2020 Remain Faithful Conference | Matt Chandler | Session 1

well hello when we made the decision uh to have a large u.s conference man i couldn't tell you how excited i was uh to see many of you again to get to know your team members so so so often uh my interaction in acts 29 is that i get to meet uh the lead pastor but i don't get to see and meet much of their team or their elder boards and so i was excited about this conference where i was going to get to meet student pastors and children's ministers and and elders and and those men and women that god have flanked senior pastors with so that the mission of god would go forward uh so that a highly contextualized biblically serious spiritually alive hungry to have the gospel known to the ends of the earth team i wanted to meet and celebrate and rejoice and yet here is yet if we're honest uh another disappointment in 2020 our primary passage today is going to be found in john's gospel chapter 11. i'm going to get to that here in a moment but i want to speak here uh to the realities of 2020 and what i mean by that is is that that you have had to endure some unique and extremely challenging issues in 2020 uh pastoral ministry the past year has been brutal i think life has been difficult for everyone uh but men especially as you've tried to faithfully minister in the local church if you've had ever any doubts uh that you have an enemy that is hell bent on destroying you i would ask you just real quick to wake up because you're feeling it and sensing it as we tried to figure out how do you do services when you can't actually do live services and what does that mean about this and how do we create this and what do we do for our students and how are we going to help our children and what are you going to do about with all of that going on then then you've got the political um divisions of our day where almost everything we're saying or not saying is being seen or read through this kind of political agenda and then on top of that uh you you had uh the race riots that broke out and you had people thinking you should say more and people thinking you should say less and then on top of all that there's just the wear and tear of ministry but here here's what i wanted to say before we dove in and and i don't man i don't want this to sound paternalistic in any way but i'm proud of you like you're here you're still here you have taken those shots all year long you have taken those shots and you're here you're in front of a a computer you're in your sanctuary and you're watching this on the screen you're still here so that hell's plan to steal your confidence to destroy your life to rob you of joy in service to the king has been thwarted and you're hanging in there and maybe you're like brother i don't know that it's been thwarted i am on fumes well i just wanted to read a passage to you and this isn't part of my sermon but but i wanted to read this passage to you it's a passage that i continue to go to myself in this season it's first john chapter four verse four many of you might already know the passage listen listen to the word of the lord in fact why don't you go ahead and just close your eyes there where you are you can just close your eyes you don't have to turn there you said turn your phone over i really got the sense as i was prepping for this that the holy spirit wanted to minister to many of you so if you just quiet your heart before the lord just let me read the word of god over you you ready little children you are from god and have overcome them for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world okay don't be too quick just stay there let me read it again you pastor minister preacher elder children's minister worship pastor education minister small group leader preschool director you are from god and have overcome them now why why can we say that with any confidence well the next sentence fills in the gap right because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world now this is important to note because now you can look back up at me this is important to note because it's our turn in the great war you're tracking with me it's it's our turn like when we read hebrews 11 we read our bible and we see those men and women of bold faith who watched a culture disintegrate who watched division who watched idolatry watched the people of god fizzle out and they stand they stayed firm in their conviction they stayed faithful to jesus they stood with yahweh and said no he is the lord almighty it's our turn in the middle of all of this to burn like those lights have burned from yesteryear so the whole time you've been in ministry and you come across those faithful men and women in the bible i pray that you haven't over romanticized that i pray that you haven't imagined their lives as being so devoid of difficulties so devoid of law so devoid of disappointment that they're just kind of happily skipping along uh with the king of kings and lord of lords in the minister like the the men and women of the bible when it was their turn and they were crying out to god they were humbled before god they were clinging desperately to god and now it's our turn in this period of human history to believe that we are of god that that we are of god and not only that that we have overcome them and on top of that we have overcome them and we are from god because he who lives in me who lives in you is greater than he who is in the world like that's true about you it's not true about you like later it's true right now he didn't say