FAITH OVER FEAR

Don’t Settle For Less Than God’s Best!

Pastor Doug Heisel – September 14, 2025

2 Timothy 1:7 — For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

Genesis 12:1-4 — The LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

Genesis 11:31-32 — Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.

God’s best for me involves…

1. Moving beyond LIMITED BELIEFS that are not from God.

Genesis 12:1 — The LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2. GROWING beyond my personal best.

Genesis 12:2a — “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you…”

3. Saying YES to all God wants to do THROUGH me.

Genesis 12:2b — …and you will be a blessing.

Hebrews 11:8 — By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

Join us for next Sunday:
Faith Over Fear: Faith for Physical Health

Life Group Discussion & Questions

BREAKING THE ICE:

What are some labels (good or bad) that defined you when you were in elementary school?      

DIGGING IN:

Read Genesis 12:1-4. 

1. Review point one from these notes. What are some limiting beliefs you have (or used to have) of yourself or God, that would keep you from God’s best if you continued to hold onto them?  

2. Review points two and three. How have you seen God already doing one or both of these in your life?

3. Read Genesis 11:31-32, highlighting the phrase “they settled.” There appears to be a clear contrast between Terah and Abram. One settled far short of what was first in his heart to do, and the other went well beyond what he even imaged. What is something you have seen people settle for, that was less than God’s best? In what ways does this challenge you to keep believing God for more in you, for you and through you?      

BRINGING IT HOME:

The Lord called Abram, and He’s been calling people ever since to surrender to His lordship and follow His leading. What will you do this week as a result of this lesson?  You are blessed to be a blessing!