Key points
- 1
1Courage is not the absence of fear — it is acting despite fear, and that is the quality God looks for in the people He uses.
“if you're not scared, then it's not courage”
“Courage isn't the lack of fear. Courage is stepping out despite the fear”
“courage is not about my circumstances. Courage is a condition of my heart”
- 2
2A dislocated heart is the first condition of courage: your body may be in a place of comfort and security, but your heart moves to where God is calling you.
- 3
3Dislocations begin by stopping — stepping out of the busyness of routine in order to see what God is really doing and to hear Him speak.
- 4
4We must honestly ask ourselves whether we truly care about the things God cares about, and if the answer is no, ask why — because that question can unlock our lives.
- 5
5A dislocated heart will always be an uncomfortable heart; God did not call us to comfort, but to a mission of being His hands and feet.
- 6
6Jesus is the ultimate example of a dislocated heart — He left the comfort of heaven, ran to the cross, and prayed 'not my will but Thy will,' putting God's agenda above His own comfort.
“we were bitten by sin and death and we are chased up the tree, cornered in life by the hounds of hell, by death, sin, brokenness, and there was nothing we could do. No way to save ourselves and Jesus saw that in his dislocated heart. He ran from heaven and he ran to the cross and he knocked death out for us”
“It's not just about what god does through us. You will be blown away by what he does in you”
A story from life
Story about the preacher's father punching an attacking German shepherd to rescue him and his sister, used as an analogy for Christ's redemption
- 7
7God's plan A for changing the world is people — us — and that mission requires a passionate concern for God's people and God's agenda that supersedes our personal comfort.
“I need to have a god given concern that propels me out of my comfort zone”
A story from life
Cliff-diving story with a high-school friend named Jimmy, illustrating courage as acting despite fear
Application
Pastor Daniel's call to action is straightforward: stop, look, and listen. Step outside the busyness of everyday routine — even the routine of attending church — to honestly see where God is at work and to hear what He is asking you to do. Then ask yourself the hard question: do I really care about the things God cares about? If the answer is unclear or no, don't just feel guilty — dig into why, because the answer may reveal the fears, hurts, or lies holding you back. Finally, accept that following Jesus will be uncomfortable, and choose to move toward His agenda anyway. Courage is not waiting until you feel ready; it is jumping while you are still afraid, trusting that the One who ran to the cross for you is standing there asking you to trust Him and let go of the tree.