we will overcome them he says we have overcome them he didn't say you will be from god he says that you are of god these are present realities in the middle of ephesus a dwindling broken culture and here we have the encouragement from the apostle john little children you are from god you are of god you have overcome them because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world why don't you do me a favor and maybe maybe you're not tired at all maybe you've i mean you've just been thriving in this season and you guys are crushing it and you're not tired you're not weary you're not distracted you're not overwhelmed you're not frustrated you're just like like jesus himself woke you up this morning like hey we've got that we got the 829 thing today once you wake up but so but i'm guessing that's not many of you so here's what i would love to be able to do just as we get started here today i would just love to pray over you that the holy spirit would remind your heart of the goodness of jesus that whatever's been wrung out of you in this difficult time the spirit of god might replace in you abundantly in this season so why don't you do me a favor would you just kind of cup your hand there you are again you might be in your house you might be in y'all's sanctuary or in a education room a sunday school room a small group or whatever um why don't you just kind of cup your hands there in front of you and i just want to pray over you and then we're going to dive into this passage today father i thank you for my brothers and sisters you know their hurts you know their weariness united states that you would minister to them right now in the name of jesus christ spirit of the living god is the apostle paul prayed that they would know the love of christ that surpasses knowledge that you would remind them again let them feel your love for them i pray where there's weariness you just flood with energy i pray that they would right now in this moment whatever they're carrying that they might give it over to you that you would allow them to simply breathe and then to receive from your word today the encouragement it's meant to bring and so i bless my brothers and sisters in the name of jesus i pray peace over them in the name of jesus i pray power over them in the name of jesus i pray gladness over them in the name of jesus christ and for the glory of his name amen my my topic uh to share uh here as we kick this thing off is faithful to jesus and so we've got we're just getting back to the basics here just gonna be really simple and straightforward as we think about planting churches and leading gospel ministries and and serving uh the church that we're in in whatever capacity that we have even if you're like i don't know how your church is divided but i know there's sometimes ministry services and ministry those are both called by god in order to serve uh the beauty of the gospel in a given location so regardless of what your spot is on the field now i just want to encourage you and my my topic is faithfulness to jesus and here i think if you would have caught me two years ago and you would have said chandler what does it look like what does it mean to be faithful to jesus christ i think i in fact i don't think i know i would have spent a lot of time with you talking about abiding in the presence of jesus and and connecting to jesus uh to to create a rule of life in your life so that you might throughout the day and throughout the week and throughout the year reconnect with jesus at a deep and intimate place and yet i started to realize probably about a year ago that for all of my encouraging and teaching and trying to help people understand that if we're going to be faithful to jesus then then especially in this climate then we're going to need to abide with jesus we're going to need to be in the presence of jesus we're going to have to taste and see that he is good like that that i'd be in john 15. that that's where i probably would have gone here and yet i've come to believe that one of the reasons that men and women whether they be in vocational ministry or not have a hard time abiding in jesus with a which ultimately then affects their long-term faithfulness to jesus because you will not judge faithfulness to jesus by a checklist a pastoral checklist right i preached the books the bible check uh theologically here's where i stand check like what the lord has always been after is your heart what the lord always look right this is gonna blow maybe this will blow your mind listen what look right at me what god has always wanted look hear me is you do you hear that it's not i want you to do all these things for me no he's like i want you and i want your heart i want your mind i want to work in you and i want to remind you and i want to stir up in you love and devotion and gladness in my name in fact i'll tell anyone who will listen what your church needs most is not just your skills and abilities it needs your heart fully alive in jesus christ it needs your heart pastor needs your heart student minister needs your heart worship pastor needs your heart fully alive in jesus and so you have a certain skill set that's necessary for the place that you play on your team and yet the best thing that you can bring to the church that you minister in is your heart fully alive in jesus christ and so what i have found is that people have a hard time getting there some pastors ministers they have a hard time getting there and so i could say abide i could say what i just said to you till