FEAR FICTION | PASTOR DAVID COOPER | MOUNT PARAN CHURCH

[Music] it covers me [Music] so [Music] welcome home mount parent family today is the lord's day we gather to worship you know the most important attitude and action in life every day is a spirit of praise the bible says in psalm 113 verse 3 from the rising of the until the going down of the same the lord's name is to be praised no matter what's going on today what's going on in the world from the time the sun comes up until it goes down it's always in order to praise so let's begin our worship today by offering praise to god right where you are lift your voice and let's give to god today a song of praise from the hearts father today we worship you and praise you for your goodness and your grace and your glory in our lives and as we worship today may the refreshing power of your holy spirit minister to every heart and life in jesus name now let's worship the lord together we come to worship the one this morning who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light aren't you thankful you've seen the light this morning hallelujah put your hands together [Music] arise my soul remember this he took my sin and he bury it no longer i who live now jesus [Music] no i won't boast but in the cross that saved my soul [Applause] [Music] now jesus [Music] all of this for your glory [Music] lord be glorified in us today all of this oh [Music] i foreign up to see the lies [Music] um [Applause] come on give me praise this morning come on are you grateful for the life that we have in christ today and we can live free today because of what he's done come on i won't complain for all my hope is in your name and now your joy awaits my friends of your mercy and your love your love for you are my god of your mercy and your love is come on just take a moment and thank the lord for everything he's done for who he is in your life is [Music] is is giving praise today thank you god [Music] tune my heart to sing thy grace streams of mercy never sneezing call for songs [Music] upon [Music] i was lost in utter darkness set me free [Music] is always [Music] peace [Music] [Music] to [Music] heart to me [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] course from your heart peace [Music] princesses i was in utter darkness till you came and rescued me i was bound by all my sin [Music] as we come together for prayer today one of the most important issues for us to pray about is our nation there are a lot of issues our country's facing today but we know god reigns over the world and god reigns over america god does amazing things in nations when his people pray he tells us in chronicles if my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray i will heal their land would you join me now as we pray for america father today we thank you for the land the nation which we live we thank you that america is founded on christian faith and values even though many times we drift from our foundation we know those are the truths that we are built upon we pray that you'll bring us back to our faith in you and the foundations of freedom and liberty and justice for all we pray for healing for political division we pray for reconciliation of people that are divided today we pray that you'll use us as your people in this nation as christian people to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world into witness of your love our nation needs your touch we need revival and we humble ourselves and pray together that you will heal our land and we believe that you reign sovereignly over our nation and our world and we praise you that you hold us in the palm of your hand in jesus name god has seen revival in our generation and we believe that and expect it it is so good to share this time of worship with you thank you so much for your partnership in ministry as a part of the mount pair and family and ministry all over the world we are preaching the good news of jesus as we prepare for giving today let me mention to you that next sunday we will now have two services on campus as well as the two services online and so we are ready for you if you are able to come to church on campus we have everything ready a wonderful worship experience just as we have it online so beginning next sunday we'll offer services on campus at 9 00 and 11. we have family ministries at the 11 o'clock service make sure that you go online and register your children as we worship the lord together as we give today i would want to thank you and commend you for your faithfulness in giving you know giving is such an important part of the life of a disciple of jesus many people forget that i was fortunate enough to be raised by christian parents who taught me the principle of tithing you see the bible says in proverbs 3 verse 9 honor the lord with your wealth with the first fruit of all of your increase or your income we set aside the first tenth of our income that's what the word tithe means and god promises to bless us for our giving and we are blessed because our giving together builds the church sends missionaries cares for the needy and provides a place of ministry for the world thank you for your faithfulness to the lord and to the work of the ministry i want to pray for you as we give now and let's continue to worship and then i'm going to share this morning with you a message the lord has put in my heart just for our times called fear fiction join me in prayer and right where you are join me in giving god thanks for his provisions lord today we know that everything we enjoy in life comes to us from you every good and perfect gift we thank you for your faithful provisions in our lives and in your church we honor you as we give today in jesus name god bless you today as you give got so much to thank god [Music] [Applause] [Music] so