‘FEAR NOT’ USED AT LEAST 365 TIMES IN BIBLE

Sir,
 
Technology has made it very easy and simple for preaching, sharing and teaching the word of God. In the comfort and safety of your homes you can access a host of Christian services which are Godly inspired, life changing, edifying and strengthening believers all over the world. You choose a channel of your choice through your TV set and your cellphones, on YouTube, WhatsApp and in various platforms. Because of its long history, Christianity has a tendency of producing contradicting reactions to a number of situations, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. But as the church, we are called to be a voice of calm and reassurance, affirming that God is with us.

Therefore, there are key roles to promote our preparedness and resilience during these times other than pressuring governments for full openings of churches. For instance:
* Let’s give hope and combat fear with accurate information and encouragement through our faith.
* Let us maintain worship life and connections virtually, through different means, when we are not able to gather for example WhatsApp messages, phones and online, if we can.
* Let us show God’s compassion and care to those affected in our communities.
* Build hope and sustain the connections of members to branch platforms.
* Follow government guidelines in each context and communicate factual information to your members in line with government’s public health messages and counter misinformation.
* Live-stream or record services while some are self-isolating and distribute these to your church branch platforms through WhatsApp and other applications.
* We need to coordinate and offer spiritual care to those church members affected by COVID-19 and self-isolating and keeping in touch online, via phone, through messages, etc. We can maintain ‘physical distance’ while being socially and spiritually close.
* Build hope and address people’s fears and emotions at this time, offering spiritual counselling to affected members.

Let us not fear the occurrences of the time. Isaiah 43:1 says; “Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.” God actually commands us not to fear, or worry. The phrase ‘fear not’ is used at least 365 times in the Bible, most likely because God knows that the enemy uses fear to decrease our hope and limit our faith and victories. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7 6). “There is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: