Fear not!!!

Thursday June 28^th, Mark 4: 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"  The opposite of faith is not non-faith, it is fear.  When the angels came to usher in a new creation in the birth of Christ, they started their message with the words, “fear not.”  When the religious hate community tries to influence the prop 5 vote in Anchorage in favor of hatred toward the GLBT community, they uses fear.  Fear paralyzes our joy, stops our praise, and keeps us from seeing the kingdom and controls our emotions.  In the garden we hear our first parents react in fear only after they have experienced sin.  In our lives, fear is often associated with sin.  In scripture we hear the birth of Christ introduced with “fear not.”  Fear not, Christ is with you, Christ forgives your sin and the sin of the world.  Fear not and live out the compassionate love of Christ in this world, Christ did!!!