many wonderful blessings [Music] open doors [Applause] a brand new with each new day [Applause] thank you lord that's why i praise you [Music] and for this i give you [Music] [Music] praise [Applause] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] for this [Music] oh me [Music] hi i'm [Applause] uh [Applause] today i want to talk to you about fear fiction do you like science fiction movies barbie loves science fiction i don't really care for them that much but i always go to see science fiction movies with her h.g wells is considered to be the father of science fiction he wrote a number of science fiction classics one of his earliest is the war of the worlds he wrote this book in 1897 describing an invasion of creatures from mars in 1938 the mercury theater of the arts radio broadcast did a radio adaptation of the war of the worlds that night as thousands of people listen to that radio broadcast describing an invasion from mars the listeners didn't know that it was a science fiction story they thought it was true the history tells us that in america a widespread panic broke out in cities there was chaos there was mob violence there was looting until people finally realized that they were experiencing fear fiction science fiction blends fact and fiction together into one creating a false reality we today are living in a time of fear fiction facts of what's going on in the world are blended with fiction people have a heightened sense of fear because we can't distinguish which part we're hearing is fact and which is fiction people today are experiencing fear at record levels fear fiction the fear can be real but many of our fears are imaginary and that's what's happening to people today the only power to break fear is faith we hear fear fiction from news outlets from social media platforms from end time preachers predicting the future from politicians who tell us the world is going to end in 10 years by climate change and we don't know what part we're hearing is fact and which part is fiction it's all become one and we're experiencing fear fiction but the faith we have in god if we will use our faith faith is the power to conquer fear you see the bible says in romans 12 3 that god has given to every person the measure of faith god has put within your heart the measure of faith but you have to use it you have to choose to doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs every day to conquer fear i heard a paddle pastor who went to a psychiatrist he was having a complete breakdown in his ministry stress overload anxiety had completely paralyzed his life and his ministry as he poured out his hearts and his fears of the psychiatrists during their conversation the psychiatrist asked him he said aren't you a minister don't you have faith the pastor said yes i have faith the psychiatrist said well then why don't you use it you see you have faith you must use it today and believe the promises of god and the truths of god in spite of all the fear fiction in the world this is what moses told the israelites when they came out of egypt they got stuck before the red sea and they thought that god had led them out in the desert to die think about that they had just seen the miracles of god in egypt but now they're in a place where they thought god was going to abandon them they couldn't get across the red sea they thought they were going to be destroyed in the desert that moses stood on the bank of the red sea and he said use your faith in exodus 14 3 tell the people do not be afraid stand firm and you will see the deliverance the lord is bringing you today that's what david said in psalm 27 1 the lord is my light and my salvation whom shall i fear the lord is the strength of my life of whom shall i be afraid in psalm 34 and 7 david said i sought the lord and he heard me and he delivered me from all of my fears and god will deliver you today from all of your fears if you will seek him one of my favorite writings of david about overcoming fear by faith is psalm 56 3 and 4 at what time i am afraid i will put my trust in you and god whose word i praise and god i have put my trust i will not fear what can man do to me jesus talked about it with his own disciples they were often overwhelmed with fear in matthew chapter 6 and verse 34 he said don't worry about tomorrow tomorrow will worry about itself each day has enough trouble of its own and some of his disciples had given up their businesses and they left everything to follow him and they began to worry about their financial provisions but he told them in luke 12 verse 32 fear not it is your father's good pleasure to give unto you the kingdom paul reminds us of this power of faith in romans 8 and 15 when he says god has not given you the spirit of bondage again to fear but the spirit of adoption whereby we cry abba father and the spirit himself bears witness he reminds us that we are the children of god and when the apostle peter wrote to christians who were suffering by persecution of the roman government in first peter chapter 5 verse 7 he said the only way to deal with suffering and governmental oppression is faith and he said cast all your anxieties on the lord because he cares for you and paul the apostle moved by the holy spirit gives us a formula for fighting fear in second timothy chapter 1 verse 7 he writes for god has not given us a spirit of fear but of power of love and of a sound mind he writes that to timothy his son of the faith a minister who was a victim of fear and he says timothy and not just to him but to every believer god has not given us a spirit an attitude a mindset a disposition of fear but of power of love and of a sound mind and i want to apply that simple formula to life today and show you how to use your faith right now to conquer fear fiction and the first