Slaying Goliath, Part 4: Fear
May 5, 2024

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Message Review

Do you ever feel like something, is trying to prevent what God wants for you? There is. To experience all that God wants for you requires defeating the internal giants that stand in opposition against you. One of those giants is fear. To defeat fear in your life, you must decide to surrender your life into God’s hands.

Main Point: We defeat fear in our lives by deciding to surrender our lives into God’s hands.

Scripture References: 1 Samuel 17:37, 40-41, 45-51; Matthew 16:24-25

Bible Study      

The focus Bible passage from the sermon was Matthew 16:24-25. Before going to the Sermon Discussion Questions, study the passage by reading through it together, then talk through it using the Inductive Bible Study Method questions that follow:

  • Context: Discuss the context of this passage (Use the Bible Overview to learn the context) 

  • Observation: What do you notice in this passage? What words or phrases stick out to you? And why?

  • Interpretation: What was the author’s original intent in this passage? What main point(s) was he trying to communicate, and why is that important? 

  • Application: What is one key takeaway or insight you had from this passage? How can or should you apply it to your life?

  • Questions: What questions/tensions do you have from this passage that you would like to discuss?

Discussion Questions

  • What were your initial thoughts or takeaways from the sermon and why?

  • On Sunday we talked about fear being an internal giant that stands in opposition against all that God wants for us. How can fear prevent us from experiencing what God wants for us?  

  • We know we’re being opposed by the internal giant of fear when we start wrestling with the question, “What if…?”.  Why is the question this an indication of fear?  When have you wrestled with that question?    

  • Read Matthew 16:24-25 again as a group. 

    • What big idea was Jesus communicating through the phrases, “deny yourself” and “take up your cross”?  

    • What does it look like to try and “save our lives”?  

    • “Losing our lives for Jesus” means surrendering our lives into God’s hands.  What does it practically look like to surrender our lives into God’s hands?

    • Jesus promised that when we surrender our lives into God’s hands, we will find life.  What does that mean?  

  • Surrendering our lives into God’s hands produces many things, one of which is the peace of God within us. What does the peace of God within us look and/or feel like? How does surrendering our lives into God’s hands produce the peace of God within us? 

  • Ronnie said, “Surrendering our lives into God’s hands today produces the peace of God within us, which enables us to defeat the fear that opposes us when we’re standing in front of a Goliath that stands in the way of experiencing what God wants for us.” How does having the peace of God within us enable us to defeat fear when it opposes us? 

  • How is Jesus inviting you to surrender your life into God's hands today?

To watch or listen to Sunday’s sermon, visit our Sermons page.