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Guest (Female): Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham.

Jack Graham: We live in a time when people are vacillating and compromising, a time of weakness. But a Christian is decisive and determined, no matter what.

Guest (Female): On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can conquer fear and be courageous. Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message, choosing courage over fear.

Jack Graham: We are in a series of messages called choices. One by one, we are looking at the important choices that we make in life. I can't think of a more needed choice than the one that we consider today, which is to choose courage over fear.

I think courage is one of the most valued of all the virtues. We admire courage, perhaps like no other virtue in life. We desire for ourselves courage. We desire for our children courage, strength, strength to stand with hearts abandoned, with lives given over to Christ.

Physical fitness, of course, is important. The Bible tells us that, and at least in the Western world, people are attempting to stay fit and eating the right food, exercising regularly to be strong and maintain their strength through the years. And we are challenged by that. But if we want to be physically fit, all the more we should desire to be spiritually fit, spiritually strong.

And it is so very, very important that when it comes to our convictions and our compassion, that we be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Spiritual strength, of course, is this attitude of courage. It includes conviction and the uncompromising commitment to the word of God and to truth and to righteousness. It means that we stand against all intimidating fears that would challenge our faith and even face opposition, and in some places of the world, be prepared to face persecution for the gospel's sake.

A courageous Christian is one who stands on principle, not just preference. Who stands upon convictions and not just convenience. And strength, courage is a virtue that should be sought by every Christian today and every church today. This is what is needed in the church of Jesus Christ in our generation: courage. Courage!

We live in a time when people are vacillating and compromising, a time of weakness. We live in a time when many Christians and many churches are unwilling to take a stand for truth and righteousness, a stand for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. But a Christian and a Christian church is decisive and determined and devoted, no matter what.

We need the courage of the prophets and the apostles. We don't need weak preachers presiding over weak churches, preaching a weak message to a dying world. We need courage! The strength of character! The courage of commitment that will stand, that will stand for light and truth.

We just came out of our men's conference. It was great to see 3,000 men on the edges of their seat, 3,000 plus men on the edges of their seat, listening in, soaking in, taking in the word of God, having all of us our courage and our convictions sealed by the testimonies and the witness of the gospel. It reminded me of the short and succinct challenge of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 16 verse 13 when he said, "Be on the alert. Stand firm in faith. Act like men."

Act like men. It's a verb. Act like men. Be strong, and let all that you do be done in love. And the strongest virtue of all, the most powerful virtue of all, is love. And to add to love, courageous love and courageous compassion. But that phrase "act like men," it applies to everyone. In the day of Paul, of course, it was very tough being a man. The times were hard and eking out a living on the land or building or working with your hands. So when he spoke, he really used a verb which means "be courageous."

Be courageous. Be strong. So men and women, all of us are called and challenged to be strong in the face of our fears. And you know, we all have fears. There are some things to be afraid of. And yet the Bible tells us that we're not to have a spirit of fear in our lives. Over 360 times, 365 to be exact, the Bible tells us, "Do not fear." We know that fear is a human emotion. We all confront it. Even the Psalmist said, "When I am afraid."

He asked for the presence of the Lord. We know there are times that we are afraid, and there are real fears. More than needles and even snakes. The fear of that doctor's report, or the fear of getting that call in the middle of the night, when your children are out on the road somewhere, or the fear of not being able to pay your bills because you've lost your job, or the fear of knowing that you may not be able to take good care of yourself when you're a senior adult because your retirement may be running out.

There are many serious fears, the fear of illness and the fear of disease. We all face our common denominators of fear, our common demons of fear. So I want to talk to you, first, from Proverbs 24. If you'll find Proverbs 24 and selected proverbs, how you, how we can choose courage over fear in our lives, so that we will not live in a spirit of fear, but live in a spirit of faith and courage.

Verse 10 of 24 of Psalms. "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death. Hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, 'Behold, we did not know this,' does not He who weighs the hearts of man perceive it?" God knows when we practice cowardice rather than courage, apathy rather than taking action. "Does not He who keeps watch over your soul know it? And will he not repay man according to his works?" That is, if you act in courage, in fearlessness, in the face of adversity, God knows. And God will sustain you and strengthen you.

