FBCPS
Worship in the Wilderness: How to Win the Battle You're In | Exodus 17:8-16
Our conversation takes a turn into the depths of spiritual warfare as we face the challenges that life lays before us. From personal afflictions like addiction and mental health to broader conflicts within relationships and finances, we confront these trials with scriptural guidance, recognizing our true adversary and the necessity of arming ourselves with divine strength. The heartfelt decision to close our cherished First Friends preschool program brings a moment of solemn reflection, an expression of gratitude for its legacy, and a sincere apology to those affected, all while upholding transparency and love within our church family.
As we seek solace and strength in prayer and worship, the recent trials within our community stand as a testament to our resolve and the profound impact of every decision made. We stand together, inviting our congregation to join in unity as we honor our commitments to the gospel and to each other, even through the most challenging of times. This episode is a rallying cry for collective action, an affirmation of our dedication to the teachings of Jesus, and a shared prayer for the battles we face and the victories we seek. Join us in this profound reflection on faith, community, and the enduring human spirit.
Thanks for listening! Find us on Instagram or visit our Website.
Our conversation takes a turn into the depths of spiritual warfare as we face the challenges that life lays before us. From personal afflictions like addiction and mental health to broader conflicts within relationships and finances, we confront these trials with scriptural guidance, recognizing our true adversary and the necessity of arming ourselves with divine strength. The heartfelt decision to close our cherished First Friends preschool program brings a moment of solemn reflection, an expression of gratitude for its legacy, and a sincere apology to those affected, all while upholding transparency and love within our church family.
As we seek solace and strength in prayer and worship, the recent trials within our community stand as a testament to our resolve and the profound impact of every decision made. We stand together, inviting our congregation to join in unity as we honor our commitments to the gospel and to each other, even through the most challenging of times. This episode is a rallying cry for collective action, an affirmation of our dedication to the teachings of Jesus, and a shared prayer for the battles we face and the victories we seek. Join us in this profound reflection on faith, community, and the enduring human spirit.
Thanks for listening! Find us on Instagram or visit our Website.
each other a big round of applause for being here together as we get to worship Jesus together. I'm so thankful for our worship team and our production team, and Grayson Barton does such a great job of leading that. Thank you for the TV. Guys Can't do church without TV, amen. So here we go. First of all, I want you to know everything that God is doing here in our church, because there's so much good that is going on and we're just so thankful for everything that God is doing. First of all, I just want to say thank you, thank you for praying for my family, because tomorrow, lord willing, we are going in for a C-section in the morning for baby number three, eliana Joy. So thank you for your prayers, that is, if we don't go in, if she doesn't go into labor tonight. So we'll see what the Lord has for us and we're just so excited to bring baby girl, baby Eliana, into the world and just continue to pray for me. I'm an old dad and it's a young man's game, so thank you, thank you so much for your prayers. I feel like I'm raising my grandkids. Also, I want you to know that Next Steps Lunch. We love our Next Step Lunch. So many people have already been involved. If you haven't been to our Next Step Lunch, maybe you're new here, maybe you've been coming here for a long time. You've never done it before. It is for people that want to learn what all is God doing behind the scenes here. What are different opportunities that you have here to grow in your faith? Or maybe God is calling you to become a part of the church family, to join the church. You can learn all of that. Our next one is not going to be until Sunday, june 23, but I just wanted to give you a month's heads up so that you can already put that on your calendar. It's a free lunch with free child care. We'd love to have you part of that. I also want you to know that I met this week with a group of people that are all involved in our college and young adult ministries 18 to 29 years old, and so we do have a college group that meets at 9.30. We have a young adult group that meets at 9.30. And actually we have one that's moving to Thursday nights and we've got a new class starting at 930 for young adults as well, and so we are just having an influx of 18 to 29-year-olds. We're so thankful and what we're doing is we're having all of these different groups for them. We want to bring them together in like a monthly gathering. I think the first one is in a couple of weeks and so, if that's you, you can write down on one of the next step cards. I'm a young adult, 18 to 29. And we would love to have you a part of that first one together here at the end of May. It's going to be a vision night for where the Lord takes us.
