Join us live with Jennifer Toledo!

[Music] i'm [Music] did you guys already [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is um [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] hey [Music] um [Music] [Music] it's all about him [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] foreign oh it's not great do we have a stool over here [Music] down down to the river we go mercy so wonderful [Music] [Music] love for you [Music] down down to the river we go mercy's so wonderful a life on imagine [Music] take what was always my life [Music] you are my friends [Music] you are my mercy [Music] [Applause] you are [Music] is no one [Music] [Music] why [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] children sing glory glory glory heaven sings glory glory glory children sing glory glory lord children sing glory glory glory lord oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] los angeles and the world we are called as a community here at expression to put jesus on display that there would be a people in a lake who would love his presence we're a community that seeks wholeheartedly after truth and we expression we are on a mission together to see jesus invade our city to see jesus invade industries of the world to see justice bring restoration [Music] the story good morning expression 58 how you doing this morning come on stand to your feet [Music] anybody besides me excited to be in church this morning to be in his presence there's no better place amen so father we welcome you oh you are so welcome here you are so welcome today in our hearts god in our minds and our souls father we make room for you god we make room for you and we say everything else you have to move you have to go [Music] how about you god yay [Music] a song about you god yay [Music] you're welcome in this place [Music] you're welcome in this place [Music] you're welcome in this place [Applause] you're welcome in this place holy spirit come you're welcome in this place [Music] please come you will come in this [Music] your place welcome in this place [Music] when you moved on things begin to change [Music] we want to see walls fall down today we want to see walls and chains begin to break so holy spirit move holy spirit come yay [Music] let's just take a moment come on we're going to welcome him we're not in a rush we're not in a hurry anybody want more of him this morning anybody hungry and thirsty for more this morning come on come on sing a new song sing a new song sing a new song [Music] we worship you god yay [Music] meet us here god meet us here god we're here to make a joyful noise we're here to make a joyful noise [Applause] shout to the lord sing to the lord shout to the lord he's worthy [Music] sing to the lord [Applause] shout to the lord [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] darkness starts to tremble at the life that you bring and when you walk into the room every heart starts burning and nothing matters more than just to see it here at your feet and worship you [Music] yes we worship you [Music] come on let's sing that again we'll sing it out when you walk into the room everything changes and darkness starts to tremble at the light that you bring and when you walk into the room every heart every heart starts burning and nothing bad is more than just to see it here at your feet [Music] are we cause we love you and we'll never stop we can't live without you jesus and we love you lord we can't get enough all this is for you jesus jesus jesus oh jesus holy snowing like your cheers [Music] [Applause] and when you walk into the room sickness us to vanish and every hopeless situation ceases to exist and when you walk into the old deadly yeah cause there is resurrection [Applause] we love you lord we can't get enough all this is [Applause] my jesus we love you we love you we love you all this is for you for you oh jesus jesus all this is for you jesus [Applause] hope we bring our best god we bring our all jesus [Applause] so come and consume god all we are we give you permission our hearts are yours we want you we want you so come and consume god all we are we give you permission our hearts are yours we want you we want you come on let's sit singing so come and consume god oh we are we give you permission our hearts are yours we want you we want you we want you come lord jesus christ we give you we give you [Music] we want you no money for you we [Music] come [Music] [Music] we want you [Music] we give you permission [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] and we can't get [Music] you it [Music] without you [Music] jesus jesus [Music] the name above every name jesus [Music] jesus [Music] we give our all to you we give it all to you [Music] and [Music] i'm lost without you i'm lost i'm desperate for you i'm desperate for you singing [Music] i've lost without you so lost without you [Applause] and i [Music] i'm desperate for you i'm desperate for you i'm desperate for you i'm desperate for you i'll mess before you i'm desperate for you and i'm lost i've lost without you jesus i'm lost without you jesus i'm lost without [Music] we're desperate for you we're desperate we're so lost without you we lost without you we're lost without you we're lost without you stay there foreign [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] without you [Music] is for you [Music] jesus jesus [Music] i wanna be where you are take me to where you are i wanna be where you are take me to where you you are [Applause] take me to where you are i wanna be where you are [Music] take me to where you are i wanna be where you are take me to where you are [Music] that's where i wanna be just near you just need you just need you [Music] just near you just near you just near you i don't wanna be away from me i wanna be me you just [Music] never stop can't live without you jesus we [Music] is [Music] and we'll never stop we can't live without you jesus we love you we can't get enough all this is for you jesus [Music] yay [Music] no place i'd rather be no place i'd rather be no place i'd rather be than hearing your love here in your love no place i'd rather be no place i'd rather be no place [Music] we just wanna be with you [Music] so [Music] we just honor your presence this morning we honor your