What is God really like? That is the question we're exploring in this series. And it's a very important question because our image of God shapes who we become. There are probably as many ideas of God as there are people, but they all boil down to two primary images.

If there is a God, we don't get to make him up. A real God cannot and should not be just a reflection of my imagination, a false conception of God that I've created and worshiped, deceiving myself into believing it is the one true God. What is God really like?

Why haven't more Christians experienced a deep level of intimacy with God? Perhaps it's because we're not interested in being intimate with someone we're still basically afraid of. And the source of the fear is a distorted image of what God is like.

Faith really is the antidote to fear. But many people struggle with faith. Perhaps that's because they only understand faith as "the ability to believe." But there are other ways to think about faith.

The fear that the end of the world is immanent is nothing new; people have been predicting it for hundreds of years. 600 years before Christ, Jeremiah's letter to the Jewish exiles offers some wisdom that seems like God's word to the church today.

All of us experience the fear of Disease and Death to one degree or another. It's part of being human, so much so that many consider the fear of death the defining property of what it means to be a human being. Let's turn to scripture for help.

Hebrews 2:10-11;14-18

The story of Hannah and her son, Samuel, provides 3 seeds of hope in the midst of dark times, when the fear of threats to our children threaten to overwhelm us.

1 Samuel 3:1-10

Since 9-11, fear is on the rise.  The events of the last 20 years or so have ushered in a time of sweeping political and social change.  But this is reality, folks.  This is the world we live in today.  How do we cope?  Psalm 46 offers an antidote to fear in the face of terrorism and war.

The fear of rejection is one of the most common fears that we humans deal with. It starts early in life and plagues most of us for years. But God's love offers the perfect antidote.

The fear of failure is lurking in the heart of almost every human being. It's the belief that unless I succeed or win, I am unworthy as a person. My value, especially in the eyes of others, is directly tied to my performance. But what does Jesus teach us about that?

2 Corinthians 5:16-21