Speaker 1:Also met with a group this week of people in our church that are very involved in all of our local mission partnerships and all of our local mission projects, because we want to ramp up our local mission of in our community like never before. Why? Because we not we don't want to just be a church in the community, we want to be a church for the community. So we're going to give you more opportunities than ever just to serve our community, to show them that we love them, that Jesus loves them, and many of them are watching online right now. Would you put your hands together for our community and surrounding communities? What an honor it is to be a part of what God is doing in this area of the country, this area of Georgia. I want to say a special welcome to all of our graduates, families and extended families today. Thank you so much for coming.
Speaker 1:High school graduation there's nothing like it. I did the math yesterday. It was 28 years ago for me. Goodness gracious, I'm getting old. 28 years ago, my high school graduation, and I can remember still going on my senior trip.
Speaker 1:I remember we went down to Miami for our senior trip and while we were down there we did a lot of different things, but I remember at the time in Miami, again 28 years ago, it was the largest human swing. From what they told us in the world. They would crank you up some 300 feet in the air like a swing and then they would release you and you would just swing back and forth. So of course we had to do it and I remember getting in that harness with two other of my friends and they cranked us up some 300 feet. You could see all of Miami from up there and I remember we were up there and we were terrified.
Speaker 1:Right, we were terrified.
Speaker 1:Why? Because we were pointing straight down as a nosedive, going down to the concrete below, held up just three of us by a single cable. And so finally, we're just hanging up there for minutes and someone calls from the ground pull the cord, pull the cord. And so we pulled the cord and I have never screamed so loud in my life. I screamed so loud and so hard that nothing was coming out of my mouth because we were nose diving for 300 feet to the ground, plummeting to our death, and then finally last six feet. It catches us and it swings us back up right and I just want to encourage you, graduates, that you are high school graduates, you're at a point in time in your life where your life, where the world, is ahead of you, and I want to remind you that God's got you, that God is the one that is holding you, and I just want to encourage you and empower you to pull the cord, to experience all of life for what God has for you, to live his will for your life, because his will is best.
Speaker 1:If y'all believe that for our graduates, put your hands together one more time, as we believe that together. Well, this morning I want to continue in our series, the book of Exodus. You can turn to Exodus, chapter 17, as we're talking about worship in the wilderness, the series in the book of Exodus, and this morning we're talking about worship in the wilderness, this series in the book of Exodus, and this morning we are talking about how to win the battle you're in, how to win the battle you're in. If you're like me, you're either coming out of a battle, you're in the middle of a battle or you're about to go into a battle. Life often feels like battle after battle after battle. Sometimes it feels like you're fighting several different battles at once. And it's interesting how God puts in his word all of these wars, all of these battles that his people have with these other countries, these other nations, these other militaries. And the whole point around it is this God is saying there in the Old Testament, he's saying I am your God, I am your king. The battle that I lead you to, I will fight through you, is what God is saying I will provide for you. And the Old Testament is a physical picture for your spiritual truth, for your spiritual truth that, as we see God's provision and his power and his presence and his protection in these Old Testament battles, what God is saying to you through his word is I am with you in the battle. I'm leading you to it and I will lead you through it.
Speaker 1:There are some different battles that we are all facing. Some people in this room are going through spiritual battles. Maybe it is temptation, maybe it is addiction. Maybe it is a doubt in your life. Maybe you are beginning to lose faith. Maybe you're going through a mental battle and you're battling with depression, anxiety, confusion, possibly suicidal thoughts. Family maybe it's your immediate family, your extended family. Maybe it's your marriage. Maybe it's because you're single. Maybe it's your children, maybe it's childlessness. Maybe it's someone within your family that are giving you problems. If you don't know in your family who's giving you problems, you might be the problem giving other people problems in your family.
