Fearless Faith - Pastor Sam Simoes - June 21, 2026

Pastor Sam Simoes message for Sunday June 21, 2026. 

Welcome to the Northwest Church of the Nazarene podcast, where we share the heart of our church’s mission: discovering and engaging in a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ through inspired worship and intentional ministry. Each episode brings you sermons, insights, and messages that challenge and encourage spiritual growth. Whether you are part of our diverse, multicultural church family, or listening in for the first time, you’ll find a community that loves Jesus and welcomes everyone with open arms. Join us online at nwnaz.org or in person in Columbus Ohio, as we journey together toward a deeper, more meaningful relationship with Jesus and each other. 

Transcript

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Every Sunday at Northwest Church of the Desert in Columbus, Ohio, our congregation is challenged to grow spiritually. This podcast shares the sermons, insights, and messages that encourage our congregation to mature spiritually.

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Well, happy Father's Day. Today we're going to be talking about fear, but also about faith. In today's message, we will be looking at a passage that is on a lectionary. So for those of you who have been in Sunday school, we are continuing with our um discussion on faith and discussion on fear. And today we'll be looking into Matthew chapter 10, verses 24 to 39. A first grader came up front to speak about what they want to be when they grow up, and they had to have a speech about what they wanted to do. So the first grader got up in front of the class and said, When I grow up, I'm going to be a lion tamer. And I want to get into that cage. And when the lion is roaring and it's pouncing, and then stop for a moment, realizing what they were doing, and saying, I think my daddy is going to be there with me. Well, today is Father's Day. Many times we believe that we cannot do a lot of things unless our daddy is there with us. Well, today we're going to be talking about we accomplishing sometimes even the impossible because our Father, our Heavenly Father, is there with us. We're going to be talking about faith and fear. You know, fear causes us to focus on what we might lose. Fear may uh causes us to focus on what we may endure or what is uncertain or what we can control. And fear is a big part of our lives. But what we're gonna learn today, what we're gonna see, is that faith is a trust in a father that can and will control anything that we do not. It's a trust in a father that takes care of us, is a trust in a father who will allow us to experience him. So we will be stop trying to survive and begin living if we apply what the scripture has in store for us today. So today we're gonna be looking into the well-known missionary discourse in chapter 10. It begins in chapter 9, but then in chapter 10 of Matthew, we read Jesus teaching the disciples on what to expect. Now it's not to it's not to say that he's going they're going to have a prosperity gospel or that they're going to have everything that they dream of. It's by the contrary, Jesus is offering a difficult and a very suffering life, but yet one that is with him. So we will suffer in this world. We will go through challenges, we will go through difficulties, we'll go through loss, we will go through despair, and what Jesus is offering is that we will go through these things with him or without him. And it is our choice to pick with him and join in this life with him or without him and attempting to do things on our own. And what we will see is that this journey of the disciples, a journey that they have lived with Jesus, is something that they have seen amazing things, that have seen people coming to an encounter with Jesus. And the disciples are being told that this encounter with Jesus does not come easily, but many times it comes through suffering. So Jesus speaks of them to them about a mission. And this mission that he has is a mission that others may see him, is a mission that others may encounter him. And the mission we have is that our loved ones will also get to know him, that those that are lost will get to be found, that those who are suffering may find the presence of Jesus as well. Our mission is the same. And what Jesus was trying to do is to let us know that fear, even though it does exist and even though we do experience, can be replaced with faith. And that is a phenomenal passage. So if you'd stand with me as we open our Bibles in the book of Matthew, in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, we're gonna read verses 24 to 39 as we consider the word of the Lord for us today. Mark chapter 10, verse 24. The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom. Oh, I'm in wrong one. Wrong book. Wait a minute. I was like, that's not what I was talking about. Oh, that was that was embarrassing. All right. Oh, thank you. Thank you. You know, fathers are not perfect. Only one. All right, so Matthew. I was in the book of Mark. I can't believe I did that. I use a different Bible to study and a different one to preach. All right, here we go. Matthew chapter 10, verses 24. The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Belzebub, how much more will the members of his household? Do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak it at daylight. What is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who killed the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sorrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside of your father's care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my father in heaven. