in my life? Have You forgotten about me? Is there any kind of hope or solution that You can offer to me? And so Jesus asks us, “Why are you so afraid?” And that's a good question that we need to consider. In fact, some 365 times in the Bible, that is basically one time for every day of the year, we find a statement to the effect, do not be afraid, do not worry, or I will never leave you, I will never forsake you; something to that effect. 365 times in the Bible, we are reminded of the fact that we are not alone and that the Lord sees us. He knows what's going on in our life, and there is no need to be afraid. And indeed, we do know Jesus loves us. We have seen His powerful work being displayed in our lives, before. We can all call upon instances where that happened. We recall those stories and we were relieved when the Lord showed up and blessed us and provided a solution for the problem we encountered. But now, in the midst of a stormy season, when we have a problem that we have never encountered before, we're afraid. We don't know for sure why, and we don't know an answer. We might even be too busy looking at the waves all around us and we forget the One who is in the boat with us. Two chapters later, over in Mark chapter 6, we find the story about Jesus walking on the water. He comes out into the water, and Peter ask if it's the Lord, and He says, “Yes.” And so He invites Peter to go out, and the Lord takes him by the hand because Peter took his eyes off of Jesus. He saw the waves around him and he began to sink. And sometimes we do the same thing. We take our eyes off of Jesus and we begin to sink in the midst of the sea of trouble, and we forget about the One who is there to save us. And we think about those stories and those passages of Scripture and the words of Jesus, and we learn something, I believe, very important: Everything over our head is already under Jesus' feet. And that's what Peter experienced, firsthand. We might even ask the question, well, how much worse can it get? Am I going to lose it all? Are those people who are so precious to me going to be taken away? What about my job and my life and my health and my reputation? And on and on we go, creating those different scenarios that indicate we are living a life of fear and not of faith. So Jesus asks us another question, “Do you have no faith?” We might even say, well, sure, I have faith. I have been a Christian for a long time. My faith is what has brought me this far. But really, the question is, what kind of faith do we have now, in the midst of the stormy season? At times we might wonder how strong our faith really is. And the answer lies in how much we depend upon Jesus. How much are we willing to depend upon Him and His strength and His power and His resources, instead of our own? Here's another thought for us to consider. It is the storms of life that reveal the depth of our faith. And that's true, isn't it? When we encounter a crippling setback, we find out if our faith is real or if it is fake. We're able to see if our faith is empty and hollow, or if it is firm and secure. And Jesus wants us to know that it is in those moments, no storm is able to separate us from the love of God who lives in us. He cares for us. He sees what's going on in our life and He wants us to put our faith in Him. The apostle Peter went through some very challenging times in his life. We think about when he denied knowing Jesus three times, just the night before Jesus was put to death. In fact, Peter may have been in the boat with these other disciples, right there in Mark chapter 4. Peter was a man who seemed to attract all kinds of problems and situations, but he learned a great deal from those problems and from those issues that confronted him; and those storms enabled him to grow in his faith. They empowered him to mature as a disciple, to the point he would later on write these words in 1st Peter 1, beginning with verse 6. <"On that day you will be glad, even if you have to go through many hard trials for a while. Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold, that can be destroyed. They will show that you will be given praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ returns."> We know today, when gold goes through a refining process, those impurities are removed and it becomes very precious. And that's what Peter referred to here. And likewise, faith is refined. Faith is purified by the trials of life. And when our faith goes through that process, it becomes deeper and stronger than ever before. And no doubt that is something we all hope happens in our life. And so the question comes, when the storms of life come our way, do we allow them to strengthen our faith or are we filled with fear? When we dwell upon God's strength and power and love for us, we can be at peace when times are so uncertain. And if He can control the storms on the sea, then certainly He can control the storms in our lives. We don't have to be afraid. Jesus is basically telling us, in this story, I will travel with you through the strongest storms Satan stirs up; but first, you have to follow Me into the boat. What does that mean? Very simply, the Lord may allow certain storms and challenges into our lives, but we are not to dwell on those problems. Instead, they are opportunities for us to grow in our faith, in the One who knows who we are and knows what we need. And so we look forward to those opportunities, those purifying, challenging trials where that we can trust God even more, even when we cannot see the way, and even when we, perhaps, can see the way. Oh, the disciples learned a very important lesson that evening out on the Sea of Galilee, and it's a lesson I believe we need to learn as well; perhaps a summary lesson for us to consider: There is no room for fear in our lives when there is faith in our hearts! Oh, it is good to know God will not allow the storms of life to totally destroy us. He is in control. His grace is sufficient for whatever storm might come our way. And I don't know what kind of storms you are facing in your life, today. I don't know how strong your faith is. I don't know how it is holding up under these stressful or anxious moments. But in the midst of whatever those storms might look like, never doubt God's presence in your life. The Lord loves you. He sees you. He hears your prayers. He knows your struggles, and He is willing to walk with you in the midst of them. I want to share this one final passage, for our consideration, that reminds us of that. It’s found in Romans chapter 8, beginning with verse 35. <Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.> Oh, it may be difficult to get into the boat with Jesus in the midst of a stormy sea. We don't want to plunge in to the storms of life head first. We want to avoid them at all cost. But yet, when we find ourselves in the midst of those storms, we are to remember who is in the boat with us. And if we walk by our faith in the Lord, we will be made stronger. I want us to keep something in mind today: God's grace is sufficient for us, no matter what storm we might face in life. Here's the good news today: No matter what kind of storm may come your way, God will not allow it to totally destroy you. God's grace is more than enough to handle whatever might come your way. So I would simply encourage you today to hold fast to the Lord in the midst of the stormy seasons of life. Draw close to Him and allow those storms to strengthen you in your faith, to purify your faith, and to know that the kind of life He wants us to live is one not filled with fear, but one that is filled with much faith.