presence jesus in this room we honor you we honor you can you just all around this room just honor the lord with your voice right now just honor his presence we're not here just to sing some songs we're not here to just sing songs we're here to honor and glorify the name of the lord jesus christ who died and was slain and was risen again we honor your name jesus we glorify your name god we pour our love on you we pour our love on you god all over this [Music] where room are [Music] [Music] nothing like your presence no better place [Music] right here [Music] just engage with him just engage your heart with god he is here he is [Music] here oh you're welcome in this place [Music] you're welcome in this place so lord have your way oh lord lord have your way lord [Music] do what you wanna do we give you full permission [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] just keep singing if you have a prayer language just sing in the spirit just sing with your spirit we're in a moment right here with the lord [Music] [Applause] we magnify [Music] to the name of jesus [Music] your way [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] hello [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] i've never been more loved than i am right now wasn't holding you up so there's nothing i can do to let you down it doesn't take a trophy to make you proud cause i'll never be more loved than i am [Music] you would cross an ocean so i wouldn't drown i've never been more loved than i am right now [Music] so i is be i will be content in every circumstance [Music] [Music] he's forever enough and he's always enough don't wanna forget how i feel right now on the mountaintop i can see it so clear when it's all up out so stay by my side when the sun goes down i don't wanna forget how i feel right now then i will be [Applause] [Applause] always forever [Music] [Music] i'm already loved i'm [Music] more than i could [Music] [Applause] i'm already chosen [Music] more than i could imagine in that easiness [Applause] [Applause] know who i am [Applause] [Music] [Applause] who i am [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] his word is final if he's spoken to you why don't you give him a shout out praise hallelujah hallelujah thank you for your final word thank you for your final words [Music] how much more will he clothe you how much more will he clothe if he watches over every sparrow how much more does he love you [Music] how [Music] how much more [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] how much more will he clothe you how much more will he call you [Music] is [Music] [Music] how [Music] [Music] we have so many reasons to be grateful [Applause] we have so many reasons to say thank you you know what we have all the reasons hey you're good in all seasons we have all the reasons you're good in our season we have all the reasons we have all the reasons we have all the reasons [Music] [Applause] wow wow [Music] so very grateful i'm so very grateful i'm very grateful [Music] grateful we have all the reasons yeah you're good in every season of mine when i'm on the mountain time when i'm in the valley [Music] when i'm [Music] [Music] you're still so good to me [Music] [Music] in faith this morning singing over your situation [Music] [Applause] in every circumstance [Music] you are [Music] because i can do all things through christ who strengthens me i can do all things through christ who strengthens me say it with me i can do all things through christ who strengthens me i can do all things through christ who strengthens me [Music] you make a strong god your joy makes us stronger we choose you because you first chose us we love you cause you first loved us [Music] jesus at the center of it all jesus at the center of the lord from beginning to the end it will always be it's always been you jesus [Music] jesus the significant missing jesus jesus at the center of it all [Music] jesus at the center of it all from beginning to the end it will always be it's always been you jesus oh jesus and nothing else matters and nothing in this world will do [Music] jesus jesus you're the center and everything revolves around you jesus you nothing and nothing else oh jesus jesus you're the center and everything revolves around you jesus [Music] [Music] nothing else matters nothing else matters [Music] but you've got jesus be the center it's all about you yes it's all about you from my heart to the heavens jesus be the center it's all about you it's all about come on you sing it out from my heart [Music] yes it's all about you from my heart [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] the is all about you yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you jesus thank you jesus god you are so good you are so good we fix our eyes on you and anything that is taking your place lord god you knock it off right now in the name of jesus lord god we say that you are good you are good god there is nothing that is too hard for you to do so lord god right now we stand on you because you do not change you are unshakable you are the same god yesterday you're into you're the same god forever and lord god we praise you we lift your name upon all all things lord god we say the name of jesus jesus the most powerful name there is jesus we glorify you god we glorify you god and right now i just hear the lord saying that there's a stripping away that he's doing there's a stripping away there are things that we are holding on to so tightly and he says give it to me give it to me put it in my hands because i can bear it there's nothing that is too hard for me there is nothing that is too heavy for me the things we've been holding on to for years and the lord says i can take care of it i can take care of it there's a sickness that has been in our body for years and we've given up hope and the lord says i'm here to restore hope there is nothing god cannot do there is nothing our god cannot do you know i want to share a testimony with you in a time in my life where it was so dark in the pandemic and there was no work the lord said remind me of my promises i got on my knees and i said lord you sent me here to america and you provide for me and i opened my mouth and i reminded him of all the promises he spoke to me and