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I do not come to bring peace, but a sword, for I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, a man's enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take out their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it. And whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Father, this is a difficult and hard passage, but it's one that you have professed through your Son Jesus Christ. So for today, as we consider these words, as we consider this passage, we pray that you would challenge us to be transformed. Not by not by just knowledge or understanding, but by the movement of your Holy Spirit. Father, there's nothing we seek more than you. So speak to us, challenge us, and transform us. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. We find in this passage a few words that Jesus spoke that are not just encouraging and not just to say, hey, you got this. He's not telling us to trust ourselves or to trust our instincts or to trust our abilities or to trust our knowledge. He's telling us that we are his children. He's telling us that he will take care of us. He's telling us how valuable we are. In other words, he's telling us to take courage. Now, courage is not the absence of fear. The absence of fear is stupidity, literally. If someone is not afraid of anything, they'll just go and do stupid things. But courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is recognizing the fear and trusting the Father when it comes to this passage. To be courage is to recognize that, yes, in fear I am able to take a stand. To be courageous means that we will take a stand. And that stand is not on our own, is a trust in the Father. A father that is loving, a father that will not leave us, a father that will not that will not go away, a father that will care for us, a father that loves us. And when we talk about being a child of God, when we talk about being a children of God, we're not talking about an earthly father that sometimes disappoint us, an earthly father that sometimes we struggle with, an earthly father that does not always act in perfection. But today we're not talking about an earthly father, we're talking about a heavenly father and a father who cares for us. So when we look at our lives and we recognize that we have courage, that courage is not based on the circumstances, it's not based on our abilities, but based on a relationship with the father, a relationship that God has with us. I would like to go into the story of Joshua. Now, Joshua for 40 years walked alongside Moses. He learned from Moses, he was a supporter of Moses, he was someone who journeyed along. But then when Moses died, he was taken the reins of God's people. He was appointed to be the leader. And God had a message for him. God had words for him. And we read in Joshua chapter 1, verse 6 be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land, as it were, to their ancestors to give them. Then verse 7 tells us, Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. So to be courageous in this case is to follow the law, is to follow the will of God, is to follow the ways of God. To be courageous is not to just be strong and have physical strength, but to be strong against all the attacks and all the desires and all of the things of the world, and to be courageous to follow the law, to follow the will of God. This is a new chapter, it's a new opportunity. But God is leading this young man to a new opportunity, and he is trusting God for what is to come. And when we look into the scripture, we see many instances in which when you trust God, amazing things are possible. We see young David before a giant that everyone is afraid of, a giant who brought great fear to the people of Israel, a giant who has defeated many, who was con who has conquered many. And yet at this moment, this giant, this giant was way, way, way below the power of God. And David trusted God more than the fear he had of this men. He trusted God more than he trusted his fear. But many times we trust our fears, don't we? We find situations and we're afraid of because this situation may cause loss or uncertainty or change. I know more of us fear change more than anything else in the world. But when we trust God, we're trusting that God will take care of that. It requires faith, it requires us to be courageous. And this courage is not to say that God's not going to do something for us or that God's going to do what we want, but rather that we are trusting God for his movement in our lives. And when Jesus speaks with the disciples, he is very clear that God's movement in our lives may not bring us comfort, may not bring us our desires, may not bring us wealth, it may not bring us what we desire and what we want. It may bring persecution and suffering. Because following Jesus is going against the current of the world. Because following Jesus is doing what the world does not want to do. Following Jesus is going against the message of the world. And yes, we are making inroads for the gospel, for the kingdom of God. And when I think of Peter and the faith that he had in going into the water toward Jesus, and when he saw Jesus, he had faith that Jesus was going to take care of him. But once he looked at the water and fear came in, he starts sinking. But this faith of getting out of the boat is the faith that Jesus is speaking about. He's saying that if I'm in it, there's nothing for you to fear. And what he's saying is our response should be, God, if you're in this, let's do it. Let's go. Bring it on. Because I don't want to do anything without you, Lord. Everything I want to do is with you. But fear is what keeps us from doing the things that God's calling us to do, is what's keeping us from doing the things that God is leading us to do and he's revealing to us, but we are so afraid that sometimes we begin to become frozen before an opportunity because we are allowing fear to take over rather than trust, rather than faith. So, how do we do this? Why did Jesus speak these words? He said, Recognize your fear, you will be going through difficult times. Families are going to be against