i'm blue in the face and people would get motivated for a few moments and then crash out because there's this thing that kind of robs them from being able to abide with jesus in the way that we were designed to abide in him maybe maybe this story will help years ago now i mean it had to be 10 11 years ago we're on our family walk my son is little reed's like three uh maybe three and a half at the time he's on a big wheel so maybe that would uh maybe that'll kind of create in your mind how old he was so he's in a he's in a big wheel and we're on this family walk and he's kind of riding he learns how to you know uh tokyo drift that thing and and he's kind of riding his thing and he rides up next to me i'm at the you know i'm kind of point man on the family walk and he slides up next to me and said hey um daddy i was like what's up buddy he said jesus died for my sins and i was like oh my gosh this is it we've done it lauren let's write that book on parenting and i i said that's right buddy jesus died on the cross for your sins and and and then what happened right because i now now i know i'm getting the whole thing right i'm getting resurrection and ascension and second coming i'm just i'm testing how well we've done here and so i'm like okay buddy yes praise god he did die first and then what happens next and i could see his wheels turning he he stopped making eye he's just kind of looking up at the and then i see this kind of growing smile on his face and he and he looks at me these big bright eyes and he says and then the easter bunny gives me candy and i was like scratch writing the book and then i whipped him no i'm just kidding we didn't whip him for that but but but i think what happened to reed um as a child happens to many of us and i think that what has happened steals from us the confidence of abiding in the presence of jesus that shapes us in such a way that faithfulness to jesus till the end it's a like it's happening like there's no way it's not happening and so what i've learned is that if i need to talk if we're going to talk about abiding in the presence of jesus we've got to tackle this problem first and what i mean by this problem is is that we're not quite understanding what happens in the resurrection of jesus christ and what the implications are for us and and i don't i know right now some of you like yes do it and others of you might not know exactly what i'm talking about but but here's here's why we're in john uh in the gospel of john one of the big themes in the gospel of john is this idea of life and real life being made available in jesus christ and so the book even starts that way right in john chapter one what does it say that in him was life and that life was the light of men so so what's in jesus life now we're not talking about like oxygen in the lungs life we're talking about life like all that we were meant to live in and then when he meets the woman at the well what's the promise if you'll drink this water streams of living water will burst forth unto eternal life and then you get it again in john chapter 8 rivers of living water will flow from you over and over this promise life's in my name life's all right i have come that you might have life and have it to the full that jesus is just habitually in the gospel of john saying you want life it's only found in me he's not he's saying i am life you want full life full life's found in me you tired of hitting the ceiling of everything you're chasing it's because those things point to me as life they're not life marriage isn't life children isn't life money's not life sex isn't life i'm life those are good gifts of god's grace but they're not meant to be life they point to life and so this is one of the great themes in the gospel of john and then that takes us up to um well let me do this first let me just continue to set us up before we get to this passage so the new testament is filled with this kind of imagery that we were transferred from sin and death and into life into a spiritual vibrancy into the fullness of life or the abundant life that jesus promises and the language most frequently used to describe the life that jesus has come to bring is the analogy of being dead in our trespasses and sins and being made alive in christ and so i want to read some of that to you again this is remember we're just this is basic stuff but i want to talk about it in a way that that maybe um clicks or ignites or reminds encourages builds you up in this season romans 6 8 says this now if we have died with christ we believe that we will also live with him ephesians 2 1 through 5 and you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work and the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and mind and we're by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind so there we are sin death can't get out broken stuck verse four but god being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us did what he made us alive so you see you were dead and now you are alive you were dead and now you are alive colossians 2 13 and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh god made alive together with him having forgiven all of our trespasses so this is one of the great themes of the bible you want the life of christ you're dead and you've got to be brought into it you've got to be transferred into the kingdom of the beloved son out of darkness out of death out of brokenness in to his life and so this is that picture of coming into the life of jesus christ and so as we work through