as i was praying i got a phone call from a lady who said i don't know how i got your number but hey we want to offer you this job and it it exceeded what i could ever imagine or think that is the god that we serve and i just hear the lord saying open your mouth and ask me there is nothing i cannot do there is nothing he cannot do the things i've seen the lord do people say is impossible but that's a god we serve we serve a god of the impossible so right now we say lord god we believe you we stand in faith today and we say lord it is done it is done in the name of jesus we glorify you god in jesus name amen amen amen amen thank you worship team before you take your seats turn to the person next to you and say hello and i want to welcome those of you watching online welcome we're so glad that you're here [Music] [Music] foreign amen [Music] and as we remain in an attitude of worship giving unto god i want to remind you that we have so many ways in which we can give you can give online at www.expression58.org giving you can send your checks to expression and my favorite way to give is to text e58 to 779 777 and you know before we give there was a scripture that was on my heart this morning and it comes from romans chapter four and it's a time when god promises abraham that he's to be a father to nations and i want to read this verse to you it's romans 4 verse 19 to 20 it says abraham did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body which was as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old or when he considered the barrenness of sarah's womb no unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of god but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to god you know there are certain things that i'm believing the father for and his encouragement to me that i want to share with you is you grow strong in your faith as you glorify the father so today even as we give the lord is just speaking over you and he's saying he wants to restore hope and those areas that have been bearing those areas that have been dead those areas that seem so difficult the lord says that he's restoring hope he's restoring faith so lord god even as we prepare to give right now we thank you we thank you for what you've put in our hands and even though things may look so bleak we have you we have the hope of glory so we give you all the things and all the glory in jesus name amen amen we have a couple of announcements i'm so excited for next week because we are beginning a new series which is going to be in a six-week series called new and free and i know for a lot of us this last season has been so difficult both emotionally mentally physically and this series is to um is for us to recover and to re-engage so i encourage you guys to tune in to that and for those of you watching online to tune into that as well um and next we would love to invite you all to serve with us there's so many ways in which we can serve in the body um both in the building and behind the scenes and there's so many benefits to serving in fact we have a video that we would like to show you um and ways that you can serve having a hard time jumping back into meeting with your church for in-person services it can be challenging to engage with the community again with so many new faces where do you even begin to connect without feeling awkward how do you get involved after so much time away these things may cause anxiety when stepping back into the church building but now they don't have to because now there's cervana sirvana is a faith-based supplement that grows character extends generosity and helps develop an increased sense of selflessness cervanna's unique chemical makeup unlocks joy in your heart as you build with a church and help forward its god-given mission with as little as one dose of urbana a week church experiences may come to life like never before in a non-clinical study those on sarvana reported deeper relationships and a greater vision for the next season in as little as one month side effects of sarvana include cheerfulness confidence infectious joy satisfaction increased laughter increased donut intake stomach ache from laughter stomach aches from donut intake accelerated name to face recognition and greater appreciation for others taking cervana often expands a servant's heart in some cases cervana has been known to increase punctuality if you experience any bitterness or complaining stop taking sirvana and consult your pastor right away cervana is not fda approved but is rooted in biblical principles talk to your savior about when sirvana is right for you when you're ready to take your church going experience to the next level zervana volunteer team [Applause] yep sirvana our volunteer team so you can't not serve after watching that um we have a connection center at the back we're looking to grow our sunday service teams our tech team and our children's team so we encourage you to sign up after service and now i would love to welcome our beautiful pastor jen toledo [Applause] wow wow oh my goodness talk to your savior when you're ready to try sirvana that was amazing good job team hi everybody hi how you doing under those mess i can't tell if you're frowning smiling growling i don't even know what's happening under there it's good to see you all welcome to church it's good to be together worship was good this morning wasn't it so good jesus you are the center of it all oh so good well um today is our final week um in the book of ephesians we have been chewing our way through the book of ephesians it's been so good hasn't it it's been so good um if you haven't been around for the series um really the book of ephesians is this beautiful letter that the apostle paul wrote to the church in ephesus um i think it's powerful that he wrote this while being imprisoned and suffering himself and it's it's a word of encouragement to the church in ephesus and the first half of the book is um really theological and laying some some sound doctrine around um identity the fact that we're adopted the fact that god has adopted us into his family that we are chosen that we belong that we are empowered um in his spirit that were citizens of the kingdom of god um and so it's this laying of that then the next three chapters um