Speaker 1:Who knows Relational? Relational maybe it is friends, coworkers, classmates, neighbors. It might be physical, it might be a disability, it might be a disorder, it might be a disease. It might be a diagnosis. Financial it might be a money, a finance situation that you're having. It might be a job. It might be a money, a finance situation that you're having. It might be a job, it might be career.
Speaker 1:But we see all throughout Scripture that God's people are constantly going into battles, and there are four questions that I believe that we need to answer to win the battle you're in. There are four questions I believe that you need to answer to win the battle that you're in. The question number one is who is your enemy? Everyone say enemy, enemy. Who is your enemy? The Bible says in Exodus 17, 8,.
Speaker 1:Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. I just want to remind you what is the Rephidim. The Rephidim is where they were traveling through the wilderness and they get to a point. The second time they get to a camp where there is no water. They didn't learn to listen the first time, so they begin. This is in the beginning of chapter 17,. They start crying out to God or they start complaining, actually complaining against Moses, complaining against Aaron, complaining against God. Why is there no water? You brought us out here to kill us. Is this some joke? Is this some joke? Is this some trick? God, are you playing a game with us? And, as you know, the Bible story goes that God, moses, praise to God. God tells Moses take your staff, strike the rock it was probably like a mountain and water comes gushing out of this rock to feed some two to three million Israelites. Miraculously, and it just so happens, not by coincidence but by Providence, that it is the exact same place they did not move away from. There is the exact same place that the Amalekites come in the Rephidim to come and fight them. Isn't it interesting that they come and fight after God miraculously refreshes and renews them with water from a rock. It is God's way of reminding you that God is going to refresh you, he's going to give you, he is going to give you what you need for every single battle that you face. It's fascinating who is Amalek, for every single battle that you face. It's fascinating who is Amalek. Amalek was actually one of the descendants of Esau. And who is Israel? Israel are the descendants of Jacob, esau and Jacob brothers.
Speaker 1:Family feuds run deep and long. Can I get an amen? So we see here, this is a family feud that is happening here in the scripture. But the point is this point is is that israel? This is the very first battle that they face in the wilderness, but it's not going to be the last. The point isn't amalek, the point isn't the philistines, the point isn't the other armies that they're going to face, but there's an enemy behind the enemy. The point is satan. Who is their enemy? It's ultimately satan, ultimately the devil. Who is your enemy? You have an enemy behind every battle that you face, and your enemy is satan himself. The bible reveals him as the real enemy.
Speaker 1:Second corinthians, chapter 211, says tells us not to be outwitted or ignorant of Satan's designs, meaning that the Bible gives you a spoiler alert of what Satan is seeking to do in your life. Look at Ephesians, chapter 6, verse 10. It says this this is one of the most famous Bible passages that we need to have near and dear to our hearts as we go through battles. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Why? Because the battle that you're facing is first and foremost, ultimately spiritual, not physical. It is a strength from God. The battle that you're going through you don't have the strength, you don't have the wisdom and you don't have the weapons that you need to fight. God has them for you. He says put on the whole armor of God. Why put on the armor of God? Because it's a spiritual battle that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Speaker 1:For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers. Notice we, we don't battle, we're not wrestling against people, but against the rulers, the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. In other words, your enemies are not people. Your enemies, the Bible says, is the devil, the world, and the Bible says is the devil the world and the flesh and the devil's behind it all. What is Satan doing? He's battling you for your own soul. The last thing he wants is for your eyes to be fixed on Jesus. The last thing he wants is your life to be lived for Jesus. The last thing he wants is for your life to be worshipful of Jesus or obedient to the word of God.
Speaker 1:The world this isn't the people of the world. It's the power behind the world. Remember how Jesus said on the cross Father, forgive them. They don't even know what they're doing. In the same way, we get so upset at people, but the Bible says there's a power behind the people. There's a power behind the world that they don't even know what they're doing.