uh the gospel of john what we see is this text is revealing something about this reality that jesus makes us alive from what is dead and so let's look at this together this is john 11 we're going to pick it up in verse 20. so when martha heard that jesus was coming she went and met him but mary remained seated in the house and martha said to jesus lord if you had been here my brother would not have died but even now i know that whatever you ask from god god will give you and jesus said to her your brother will rise again and martha said to him i know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day but jesus said to her i am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me though he die yet shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die do you believe this and she said to him yes lord i believe that you are the christ the son of god who's coming into the world so what what jesus is doing in this moment and really what i want to dial into is this idea where jesus is like he she says oh i know on that day that that great and glorious day he will be resurrected and jesus goes okay but this is bigger than that i am the resurrection so yes but so in essence you could say okay it's it's bigger than heaven it's bigger like like me i'm bigger than heaven i'm bigger than just an afterlife i'm what i'm doing what i'm accomplishing it's it's bigger than that so yes and or yes but i am the resurrection and the life i am the resurrection yes he will be resurrected but i am the resurrection itself so what jesus is about to do in raising lazarus from the dead is giving us a physical picture of both a spiritual and physical reality and what i mean by that is we are all going to one day be physically resurrected in physical bodies like lazarus except there won't be another death lazarus had had to experience it a second time that will not be true for us upon our resurrection from the dead but what we're being promised here and being shown here is that not only will there be that physical resurrection but our spirits can be resurrected in christ now that i am the resurrection and the life you want life you got to be raised from the dead and it's good news for you because i'm also the resurrection in fact i i am the resurrection and the life you find them both in me and and this is such a big deal this is such a big deal that jesus is the resurrection in life that upon jesus's resurrection what the apostles primarily go about proclaiming is not just his death but primarily his resurrection like if you ever pay attention to what the apostles are teaching in the book of acts you will see some references to his death but the point of emphasis and the thrust is his resurrection that death has been defeated that sin has been put to death so so that the great theme the great push the great umph of the christian life is resurrection and not just a new heaven and earth being able to raise and reign and rule with him but right now down in our guts resurrected from sin and death let me show you this this is acts 4 1 and 2 and as they were speaking to the people the priests and the captain of the temple and the sadducees came upon them greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in jesus the resurrection from the dead what are they proclaiming in jesus resurrection resurrection from the dead acts chapter 4 starting in verse 33 and with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the lord jesus and great grace was upon them all in acts 17 verse 18 some of the epicurean and stoic philosophers also conversed with him and some said what does this babbler wish to say and and maybe between the annoyed and babbler this is making you think of some of the emails you've gotten over the last six months right what does this babbler wish to say others said he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities why because he was preaching jesus and the resurrection so you hear this great theme jesus is saying i am the resurrection and the life and then jesus is raised from the grave he ascends into heaven and the apostles filled with the holy spirit scatter across the ancient world and what are they preaching it it does mention his death quite often but the emphasis the thrust of first century gospel proclamation is resurrection and not just heaven resurrection like spirit right now resurrection death to life in your soul in your guts now listen to me we are a cross-centered organization right i want you to hear me say that we believe in the depravity of man and his in ability to fix what's wrong in his life what's most wrong with man is not lust what's most wrong with man isn't violence what's most wrong with men isn't covetousness what's most wrong with men it's none of those things humankind issue is sin and sin that's brought about spiritual death at the very foundation of how they've been so the solution to that is not self-help the solution to that is not for them to work harder the solution to that is not better moral behavior the solution to that is the death of jesus christ on the cross in fact it might surprise you to to note that well let me just read you this quote this is kenneth clark he's an art historian and here's what he says about this idea of the crucifixion and the resurrection and where the emphasis should lie or historically lied he said we have grown used to the idea that crucifixion is the supreme symbol of christianity that it is a shock to us to realize how late in the history of christian art its power was recognized so its power