of which we'll hit the final one today is really practical and it's really life application and it gets really gritty and and talking about um the invitation um to be mature in the lord the invitation to walk in heaven's wisdom that god has wisdom for us and today we're going to be talking about um the fact that we're called to be strong and so um i've i've really enjoyed i've really enjoyed this digging into this passage this book together um so kind of where we left off last week was talking about wisdom and really taking advantage of every opportunity that we have in our lives because the days are hard and they're complicated and they're evil and they're painful and so to that we are called to live wisely and living in god's wisdom looks like something and so after we talked about that really kind of the last part of that chapter in the first part of chapter six um is really about relationships and how to walk that out and it's talking a lot about honor and submission in relationships loving each other really well it's talking about love between spouses you know between parents and children even between masters and slaves and of course this is not in any way condoning slavery let's be really clear on that um but what this gets at it doesn't matter what relationship we're in charge of ourselves right we're in charge of our side of the grass we're in charge of what's happening in us and it's our responsibility to to love the other and that that we don't just um we're not victims to other people right other people's mood other people's you know vibe wherever they're at that we are powerful in god to show up to be in control of our peace to be in control of our joy and to love and so um i love that we're not going to go through that because we've got more to get into today but i wanted to kind of just make sure you're you're thinking about that in this in this passage so we're going to jump into ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 uh through 20. if you have your bibles you can follow along or we have it here on the screen all right finally so he's wrapping up his letter finally be strong in the lord and in his mighty power put on the full armor of god so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms therefore put on the full armor of god so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything to stand stand firm then i love that after you've done everything to stand keep standing um stand firm then with a belt of truth buckled around your waist with the breastplate of righteousness in place and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace in addition to all of this take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of god and pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests with this in mind be alert and always keep on praying for all the lord's people pray also for me that whenever i speak words may be given to me that i will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which i am an ambassador in chains pray that i may declare it fearlessly as i should i love that i love that paul's even asking for prayer right like he's in prison for fearlessly preaching the gospel and he's saying don't let pray that that these sufferings i'm enduring don't stop me from doing what i know god's called me to do so good so i love this there's so much in here if you grew up in church then you're like i have done 47 crafts around this passage right you you have crafted the helmet of salvation you you made a shield of faith out of macaroni noodles and you know all about this right but um i want us to really dig into this and get the heart of what god wanted us to understand in this and paul's obviously using metaphorical language here but there's such rich invitation for us in this and i love that he's starting with um you know this place of finally brothers and sisters be strong in the lord after everything we've talked about because you are adopted into god's family because you are empowered with everything you need in the kingdom because you are a citizen and you have rights and and authority in the kingdom because you are wise and because you are mature therefore stand strong stand strong be strong in the lord and the strength of his might that's good news there's only so much coffee can do right there's only so much strength we can muster up within ourselves be strong in the lord and in his might put on the full armor of god so you can stand firm against the devil's schemes this feels like really precious insight to me coming from somebody who's being persecuted and will be martyred for his faith he's teaching us something that i want to grab a hold of right yes paul was this incredible you know paul story his transformation how he's used by the lord so powerful he's this legend he's his father but he suffered greatly torture shipwreck hunger i mean on and on the list is endless when he starts going through his list of what he went through and when he's you know teaching i want to hear what he he has to say to us about how to stand firm when we face trials and when we face problems and you know if if somebody and i'm sorry to burst the bubble it's probably already burst for you but if somebody you know tried to tell you that following jesus meant life was going to be rosy you you're going to be sorely disappointed because following jesus doesn't mean we won't suffer and suffering doesn't mean that you have less faith it's called being alive on planet earth right it's just part of it we will suffer there is we live in a fallen world where things don't work like they're supposed to work right and we have an enemy on this side of eternity that is scheming scheming to discourage to tear apart to trip up to bring pain and destruction it's just the nature of it we know that's not the end of the story we know god wins but we can expect that on this side of eternity there will be challenges and there will be suffering but what are we going to do in the midst of it we get this invitation how to respond he starts with an after you've done everything to stand stand firm then stand firm in the belt of truth stand firm in righteousness stand firm in peace stand firm in the word stand firm in your salvation notice it's not stand firm in your opinion it's not