American Christians afraid of the wrong things (Luke 12:21-34)
Gary McManus, 09/10/2023Part of the Life With Jesus is Better series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
September 10, 2023 Afraid of Wrong Things Luke 12:21-34
Our affirmation of faith today, 2 Timothy 1:6-9:
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid,
but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Power. . .love. . .self-discipline. . .
Demonstrations of the Holy Spirit on screens. . .
The Holy Spirit of the Living God doesn’t make
us timid. We can’t be afraid to say, “I love you.”
There is NO REASON to fear.
There is no reason to fear with God’s Holy Spirit..
Pastor knows; fear isn’t reasonable, it’s emotional.
Some fears appear to be genetic. Fear isn’t wrong.
Pastor suggests that we American Christians are
afraid of the wrong things.
We have heard before (author John Ortberg):
the most frequent command to human beings in the
Bible is “Don’t be afraid.”
“Never take counsel of your fears.”
Remember Bible moments: see Judges 7:7, 1 Samuel 17:4,
1 Samuel 17:7, 1 Samuel 17:39, 1 Samuel 17:40
Should David ask. . .? No. Never take counsel of your fears. . .
Russel Moore’s book, “Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call
for Evangelical America". Moore was once President of the
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the public-policy arm
of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Moore confesses
that he thought the SBC should take more seriously the charges
against its clergy but kept quiet out of FEAR that harping on the
problems would hurt the mission.
For Christians, friends, the truth should be nothing to fear.
Pastor was taught that American culture was never
a friend of Christianity. As long as all Americans
were fighting communism, everything was okay.
Then. . . . Islam? Which Islam?
This summer A Lifeway Research study:
Almost 7 in 10 U.S. Protestant pastors (69%) believe
there is a growing sense of fear within their conger-
gations about the future of the nation and world.
Additionally, more than 3 in 5 (63%) say their
churches have a similar increasing dread specifically
about the future of Christianity in the U.S. and around
the world.
Pastor McManus stated: “the way Americans practice
Christianity in the 21st Century--we should be worried
about the future of Christianity in the US.
Pastor covered this in sermon and newsletter.
Not to mention. . . the Southern Baptist Convention
700 entries from cases that largely span from 2000 to 2019.
These are Protestant heterosexual male Pastors!
We are wasting our fear on the wrong things.
With regard to concerns about the future of Christianity
in the US. All Christians can do something about that
right now, today. Start praying. Pray more. Pray regularly.
Start reading your Bibles. Share something of your faith with
your loved ones. Let them know something of what God has
done for you in Jesus. Stop spending time on social media.
There was an interview with Pastor Greg Laurie, Senior Pastor
of Harvest Christian Fellowship.
Laurie opined [stated his opinion] that the growing sense of fear
among Christians “is probably because of the way things are in
the world right now.” Pastor McManus: REALLY?
When Pastor preached on fear before, he focused on a Bible
fear: losing our faith. Would we lose faith if we prayed more,
read the Bible more and trusted God more?
(See 2 Timothy 1:6-9) Amen.
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