was recognized in the first art of christianity it hardly appears the earliest example on the doors of santa sabine in rome around 4 30 a.d is stuck away in a corner almost out of sight early christian art is concerned with miracles healings and with hopeful aspects of faith like the ascension and resurrection now let me tell you what i'm not saying i hate that i have to do i just have to do this let me tell you what i'm not saying i am not saying that the cross should be diminished in any way in fact we should never diminish the cross of christ by it we have been safe there is no resurrection without crucifixion so we're not diminishing the cross to talk about look at and gaze upon the resurrection of jesus christ from the grave as the resurrection in life that's imputed and imparted to us be his righteousness so we're not diminishing the cross we see in the cross the atoning work of jesus for our sins and the cross we see the love of god for humankind in the cross we see god keeps his promises and in the cross we see jesus enthroned as king of kings and lord of lords it does not diminish the cross to celebrate more fully the resurrection of jesus um i had this conversation with a long time member it was a great one it wasn't one where you're like oh gosh here i got to go listen and no it was we talked about the fact that we live in a day and age where everything is either or when so much in reality is both and and and so like the way it's played out at the village church is in my first probably five six seven years here uh there were people that were like yeah we're depraved but doesn't he know who we are in christ now and and and then now lately when i've been pushing more around this kind of thing people are like yeah but are we still reformed yes yes we believe in the atoning work of jesus christ on the cross to save sinners who cannot save themselves and then we believe that in the resurrection of jesus christ promises are fulfilled and things are given to us as we join with the resurrection and the life now let me tell you why uh this is important if we're talking about long-term faithfulness to jesus christ what we're talking about when we talk about the resurrection i think comes back to how you perceive yourself or maybe a better way to put this would be it informs your primary identity all right so let me ask a couple of questions is your primary identity your primary identity so i'm saying that on purpose like that the way you primarily see yourself relate to yourself think about yourself consider yourself is your primary identity that of a center or is your primary identity a son or daughter of the king of the universe right the king of lord now i'm not asking do you still sin i'm not asking that i know the answer to that pastor i know the answer to that minister i don't need to ask that question because i know the answer it's the same for all of us yes what i'm asking is what is your primary identity are you first and foremost a sinner or are you first and foremost a beloved son and daughter of god on high let me ask you this one maybe this one will that we've got to correct this let me ask this is your heart dirty broken wicked is your heart a dirty broken wicked thing or look right at me or are you indwelt by the spirit of god again i'm not asking do you have compulsions i'm not asking uh do you struggle with this i'm not saying do you have a tendency to get angry when you shouldn't or do you have a compulsion towards lust when you know i'm not asking that i like i said i know the answer that your primary identity how you understand yourself relate to yourself consider yourself is your heart that the kind of core piece of who you are is it dirty broken and wicked or is it indwelt with the holy spirit well the word of god answers that does it not what happens then at pentecost why is it better for us that jesus go away right do you know the gospel of john where we're there jesus is trying to get the disciples ready for life without him he goes no no don't nobody say look it's better for you that i go away because when i go away the helper's coming and when the helper is coming he will convict the world of sin you will walk in power and know righteousness it is better for you that i depart so so jesus is saying look look guys it's better for you for me not to be here because i'm going to glory and i'm going to send the spirit of god he's gonna dwell in your heart he's gonna take that heart of stone he's gonna make it a heart a flesh he's gonna take that wickedness he's gonna wipe it clean he's gonna take that brokenness he's gonna heal it and put it back together look right at me your heart isn't wicked anymore in jesus christ you hear me it's just not and that doesn't mean you're perfect or you're not going to mess up that's not what that means that means when i think about the what's going on in my heart i'll know who's actually talking to me does that make sense to you maybe it doesn't let me flesh it out although i will at times have a compulsion that steps out of line with the word of god and jesus's desire for my life that compulsion no longer is born from my heart because my heart is new so now i've got the lie of an enemy uh i've got an old pattern of believing i've got some residue from the old man that i need to bring to christ but what i don't give myself over to any longer is the shame associated with the compulsion why because that's not me here's the way the apostle paul said that i have been crucified with christ it's no longer i who live