Sermon Title: “Letting Go / Moving Forward”

November 4, 2018

Forward

When we talk about fear we describe it as something that happens to us. We think of fear as something that came upon us without our permission and consumes us. And part of that is true. Our fears dictate the actions that we take. If you don’t learn how to overcome your fear you’ll find yourself sitting on the sidelines of your own life, benched because your brain is caught in the anxiety of its own imagination. While fear can consume us, what we miss is we still have a choice. Fear is a feeling inspired by a thought that might happen in the future. Change your feelings by changing your thinking. Change your thinking, and you’ll overcome your fears.

Title: “Letting Go/Moving Forward”

Jeremiah 38
Following Christ is just as much about learning how to let go as it is learning when to hold on.

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3 Things we need to know about control:

  1. We all control in some way (Exodus 34:40)
  2. Our need for control isn’t making things better. (Jeremiah 38:15)
  3. We fear the lack of a sense of control

Faith isn’t about control, faith is about submission

Luke 9:23-24

What if God is with you is truer than you could ever imagine yet doesn’t have the outcome you anticipated? Is God still God when your life doesn’t look how you planned?

Ephesians 3:19-20

Once you Submit:

  1. You begin to discover the life God has for you (Book link – Surprised by God)
  2. You tap into a power greater than your own.
  3. You learn the joy of trust.


Perhaps the most insidious fear we face is the fear of losing control. We’re taught from a young age to maintain our control at all costs, because to lose control would be the worst offense. But if we’re really honest with ourselves, we recognize that what we fear losing is something we never actually possessed. The reality is that we were never really in control to begin with. Our attempts to maintain our false sense of control only make things worse, much like the Israelites experienced in Jeremiah 38. When faced with this reality, we can choose to respond in fear, attempting to maintain our false sense of control like King Zedekiah, or we can choose to respond in courage, surrendering our sense of control like Jeremiah. In these two responses, we learn that faith isn’t about maintaining control, but about submission.

Questions for Reflection:

  • In what areas of your life do you struggle most with control?

  • In what ways has trying to maintain a sense control made things worse for you?

  • What first comes to mind when you hear the word “submission?”

  • When we practice submission, we begin to discover the life God has for us, we tap into a power greater than our own, and we learn the joy of trust. Which of these resonates most with you?

  • How can you practice submission this week?

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