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Are you trapped in a cycle of fear, anxiety, and “what if” scenarios? In this powerful Orthodox Christian sermon, Fr. Barnabas Powell reveals how to stop worrying and live a life of courage by trusting in the resurrection power of a living God.
Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. Follow his homilies on YouTube at Faith Encouraged TV. This sermon was delivered on May 4th, 2025, Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women.
Watch the full video on Faith Encouraged TV: https://youtu.be/BmTP4GQ-PEo
Fr. Barnabas:
Some people are so terrified of life that they refuse to leave the house because of what might happen… And their mind is busy worrying about a million different things, and imagining: well this scenario and that scenario. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a conversation in my head with somebody who I thought was upset with me or I was upset with them and come to find out there was no problem. It is amazing what our brains will do.
Our brains will create all kinds of scenarios and ideas and “what if this happens and what if that happens and what if a meteor falls on the highway and I have to go around and what route will I take” and all kinds of stuff. Our minds are filled with those things, so much so that the Fathers of the Church warn us about the power of delusion and fantasy to sap us of our joy and our strength. We can become so worried about what might be that we never deal with what is.
And this my brothers and sisters is a symptom of atheism. “What do you mean, father?” Brothers and sisters, when your brain and your actions make you act as if there is no God, as if there is no hope, as if there is no resurrection, as if there is some great obstacle out there that not even God himself can move for you, when you act that way, when you live that way, when you think that way, you are effectively a functional atheist.
What we say, we believe, especially in this time of year, when we declare over and over and over again “Christ is Risen”, folks, if mortality has been defeated, ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing bad that can happen to you that can’t be undone, in fact a great old a great saying by J. R. R. Tolkien said that one day every bad thing will become undone. If you believe that to the very core of your being, what kind of courage would you have in your life? If you believe that to the very core of your being and you live that way, how would your relationships change?
You know about the obstacles in your life. I’ve got a young daughter that’s about to go to college and I’m sitting there thinking to myself: I could sell a kidney. I know about the obstacles out there, I know about the stuff that’s coming on in the future and it would be easy to become swallowed by the worry of “What is? What’s coming?” It’d be easy… What about the tariffs? What if this happens? What if that happens? And all of this stuff and everybody’s getting worried and scared about what might happen, as if there is no God, as if Jesus Christ hasn’t actually risen from the dead.
If you could live your life completely free of fear, what kind of man or woman would you be? If you could live your life completely free from worry and completely at peace knowing that God is in control, if you could live that kind of life, what would you accomplish in your life? What kind of human would you be? How would you love with abandon expecting nothing in return, how would you give, not worried at all about where it’s going to come from, how would you spend your time if you knew that your time is eternal? How would you reset your priorities if fear was gone from your life? What kind of human would you be?
Normal Orthodox Christians live every day in the reality of the Resurrection power of a living God. That’s normal. Remember that Monday morning! In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
