October 22, 2017 | Kyle Brenon | 2 Timothy 1:6-7
Community Group Questions
We are a fearful bunch! So many of us (Okay, all of us…) find ourselves dealing with fear or anxiety at some point in our lives. These fears and anxieties have a tendency to follow us everywhere we go, and if we let them, they will hold us captive. This week we begin our brand-new sermon series “fearLESS” as we take a look at what scripture has to say about fear.
If you often find yourself suffering from fear, there is good news! Paul says in his second letter to Timothy that as believers in Jesus we have not been given a spirit of fear, but rather a spirit of power, love and self control.
Not only have we been set free from sin and death by the finished work of Christ, but we can have freedom over fear as well. Jesus tells us 21 times throughout the New Testament not to be afraid, to take courage and to fear not! In fact, he tells his disciples not to fear more than anything else. When we learn to fully place our faith and trust in the sovereign God of the universe, fear loses its grip on us and only then do we begin to truly live in freedom.
Read: 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Psalm 27:1-3, Isaiah 41:10, Romans 8:31
Discuss:
• When you were a child, what were some things you were afraid of? Have those fears changed much as you have grown older? If so, how have they changed?
• 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control.” One mark of our flesh (attempting things in our own strength) is fear… but the mark of the Spirit is power, love and self control.
If we are honest with ourselves, what are some areas in our lives that we are simply not trusting Christ the way we should be?
• We might understand intellectually that God is sovereign over everything, and that we have nothing to fear (Romans 8:31) but why is it we still struggle to live it out?
• How does knowing that God is sovereign give us encouragement as we face our fears day to day?
• What are some practical ways we can encourage one another as we learn to trust God with the things we fear the most?
Memorize/meditate: Psalm 135:6 “The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths..”