truth we learn is to overcome fear you have to change your view of yourself you have power god has given you a spirit the holy spirit of power you see timothy had a spirit of timidity and that's what this word fear means it means timidity lack of confidence lack of courage they have self-doubts and many of you are plagued with self-doubt because you don't realize that god has given you power the word power means ability and strength and many of you feel weak like timothy he saw himself as a person of weakness he saw himself as a person of inadequacies he didn't feel that he was sufficient for what god had called him to be and god he called her to do and that was causing his fear to destroy his confidence and the holy reminds us in the scripture that god has given you power and you've got to change your view of yourself to conquer your fears you've got to begin to see yourself as a person of power not a person of weakness many of us struggle with low self-esteem we struggle with feelings of inadequacy we feel at times that we're not able to meet the challenge i love a statement by winston churchill he said we are all worms but i do believe i'm a glow worm you got to have a view of yourself that's healthy you've got to see yourself as a person of power the moment you accept jesus as your savior and if you haven't i pray that you'll accept him as your savior today because your life is going to change in a dramatic way but a miracle takes place when you put your faith in jesus the bible says the holy spirit of god comes to live in you and the holy spirit gives you power gives you a supernatural divine ability and that's what paul is talking about here to timothy and to us you have a divine supernatural power an ability beyond your ability that gives you confidence in life jesus said in acts chapter 1 verse 8 you will receive power when the holy spirit comes on you you've got to believe that about yourself jesus says you will receive power when the holy spirit comes on you and every challenge you face every problem you face you can receive a fresh empowerment by the spirit go before the lord in prayer and say lord fill me with the spirit give me power to meet this challenge and you will live with a tremendous sense of confidence knowing that god's power is working in you and through you and for you but you say i'm just a person i have so many weaknesses well paul talked about that in second corinthians chapter four seven he says we have this treasure and jars of clay to show that the all-surpassing power is from god and not from us you and i may be a jar of clay god made us in the beginning from a jar of clay we have frail bodies and frail minds but inside of us there is a treasure a spiritual treasure an all-surpassing power that comes from god and not from us now listen to ephesians chapter 3 verse 20 now unto him who's able to do it measurably more than we ask or imagine now watch this according to his power that is at work in you look at that phrase his power is at work in you when you know that and believe it and rely on that power you'll live with courage and with confidence now there are people at times that may see you as a person of weakness there may be people that don't believe in you but you can't listen to them you can't allow people to discredit you you have to know who you are you've got to live with confidence you've got to realize that god's power in you will make you adequate for every challenge you face god gives you power to stand and not fall god gives you power to be what he's called you to be god gives you power to do what he's called you to do god gives you power to accomplish your goals god gives you power to fulfill your dreams god gives you power to bend under pressure and not break depend on the power of the holy spirit and your level of confidence will come to a new level and sometimes people will discredit you i heard the story about a crowd in downtown of a big city they were all crossing the inner section of a street downtown and it was a hot summer day and suddenly a man fainted and collapsed while a woman ran over and began to attend to him but there was another man in the crowd that thought she didn't know what she was doing and so he came and pushed her aside he said let me take care of this i've just had a course in first aid so he got down and checked the man's pulse and he's about to give him artificial respiration and she tapped him on the shoulder and she said by the way when you get to the place of calling a doctor i'm already here people may push you aside and think you don't know what you're doing you don't have the gift but you have the power of god within you fear grips people that have insecurities and feelings of inadequacy in life you know this is the david story of the bible here was a man a young man that his own family discredited and yet he realized god's power was in him one of the greatest stories in the bible is david and goliath if you're a parent and you have kids make sure you're reading them the great stories of the bible and make sure you tell them read them the story of david and goliath because it will give them courage in life it's found in first samuel chapter 17 that david was a young man his father jesse had eight sons he was the youngest his brothers were on the battlefield with king saul and the armies of israel the philistines would come over into israeli territory there were terrorists they would attack farms and villages and steel and loot and now those armies face each other in the valley of elah the battles on both sides but there was no conflict they didn't engage in battle the philistines had a champion named goliath he was nearly nine feet tall a giant of a man and every day in the morning in the evening he would defy the living god of israel and defy the armies