And when you stand for truth and righteousness, God will reward you. He will repay you. So don't be afraid, no matter the cost or no matter the consequences. How do we choose courage over fear? One, by speaking up. Speak up. I wonder how often we fail in life to speak up for others, to speak up when we see something that is wrong, to speak up when what we see is intolerable and unconscionable.

The scripture here says, "Don't faint in the day of adversity." When times are hard, God has chosen our generation to live in a time of adversity. And this Christian family, may we stand for truth and righteousness, whether it is life or the family or marriage. May we never back up or shut up or let up in our vigilance to stand up for truth and righteousness, to rescue the perishing, to care for the dying, to snatch them from pity and sin and the grave.

It's time to stand up, to speak up. That's what we do. That's who we are. We're supposed to have the courage to speak up. Proverbs 10:11 says, "The mouth of the lion is as a fountain of life. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life."

Proverbs 11:30 says, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise." The King James put it, "He that winneth souls is wise." But here the ESV says, "Whoever captures souls is wise." Let our church be a soul trap. Let your house on your street, for your neighbors, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, be a soul trap. Let your office, let your locker at school, kids, be a soul trap. In other words, wherever you go, be on mission to capture the hearts and souls of men and women who need Christ by sharing the gospel.

Courage, my friends. That's what is needed.

Guest (Female): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham, and the message, Choosing Courage Over Fear.

July 4th, 2026 will be a day of great celebration for the 250th birthday of our great country. However, there has never been a more important time in our 250 years as a nation where we need God to move in power and heal our land. That's why I'm inviting you to join Dr. Graham in a prayer challenge for our nation. To join, simply text "cry" to 59789. Again, text "cry" to 59789.

Remember that your support of PowerPoint Ministries helps bring the truth of Jesus Christ to people around the world. Every day we hear from listeners who are searching for answers, longing for peace, and discovering hope through God's word, often for the very first time. Your generosity keeps that message going out. And as our thanks for your gift today, we'd love to send you Dr. Jack Graham's book, The Jesus Book, a powerful guide to help you grow deeper in your relationship with Christ. Text "May" to 59789 to give your gift and request your copy. Again, text "May" to 59789.

Now, let's get back to today's message, Choosing Courage Over Fear.

Jack Graham: Southern Baptist missionary, former missionary, Carrie McDonald. After seminary graduation, Carrie and her husband David went to Iraq because of their call and because of their love for the Muslim people in the midst of the terrible war going on in Iraq. They went to that war-devastated country, and one fateful, horrible day, having been on a mission to take water and to spend time to lead Muslim people to Christ, they were caught in a terrorist attack in which three people, their dearest friends, lost their lives. Carrie's husband, David, also lost his life. She was riddled with shrapnel and 22 bullets.

Was not expected to live, but by the grace of God and for the purposes of God, she lives to tell the story. This week she told us at power lunch. We brought a little bit of it with us to the service today for you to hear. Just a little bit of her courageous commitment to Christ.

Guest (Female): I woke up in Parkland, eight days later after the attack. My first thoughts were for David. You know, could he come into the room? Was he okay? Cause he was the one that was up and talking and around. He wasn't injured like I was. And I was there in that ICU room when my father, my father had told my family that it was, he felt it was his job to tell me that my husband had passed away the following day after the attack.

I was just trying to grasp all that I had been through and then just to hear the news that my husband did not make it. And there in that hospital, I was having to deal with already with the grief of losing three precious friends. I knew I'd lost them on that day. And then the devastating news of losing my husband, who was my best friend. And then if that wasn't enough, then I had all the pain and the recovery that all my many injuries would involve. And there in that hospital, I remember sitting and thinking and processing all of this and going, "This is what the valley of the shadow of death is." I've been raised in church and I had read Psalm 23 and I never really grasped what the valley of the shadow of death was until I was laying in that hospital bed.