Speaker 1:It's a spiritual battle, not a physical battle in the flesh. That's our sin within us. We don't fight ourselves. We fight the sin that is within ourselves. We must fight and engage this war, this battle that is raging on. And the Bible says how do we do it? He says with the full armor of God.
Speaker 1:You've seen this before in Ephesians, chapter 6. What a great reminder. There's a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the spirit. And then he ends it off with prayer. But here's what I want you to see how do you win the battle that you're in? Look at just this right column, the way in which that God is calling you to fight in your battle with truth, with righteousness, with peace, with faith, with your salvation, with the Spirit of God. The sword of the Spirit is the Scriptures, the Spirit of God, and through prayer, the Bible is telling us that it is a spiritual battle. But we get caught up with physical, human thinking and the Bible says we need to take a step back and to see who is the real enemy behind the enemy, and it's what Satan is trying to do in our life.
Speaker 1:Check this out how Satan works. It says actually, not till later. In Deuteronomy, chapter 25, it says dear Deuteronomy, we're. It says here Deuteronomy, we're in Exodus. But books later God said to Moses remember what Amalek did to you when you were on, as you were coming out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way. Same story as Exodus 17. Check it out. When you were faint, weary, he cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you. He did not fear God. You shall not forget.
Speaker 1:I've often heard it said that Satan loves to go after the leaders. I believe that's true, but I want you to see that Satan also goes after the laggers. Whether you're in the front of the pack or you're in the back of the pack, or in the middle of the pack, or you're in the back of the pack or in the middle of the pack, who is it that Satan attacks? Satan just loves to attack the children of God. He just loves to attack the followers of Jesus. But I believe you're more susceptible and you're more vulnerable when you're lagging behind. I believe if you could imagine if you were a soldier and you decide to run into war all by yourself, those soldiers lose those battles.
Speaker 1:Battles are not won alone. Battles are won in unity. What is the point that I'm making here? You need your army around you. You need to know, as you are facing the enemy. You need to know who is your army. Everyone say army? Who is your army? See, the Bible says that we need to have believers around us, christians around us. We need to have people who are encouraging us, people who are supporting us. It says in verse 9,.
Speaker 1:So Moses says to Joshua Joshua, you go and choose men and you go and fight with Amalek. And tomorrow I'm going to go stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand and Joshua's got to be like oh, nice one, moses, thanks a lot, I'm going to go fight, you're going to go stand. That's really fair. But this is actually very important because we see that Moses is the leader of the people of God. And Moses says Joshua, you're a warrior, joshua, you go and choose men, you go and fight. I'm going to stand at the top of the hill and I am going to pray and I am going to enact the power of God on our army so that we can get the victory, so that we can get the victory from this battle, so that we can get the victory. So that we can get the victory from this battle.
Speaker 1:Isn't it interesting that God could have defeated the Amalekites all by himself? God could have just set down fire and defeated them. No, rather, god leads you to battle and God leads you through your battle. If God just handled all of our battles for us and we didn't need to do anything, then we would not have to fully depend on God and obey God. God fights for us and God also fights through us. God notice how God used Moses in a different way than he used Joshua.
Speaker 1:There are some of you that are going through a battle right now, and for those of you who aren't, here's what we need to do we need to pray for them because they're fighting. If you're going through a battle, you need to tell somebody. If you're going through something really difficult in your life, I want to encourage you. Find a Christian brother or sister, find someone in your church that you can be honest with, and I also want you to see that Moses said I'm going to go and take the staff of God in my hand. What was the staff of God?
Speaker 1:The staff of God was the same staff that God told Moses. I want you to throw your staff on the ground in front of the Egyptians and it's going to turn into a serpent. Pick it up by its tail. It's going to turn back into a staff. It's the same staff that struck the Nile River that turned to blood. It's the same staff that would strike the ground that would enact the plagues that would happen throughout Egypt. It was the same staff that would strike the Red Sea, that would part the waters. It was the same staff that struck the rock that miraculously brought the water. And Moses said I'm going to take the staff to the hill in order to see the power of God in the midst of our battle.
