In the middle of the night the door opens, a stumbling of little feet is heard dodging the laundry hamper and pile of stacked books by my bed. A voice is heard, “Mommy, daddy, I’m scared, I had a bad dream.” Fear has a powerful affect on our emotions, behaviors, beliefs, even our choice of careers. For my kids it could be bad dream of a monster or being left somewhere, (do you remember what your nightmare scenario was), which leads them to make the scary trip in pitch dark to the safety of their parents bed. And fear of loosing their childhood affection makes dad tell them to jump in the warm snuggly middle so they can have both parents on their side! As we get older fears do not tend to dissipate but rather tend to take different forms. No longer are there scary monsters but rather profound fears based in real life scenarios. The fear of pain, financial instability, loneliness, relational heartache, death, or the many other fears that reside deep down in our hearts have profound affects on our decisions. One of the biggest fears that I have seen in my life and the life of people around me is the fear of man. When the fear of man is put under the microscope, we see at it’s elemental state is the desire to be loved, liked, even at times to be worshipped. Why do other’s have such power over us? What can that lead to? Malachi speaks to this problem in the second and third chapter of his prophetic book to the church. This Sunday we will look at how the pastors in Malachi’s days were more interested in pleasing the mankind than God, but this fear is not just held to pastors, it’s something we all can relate to. Does the gospel help us at all? Let us gather and be taught by God’s Word so as to properly order our fears around His everlasting love.

Ben Melli

Catch a recap of last Sunday’s service by tuning in to Pastor Ben’s podcast—just click the link below

https://sites.libsyn.com/447186