and he would walk out and give that defiance to those israeli soldiers and who said give me a man give me a man to fight me if he conquers me we'll serve you if i conquer him you will serve us but every time he came out the men of israel would just tremble in fear no one would engage him no one would take his challenge well jesse gave david food for his brothers on the battle lines and jesus to take the commander david arrived that day at the battlefield to bring his three older brothers the food provisions from their dad and the bible says when he was there he heard the defiance of goliath and he said who was this uncircumcised philistine that defies the armies of the living god and the soldiers were talking among themselves that king saul had offered any man in the army a great reward if he would just go and engage that giant and defeat him he promised him great wealth he promised him his daughter's hand in marriage and saul said he would exempt that soldier's family from ever having to pay taxes now that should have been enough to make anybody take the challenge and david found out about that and when he asked about this what should be done his older brothers were jealous of him he says the oldest son was angry at him he said i know that you have a wicked heart he rebuked david for wanting to be involved and david said can i not speak in the hebrew that means is there not a reason i love the way the king james translates what david said is there not a cause is there not a reason for somebody to go and engage in battle well king saul heard that david was offering to go and fight the giant and the bible says in that chapter that saul called for david to come and stand before him david said i will go your servant will go and fight the enemy and saul said to him you are not able you're only a boy and he's been a soldier since his youth king saul told david the same thing a lot of people are going to tell you in life you aren't able to do it you're only a boy they may not use the term boy they may use other terms you're only this you're only that but david insisted and so saul said put my armor on they had to adjust saul's armor saul was the tallest man in israel the bible says he was head and shoulders above all men david was not a very large man they tried to retrofit all this armor it didn't even fit he said i can't wear this i'm not used to this they gave him weapons he didn't take them he said as a shepherd the lord gave me grace when a lion or a bear would take off a sheep i would attack them and god delivered me he said that same god is with me now he walked in the valley with a slingshot picked up five smooth stones and the bible says as he drew toward the giant goliath said what am i a dog that you would come at me with sticks give me a real man a real soldier and david said to him you come to me with sword and spirit and javelin but i come against you in the name of the lord god of hosts today the lord will deliver you into my hands and then all nations will know there is a god in israel the bible says that david ran at the giant he didn't run away from him like other men were he ran toward him he slung that sling and it hit a stone right on his forehead and suddenly that giant collapsed the bible says that david stood on top of him drew goliath's sword and cut his head off and when he did the philistine army fled why did david do that how could david have the ability to stand up against his older brothers his family said you can't do this your heart's not right you just want attention king saul told him you are not able why did he do it because before this that day at home when the prophet samuel came by jesse's house and said the lord has sent me to anoint the next king jesse brought all seven sons before the prophet and god said these aren't the one david wasn't even there they had to bring him in from the field his own father didn't think he was qualified and the moment samuel saw him the lord said arise in a room now listen to first samuel 16 13. so samuel took the horn of all and anointed david in the presence of his brothers and from that day on the spirit of the lord came upon david in power you see the moment you're born again the spirit of god comes upon you in power david knew that he knew if he went in that valley he wasn't going with just with a slingshot he wasn't going to his own power he didn't have power against that giant he knew that that anointing that had come upon his life was the power he needed to succeed and when you realize that the moment you're born again the holy spirit lives in you you can depend upon the power of the holy spirit you'll break that spirit of fear that holds you in bondage the second truth is change your view of yourself you have power is change your view of god people live in fear because they don't trust god faith is the power that drives fear out paul says you have love in other words you are loved by god love is what gives us our sense of security in the world because our parents love us they do two things they provide for us and they protect us and paul is saying when you begin to realize that you are loved by god that he's your heavenly father god will provide for you always and god will protect you always you'll break the spirit of fear off your life you see there are only two primary emotions all these other emotions come out of these two fear and love love is the opposite of fear fear is the feeling of being insecure and abandoned in the world love is the feeling of security that only comes from god you see the bible says in first john 4 18 perfect love drives out fear and when you begin to realize god's perfect love for you it will deliver you from fear paul put it this way in romans chapter 8 verse 35 through 39 what shall separate us from the love of christ shall