Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Week 5 Sermon Questions For Groups

Northstar Presents At The Movies – Frozen   

Introduction:

Frozen is our movie this week for At The Movies. When their kingdom becomes trapped in perpetual winter, fearless Anna joins forces with mountaineer Kristoff and his reindeer sidekick to find Anna’s sister, Snow Queen Elsa, and break her icy spell. Although their epic journey leads them to encounters with mystical trolls, a comedic snowman, harsh conditions, and magic at every turn, Anna and Kristoff bravely push onward in a race to save their kingdom from winter’s cold grip.

Something To Talk About:

While Disney claims that they do not make movies to promote ideas or teach lessons, but to entertain, every story has a message and Frozen’s message about fear is one that is hard to miss.  It raises several key points on dealing with fear in our lives:

  1. Fear is our enemy (Elsa) and love is our friend (Anna): It isn’t difficult to understand how fear is our enemy because of the effects it has on our faith. If we fear anything, we will naturally focus on the fear and the problems we are facing, not on God’s love and His willingness to help us in our time of need. We need to learn to trust God, pray, and believe that He would do what was best for us at the right time and abide in His love. Most of all, we are to abide in His love. First John 4:16 points out that we should be conscious of God’s love. It needs to be more than just a biblical fact for us, we need to experience it daily. “…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7). 
  2. Fear makes us run but love stands firm: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,” (Psalm 23:4) Elsa found out that fear can make us run through the valleys and the peaks of our lives. It can make cowards of us by stripping us of confidence and strength to face the challenges of ordinary life. It can start us running without ever looking back. Rather than running, if we stand firm as Anna did, we will see how God refuses to abandon us in our fear; instead, he allows our fear to reveal our desperate need for his presence. “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”  (Deuteronomy 31:6)
  3. Fear causes pain but love conquers all: The dictionary defines fear as “a distressing emotion aroused by an impending pain, danger, evil, etc. Elsa is all of us struggling with fear. We experience fear in our jobs, our marriages, our families, and in most cases, pain is a byproduct. Fear can become part of our identity as we deal with the pain it can cause in the lives of others. Anna, however, represents God and wants to free Elsa from her fear and guilt. Anna’s journey to help her sister is long, but it is a journey worth taking. The same is true for us. As we walk with Jesus, we will discover that the one person who knows everything about us is also the one person who loves and accepts us completely and unconditionally. When we come to that realization, our fear will begin to wash away, and our lives and our relationships will be so much the better for it  “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (NLT)

Questions:

  1. Have you ever felt the need to be perfect?  How does that feel?
  2. How do you deal with fear in your life? Describe what your life could be like without your fear.
  3. Elsa’s fear was related to the future. What are your “what if” fears in the future?
  4. Jesus promises the availability of peace to calm our fears. (John 14:27). How would you describe this peace? See Philippians 4:6-7.
  5. Jesus accepted the Father’s plan for His future. How would an acceptance of God’s sovereign plan for your future help quiet your fears? See Romans 8:35-39.

Take One Thing Home with You

If you are in the vicinity of anyone under the age of 6, you’re familiar with the movie, Frozen and in the song Let It Go. In it, two sisters struggle in their relationship with each other and in finding acceptance. At one point Elsa, the older sister, sings these words:

“Let it go, let it go…And the fears that once controlled me, Can’t get to me at all!…

Elsa believes that change is beyond her control so she is embracing what she can’t change. We may be doing the same thing. You don’t have to be 6 years old to understand that each of us need to let go of the hurts and fears that hold us too tightly and have us frozen. When it comes to our spiritual life, especially when we are facing trials, we want to run away from everyone and slam the door. We’ve tried to conceal our hurts because we don’t want anyone to know and we think we can fix it ourselves. We get to the point that we are frustrated and defeated and just say, “Let the storm rage on….I can’t fix in anyway.”

Sometimes we hold onto our fears and we miss what God is trying to do in our lives. Letting go isn’t easy in the beginning, because holding on is our natural response. Isaiah describes new roads in the desert and rivers in the wilderness. (Isaiah 43:19) As we give up what we can’t control to embrace what we can change, new ways of thinking, relating and living enter into our lives.

And the beautiful thing about letting go? It doesn’t just change us.

It has the power to alter all our relationships. Maybe you wanted to change for a long time, but it requires faith to give up what you cannot control to embrace what you can. Jesus is waiting to carve new roads in the desert of your heart and new rivers in the wilderness of your life.