Genesis 3:9-10 ASV, Genesis 3:12-13 ASV, Job 19:19 ASV, Song of Solomon 8:4 ASV, Matthew 22:37-39 ASV, Romans 15:7 ASV, 1 Corinthians 13:7 ASV, 2 Timothy 1:7 ASV, 1 Peter 1:22 ASV and 1 John 4:18 ASV

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.• YOUR PAIN IS REAL.All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me.MY FEAR OF INTIMACY CAN MAKE ME1) DISTANT.But the LORD God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’• What are you hiding behind?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2) DEFENSIVE.The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’ Then the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said,’The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’OVERCOMING THE FEAR OF INTIMACY2) YOU MUST TAKE A PRAYERFUL RELATIONAL RISK FOR AN INTIMATE RELATIONAL RETURN....love one another deeply, from the heart.• It is scary to risk – it is even scarier not to risk!(Love) always…trusts, always hopes, always perseveres...• Avoid pre-mature intimacy.I want you to promise…not to awaken love until the time is rightThere is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…1) BEFORE YOU RISK, YOU MUST FIND SECURITY, ACCEPTANCE AND INTIMACY IN CHRIST.…Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind...And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.• Make your list of 100 reasons you are secure in Christ! • Commit to discover intimacy in a Life Group. • Commit to come out of “hiding.”