Speaker 1:What is Moses saying? We can't win, we can't beat the Amalekites. They're greater than us. We are not a trained army, but we have the Lord, our God, on our side. Can I get an amen and notice? Have you ever wondered why a staff? Why a staff? I'll tell you. Why a staff? Because God didn't want Moses to be seen as some political figure, like a president, as some tyrant, king or ruler. He didn't want him to be seen as some military general. God wanted Moses to be seen as a shepherd. Why? Because Jesus the Bible says in John 10, is our good shepherd. In 1 Peter 5, god calls pastors to shepherd the flock of God. Why? Because Jesus is the chief shepherd. What does shepherding mean? It means love, it means care. It means protection, it means leadership.
Speaker 1:So who is your army? As you're going through your battle, I want to remind you that your army is Christ. He is leading our army. Your army is the church, us, here, that we, you, don't have to go through your battle alone. You can tell us what is happening in your life so we can pray for you and support you. Your army is your community or your small group. I encourage you to be in a connection group, be in a small group, be in a Bible study, be in a Sunday school class, be with people that surround you so that you're not alone in your battle. And just other Christians that you know in your family or in our community or in the world, make sure that you have an army. So the question is, who do you call when you're in battle? Who is praying for you? Who can you be real with and not be judged by? Who holds you accountable, who calls you out, who encourages you and who walks with you? I want to encourage you to find your army, surround yourself with your army and call on your army when you are in battle.
Speaker 1:In number three, I want you to see what is your strategy. Everyone say strategy. It's fascinating. It says whenever Moses held up his hand, israel prevailed. Whenever he lowered his, his hand, amalek prevailed, but Moses hands grew weary. It was just a man. So they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it and while Aaron and her held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other side, so his hands were steady until the going down of the Sun. What is your strategy?
Speaker 1:First of all, what I believe that we see here is prayer, the importance of prayer. I believe that when Moses is holding up the staff, that this is a symbol. This is a sign that Moses is praying to God. Oh God, may the Amalekites not win in victory. God, may your people win. When you are in a battle, the number one thing you can do is pray. The number one thing you can do is ask people to be praying for you and, just to be honest, just over the last couple of weeks, our church has needed a lot of prayer and I want to thank you for praying for your church, as we've had a very difficult issue to go through together. As your senior pastor now for eight months, I always want to be as honest and transparent with you as possible. However, I also want to protect people in the unity of our church. So, after prayerful consideration, I want to respond to what has been made known.
Speaker 1:Thursday, a week ago, a very difficult announcement was made to the First Friends weekday education staff and families that the preschool would not be reopening in the fall. When this decision became known, it resulted in an understandably emotional response. First of all, I want to recognize the preschool staff, teachers and families for the last some five decades who have given their time, talents and even finances to the preschool. Would you put your hands together for everyone who has served in the preschool for the last 18 years and she's been the director for the last 11 years? I have personally received emails eight in total sharing with me wonderful testimonies of what God has done in the life of their child or children while in the preschool over the past decades, or children while in the preschool over the past decades. Please hear me. We honor and celebrate every single thing that God has done, along with every single life that he has changed through the preschool over the past some five decades.
Speaker 1:I want to personally apologize to the families who preregistered for next year. I'm so sorry that we could not come through for your family. We love you and we desperately want you to be a part of our church, if you're not already. We promise to teach and love and share Jesus with your children. God's word said it is the church. It's the church that is his primary vehicle of the gospel to all people, which is the hope of the world. I just wanna say, if this decision hurts you in any way, I pray that you will forgive us. We did what we prayerfully and wholeheartedly believe the Lord led us to do. We hope that this will not be any type of hindrance to your faith and that you will continue to be a part of our church. And if, for whatever reason, you feel like you can't fellowship with us, we pray that God leads you to a Bible-believing church who worships Jesus, because it is all about him. But even if you leave, we still love you, we still serve you. We'll still help you. Speak well of you. Now I ask our church to hear me. As your senior pastor.
