In this sermon, I discussed the importance of faith, gratitude, and dependence on God. I emphasized the need to remember the good things God has done for us and to express gratitude for these blessings. I also highlighted the importance of growth and moving forward in faith, taking risks, and depending on God for things we cannot achieve on our own. I shared my personal struggle with understanding the scripture that says, "without me, you can do nothing," and how I came to realize that it means we can do nothing of eternal consequence without God. I encouraged the congregation to lean on Jesus, to cast all their anxieties and fears on Him, and to depend on Him for every eternal thing.

Key Takeaways:
- Faith requires remembering the good things God has done for us and expressing gratitude for these blessings. ([32:41])
- Growth in faith involves taking risks and moving forward, not staying where we are. ([33:16])
- We must depend on God for things we cannot achieve on our own. Without God, we can do nothing of eternal consequence. ([33:50])
- We should lean on Jesus, casting all our anxieties and fears on Him. ([34:20])
- We should strive to do eternal things through our lives, not just temporal things. ([34:57])

Bible Passages:
1. Acts 4:1-31
2. James 1:17
3. Luke 18:15-17

Key Points from the sermon:
1. Fear and faith coexist within us, and the one that wins out is the one that's more powerful.
2. Feeding our faith involves gratitude, growth, and dependence on God.
3. Fear is the result of being self-dependent, while faith is the result of being God-dependent.

Observation Questions:
1. What was the prayer of the early church leaders in Acts 4 when they were threatened?
2. What does James 1:17 say about the source of every good and perfect gift?
3. How does Jesus describe the kingdom of God in Luke 18:15-17?

Interpretation Questions:
1. How does the prayer of the early church leaders in Acts 4 reflect their faith in God amidst fear?
2. What does James 1:17 imply about our attitude towards the blessings we receive?
3. What does Jesus' statement in Luke 18:15-17 imply about our approach to faith?

Application Questions:
1. How can we cultivate an attitude of gratitude towards God in our daily lives?
2. How can we grow in our faith and dependence on God, especially in times of fear and uncertainty?
3. How can we apply the simplicity and dependence of a child in our relationship with God, as described in Luke 18:15-17?

Day 1: Recognizing and Acknowledging Fear

Fear is a natural human emotion, but it can also be a barrier to our faith. When we acknowledge our fears to God, we open ourselves up to His comfort and guidance. This act of surrender not only helps us overcome our fears, but also strengthens our relationship with God.

Psalm 56:3 - "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you."

Reflection: Reflect on a recent situation where you felt fear. Did you acknowledge this fear to God and ask for His help in overcoming it? If not, how can you practice this acknowledgement in future situations?

Day 2: Gratitude Fuels Faith

Gratitude is a powerful tool in our faith journey. When we express gratitude to God for His goodness in our lives, it fuels our faith and deepens our relationship with Him. It shifts our focus from our problems to God's blessings, and reminds us of His faithfulness.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

Reflection: Can you recall a recent instance where you expressed gratitude to God for His goodness in your life? How did this act of gratitude impact your faith? If you haven't been practicing gratitude regularly, what steps can you take to incorporate it into your daily life?

Day 3: Growth Through Faith Actions

Faith is not just about believing, but also about taking action. When we step out in faith, we grow spiritually and experience God's power in new ways. These faith actions can be risky, but they are essential for our spiritual growth.

James 2:26 - "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

Reflection: Think about a recent risk you took that required faith. How did this action contribute to your spiritual growth? If you haven't taken a faith risk recently, what is one step you could take to move out of your comfort zone?

Day 4: Dependence on God

Our faith journey is not about self-reliance, but about dependence on God. When we depend solely on God, we experience His power and faithfulness in profound ways. This dependence not only strengthens our faith, but also deepens our relationship with God.

Proverbs 3:5 - "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

Reflection: Reflect on a recent situation where you had to depend solely on God. How did this dependence strengthen your faith? If you can't recall such a situation, how can you cultivate a deeper dependence on God in your daily life?

Day 5: Eternal Consequences Through God

Our faith journey is not just about the here and now, but also about eternity. When we recognize our dependence on God for eternal matters, it shifts our focus from temporary to eternal and deepens our faith.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Reflection: Can you think of a time when you recognized your dependence on God for something of eternal consequence? How did this realization impact your faith? If you haven't had this realization yet, how can you shift your focus from temporary to eternal matters?

1. "We never get rid of all fear. We have the negative and the positive within us and the one that wins out is the one that's more powerful. If fear is stronger than faith, fear will usually win out. If faith is stronger than fear, faith will win." - 28:06

2. "Fear causes us to despair of our future but faith enables us to depend upon God for our future. Fear is the result of being self-dependent, faith as a result of being God dependent." - 30:34

3. "How do you feed your faith? Gratitude. Don't forget what God has done for you. Growth, go forward, don't be satisfied, don't stay where you are and become God dependent." - 31:40

4. "Fear causes us to forget the good things God's done for us. Faith causes us to remember the good things God has done for us. You show me a person of faith and they'll tell you, 'Oh I remember when God did this for me.'" - 24:07

5. "Without me, you can do nothing. What that means is without me, you can do nothing of eternal consequences. There's nothing that is going to be eternal that you can do. You have to depend on me for every eternal thing." - 33:50

So, how do people feed their faith?

