[Applause] good morning 11:30 good morning it's so good to be with you and to share God's word with you we've been exploring the Post Easter appearances of Jesus with his disciples and what that means for us today and we've titled this series Jesus is greater and today we're looking at Luke 24: 36- 49 and this is when Jesus has risen from the dead but his disciples have hidden themselves away in a room because they're afraid and you can understand why they're afraid their leader Lord and Savior who they believed would save them has been killed
or so they think and they're hiding away in a room and you can that's not an irrational fear that makes sense to me so let's read uh the scriptures Luke 24:36 to 49 and the words will come up on the screen while they were still talking about this Jesus himself stood amongst them and said to them peace be with you they were startled and frightened thinking they saw a ghost he said to them why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds look at my hands and my feet it is I myself
touch me and see a ghost does not have Flesh and Bones as you see I have when he had said this he showed them his hands and feet and while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement he asked them do you have anything here to eat they gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence he said to them this is what I told you while I was with you everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses the
prophets and the Psalms then he opened their minds so they could understand the scpt scriptures he told them this is what is written the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance for the Forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to All Nations beginning at Jerusalem you are witnesses of these things I am going to send you what my father has promised but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high amen I have come to tell you today that Jesus is greater
than fear now we're not talking about the good kind of fear the the fear that helps you Retreat from danger that's the kind of fear that God has put in us to protect us we're talking about the type of fear that keeps you trapped behind closed doors unable to live the Abundant Life for which Christ has died for now in many ways I feel equipped to speak on fear when I was little my brothers who were even even were way younger than me they had a name that they used to call me now if you're
Nigerian when I say it you'll know exactly what they mean they used to call me fear fear now fear fear simply is fear twice to show you how fearful I was I was afraid of dogs afraid of furry animals and mice Afraid of the Dark afraid of spicy food afraid of the shower afraid of silence and even afraid of missing the seventh 30 comedy slot on TV whatever there was a to be afraid of I was afraid but the thing that made me most afraid was injections now you might be thinking oh you can get
away with that but in 1980s Nigeria I would get malaria once or twice a year and the only C of treat treatment was a course of injections now that I'm a parent I really feel sorry for what I put my parents through every time they heard the phrase Sabine has malaria their hearts must have sunk now you've heard them say it takes a whole village to raise a child it took a whole village to give me an injection now one time I mean I would hide in cupboards trembling from malaria and fear and one time
I kid you not I ran across an entire Hospital Wing running away from an injection until Auntie Ruby got a hold of me auntie Ruby is my mother's Jamaican uh fellow hello nurse and she found me in that hospital and took me to a room and then she calmed me down and began to talk to me about things that I like and um she looked me in the eye and started to repeat a phrase over and over again in her wonderful Jamaican accent you will not feel the needle you will not feel the needle you
will not feel the needle and meekly I looked at her and took the injection and I have never feared an injection since now something unlocked in my brain that day because she got to the very core of my fears I had been afraid of the needle Auntie Ruby did not cure me of my many other fears in fact I took several of them to University fears I held on to until Jesus came into my life and showed me he is Lord over fear fears that you've heard about fears that are popular these days the fear
that makes you gossip the fear that makes you exaggerate the fear that makes you tell lies the fear that makes you complain incessantly the fear that makes you judgmental the fear that makes you discriminate and exclude others the fear that makes you angry the M the fear that makes you cancel people the fear of war the fear of a breakdown of relationships the fear of being broke these these are some of the fears that lie beneath the surface of our lives and Hold Us captive and prevent us from living life to the full this is
where Jesus steps in for me and for the disciples he shows them he is Lord over their fears by giving them his presence the presence of Jesus silences fear Luke 24:36 says this while they were still talking about this Jesus himself stood amongst them one of the reasons my parents were were unable to persuade Me Away From Fear was that they were just as frustrated as I was they told me off they raised their voices they made threats or offered me things that didn't even begin to scratch the surface of my fear but not so
Jesus Jesus doesn't tell his disciples to feel the fear and do it anyway he doesn't say their fears are not valid he doesn't wait until they're unafraid he goes where they are and looks them in the eye Jesus makes himself available for prodding and talking to looking and questioning and experiencing while they were still startled and afraid he said to them why are you troubled why do doubts rise in your minds he engages in meaningful conversation with them he loves them perfectly by drawing close and being being present Jesus wants to have deep conversations with
you he says look at my hands and feet Jesus invites the disciples to look at him and turn their focus on him make him the apple of their eyes he invites them to look at where his own pain was he doesn't hi hide where he was hurt he shows them the place where the nails pierced his body and Jesus is inv inviting us to do the same to give him our deepest fears to lay our hurts before him because he has been hurt too and he has risen above that fear Jesus is greater than any
fear you can ever know Jesus is asking you to come into His presence and speak with him look at him touch him question him and you know he means business too when he says he wants to eat with you bring me a piece of broiled fish he wants you to taste of his goodness and he asks them to bring fish so that they can see with their own eyes that he's not a ghost he's not someone to be afraid of he's both the one who comes through walls and he's the one eating fish Jesus is
spirit and life itself and he's inviting us into that same wholesome experience come and touch come and look and taste and know now before before I came to Faith I would always be at the back at lectures in University now no judgment for the people at the back but I was at the back for the wrong reasons I would go to the back because of what I wanted to do with my friends during the lectures I would go to the back because I probably hadn't done the pre-reading I would go to the back because I