but it's christ who lives in me and the life i live now in the flesh i live by faith and the son of god who loved me loves me and gave himself up for me listen martin luther banged on the bittenberg door and said all of the christian life is one of confession and repentance i would say amen to that but confession and repentance are very different than shame and so we will not abide in the presence of jesus we will not believe we are actually welcomed there we will not receive the grace mercy and spiritual vitality necessary for long-term faithfulness to jesus in the midst of this moment in history without abiding in his presence we're not going to abide in his presence if we like we feel like we're filthy and wicked and evil and no no but if we feel beloved delighted in rejoicing we embrace what god has said is true about us now we'll abide and once you abide there's joy and vitality and power and then there's faithfulness but i think if you get this wrong and there's only the cross and there's not the resurrection i think you wear down i think you start to believe the lie about you i am wicked oh i am this i am that and that's not true you are a son or daughter of god on high you have been made perfect in his sight you are delighted in you are rejoiced over you are the beloved so hard for us so hard for us see our primary identity is going to lead to our understanding and purpose in the christian life to understand this now we begin to actually live out our purpose so so a question would be like is and here's where i think pastors and ministers can wear out it is like the primary call on your life uh to be good enough to be strong enough to lead well enough to to be faithful enough to click all the boxes to lead and make disciples away or is it to be known by the lord to walk in his presence and then to lead out of that vitality that's found in his presence see one will wear you out one is just about clinging to jesus and then with jesus one step at a time stepping into what he puts in front of you in that season in that period of time and and you can do that you can do that gosh i pray by the grace of god you're doing that now but if i'm honest i see far too few ministers and pastors living out of that strength living out of that strength so like just imagine what would it be like for you to believe for you to believe and here's what's crazy about us to believe that what the bible says is true about you is true and and then two um happily come into the presence of god and have your soul replenished and and be filled with grace anew for that season to not feel like you had to carry all the weight of it listen i remember uh my first couple of years at the village uh i would mow my backyard and had this little mantra where i don't have to carry all this i don't have to carry all this i don't have to carry all this i don't i just felt overwhelmed i felt like there was no way i i was long-term going to make this that it was unsustainable something had to change and i knew the answer was something about abiding but i i had a hard time believing that i i could i knew i could preach i knew i could lead i knew i could do those things and yet internally there was this thing churning in me that made me feel like i had to take it i had to own it i'd drive it i had to make it happen i needed to be excellent and all things and and i needed i needed that not to die altogether but to be redeemed and to be redeemed by melting into what jesus says about me melting into what the bible says is how god sees me and and walks with me and empowers me and strengthens me and it's for me not against me i needed that and and i'm praying that some of you might actually experience that today way too few pastors ministers worship um leaders small group coaches whatever your role like can you i've said this at the beginning i want to say it again what your church needs now regardless of your position is your heart fully alive in jesus my guess is the hiring process had yes loving jesus is permission to play at a church at least i would hope if that's not a part of your your kind of consideration as you hire somebody after this um get make that a part of it right if like this person really loves jesus should be on the list of things not just skill sets and so my guess is you have the position you have because you have certain skill sets that are necessary for that part in the organization and so yes praise god you've got some skill sets but but now what you can most readily bring to the table that i think has transforming power in an organization what has transforming power in a church community is a heart fully alive in jesus i think you can feel the thinness when you do ministry without abiding with him and like i said i don't think you can abide with him until you quite understand what we're talking about in regards to the resurrection so i want to i want to end with this it actually happened in in acts 29 event but i keep thinking of it because of the day in which we live so i'm watching what appears to be the disintegration certainly the deconstruction of our nation we see it unraveling almost everywhere we look there certainly is a spiritual battle for her soul there's always been it's just kind of on the news every night now we can feel it we're feeling wore out we're feeling exhausted we're feeling this is unwinnable um and yet several years ago we went we were in rome italy for our european conference the x-29 european conference and we had one day to kind of see the sights and so i i