you. Family, I'll bring division because when you start following Jesus, you begin to act differently. All the parties, all the drinking, and all the fun that the families had are now ended because someone is finding Jesus, someone finding a new purpose. We hear that in every family. Families struggle when someone finds Jesus. Because Jesus changes our lives, and many times people do not understand that. But Jesus was very upfront about it. He said, when people are afraid, you know, they want to protect what they have. When people are afraid, they want to protect, they want to avoid loss, they want to keep the things as they are. We got they want to keep things from being changed. But here's what the word of God says it says that fear is not of God. God's not a God of fear. We have to fear God, we have to respect God, we have to have reverence before God. But the fear that we have is something that we all struggle with. Why? Because we want to control, we don't want to lose, we don't want to suffer. It's human to fear, but it's also divine to trust and to rely on God. You see, probably the many issues that we have when we think about, oh, I want to share with someone, but I'm afraid on how they're going to respond. I'm afraid of me being cast aside. I'm afraid of me being rejected, or they're calling me names, or or worse, you know, they press legal action on me or or sue me for for doing something that I'm not supposed to be doing. I am afraid. You know, I I share often often with um with uh people that fear releases uh that that on an okay, I'm gonna go back to the beginning. On an iceberg, when we see anger, and when someone is angry about something, the top of the iceberg, the visible part is the anger. But underneath the water is fear. So every time someone is anger, is angry about something, our first question should be what is it that this person is afraid of? So when a parent is angry at a child for coming home at midnight, what are they afraid of? It's not the time, it's not that the door was locked, their fear is that they don't know what's going on with their child. Why is their child away? What if did something happen? Why aren't they not there at the time that they said they're gonna be there? The fear is what creates anger. So every time we see anger, it's because there's a fear, and every time we see anger in the world is because there's a fear, and every time we have fear, we are not allowing God to be a part of our lives because we shield ourselves with fear and say, God, I want you to do this, but I'm afraid of the loss. And God's saying, Don't be afraid, trust me. Because if you trust me, you know that I'll be taking care of this. But in this passage, Jesus had a bigger, a bigger point. He had a bigger purpose, he had a bigger goal, he had a bigger decision. Because that decision, that goal, that purpose wasn't for them to to have a happy life with Jesus, it was so the world could be changed through him. It's just so others could go and tell others about Jesus, it's so the disciples will be equipped to tell about the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. So Jesus' goal in this passage is not to tell, hey, you all gonna suffer and that's for nothing. No, his goal is you're all going to suffer, but because of your suffering, many will come to know Jesus Christ. You will suffer, you will go through difficult times, but that's going to be your witness to the world that the faith that you're dying for is worth it to you, and it's worth it to me. And many will come to see Jesus, and many will come to find faith, and many will come to find salvation because of your suffering, and because of your suffering, your loved ones are gonna get to know Jesus because of your suffering, your Your family will get to know Jesus. Because of your suffering, the world will get to know Jesus. So they started working. They started to prepare themselves. They started to go and witness because Jesus said he was going to return. So they were preparing for his return. So they recognized their fear. And their fear wasn't on things that they could control. Their fear wasn't on things that they could make a decision. Their fear were there because they were afraid of something they could lose. Or they're afraid that they will lose control. And what Jesus said is do not pay attention to those things, but trust me, because I have a greater purpose. Yes, you will suffer, but you will see that I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. I will always be with you. But it's so easy for us to live a life of fear. Nicholas Herman was 26 years old after living a very chaotic life filled with fear. And one day he decided, you know, I don't want to live this life. And he decided to join the army. Well, there was before the Third Year War, so he ended up spending the uh part of his life fighting the Germans in the war. He returned home and lived in his parents' house, and he was working as a valet, and then he couldn't find purpose, and he just had this turmoil inside of his life. He was afraid of everything. And after experiencing war, he did not even know how he could live. So he decided to get away from everything and join a monastery. But because his life was so chaotic, he was not allowed to do anything but work in a kitchen and mending the other monks' sandals. And he started doing that. And one day, as he was working in the kitchen, he said, God, all my life I've been looking for you, but I want you to be a part of everything I do, of every hour, of every gesture. So he began to have an experience of God present with him as he was mending the sandals, as he was taking care of the things of the kitchen. And eventually he began to have a life that was not only filled with purpose, but filled with joy, was filled with with a fulfillment that he has never seen before. Well, others start taking notice, they're coming to him for advice. And he changed