Luke 1:30; Matthew 1:20 Let Go of Fear

Kowloon International Baptist Church Kowloon Tong

Harry Lucenay, Pastor

24 December 2006

Phillips Brooks visited the Holy Land more than one hundred years ago. As he rode on horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem he looked over the fields where the shepherds kept their sheep. He wrote a poem that was put to music.

“O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by; yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”

On this Christmas Eve we are going to focus on the last sentence of the first verse of Brooks’ poem. For the coming of Christ into history and our lives is a meeting of our hopes and fears.

Perhaps you have some fear residing in your heart as we worship today. Most of us do. We have the choice of facing the things we fear in our own strength or with the help of God. The story of the angel’s visit to Mary and then to Joseph introduces us to the personal challenge of trusting a word from God. Are you ready to take God at His word and trust Him?

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (English Standard Version)

At every major turning point in life, both fear and hope are present.

Faith, trust in God, isn’t the absence of fear; real faith in God is seen in what we’re willing to do in spite of our fears.

When the angel Gabriel visited a young girl named Mary in the tiny village of Nazareth some 2000 years ago, he said to her, Do not be afraid (Luke 1:30). Then he told her that in spite of her virginity she would give birth to the Savior of the world. Mary knew fear!

Notice how she responded to Gabriel’s news? I am the Lord’s servant, [or more literally, the slave]; May it be to me as you have said (Luke 1:38).

Martin Luther: Christmas is God deep in the flesh.

God can reach deep into the recesses of our lives and give us the capacity to face any situation and help us trust Him in spite of our fears.

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph. Luke 1:26, 27

Girl, eight years old: Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop and listen.

Whatever your fears today, do not be afraid (Luke 1:30).

Act on your faith in spite of your fears.

• Ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Master.

• Reach out to someone you’re sure hates you and forgive them.

• Give more than you’re capable of giving.

• Tell somebody that you’re sorry.

• Offer to pray for someone at work.

• Help someone who can’t help you.

As you face your fears, choose to act on your faith in Jesus Christ.

Remember: God is. God is near. If you belong to Jesus, God is with you. God is for you. God will receive the sinner and the hopeless if we turn to Him and trust Him with our lives.

Like Mary, allow yourself to be God’s servant and let Him have His way in your life.

To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

The translation used is the New International Version unless stated otherwise.