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Hope Chapel · Central Austin

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This Sunday

Let Jesus Disciple You

The Fear of God

Speaker
Matt Ryniker
Date
Passages
Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:4-7; Hebrews 12:7-9; Psalm 147:10-11; Psalm 19:9-12; Proverbs 9:10; 1 John 4:18
Message
Begins at 52:03 in the service

Read the sermon notes Watch on YouTube Download notes (PDF)

In this series

Let Jesus Disciple You

Full notes for every message in the series, with each passage linked.

Sermon notes

The Fear of God

Notes from the September 27, 2026 message. Every reference links to the passage so you can read it in full.

The big idea

Jesus told his friends to fear God — and in the same paragraph told them not to be afraid. So the fear of God cannot be the thing love replaces. It is what keeps our love aimed at the God who is actually there, rather than one we assembled out of our own preferences.

Key takeaways

  • Obeying Jesus is not a deviation from grace. In Matt’s standing phrase, it is “more grace” — the chance to taste and see that he is good in a new way.
  • The fear of God is one of the few things that holds steady when you are being worked on emotionally, socially, or spiritually. Sometimes it is the last line of defense, and that is not a failure.
  • The most effective attack on the fear of God is not denial but hollowing out — keep the phrase, remove the meaning.
  • Hebrews 12 and Psalm 147 both put fear and love in the same breath. Most of us already do this with our own parents and never think it strange.
  • What perfect love drives out is fear of man, fear of condemnation, fear of the enemy. Not reverence for God.
  • Wisdom starts with the fear of the Lord — and the pattern in Proverbs is that the fool is precisely the one who thinks he has enough of it already.
  • Fearing God is what makes love for God honest. Otherwise you end up loving a figure you imagined and calling it God.

Read the full notes Download notes (PDF)

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