his name when he went to the monastery from Nicholas to Lawrence of the resurrection and became known as Brother Lawrence. Well, Brother Lawrence receiving them, and they were coming to him for advice because they saw there was something very different in his life. And one day he decided to write down his experiences, especially his experiences to God. And he wrote the book called The Practice and Presence of God. Now, this was many years ago. And when he wrote that book, that book became a well-known book for many of the greatest authors, from A. W. Tozer to John Wesley. And they all speak of that book as the one that made them realize that the relationship with God is not a relationship that you have on Sunday mornings or a relationship you have when you pray at night or in the morning, but a moment by moment with Him, with His presence, with His touch, with His control. If you are living moment by moment with God, what space do you have there for fear? Where does fear come into your life if you're spending moment by moment with God? You don't need to go to a monastery to do that. You don't need to be away or on a prayer retreat to spend every moment with God. A moment with God is the moment that we allow Him to be a part of our lives. And this is what Jesus is saying. You will be suffering, but not alone. You will be flogged, but not alone. You will be hurt, but not alone. You'll experience loss, but you'll not be alone. But you will do all these things for the sake of the gospel. Because if you want to be like me, you have to reject the things that you love more than you do love me. If you love your family more, then you're not loving me. If you're loving anything more than me, you are not truly loving me. So you may have to let go of those things. It doesn't mean that we're gonna start stop loving our family, stop loving our spouses, or stop loving our children or our parents. By the contrary, it means that our love for God is so powerful that it emanates to the rest of the people, to our families. But what he wants is to be a priority in our lives, to be our God, to be our everything. So the church during that time believed that Jesus was gonna come. So they start going to the world because they wanted to have the world prepared for when Jesus returned. They did not want Jesus to return, and the world not being prepared to know what happened. That's not if Jesus is coming back, the world needs to be prepared. They need to know. That's why I believe there's gonna be a great revival before he comes back, because the world needs to know who Jesus is so he can come and rapture us and take us. So the church worked really, really hard because Jesus was coming. And they believed Jesus was coming at any moment, at any moment. And the church started working and they went into the streets, they went into the alleys, they went into the harems, they went into the houses of prostitution, and they started sharing about the gospel of Jesus, they start sharing about how Jesus transformed their lives and how Jesus could transform their lives. They weren't afraid, they were led, they were empowered by the Holy Spirit, and many, and the book of Acts says thousands come to know him. They sold everything they had, they gave everything away because Jesus was coming back, and that went on, and then they started to transform the culture. Eventually, the Romans who were persecuting them became Christians. The empire became a Christian empire, which I'm not sure if was a good thing, because what it did was all the Christians now settled, now they have power, now they had the ability to say, Oh, I'm a Christian, and they have power in a culture, and the persecution began throughout the world. Today, the countries that have the most persecution, and I could name a few, have the greatest growth of Christians. Why? Because those who are believing, those who are standing for the faith, are being seen as a faith that is worth to be standing for. And that is why Jesus brought the persecution, not that we would suffer, but that the gospel would spread, that others would know Jesus. And we find that it was after World War I when the church began to become so complacent that they just come on Sundays, they just gathered and waited for people to come in. So instead of having this urgency that God is sending his son again to return, that Jesus is returning, we need to have the world prepared. They were just saying, Well, I'm just glad that I'm prepared, that I have my salvation guaranteed. And a lot has changed. And a lot has changed because the urgency of going without fear has been replaced by a lot of knowledge, has been replaced by a church that has been very complacent and very happy to be Christian. When the mission was Jesus' ultimate goal, was that we now many people are accepting Jesus. Many people are accepting that he is the Son of God, but they're not accepting his mission, they're not accepting his goal, they're not accepting his purpose. And the problem is that we can feel good about our lives, but that's not why he created us for us to feel good about having a relationship with Christ. He created us that the relationship with Christ will allow us to go and do the same mission that He has created us to do. So we remember the sparrow. Oh no, we trust the Father more than our own fears. Sorry about that. Jesus didn't tell them to trust themselves, He told them who they belong to. So don't trust yourselves, trust who you belong to. And we find even that the mission of Jesus is a mission that fear can sometimes be in the way. But Jesus was very clear that he is the way, not fear, that he is the truth, not fear, that he is the way. So everything Jesus is is the opposite of fear. So fear sometimes gets in the way of the church, gets in the way of the mission of the church. And Job is the ultimate example of facing fear, of losing, of suffering, and yet keeping his eyes on God. And