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Weimar University

Don Mackintosh

God’s Plan for Building Back Better

Great to have you today at Weimar Church.

Also wonderful to be able to study God's word today.

In the political arena over the last few months and years, there have been various campaign slogans.

And, I'm trying to remember the name of the Prime Minister in the UK, who is it, Clyde?

He had a campaign slogan, build back or build, build, build.

And then Joseph Biden, I don't know if they got together on the phone or something, but he also said, you know, we need to build back and we need to build back better, which means I think part of his plan is to tear down what's there and then build back better.

And So this is the idea that we, and it's true, sometimes we need to tear down things and build back better, but I want to talk today about when God built back better.

And I'm going to look at a text here with you that was the most searched text during 2020, Isaiah 4110.

People were looking at their smartphones and they were looking at what the Bible has to say, they had lost some trust in politicians, and they had lost some trust in academics, and they had lost trust in scientists, and even the medical community to some extent.

And so the searches on the Bible actually skyrocketed last year.

And people were going direct and trying to find answers in God's Word.

And I think that's probably a good thing.

So we're gonna talk about this text today and break it down, so let's just pray together.

Father in heaven, bless us today as we talk about the most searched text of last year and we'll see probably why it was a text people turn to and hopefully it will minister to our lives today in practical relevant ways.

So the most searched text, fear not, for I am with you.

I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

And it deals with perhaps 1 of the largest problems.

And 1 of the largest problems we face is fear.

And it might be fear of going back to a complicated family situation.

It may be fear of going back to a complicated family situation.

It may be fear of going back to a complicated school situation.

It may be fear related to lifestyle changes we've been asked to make and we don't know if we can maintain.

It may be fear of disharmony in our family.

Whatever the fear, whatever the problem, God has a solution.

And he also has a process that helps us move from problem to solution.

So in this text we see both the problem, the solution, and the process, and the first thing is fear not.

This happens to be the most repeated command in all of Scripture.

And even though it's the most repeated command, many people fear whether or not they have salvation, They feel whether or not they've committed the unpardonable sin.

They fear whether or not God can be trusted.

They fear whether or not the church can be trusted.

And they just have a self-fulfilling prophecy that never seems to go away.

The elephant story reminded me of Oswald the Fish.

Maybe you know the children's story for you.

Oswald the Fish, he was a small little fish, a goldfish.

He lived in this small fish bowl for years.

Finally 1 day, I don't know, 1 of the family members thought the fish should be released.

I don't know who James is necessarily, but he's looking startled.

So he let the fish go, he let the fish go.

Fish dumped him off the pier and He saw him, he's in the water, he's swimming in a circle just like he's still in the fish bowl.

And he goes, Oswald, just swim away, swim away, there's other big fish, you might get in trouble.

And he just kept swimming in that small circle.

And there was another big fish that came and saw him.

That big fish was hungry and he kept saying, Oswald, you got to swim.

And so Oswald became that big fish's lunch.

And that's what happens to us sometimes when we get stuck in a rut.

We have to build back better based on God's Word, not our problems and our way of looking at things.

If God says He can deliver us and He has a pathway to do that we need to trust that and move forward with Him.

Fear not, all the way through the Bible, I am with you.

You shall have a son to a mother who didn't know whether or not she can have a child.

All of these are preceded by the word, fear not.

And I read through all the texts, fear not, this morning as I was putting this message together.

God has set up the land for you to possess.

Fear not, I'm gonna do battle against your enemies.

How many think these sound like good promises?

Fear not, for the Lord will come and save you, fear not I will hold your right hand, I will help you, fear not I have created, I have redeemed, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine, fear not you shall not be put to shame, fear not." your words were heard and I am come as a response to thy words.

Fear not, I will save you and you shall be a blessing.

Fear not, you have more value than many sparrows." His eye is on the sparrow.

All of those sacrifices, Sparrow's Exodus or Leviticus 14, it took 1 sparrow, it died in symbol of Christ dying.

They squeezed its blood out into a small cup.

They put another sparrow, dipped it in that cup, and it went free, saved by the blood of the sparrow, but pointing to the blood of the Lamb who was Jesus.

Fear not, I have created and redeemed thee.

I guess I like these, so I put them down twice.

And you'll be a blessing more value than sparrows.

Fear not, it's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

And fear not, Because I'm the Alpha and the Omega, I'm the first and the last.

This is just a few of the texts that say, fear not.

How many of you want to believe the Lord today and say, I choose to fear not.

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God’s Plan for Building Back Better

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