stand firm in what you think it's not stand firm in your own strength and gifting it stand firm in his righteousness stand firm in his truth right stand firm in his peace that is where we get victory that's where victory comes and i want to learn what paul knew i want to learn what paul knew i want us to to truly grab a hold of this because i think we've witnessed in this past year and a half that we were standing firm in some things that really weren't helpful right and it's retaught us and and shook everything that could be shaken so that we could realize man i better make sure i am deeply rooted on the rock which is jesus christ and that my hope is not in the economy and my hope is not in fill in the blank right but that my hope and my my my life is anchored in the truth of who he is and paul encourages us to stop trying to fight with weapons of this world that aren't even working for us anyway right but to take up the armor of god so that we can resist the enemy when he's trying to take us out we win by doing it god's way and so you know paul begins to introduce this concept and i've mentioned this before but this is a real pretty new concept to the early church this idea of spiritual warfare we don't see it talked about a lot in the early church until this moment and he begins to explain that we have an enemy and an unseen battle who is scheming against us that means that he's watching and he's studying and he's listening to what's coming out of your mouth and he's he's scheming for the right ways to the right traps to try to get you to bite the bait oh she looks vulnerable this is a good time oh wow there's a whole lot of negativity spewing out of his mouth you know i'm going to put some bait of offense right here because you know what he's going to take it he's scheming right we have to understand that we are in a real spiritual war not that we're focusing on the enemy not that we're like oh trying to make the enemy any more powerful than he is he's not he's defeated but he only has power when we give it to him and when our defenses are down many times we just hand it over right we buy the lie we we bite the bait of offense or whatever it is and we we end up empowering the enemy and so i'm paul's off offering this really costly wisdom here he's reminding us right that the enemy is a deceiver he's a master illusionist he wants us to point fingers at somebody or something haven't we seen that happening in society if we can all just make somebody the enemy as if you know we forget that everything we're seeing in the natural is being fueled by an unseen realm and we so often spend our energy and point all the wrong weapons at all the wrong places rather than using spiritual weapons which is the in in the spiritual realm which mind you is the only place we're guaranteed victory and doing it god's way right and so paul is is realigning how we're thinking about resistance challenges pain things were you know warfare in our life and he's reminding us to to get our eyes off of thinking people are the problem the government is the problem business is the problem my boss is the problem my spouse is the problem fill in the blank so often we're we're looking at people or human systems as the problem not that we of course you know this is a community that's passionate about reformation and we want to see systems transformed all of that but we don't our focus is not there our hope is not there our focus is on god right and our hope is in god and we understand there's a spiritual realm at play and so um paul's beginning to introduce this concept and so when your problem is unseen and spiritual you need weapons that are going to work in that realm um and so he begins to outline this metaphor for us of how we can walk in authority how we can be strong because we are called to be strong you and i are not called to be walking around just with this giant target on us just continually victims we're called to be strong in the lord now pair that with you will suffer pair that with there will be problems and there will be challenges but you will you will be more than a conqueror in them because our strength comes from him and we're called to be strong friends in this season and so we're going to kind of walk through these really quickly but that paul begins to outline um the first thing he talks about is this belt of truth some translations use a phrase like having your loins with truth um belt of truth now this isn't because i don't know about you but you probably don't typically dress up and like i don't know medieval warfare outfit i don't know um but but this you know apparently according to roman soldiers like a belt was the first thing that went on because all the other pieces of armor were attached to it so actually you couldn't even build your armory until the belt was applied so this made sense you cannot you can't build anything else if you're not first wrapped in truth truth is the beginning point not my truth his truth not what i want to be true what is true right so wrapping yourself in truth in god's truth and you know we talked about this already but the devil you know is constantly trying to deceive us get us to doubt or compromise our identity and truth is essential essential and i think it's interesting talking about this idea that without this belt you know things fall without your belt without truth really wrapped in and girded in your life without you being really wrapped in truth you're actually left really vulnerable and really exposed right you're you're left in a situation with your pants around your ankles and you're only one in the room who doesn't know it that kind of a situation truth is important truth is so important that we know the truth of god it's a weapon in our life not a i'm going to shove truth down your throat kind of weapon no no no it's a weapon where we can stand against the enemy we can stand in the truth of who who god is and who he says we are and we can stand confidently in that place see when we're wrapping ourselves in truth i want you to understand i want you just to think okay belt of truth i want you to know how to use this in your life how do i use the belt of truth as a you know weapon of warfare that means you know when you think about this when you're thinking