probably came late but the most important reason why I went to the back was because I didn't want to live my life up front I was afraid and I had things to to hide but something interesting started to happen to me when I came to Faith I started to seek the presence of Jesus I started to invite him into my life and tell him my deepest fears and I started to learn about him through the Bible and worship songs and sometimes I even managed to keep quiet before him I found myself one Monday morning going
to the front of the lecture hall because I no longer had anything to hide I had opened my heart to Jesus and he had conquered fear on my behalf I started holding conversations with lecturers and making eye contact with them something even more powerful happened to those scared disciples cowering behind closed doors you can read about what happened to them in the book of Acts they took the World by storm now look around you in the church this is the result of the Fearless work of the disciples letting Jesus work in them to bring the
good news to you and I first John 4 says this there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear that perfect love is found in the person and presence of Jesus it casts out fear and you can go free and walk to the front of any room and tell the world about Jesus Jesus is greater than fear but sometimes our minds deceive us and we get overwhelmed and and that's why Jesus says to the disciples peace be with you and that's another thing I want to highlight here the Peace of Jesus silences
fear this is the first thing that Jesus utter to the fearful and we sometimes say it to each other in our services we are copying the words of Jesus the peace that Jesus offers is not the type of peace that the world offers I remember when any time I get into a sticky situation I'll find myself saying I just want peace and then I realized what I was really saying was I just want my own way but the peace that Jesus offers us is a peace that passes your understanding it's a peace that comes in
spite of your circumstances a peace that enables you to sleep during a storm Jesus says this in John 14:27 my peace I leave with you my peace I give you I do not give to you as the world gives do do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid one of the most common phrases in the Bible is just that don't be afraid do not be anxious fear not and it's all over the Bible because God knows that we are prone to fear and he wants us to know that we can trust
him and that he is our loving father who will never leave us or forsake us he gives us his peace in spite of our situations Jesus begins to remind the Disciples of all he has told them about himself and about the season that they are in something powerful and amazing starts to happen in verse 45 he says this it says this then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures can I tell you any type of drama or fearful situation can be found in the Bible That's why Jesus opens the disciples Minds to
understand it so that he can help them over overcome every issue that they will face Jesus not only told them about the season they were in but he told them about themselves he said you are my Witnesses when Jesus gives us his peace it comes with many good things it helps calm us down helps us hear him helps us understand what is happening and it helps us find ourselves and our identity and that blows fear out of the water sometimes I wish I had seen Jesus face to face like the disciples especially when I go
through trying times and fearful situations but I Found Jesus and his peace in the Bible Billy Graham one of the most popular evangelists of our time he said this the very practice of reading the Bible will have a purifying effect on your mind and heart let nothing take the place of this daily exercise he's encouraging us to open the Bible and read it every day you don't have to read several chapters you can start with a few verses a day and we live in a time where you can listen on your phones and carry it
with you wherever you go in the Bible you'll find this beautiful one of lovely verses and one powerful verse which is one of my favorites it says this in 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind the spirit Jesus promised us his precious holy spirit is not a spirit of fear it is a spirit greater than fear the holy spirit is a spirit of love a spirit of power a spirit of a sound mind and that's another thing I'd love
to highlight today the power of the Holy Spirit silences fear in their most frightening moment Jesus brought his presence and went right where the disciples were he gave them his peace and opened their eyes to understand the scriptures but there was more to come Luke 24:49 says this I'm going to send you what my father has promised but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high because Jesus knew that he was greater than fear he put his holy spirit in US power from on high that's the Holy Spirit that's
why we say Come Holy Spirit at every service because it is God's spirit in us that is greater than fear and we are inviting him to come and help us in every fearful situation because on our own we can do nothing look at what the disciples did once they received that power from on high the Holy Spirit poured out his gifts of speaking in tongues that unified people of every nation he poured out his gifts of wisdom knowledge Faith healing Miracles prophetic gifts and so much more and he continues to do that today John 14:26
says The Advocate the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you this is how we overcome fear by the power of the Holy Spirit Spirit we're going to say it soon in a moment Come Holy Spirit but you don't have to wait till every Sunday to say it you can say it everywhere and anywhere you are if you believe in Jesus that he died for your sins you have the Holy Spirit in you it's Jesus promised to you to
help you to teach you and to remind you of everything in the scriptures to remind you that he is with you when you hear the news of war or famine or any bad news on a daily basis we say Come Holy Spirit to invite him into your daily life into your family into your work into your ministry the holy spirit is concerned with everything that concerns you and he wants to be involved we can't do it in our own strength only by the power of the Holy Spirit if you don't know Jesus or you're yet
to invite him into your life why not invite him into your life today how can you say you don't believe in Jesus when you haven't tried him or experienced him don't be like little children who take one look at a vegetable and never give it a try Jesus is inviting you into his presence today to know his peace and to let the power of the Holy Spirit into your life so that you can experience a life that overcomes fear and what is the fruit of the spirit the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace
patience kindness goodness faithfulness and self-control that's the transformation you'll experience that's the life you will begin to live the name of Jesus is greater than anything that has ever caused you to lock yourself away and hide Jesus is Lord over fear and he is offering himself to you today come out of hiding and let the holy spirit in so that you too can Shine the Light of Jesus for all to see London needs you the world needs you shall we stand
