I. Fear God

a. Basic Series Website –

i. To understand the relationship between God and man, we turn to those who have directly interacted with Him in the Bible. In each case, they display fear. Not respect, reverence or courage, but sheer speechlessness, humility, and complete surrender. They are overcome with pure fear and many of them cry out to be destroyed. Most people today have lost this fear. We must understand that a true fear of God leads to the keeping of His commandments, leads to life, and is the beginning of wisdom.

ii. Everyone who has come face-to-face with God falls over in fear. Do you think you'd do anything different?

b. Amazon Review –

i. I am a youth [minister], and I have never used a Francis Chan study for my students until this title. It was a great video fueling a good discussion of the Scriptures among my students. I highly recommend this resource, primarily on the basis of its shameless biblical foundation. Scripture is quoted and expanded upon throughout the whole video, which is a refreshing entrance to the fluff, and entertainment-based material that is so prevalent.

ii. The wisest man in the world once said that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. But what does that even mean. Does fear mean respect or does it mean terrified? Francis Chan give you his take in this powerful short film.

iii. I was surprised at how strongly some of our group members reacted to the visual element of the girl in the flooding bedroom. This is a group that usually rolls with the punches, but this really creeped them out. It took several minutes for them to get beyond the emotion and a sense that it was a bit overdone, and refocus on the study. I was reminded of when a preaching professor told us that when you use a really intense emotional story or illustration it may take several minutes for people to hear ANYTHING you say after that.

II. Follow Jesus

a. Basic Series Website –

i. The Bible is clear about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Still, so many of us in the church seem to want to redefine exactly what that means ... so we say things like we have Him in our hearts, or we believe a certain set of things He said, or we've memorized His commands ... therefore we're followers of Jesus.

ii. Is that what is all comes down to, or is there more to it than that? Could it be that when Jesus says to follow Him, He really means we're supposed to do the things He did? Could it be that following Jesus means our lives are going to look less like our neighbor's and more like His? And if it means that, and His life on earth was hard, do we need a compelling reason to want to live that kind of life instead of the good life our culture offers us? Is the fact that He is God and will one day judge the world, including you--and me, a compelling enough reason to want to follow Him?

b. Amazon Reviews –

i. Follow Jesus (2010), with Francis Chan, is the second volume in Flannel's BASIC series. Here, Chan discusses what it means to be a follower of Christ, with emphases on Jesus' model of active disciple-making and the hardships that Jesus promised.

ii. Shots of Chan talking are interspersed with a professionally-done but obvious and distracting skit about a guy in skinny jeans wandering around a room with multiple doors. This adds little or nothing to the program, and may interrupt the focus for some people.

iii. Francis Chan has, without a doubt, become one of my favorite voices calling for a new reformation within the Church. Somewhere along the line, the Church lost its way and loosed itself from the basics--the core fundamental beliefs--that serve as its foundation. And now as a ship with neither sails nor mooring, the Church sits adrift being tossed to and fro by the waters of contemporary culture, rather than being a lighthouse directing wayward ships to its shore.

iv. Chan makes the simple yet revolutionary point that it isn't enough to just believe Jesus--it's not even enough to agree with Jesus--rather, the Christian faith is completely about doing the things he said. By no means does this mean we gain our salvation through works, rather it is the revelation that if we truly believe in Christ we will follow him.

FEAR GOD

FRANCIS CHAN

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 1:7

“It seems like what I’d read in the Bible was pretty different from what I’d experience in a church building, in a church service.”

“As people would say certain things are unpopular, the church would almost get embarrassed of those things, like embarrassed of certain doctrines, maybe even embarrassed at the way God described Himself.”

What words comes to mind when you think of how God describes himself?
What words do you use to describe God to others?

“One of the biggest issues that you see in Scripture is this idea of the fear of God.”

Make a list of some of the ways you relate to God. Rank them. Where does fear rank on that list? Do you think you relate to God the way He wants you to relate to Him?

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

Psalm 111:10

Does the idea of fearing God make you uncomfortable?
Is it possible to fear something so much that you are paralyzed?

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

Isaiah 6:5

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead.

Revelation 1:17a

“The reality is, whoever you are, the moment you see God, you are going to fear Him.”

Do you believe that?

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah 6:5-7

How did God calm Isaiah’s fear?
Does God do the same for you?

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.”

Revelation 1:17

How did Jesus calm John’s fears?
Does Jesus calm your fears?
What will it take for you to exhale, to just let go?
Why haven’t you done it yet?

The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

Proverbs 19:23

How does being content feel like floating?
How long are you able to stay that way?
What stops you?

“Without the fear of the Lord, you’re not going to understand why you should follow Jesus. Without a proper understanding of the fear of the Lord, we wouldn’t understand the power that’s available to us through the Holy Spirit.”

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 10:12

Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere Him.

Psalm 33:8

Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

Ecclesiastes 8:13

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Ecclesiastes 12:13

He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.

Isaiah 33:6

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

Acts 9:31

Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

1 Peter 2:17

He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come.

Worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

Revelation 14:7

FOLLOW JESUS

FRANCIS CHAN

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 4:19

What does it mean to follow Jesus?
What does it mean to be a fisher of men?
Are you a fisher of men?

“It seems like more and more people are understanding the truth that the idea of church was never meant to be a building or a service time, but that church really refers to people.”

How have you typically seen the church?
Does it line up with what the Bible says about what, or who, the church is?

“The church just means the followers of Jesus Christ.”

Is that what you think of when you think of the church?
Do you look around and see a group of people, or do you see fellow followers of Jesus Christ?

“While we may agree that the church is the followers of Jesus Christ, that doesn’t mean we’re all in agreement, because there’s so much disagreement on what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.”

What does it mean to you to be a follower of Jesus Christ?
Do you consider yourself to be a follower of Jesus?

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Matthew 28:19-20a

“Where it gets weird is that nowadays there are millions of people on this earth who call themselves followers of Jesus, but their lives look nothing like His, and they’re not obeying the things that He called them to do.”

Does your life look like Jesus’s life?
Are you obeying the things He has called you to do?
Are you deceiving yourself?
When you know what Jesus is calling you to do, is it sometimes easier to turn aside and go your own way?
Make a list of some of things Jesus commanded His followers to do.
Read them over several times.
How are you doing?
What does that say about your ability or willingness to follow Him?

Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

Luke 6:46

”He says it’s pretty simple. ‘When I say follow Me, you follow Me, you do what I do. And when I ask you to do something, you just obey.”

Is that how you see the commands of Jesus?
Do you see them as something to study, or meditate on, or memorize … or do you see them as something you have to do?
How will your life look different if you see them as something you have to do?
When was the last time you heard Jesus telling you to do something, and you turned to your own way?
Where did that get you?
Have you ever found yourself telling people of the benefits of following Jesus without telling them about the costs?
What are the costs of following Jesus?
Are you willing to tell people the costs?

From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

John 6:66-69

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

John 12:26

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Matthew 16:24

Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 10:38

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10:28

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”

Matthew 19:28-29

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Mark 10:21

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they. follow. me.

John 10:27