Speaker 1:I want to take the time to respond to the most important questions that you have asked about this decision. Number one why and how was this decision made? I want you to know that concerns were brought to the attention of the personnel ministry here regarding the preschool. The attention of the personnel ministry here regarding the preschool For clarity, the First Friends Weekday Education Program does not operate under the governance of our personnel ministry. The preschool staff was not paid by our personnel ministry budget. Neither was our personnel ministry responsible to interview nor hire any of the preschool staff To align with our bylaws.
Speaker 1:The personnel ministry, who received these concerns, requested the nominating ministry chairman to lead the process in putting together an advisory council to oversee the First Friends Weekday Education Program. This advisory council was made up of longtime FBCPS church members who love Jesus, our church, the preschool, the families, the teachers and the children. They are experienced professional educators, both some retired, some active, some administrators, some teachers. The advisory council had to first do a full and comprehensive evaluation of the program before offering oversight. It was the full and comprehensive evaluation that led to the unavoidable conclusion of closing the preschool. After much prayer and discussion, there were no viable alternatives. There was no other option and fortunately there was no way forward to be ready to welcome students in August. Because of the factors revealed by the evaluation, the preschool had to be closed.
Speaker 1:Number two who made this decision and why didn't this come to a church vote? The evaluation's conclusion and explanation of closure came as a recommendation from the advisory council to the church's leadership. So who were the members of leadership of the church that had to make this decision? Well, these included the chairman of deacons, the deacon chairman-elect, church clerk, personnel ministry chairman, finance ministry chairman, senior associate pastor, the staff supervisor over the preschool, director and the senior pastor. These leaders were all God-appointed, as you have affirmed, and entrusted leadership to them based on biblical requirements and our governing bylaws and biblical requirements and our governing bylaws. This did not come to a church vote because the preschool operates separately from the church as a self-sustaining entity, but also to protect the people who are involved. As your senior pastor, I want you to hear from my heart. This decision was fervently and emotionally prayed over. It was extremely hard. However, after the evaluation, I want you to know that these some 15 appointed men and women in church leadership were unanimous regarding this decision. I want you to know that each and every one of those people submitted themselves to God through the entire process.
Speaker 1:Some have asked why would this evaluation report be shared publicly, as I'm humbled and honored to get to be your senior pastor and I believe in being a very transparent pastor. I believe in being a very transparent pastor. I believe in leading a transparent church all the way until the point that it hurts or embarrasses someone or people. We will always be open and transparent to the point until it would hurt someone. I refuse to hurt people because, as a church, we are called to protect people. Even if people might hurt us, we will not hurt them. Hurting people is against the word of God. We want to protect people. We want to protect all the people involved in the First Friends Weekday Education Program. They deserve our respect and dignity. Romans 12.10 commands us to outdo one another in showing honor. I wanna make it clear, though, that nothing immoral and nothing in form of abuse has happened in the preschool program. As a church, we do not protect abusers. We protect people. We protect our children.
Speaker 1:Hear me, if the report was released, it would provide logical reasons for the decision regarding the closure. However, it would be at the expense of people, and we can't hurt people. That is never a biblical option. Some have asked was this just a financial decision? Hear me, absolutely not. The weekday program was designed to be a self-sustaining program. However, if it is only a resource issue, I'm sure that there are many who would ensure its financial success. You are very generous in a giving church, every penny you give goes to reaching the people with the gospel of Jesus.
Speaker 1:So, number five so why would a preschool be closed that is sharing Jesus with children? That's the most important question you can ask. That's the question that breaks my heart the most. If you know me, I love my kids. I love seeing our children, the children of our church, the children of our community, come to the salvation knowledge of Jesus. It breaks my heart that we had no other choice or option to close a program that shares Jesus with children and of which I'm personally devastated. I know that this decision is personal for some of you in the church and in the community. It's personal to me.
