Faith Over Fear – Serving God’s Dream Without Fear

1.  Why does God call the foolish? Because He can get the Most Glory

1 Cor 1:26-29 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

● Fool - dull, heedless, (morally) blockhead, (apparently) absurd

●  God chooses the base things, insignificant, lowly, un-dynamic, weak, not powerful, and those without a lot of possibility

●  He calls us when were foolish but he doesn’t keep us there

●  For our foolishness He gives us His wisdom, for weaknesses He gives strength, for our insignificance He gives honor & promotion

●  This is what it means to be dependent on Him so He gets the glory

●  God rejects self sufficiency because of its pride and glory

1 Sam 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

●  My power has rejected him for my power only works in your weakness and inability, the power flows through dependency

2 Cor 12:9 (NLT) My power works best in weakness.

1 Sam 16:12 So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome, with beautiful eyes. And the Lord said, “This is the one; anoint him.”

2. Overcome fear’s insecurity so were not ineffective

Ex 3:11-12 (nasu) But Moses said to God, " Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" And He said, "Certainly I will be with you,

● God calls the foolish or the moronic – so the nature of the called man or woman begins with an insecure and foolish person

Ex 4:10,13 Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

Lk 1:74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear

3. Conquering the fear of our past #taskmasters

Num 13:33 There we saw the giants and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

2 Cor 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

● We must remove old strongholds of fear and limitation and build new strongholds of faith, hope, identity and leadership etc.

Ps 78:41 again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One

Phil 3:12-14 I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  (Intimidation comes from past hurts and mistakes