Okay, we're talking enough about the fearful people. The people who feed their faith do the opposite of those who feed their fear. Let me give you an example: fear causes us to forget the good things God has done for us. Faith causes us to remember the good things God has done for us. Totally opposite.

You show me a person of faith, and they'll tell you, "Oh, I remember when God did this for me," and, "Oh my gosh, God did that for me." I'm telling you, there was a time when God— and they're always remembering. They just know; they remember. "Look what God did for me." They are constantly in an attitude of gratitude.

To David, from James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift comes from God." And that's how they feel. They just say everything comes from God. I know we have Thanksgiving this Thursday, but listen, I'm telling you, these people are just not into Thanksgiving; they're into thanks-living. It's something they do all the time. This is something they do every day. They're just grateful for God and what He has done.

My father turned 95 this week, and so we're going up to be with him at my brother's ranch. The kids, the grandkids, we're all going. It's kind of good. He's still doing good, but he's just not quite as strong as he was. In fact, he's the chaplain of the assisted living facility, and he's got some lower back issues, so he had to give that up.

Mark and I were with him last Sunday, and he was so excited. He said, "You know, I had to give up my— I don't go around visiting the people now. I can't quite do that now." But he said, "I started a new ministry. I've got a telephone ministry now, and it's amazing." He said, "People can call in now, and I pray for them." He said, "I just hand my number everywhere and just say, 'Need prayer? Just call me.'" And he said, "The phone's ringing off the hook."

Isn't it beautiful? A 95-year-old man can't walk around and really help people like he wants to, so he's got a telephone ministry. My dad's going to live till he dies, and he's not going to get confused like most people do. I know a bunch of people; they're already dead; they just haven't made it official.

People of faith—what do people of faith do? They remember the good things. They remember the good things that God has done. An attitude is contagious, isn't that true? Birds of a feather flock together. That's why people of faith flock together, and people of fear flock together.

Now, all of us know somebody negative. How many of you know at least one negative person? Raise your hand. Just one? That's good. Yeah, somebody's got two hands up. Some of you are trying. How many of you are sitting beside that person right now? Just—yeah, okay. That second question is an IQ test.

Now, let me help you, though. We all have heard negative people, and they just depress us, don't they? They're like the barometer; they pull us down. But I want to tell you, I have a way that you can never have that happen again. So if you've got somebody who's always negative, let me—this works. It really works. Trust me, I've done this.

This is kind of like my— you know, my name's John; I'm your friend. This really works. If somebody comes up and they're negative and they just start dumping that stuff on you, just take this left hand right here, this finger right here, put it right there. You've got to be coordinated; do this. Close your eyes. They will stop immediately. Trust me, I've done it; this works every time.

What's really beautiful is all you have to do is do it once. Just one. If they ever do it again, all you've got to do is get about right here. You follow me? I mean, isn't that beautiful? That's all you've got to do.

Now, here's how faith and fear work. See, we never get rid of all fear. We have the negative and the positive within us, and the one that wins out is the one that's more powerful. If fear is stronger than faith, fear will usually win out. If faith is stronger than fear, faith will win.

What we need to do is understand that if we feed that faith, we'll starve that fear. When I was in my late 20s, I really felt God speaking to me about learning to be salt and light and learning to share my faith and lead people to Christ in the secular world. But I was full of fear. I was full of a lot of fear because I had never done this before. I knew that I'd get a lot of people who would say no, and I knew that there would be a lot of people who wouldn't be open to what I shared. I knew that it wasn't always going to be good, and so I had some of this fear, and the fear was a little bit heavier than my faith. It was holding me back.

One day, I was reading in Acts chapter four, and it was about the early church and the early apostles and the leaders who were out witnessing. They were threatened; they were put in prison, they were beaten, they were all gone, but they were threatened. As soon as I saw that, I thought, "Oh, that's exactly how I feel."

But they prayed a prayer, and it was amazing what they said. They said, "God, behold their threatenings." You know, the first thing that they wanted when they felt that fear was to know that God saw their problem. "I just want you, God. Did you see that? Did you see what they're saying? Did you feel that rejection?"

God, "Behold their threatenings." In other words, the first thing we need to do when we have fear is understand that God is aware of everything that we're going through—every fear, every negative thing, every bad thing. Understand God is aware.

The second thing that happened is they said, "Fill us with boldness." They were feeling cold, and they wanted to feel bold. They said, "Fill us with boldness." So they got bold. They said, "Would you do me a favor? The fear is a little bit heavy for me, so could you give me some boldness? I need something to boost my faith to get my faith above that fear."