And I was thinking, "How in the world am I going to get through this?" But then I continued to kind of think about that psalm. And what does the Psalmist say right after he says that he's in the valley of the shadow of death? "But I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Ladies and gentlemen, that is exactly where I found my God. He was with me, He was comforting me, and in some ways, yes, He was still protecting me. You see, our Lord is faithful. I went through and I knew I was going to have a road to just, I mean, not only just the physical aspect, but just honestly, I was like, "How in the world, Lord, am I going to make it through this and not go crazy?" I just, "How do you how does anybody get through this?"

And quite honestly, in my prayer time, I was probably a little too snotty towards the holy God. I was just like, "What is it what is it you're going to do? How in the world?" And so I began looking through scriptures and finding promises. It says that He is the God of all grace and comfort, and He will so pour out His comfort upon us that we'll overflow our lives and into the other people's lives that also need that comfort. I found it also says that He is a God who is close to the brokenhearted. I said my heart was shattered. It says that He will even bind up our wounds. I had one or two of those.

All these promises I found Him to be faithful in. And in Hebrews 10:23, it says this: "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." People have asked me over these years, "How in the world did you get through this? I've gone through this and I'm going through that." This is it. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope." The confession of my hope is Jesus Christ, who came, was the Son of God, and He came and He dwelt among us. The Bible tells us that He bore flesh. He put just an eternity, an infinite being bore flesh for us, and He came and He walked among us. The Bible says that we beheld Him full of grace and truth. And He walked and He lived and He lived a sinless and blameless life to die a murderer's death on a cross to bear our sin and our shame. And it was by the love of the God the Father who raised Him three days later. That is the confession of my hope that in believing in Him that I can have eternal life and live with Him forever.

Jack Graham: Amen. So what is the what is the confession of your life and of your faith? What is the courage? Are you a courageous dad to your children? Courageous mom to your family? Are you a courageous student that will stand for Jesus Christ against all odds? When I read my Bible, story after story reminds me that the Bible, I think this is why I loved the Bible as a little boy so much. It was an adventure story to me. So many stories of courageous faith from Moses who had the courage to face off against Pharaoh, the most powerful man on earth, and demand in the power of God, "Let my people go." That's courage.

Or Abraham to take his son, his only son Isaac, and in obedience to God, had the courage to obey God when it didn't make sense, to lay his son on an altar of sacrifice to see God deliver Abraham. To read those stories of those three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who refused to bow, who refused to bend, who refused to burn. Who stood strong and wouldn't bow down to the godless image of the king. Or Daniel himself who took a big old lion and turned it into a pillow because he knew even in the lion's den that God would preserve him.

Or like those young men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, "Our God is able to deliver us, but if not, but if not, we will still stand for our God and not for any stinking idol." Or Peter, who had the courage to get out of the boat and walk on the water to Jesus. Paul, who, knowing he was facing the end of his days, facing the sword and execution, who had the boldness to preach Christ and Him crucified against all odds.

You see, the Bible's a courage book. And if you want courage, saturate your soul, steel your soul in the stories and the sermons of the Bible, the message of the Bible. It will change the way you look at things, it will change. I think about the Hebrew prophets, the Israelites, who came to the promised land and 10 of those prophets saw giants in the land, obstacles that made them look like grasshoppers. So they flinched in the face of opposition and turned around. And even though Joshua and Caleb came back with the same report, "Yes, they're giants, but we can overcome. Let's do it right now." The majority report was no, and the majority's not always right. So often the majority takes the easy way.

And as a result, the children of Israel spent 40 years dying in the desert. It was the world's longest, largest funeral march in history. Is an entire generation of unbelievers, cowards, died in the desert. I think of Gideon, who was called of God to route the Midianites. He had 30,000 in his army against an unprecedented force of hundreds of thousands of warriors. And God said, "Your army's too big." What? Yes, your army's too big. He said, "Tell all the ones that are afraid to go home." And when Gideon did that, he said, "If you're afraid, you can go home." He got trampled by thousands of them that left. He was down to 10,000, 20,000 left because they were afraid.

