Fear Not: When You Are Afraid What People Think

Have you ever said yes, only to regret it immediately? Rewritten a text five

times before sending it? Laughed at a joke you didn’t understand just to not

seem awkward? You might be a people pleaser. In this message, Pastor

Ezra Stanton opens the Christmas story from a fresh angle—through the

eyes of Joseph, a man caught between public opinion and private

obedience.

Joseph had plans. He was engaged, honorable, and faithful. But then Mary

tells him she’s pregnant… by the Holy Spirit. The scandal, the shame, the

pressure, it all comes crashing down. Joseph had every reason to walk

away quietly. Until an angel shows up with a simple instruction: do not be

afraid to take Mary as your wife.

This message explores what it means to choose obedience over approval.

What happens when we stop living for people's opinions and start living for

God’s? Joseph didn’t get a blueprint. He got a lamp. One step of faith. And

that step changed history.

The fear of what people think is one of the most paralyzing fears we face.

But God calls us to something better: to let His voice be louder than the

crowd’s. Because one quiet yes to God can unleash a move of heaven we

never imagined.