**VIDEO CLIP

One of the fun things children enjoy doing during the summertime is to go swimming. They like to go to a city, an area pool, kind of like this one, where they can enjoy getting into the water. They meet up with their friends and they spend all afternoon, sometimes, playing in that pool. And that's fun. And one of the things they experience during that time is to learn how to jump from off of the edge into that water. Once they get that mastered, they jump off the diving board into the water. And then if there is a high dive, that is an even bigger challenge. And one of the things that makes that so challenging is that they have to overcome the fear of not coming up out of the water. But once they realize you go into the water, then you're going to come up, they begin to do that over and over again, even off of the high diving board. Sometimes living a Christian life is like that, isn't it? We have to overcome the fear in our life in order to live by our faith in God. Those children had faith over and over again that they would keep on rising to the surface. And likewise, we have faith in God that He will help us rise above the circumstances of our life, and it's okay! When the negative and the challenging things of this life infiltrate our lives, then we can live by faith that God will provide for us. He will help us to rise above those problems, and we can live by faith and not by sight. I would encourage you to overcome your fear and live by faith in God, today.

**CONCLUSION 

Thank you for being our guest today on “Key to the Kingdom.” I hope this lesson reminded us of how important it is to live a life that is filled with faith and not fear. When we put our faith in the Lord, there is nothing He cannot handle on our behalf. This lesson is on our website. You can go to keytothekingdom.com to find it, and many others. None of them require any kind of payment or commitment. They can be downloaded without charge in several different formats. I hope you will consider doing that. There are several other things on the website that might be of interest, from Bible studies to short devotional videos. Our contact information is there as well, along with our statement of beliefs. You might want to even download our free app onto your smart-phone or find us on Facebook®. These are some of the ways in which you can keep up with our mass-media ministry. It is always a joy to share these messages with you, and I trust they are beneficial. Thank you again for watching the program today. I hope you will join us again next time, as we continue to study the Bible on “Key to the Kingdom.”