The third thing they said was, "And God, could we see you do miracles in the lives of people?" In other words, "Could we see your hand? Could we see your hand?"

When I read that, I began to understand very quickly that how you feed your faith is you recognize your problems. Say, "God, I've got a fear here. I've got a problem here. I've got a difficulty with this. This is hard for me. There's a mountain in front of me. I've got this challenge." It's okay to tell God; He already knows. He's aware of where you are. Let Him know. Say, "I've got some fears, so I need some boldness. I need some boldness."

And God, "Can I just see your hand every once in a while? Just work in the lives of the people." You see, fear causes us to despair of our future, but faith enables us to depend upon God for our future.

You see, fear is the result of being self-dependent, and faith is a result of being God-dependent. So how do I feed my faith?

Okay, the story is unfolding now. Gratitude. You feed your faith by being grateful for what God has done for you. It's exactly opposite of people of fear; they don't remember the good things. People of faith remember the good things God has done.

Gratitude. Second is growth. They become people of faith because they do things of faith. They cross the Jordan; they begin to take the risk; they move forward; they begin to grow.

The third area is being God-dependent. They realize that there are things in their world that they have to depend on God for. If they don't depend on God, they will never receive them and never achieve them in their life.

So how do you feed your faith? Gratitude—don't forget what God has done for you. Growth—go forward. Don't wonder; don't be satisfied; don't stay where you are. And become God-dependent.

I was in Washington, D.C., a couple of weeks ago, and wherever I go, a lot of times people give me coins, and they're very popular right now. I had a man come up to me, a leader, and he said, "I want to give you a coin." He said, "I think this is the secret to the Christian faith and walk." So I thanked him and stuck it in my pocket. I really didn't even look at it.

Later on, when I got in the car to go back to the plane, I pulled it out, and I looked at it. On one side, it has gratitude, and on the other side, it has dependence. I thought, "How true that is! Be grateful and remember every good thing that God has done for you, but be dependent." Because those fears and all the things that you're going to face in the future, you need God.

In fact, I'll tell you how we're supposed to be in a relationship with Him. It's the story that I love so well in Luke chapter 18. People brought babies to Jesus, hoping that He might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. "Let these children alone. Don't get between them and me. These children are the kingdom's pride and joy. Mark this: unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you're never going to get in."

What is a child? A child is dependent—dependent on God, dependent on a parent.

When I was young in my ministry, there was a passage of Scripture that bothered me, and I wrestled with it for probably six months. I wrestled with God over this. Jesus said, "Without me, you can do nothing." I couldn't figure that verse out because I said, "Man, I don't mean to sound unkind, but I'm doing a lot of things without God." I'd make my list and say, "God, I did this, I did this, I did this." I wasn't trying to be aloof; I wasn't trying to be arrogant. I was just having a hard time with, "Without me, you can do nothing."

Then one day, I just learned and sat at His feet, and He said, "What that means, John, is without me, you can do nothing of eternal consequences. There's nothing that is going to be eternal that you can do. You have to depend on me for every eternal thing."

Because I'm a person of eternal values, every day I basically pray this kind of like this declaration of dependence with God. I basically say, "I don't know who I'm going to see. I don't know where I'm going to go. I don't know what I'm going to be interacting with and who I'm going to be acting with. But God, here's what I want: I want you to do eternal things through my life today. I don't want to do wood, hay, and stubble."

Why would I want to do wood, hay, and stubble? Well, I know that's what I do; that's what Maxwell does. I want to do the eternal stuff. I grew up with a plaque in our home that said, "Only one life, it'll soon be passed, and only what's done for God will last."

That's God dependency. When you and I just depend on God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

There was a little song, a little chorus that we used to sing a long time ago. This is going to date me. I'm going to give it to you, and probably none of you have heard it, but it was a beautiful, simple chorus called "Learning to Lean."

"Learning to lean, I'm learning to lean on Jesus, and I'm finding more power than I ever dreamed."

Why? Because I'm learning to lean on Jesus.

It goes something like this: "Learning to lean, learning to lean, I'm learning to lean on Jesus. I'm finding more power than I ever dreamed. I'm learning to lean on Jesus."

Now, how many of you have ever heard that? Ten of you? It's just pathetic how uneducated all of you are.

So let's—it's "Learning to lean, learning to lean. I'm learning to lean on Jesus. I'm finding more power than I ever dreamed. I'm learning to lean on Jesus."

Sing it with me, would you? "Learning to lean, learning to lean. I'm learning to lean on Jesus. I'm finding more power than I ever dreamed. I'm learning to lean on Jesus."

So that's pretty good. Again with me: "Learning to lean, I'm learning to lean on Jesus. I'm finding more power than I ever dreamed. I'm learning to lean on Jesus."

And when you learn to lean on Jesus, do what He tells you to do. Lean harder. Lean harder. Cast all your anxieties, your fears on Him.