Speaker 1:My own daughter was in the preschool program. She loved her preschool. This year my son was registered for the preschool this next year. My wife and I love the school experience but, hear me, the closure is, at least for now. We don't know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future. As for the present, as we are the church, which is Jesus' primary means of the gospel to our surrounding community and world. We will continue to be missionally vigilant to take, invite, offer, spread and share the gospel of Jesus with every family, child and person in our community, as Jesus himself has called us to do in his great commission of Matthew 28.
Speaker 1:So I want to ask you to be in prayer with me for our families, our children's ministry that has exponentially grown over the last year, averaging over 150 weekly, including Sundays and Wednesdays. We already have over 150 children registered for KVX, our VBS week, and may the Lord continue to bless the efforts of the ministries of our church to children, families and people in our community. So, church, family, here's what I'm asking. I'm asking all of us to trust the Lord together in all of this. I wanna ask you right now if you wouldn't mind join me in standing together to show your support for our church leadership and to show your appreciation for those who have served in the preschool by standing together in unity as we pray for our church and our community. Let's pray together.
Speaker 1:Heavenly Father, god, we love you. No-transcript. God, you lead us to battles. You lead us through battles. You lead us to hard decisions. You lead us through hard decisions, god. I just want to thank you for the unity that you have given our church.
Speaker 1:God, I thank you for every single person that has prayed, every single person that has encouraged, every single person that has trusted you in this process. God, I thank you so much, lord, for protecting us. And God, I pray for every single child in our community that may not have access to the gospel or access to the church. May we be a church who go to them. May we be a church who reaches out to them. May we be a church who invites them, who blesses and ministers to these families. God, may you continue to grow our children's ministry full of families. And God, we just thank you for every salvation that you've been giving and every baptism that you've been doing, and, god, all the ways that you've been working in and through our church. And God, we thank you for all that you have done through the preschool. We thank you for every teacher, for every family, for every child. And God, thank you for everything that you are promising to do through our church in the future. God, we trust you, we follow you, we serve you, we love you, and God, may you be glorified as we are unified. In Jesus' name, I pray and all God's people said amen, you can have a seat. Thank you so much for allowing me to express that to you and it's all in this point, as I'm done that, what is our strategy in the battle? Listen to me, it is prayer, it is worship.
Speaker 1:Could it be that Moses was lifting the staff, staff lifting his hands, and that he was just worshiping God? Why? Because, as his hands were in the air, he is seeing the victory being won beneath him. Or could it be the gospel? I believe it's all of these. Could it be that, as Moses is holding his hands out and he's sitting on a rock and Aaron and Hur are holding his arms up, that Moses is in the form of a cross and he's saying that our victory is in the cross of Jesus Christ alone? Could it be the Bible says the Lord is my banner? Could it be that Moses was holding the staff of God over his head while Aaron and Hur were holding up his arms and he is saying that the Lord is our banner, the staff of God over his head, while Aaron and Er were holding up his arms, and he is saying that the Lord is our banner? The Lord is the one that is above us. The Lord is the one who overshadows us. The Lord is the one that protects us. Could it be that he is holding it up, saying it is the word of God that wins the battle?
Speaker 1:You have a natural inclination when you enter into a battle and if your natural inclination is like mine, your natural inclination is your flesh. Your natural inclination is to worry, to doubt, to fight back, to give it all you got, that you're not gonna let anybody get anything on you, or that you cowered back, scared, fearful, not knowing what's about to happen. But God says, instead of charging forward, instead of cowering back, that we need to hit our knees, get in the word of God, we need to get into prayer, because the question is when is your victory? In the battle? Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. What is the sword? The sword of the spirit. What is our sword, our only weapon? It is the word of God.