Then God took it down to 300 more, those who were careless and thoughtless in view of the battle. He had 300 mighty men. But guess what? With the power of God, they won that great victory. And all who were afraid got nothing. But nerves and shakiness and the memory that what could have been in their lives. I wonder how many don't do something great for God because they're just afraid. Jesus told the parable of that man who had talents. God gave him talents or the master gave him talents. And when he came back to check on what he had done with his talents, while others had multiplied by investing their talents, their gifts in the work, this man buried his talent, stuck it in the ground.

And when the master said, "Why did you bury your talents? Why did you do what you did?" He said, "I was afraid." How many of us are sitting on the bench spiritually, afraid to get into the action because we're afraid? God's given you a gift, God's given you a spiritual talent, God has given you a voice to sing. God has given you a ministry to share. But you're afraid. You're burying your talent. You're burying your gift and the possibilities of your life because you are reckoning without God. I can't, but God can. God can do anything but fail in your life if you will trust Him.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean into your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path. What are you afraid of? What's holding you back? What's keeping you from standing for truth and living in righteousness? We are to stand up, we are to act out, and yes, we are to live through the trials and the struggles of life that frighten us, may even scare us to the core of our being. To face our fears and to live courageously. To pray when we can't even get on our knees to pray.

Don't be satisfied until you have completely fulfilled God's plan and His purpose for your life. God put us in the fire if that's what it takes. Nothing is impossible with God. All of us must overcome our fears and choose courage. We're all human, we're all emotional, we're all vulnerable. But we have Jesus. We have the body of Christ to hold us up when we can't seem to go any further. The proverb says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend," or even better, "There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother."

It's why it's so important when you see hurting people that you encourage them and affirm them and help them. There are some in this room today who barely got themselves to church. And they're afraid that this is all that life is, and they need someone to tell them there's hope. That someone is you if you are a brother or sister in Christ. Better to serve God and die than to serve the world and live. God is faithful. And death is not an enemy because Christ has defeated death. Disease is not an enemy because we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ our Savior and our God. And if God be for us, who can be against us?

Choose courage over fear by speaking up in the face of unbelief and tolerance. By acting out your faith, courageously taking your stand wherever you go, and by living through whatever you have to live through, with courage and boldness and fearlessness because Jesus is Lord.

Guest (Female): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham, and the message, Choosing Courage Over Fear. We want to thank you for being a part of the mission of PowerPoint Ministries. Every day, through the support of friends like you, the message of Jesus Christ is reaching people across television, radio, and digital platforms around the world. So many people today are searching for answers, longing for peace, and looking for something to still hold on to. And your support helps point them in the one who offers all that and so much more, Jesus. As our thanks for your gift this month, we'd love to send you Dr. Jack Graham's book, The Jesus Book, a powerful guide to help you move beyond simply knowing about Jesus to truly knowing Him through His word. Text "May" to 59789 to give your gift and get your copy. Again, text "May" to 59789.

July 4th, 2026 will be a day of great celebration for the 250th birthday of our great country. However, there has never been a more important time in our 250 years as a nation where we need God to move in power and heal our land. That's why I'm inviting you to join Dr. Graham in a prayer challenge for our nation. To join, simply text "cry" to 59789. Again, text "cry" to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today?

Jack Graham: I want to close our time together today by talking about your character, your integrity. This is real success in life when you are the person that you say you are. That what you are on the inside is what you project on the outside. We all have a public persona, we all have a private world in which we live, and our private world should connect with our public persona. And I challenge you to go deep with God. Get into the word of God. Strengthen your character by strengthening your faith. By loving Christ with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. By being deeply devoted to Christ. Don't just skim through life or skim through your walk with Christ, but rather go as deep as you can with God. And then when you go deep, make sure you come up for air and in the power of God's Spirit, share your faith with others. And do that with integrity and character. Let your witness and your words be matched by your life that is consistent and faithful. That's my PowerPoint for today.

Guest (Female): And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book, The Jesus Book. Just text "May" to 59789. And join us again next time when Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can strengthen your faith in the midst of your doubts. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.