tribulation or distress or famine or nakedness or peril of the sword knowing all these things we're more than conquerors through him who loved us now listen to this i am persuaded are you persuaded today i am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels or principalities nor powers or things present or things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord and when you know that nothing can separate you from the love of god you are secure in the hands of god god will provide for you and god will protect you you will be a victor over fear now i've always heard about the love of god i've known about the love of god i've studied the love of god i've memorized verses on the love of god but i want to tell you something personally i never experienced that at an emotional level until my son david paul was born he was our firstborn son i will never forget i will always remember standing in the delivery room first of all because i was in a state of panic myself i didn't want to be in the delivery room i wanted to be in the waiting room and just somebody gave me the news that the baby had been born and i told barbara if i wanted to be in a delivery room i would have been a medical doctor but you know that's the way we do it now the father's right there in it i was running the video camera i didn't get that close to the action i was terrified but in the middle of all my anxiety in the delivery room when our son was born and i first saw his face i saw myself i saw my image it was like looking in a mirror and i heard in my heart and god made man in his own image and i realized i had just created a son in my image and then they wrapped him in a blanket put a little stocking on his head i put the camera down they put him in my arms and the love that rushed through me for my son is indescribable and every parent knows what i'm talking about because i've never been a father and now for the first time experienced how deep a father's love is i was overwhelmed with the emotion and then the lord spoke in my heart that's how i feel about you love is not how god thinks about you it's how god feels about you when you realize that god loves you he'll never let you go he'll always provide he'll always protect that'll drive all the fear out of your heart if you have power change your view of yourself your personal power not weakness change your view of god god loves you he's not opposed to you he's not judging you god loves you and then paul says change your view of the world he says you have a sound mind i want to apply this to how we are thinking today you have a sound mind now what is a sound mind when you begin to live with a sound mind you'll change your view of the world and what's going on in the world today because the way that you're viewing the things in the world today may be causing you a lot of this fear fiction the new testament is written in the greek language and this is the only place in the new testament where this particular greek word is used for sound mind it comes from a greek word that means literally saving the mind and people today they need their minds saved from fear saving the mind he could be translated self-disciplined as many translations do and that's accurate it could be translated self mastery it is the ability to master your fears one bible scholar describes this word sound mind as having control of one's mind in the face of panic dr martin luther king a tremendous leader in our nation a christian minister leader of civil rights and human rights lived in a time of great fear also but he said in his one of his messages that the goal for us is not to eliminate all of our fears it is to master our fears none of us are going to eliminate fear it's a part of our emotional makeup the issue is whether or not we can control it before it controls us and that's what this means a sound mind that believes the truth of god and not the fiction of the world and when you have a sound mind it'll change your view of the world and people they are looking at world events they're looking at politics they look at this pandemic they're looking at economics and they are caught up in fear fiction because they feel the world is spiraling out of control but i want to remind you today the world is held securely and safely in the hands of the living god now if you take a fatalistic view of the world and you think it's all coming to an end you are going to be the victim of fear fiction but if you take a faith view of the world and realize god is sovereign you are going to conquer your fears today and live in perfect peace god is in control of this world god holds the world in the palm of his hand and god gets the last word and god will write the final chapter of history and god gets the last laugh absolutely what the bible says in psalm 37 verse 17 it says the lord laughs at the wicked because he knows their day will come if you think the devil is going to take over the world or evil is going to win the day or some totalitarian governments or some one world government if you really think that's where all this is headed you are going to live your life in fear that's not how the world is going to end that's not the last chapter god sets boundaries sovereign boundaries over everything going on in the world and god is directing the world toward its ultimate future in him and when you have a sound mind and begin to realize what the bible says about the history of the world and god sovereign in the world your heart will be at peace you see when the psalmist talked about the world and his future he reminds us in psalm 24 verse 1 the earth is the lord's and everything in it in psalm 103 verse 19 he said the lord has established his throne in the heavens and his kingdom rules over all when isaiah talked about the future of the world he said in