wanted to see more anything else i just wanted to see the coliseum um and so i know you're like well chandler maritime prisons there you could have seen where paul and peter yeah yeah great it's right across the street i wanted to see the coliseum and so we go and and i paid 20 euros for a ticket to to walk through the coliseum and so uh i paid 20 bucks uh uh our our god just brilliant historians kind of explain i mean i think he's a brilliant horse day he just could have made all that up but uh we're walking around the coliseum in rome and he's given us this story about uh how the colosseum was actually built uh in part um by uh the gold and wealth that was in jerusalem when they destroyed it in in 70 a.d and then uh it was ultimately the christian elites that put an end to the games as as rome began to decline and what i thought here i am in the coliseum where they uh fed us to lions uh where uh they killed us with the sword where they imprisoned some of our church fathers where where they um they set the might of rome which makes the united states look like it's in diapers right it's uh 1500 years 1500 years rome ruled the known world from india to england to put that in context the whole period of the judges in the old testament's about 300 years right that's the best guess we have about 300 years and so the united states we're not even to 300 yet much less 1500 and yet here i am here i am a couple thousand years later 20 bucks from an unknown land that they would have no concept of where i'm from buying for 20 a ticket to walk through their ruins so where they meant to stamp out they meant to destroy they meant to cut off they meant to eradicate the church of jesus christ we have gone farther than anyone could have ever imagined when i think about even the scope of our network right now we're on six continents on this planet there are acts 29 churches when i think about the languages represented across the a29 network when i think about where we're actually working right now where we're seeing god produce a kind of fruitfulness that really is beyond us it's by his grace alone that we're seeing what we're seeing in the middle east that we're seeing what we're seeing across europe that we're seeing what we're seeing in australia that we're seeing what we're seeing now pushing up into asia like god is blessing us he is working and for all the difficulty of our time the gates of hell will not stand against the offensive nature of the church and i don't mean offensive to be offensive i mean that we move forward and then we take ground and even in a season like this the church of jesus christ continues to push back darkness establish order and life and be the light of the world in fact i might argue that in the darkness our little lights might shine even brighter and so i want to encourage you today to see yourself rightly to consider the good news of the gospel of jesus christ to live it out pastor minister preschool director small group coach whatever your position like like to own that it's our day in the great war and he will sustain us he will fill us he will walk with us in fact uh one of my favorite verses right now is actually um out of the book of jeremiah and it says behold the lord is a dread warrior and he fights for you now i just like the lord is fighting for us so for all the pressure you feel to be creative or to do this or come up with that or come i'm saying let the lord fight for you believe what he says about you is true abide in him faithfulness to jesus is a byproduct of believing what the bible says about you of abiding in the presence of jesus and then faithfulness to jesus again it's a byproduct of these other two it's hard to be faithful to jesus without abiding in his presence impossible to abide in his presence if you don't believe what he says about you is true and so let me encourage you again you are of god and you have overcome them because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world let's pray father i thank you for my brothers and sisters man they're all over this country their context and unique difficulties they're known to you to you alone and so i just ask that you would minister to them in this moment i thank you that you are faithful even when we are faithless but i do pray that after this this series of of sermons and and are encouraging and edifying them father that they would find um gospel ambition and courage begin to flow through their bones again and just we just collectively pray against the evil one his schemes for our churches for our cities for our towns for our nation we desperately ask you to just pour your spirit out on us pour your spirit out on our churches on our cities on our states on our country will you pour yourself out in such a way that a movement begins back to you it is clear that we have our faith set against you right now so will you for the sake of your name for the good of your children who are crying out for it all over the place that you move would you save which you hit the brakes on this cultural decline and when you begin to move us back towards gladness in you joy in you surrender to you life marked by your presence marked by the ambition that comes when we know who we are we abide in your presence and we walk out in faithfulness we need your help it's for your beautiful name i pray amen god bless you guys

Channel: Acts 29

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Id: i45DMgvFp0s

Length: 43min 37sec (2617 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 08 2020