that is what we're talking about, to trust God over our fear. So we also remember the sparrow. God cares for the sparrow. Now, when we look at this, we think, oh, a sparrow is just a couple pennies. It's not worth a lot. And and if if I would offer you a dead sparrow, you'll be like, what's this? What do I do with this? You have no use for a dead sparrow. If I just said, I killed this for you, I hunted this sparrow for you, you'd be looking at the sparrow and saying, huh? You'd be very confused. Now, when I was 11 years old, I went out with my BB gun and got a couple sparrows. Took it to my grandmother who cooked it for us. Now, there's not a lot of meat in sparrows, but they're yes, they're edible, but there's not a lot of meat in sparrows. But she did that because she saw how happy we were that we were able to go and hunt for food. So in my mind, a sparrow is something that has not a lot of value, but it's good to eat, but not a lot of food. It's not very sustainable or sustaining. So a sparrow has very little value. And during their time, a sparrow had also a very little value. And the value of it is also for food, but it's not a lot of food. But God is saying that He takes care of the sparrow. Imagine how much more we are worth, but how much more value we have. So the same God that cares for the sparrow cares for us. And that is what we are reminded of. So every time we see a sparrow, we are reminded God cares for them, but he says that we are so much more valuable. How much he will he care for us as well? So the good news is that God cares for the sparrow, he cares for us. So what is keeping us from stepping in a life of extreme faith? What fear do we have? Is it pride thinking that we can step into the water like Peter, but then realizing that we don't because if we do, we might be found? We might have our secret revealed that we just think that we are there? Or is it is it a fear of self-doubt, or maybe insecurity, or maybe uh uh a sense of unworthiness? What is that's keeping us from having a great faith? Because the word tells us today, the word tells us today that it's not about fear. The fear we have is who we belong to. So when we think about what's keeping us from having an extreme faith, is the fear that we have. But if we trust, if we turn that fear into faith, if we turn that fear into trust, if we turn that fear into a moment with Jesus, we start to realize that He will lead us and that we're not alone. So today I have a challenge for you. And the challenge is to encourage your one this week. No, uh a couple weeks ago, I challenged the entire congregation to have a one person. I've challenged our board to have a one person that they identify, that they asked God to identify, that they're going to minister to, that they're going to invest in, that they're going to disciple. Now, this is not a project that once they accept Jesus Christ, we're just going to let them go. This is someone who we will be investing, investing and discipling from the moment they accept Jesus Christ and continuing. So this one person is the one person that we're going out to look at. We're not waiting for them to come and enter our church. We're going out. We're going into the streets or we're going into the homes, we're going into the places to find this one person. And I've been challenging everyone to find this one person. But this week, encourage your one. Encourage them because you don't know what kind of fears they're facing, you don't know what kind of doubts they are experiencing. But when you encourage them with the presence of God, you allow the Holy Spirit to move through you as you encourage, as you lift them up. Because the world keeps putting people down, they keep criticizing, they keep putting people aside. But when Christians encourage others, we are bringing the hope and we are addressing their fears that there is that they are not alone. And that is the greatest thing we can do with this one person that we're looking for in our life to minister is to make them know that they are not alone. I like to ask the worship team to come forward. I don't know where you are on your journey with Jesus Christ, I don't know, I don't know what the word has spoken to you today, but the challenge that we have today is that the word of God is asking us to replace our fears with faith, with trust. So today, if you have an area where where you are struggling with fear, if there is a situation or a circumstance that you that you're struggling with, that you're feeling that is keeping you away from a true and fulfilling relationship with God, look at it, recognize it, and say, God, I'm gonna trust you on this. And you will see how peace and the presence of God will come and descend. And again, this passage wasn't written for us individually, but for a church. So whatever fears we have collectively, we can turn over to God, and God will allow us to feel his presence and to know we're not alone. Let us pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you for the joy of your presence, we thank you for the ministry of your word, but we also thank you that you have brought us together as a family, that we may grow together, that we may live together, that we may experience your presence and the Holy Spirit, and that we may see many coming to Christ. Not because we have done anything special, but because we have trusted you with our lives. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

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As it is known in our community, Northwest Church is committed to discovering and engaging in a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, with inspired worship and intentional ministry. People from all walks of life are welcome and received as family members. Our family is diverse, multicultural, and although not perfect, in love with Jesus. Join us online at nwnat.org by visiting us at Columbus, Ohio. God bless you.