isaiah 9 6 of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end when the prophet daniel talked about the future of the world he said in daniel 2 and verse 44 in the time of those kings god the god of heaven will set up another kingdom that will never be destroyed when obadiah the prophet talked about the future of the world he said in obadiah verse 21 the kingdom will be the lord's when jesus talked about the future of the history of the world he put it this way in matthew 24 verse 21 and 30 he said there will be a time of great distress unequal from the beginning of time nor to be equaled again at that time however the sign of the son of man will appear in the sky and all the nations shall mourn for they shall see the son of man coming on the clouds with power and great glory when the apostle peter writes about the future of the world he reminds us in ephesians 1 verse 11 that god is working out everything in conformity to the purpose of his will when the apostle peter tells us about the future of the world he says in second peter 3 and 14 we are looking forward to his promise of a new heaven and a new earth the home of righteousness and when john the revelator sees the future of the world he doesn't see it dark and dismal and hopeless he sees it as a story of god's redeeming grace and he says in revelation 11 verse 15 the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our god and he shall reign forever and forever today you don't have to live as the victim of fear you have power love and a sound mind power means change your view of yourself to be a powerful person in christ not a weak person change your view of god and realize that god loves you he will provide he will protect and change your view of the world it's not spiraling out of control it's headed toward god's ultimate purpose god is sovereign he reigns over the world he reigns over our lives in 1933 in the wake of the great depression in this country president roosevelt was reelected in his inaugural address he made the statement to a country in a great depression people terrified he said there's nothing to fear but fear itself he didn't mean the depression wasn't real or the times weren't difficult he meant that the real enemy was fear fear paralyzes us it locks us down that's the enemy you're facing today god is taking care of the world god will take care of you rise up today you can conquer that fear fiction that has gripped your life every day every moment that fear creeps in your heart you say i have power by the spirit of the lord i'm loved by god he will protect me and provide i have a sound mind i don't see the world fatalistic i see it as a future belonging to god and you will walk in victory join me in prayer lord i thank you today that you're the god who holds not only the world but us in the palm of your hand and i pray today that you'll break the spirit of fear that has gripped so many restore their faith revitalize their faith refresh their faith for this is the victory that overcomes the world even in our faith let me ask you something today have you put your faith in jesus christ have you come to the moment in your life the point in your life that you have personally received him as your savior and committed yourself to him as lord this is the most important decision you'll ever make you see christ alone has the power to forgive you of your sins jesus has the power alone to give you eternal life he also has the power to give you an abundant life today you need to open your heart to him today that's all you need to do to get a fresh start in life the bible says believe on the lord jesus christ and you will be saved whoever you are watching me today sharing this service this is your moment to accept christ as your savior would you pray this prayer after me now and make your decision for christ pray with me lord jesus i do believe in you you are the only son of god in the savior of the world i repented my sins and i receive your forgiveness today i receive you by faith as my savior i confess you are lord of my life i believe that today i am saved i have power i am loved i have a sound mind in jesus name i pray god's richest blessings on you your family i pray that this will be the greatest year ever for every one of you as we expect great things from god god bless you today what a great time of worship we've enjoyed today thank you for being a part of the service if you've accepted christ as your savior we welcome you to god's family we are so proud of you and happy for you make sure you get a copy of fresh start our gift to you to help you grow in your relationship with jesus now remember this coming sunday will now offer two morning services on campus as well as the two on line 9 and 11. family ministries at 11. if you're bringing your kids make sure you go online and register so we can prepare for your family we also have a new bible study every wednesday night 7 pm it's only 15 minutes it's power pack called dig deep i'm taking you in depth now through the scripture right now we're going to study the book of romans maybe an all year we don't know we're not in a hurry and you can click on a free download study guide every week watch it anytime after that on demand continue to follow me on social media in the church make sure you hit like and subscribe and share every time you participate it helps to build our media ministry and the visibility of our ministry all over the world so that we can help more people today and give people hope in christ thank you for your partnership in ministry what we do we do together barbie and i love you our whole staff is praying for you may you have a great week [Music] you

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Length: 58min 43sec (3523 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 17 2021