Speaker 1:We know here's how we know when we've won the battle. You know you've won the battle and it may look different than what you thought. It may look different when other people were perspective. It may even look like you've lost. But you know you've won when you've been faithful to the Word of God, when you've been faithful to the will of God. When is your victory? Says the Lord said to Moses. Write this in a memorial, write this down journal it. Recite it in the ears of Joshua. Tell your story of when you won the victory and tell other people how you gave it to God.
Speaker 1:He said that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Meaning God is saying this there will be a day that evil will be wiped away. There will be a day when Satan is cast into the abyss, into hell. There will be a day when Jesus is ruling and reigning and complete and total and utter victory. But until then, moses built an altar and we should build an altar in prayer and worship and call upon the name of the Lord, our God. The Lord is my banner. They would hold a banner up in battle. What was the banner? The banner would be where the army regroups, returns, rallies for instruction within the battle, a hand upon the throne of the Lord. That is prayer. The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation, saying you're going to go from battle to battle, to battle, to battle in your life.
Speaker 1:The question isn't if you come to battle. The question is how do you depend on God in your battle? When is your victory? When you win a battle, when you win it, I want to encourage you to write it down, journal it, recite it, tell other people, refuse it, meaning refuse to allow Satan to gain ground in that area of your life again. Remember it in prayer and refresh it when the enemy comes back to you, because it's going to happen again. But be encouraged.
Speaker 1:Ephesians 6,. Be strong in the Lord, put on the full armor of God. Your battle is not against flesh and blood. Your battle is against the powers of the air, the principalities, the devil and his demons. And Jesus has already won the victory at the cross and in his resurrection he gets all the glory. Can we put our hands together for all that Jesus has done on our behalf as we go through these battles with him, every head bowed and every eye closed, with no one looking around? I just want to encourage you here in this moment.
Speaker 1:Whatever your battle is, whatever it is that you're going through, I want to encourage you right now give it to God. Do not do this alone. Give it to God. God, you've led me to this battle. God, would you lead me through this battle? God, would you help me to fight in your way, spiritually, in prayer, in faith, in trust. God, would you do it in my life? And maybe you're here this morning and you're wondering that. Maybe you've heard this morning that the very battle is for your very soul and you need to finally give your life to God. This morning, today, I want to encourage you right now to give your soul to God. I can't pray this prayer for you, I can't save you, but you can pray it right now and you can say dear God, I pray and I believe that Jesus is your son and God. I need Jesus, I believe in Jesus. You can tell him, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin and God, forgive me of my sin and I turn and I give my life to your son. You can say God, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead. He's alive and he's real and I want him in my life, I want a relationship with him, so I call on him to be the Lord of my life. Jesus, be my Lord, be my master, be my savior, be my God and Father.
Speaker 1:We believe that we pray that for those in here that need you, and we ask these things in Jesus' name, and all God's people said amen. Would you put your hands together for anybody that gave their life to Jesus during that time, during that prayer? And I just want to encourage you during this time that the next step card is in front of you. If you have a decision to make, that, maybe a way that we can help you in your life, maybe you have given your life to Jesus. Maybe you need to be baptized, maybe you need to join the church. Maybe you need to find a group, your army, that's going to be around you. You can indicate that on the card. Take it to our Next Step station. We would love to help you. We have a free gift for all of our first timers over there as well, but I'm gonna ask us to stand and I'm gonna pray for us one more time.
Speaker 1:Let's stand together and we are going to worship, like Moses raised the staff of God and worshiped during the battle. As we're all in a battle, we're gonna worship God for who he is and for all that he does. Heavenly Father, we love you and God. We pray in Jesus' name, lord, that your spirit would empower us for the battle. God, we pray that we would see the enemy behind the enemy. God, that we would know that it is Satan. God, that we would know that it is sin. Father, that we would be able to fight this spiritual battle. God, with your weapons, with your armor, and God, we pray for your will. God, we pray for your way to be done. God, we ask in Jesus' name. I ask for every battle that's being experienced today. God, may it be given to you so that you get the victory, so that we can see your goodness. We love you. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Let's sing together.