We live in a post 9-11 environment, and historians are already identifying this period in U.S history as the age of anxiety. And today, with high gas prices, banks going under, foreclosures, terrorist threats, etc. it is easy to live in fear. However, time is too short between birth and the grave to be robbed of life and if you don’t handle your fear you will live in misery.

• What are some things that worry you about your life right now? Is it robbing you of life?
• How do you normally handle your anxiety?

Read Matthew 28:1-5, Deuteronomy 30:19, & Philippians 4:13. To live with an Easter faith you first must stop fear from controlling your actions. You most certainly will have different fears come and go in life but the key is to recognize the fear but act in faith. If you allow fear to determine your decisions and actions you will never life the life God purposed for you and you will literally lose your life. Hope however, is belief in the positive outcome and committing to the resulting actions to achieve it.

• Describe a time fear paralyzed you from doing what you should have done?


• Name a time you took a risk and trusted in God? What happened?

Read Matthew 28:6, Proverbs 23:7, Genesis 28:16-17, & Genesis 39:2. In controlling fear you must also recognize you are standing on holy ground. Just as the women expected to find death and despair in the cemetery, God was already at work. And wherever you are today, in the fire, in despair, in fear of the future, etc., you are in the right place at the right time because wherever you are, God is. And God will bless you and use you for great purposes if you don’t give up or give in.

• Do you normally recognize God’s movement in your life even when things seem bad? Explain.


• Describe a time God move in a particularly tough situation in your life?


• How can you have proactive faith, right where you are today?

Read Matthew 28:7 & Colossian 1:27. Not only did the angel show the women they were indeed on holy ground, he commissioned them to go and tell others about Jesus’ resurrection. And truly the only real way for you to experience Jesus’ resurrection power is by serving others. The only way others will see God and know Jesus is through you and the hope that God has placed in you.

• How has serving God’s purpose helped you deal with fear and anxiety in your life? How has serving God helped you get past living solely for yourself?

Read Hebrews 11:1. Finally to keep fear at bay you must live your life focusing forward. The keys to this are to never look back (God’s best days for your life are before you) and to not get comfortable in the present, (following Jesus means committing to go wherever he might send you, whenever he might call you.)

• How does looking forward instead of back help you overcome fear and anxiety?


• Where in your life do you need to move forward and live in the situation God has placed you instead of looking back?


• Are you too comfortable in life right now? How will you move forward in God’s purposes?