about truth right that you're confronting wrong thinking biases you have ways where you're deceived you're prone to deception knowing the truth of the word of god knowing the truth of who he is we have to be intentional and understand that we are all prone to deception everybody and so we have to do the work of saying okay god i'm gonna i open myself up to you reveal any place in me that doesn't line up with your truth and help me to come into alignment with your truth today what means to give the posture of a learner all the things we've been talking about the last several weeks right being open and having the posture of a learner knowing the truth of who god is and who you are is a power play in the kingdom the second thing he talks about the breastplate of righteousness this picture of this you know chest plate this breastplate of righteousness that this is a weapon that we use this is part of our armory that we stand and we move in righteousness now there's two sides to the righteousness coin one side obviously is christ righteousness we're standing in the finished work of what jesus has done right it's not me out here trying to hustle my way in it's not me trying to perform better so that you know i'm somehow protected in this big crazy world no it's i stand in the righteousness of god now the other side of that coin is righteousness is also right living and there is a protection that comes from right living it's like an umbrella righteousness if you think of it like an umbrella when you're living god's way you're under that umbrella you're under that covering when you choose to not do it god's way you step out of that covering you make yourself vulnerable which is why which is interesting even this idea of a breastplate of righteousness that when we [Music] aren't doing things god's way we open ourselves up to really fatal wounds a heart that gets hardened a heart that gets sick a heart that's no longer tender to the conviction of the holy spirit in our lives so actually walking in righteousness confronting sin in our lives refusing to flirt with sin refusing to to give ourselves license that we don't find in scripture that's part of how we're going to stay strong how we're going to defeat the enemy in our lives how we're going to overcome right living righteousness the next thing he says is having feet that are fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace we're called to walk in the gospel of peace god is a god of peace his kingdom is full of righteousness and peace and joy and the holy spirit peace is our portion peacemaking is the family business it's what we do it's who we are we're not peacekeepers we're peacemakers you know we've taught a lot about this here is the community that's passionate about what it means to be peacemakers it says that our feet are fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace see when you're rooted and anchored in god's peace you begin to move in ways that carry that peace you see when you're actually anchored in god's peace standing still is not an option it's not an option actually lack of movement makes you a sitting duck for the enemy when you're really anchored in god's peace you can't help but walk into other circumstances and release peace you can't help but walk into chaos and say uh not on my watch we're gonna see god's peace here you can't help but run into you know intense environments and and help bring peace and and life and the gospel of good news so it starts with us getting getting rooted in peace and from there we begin to to move and release the peace of god in our life takes a lot of courage to move and to go you know the best place for you to be is right where god has called you to be i say this all the time and i'm a big believer in it if you're called to be in a war zone in africa it is safer for you to be in said war zone in africa than to be sitting on your couch in l.a if you're called to la well guess where the safest place for you to raise your children is la it's past human understanding right when you're when you're rooted and anchored in him when you're standing in peace with where he's called you and what he's told you to do you you can't help but move in peace you can't help but release peace you live from a place of peace it it's going to blow your human mind it's not going to make sense it's the nature of who god is and if we don't move in faith in peace um we get stuck we get if we're not moving we get stuck we get bored there's lack of fruit in our life peace is the vehicle peace is the vehicle that moves us this gospel of peace i love that how do we arm ourselves with this first of all make sure you're motivated by the right gospel we're not out here trying to you know i don't know some there's not some religious i don't know performing motivation it's the gospel of peace that motivates us that god loves people and he wants to restore them and that he he's you know he's so available to them that's really it's a gospel of good news the gospel of peace is a gospel of good news that's what motivates us right become a lover of peace make peacemaking a part of your life culture and then just refuse to stand still refuse to get stuck keep moving forward that's how we make sure our feet are fitted with with the readiness with the gospel peace what happens when we don't do this when we're not anchored in peace is you're trying to walk without shoes and your feet get hurt and then you don't want to go anywhere so we need the right thing moving us does that make sense the next thing he talks about is the shield of faith you know faith is is this defensive weapon and i love that um when paul wrote this passage it was common for for roman soldiers to carry shields that were covered with heavy animal hide and before a battle they would they would dip that animal hide those shields in water so that it would be wet so that when the flaming arrows of the enemy were being shot at them it would extinguish the arrows and that was their normal understanding so when he's using this language it made sense to them in a similar way a christian's shield of faith needs to be regularly dipped in the water in the word of god in the spirit of god so that we can recognize you know what that is a lie from the pit of hell that is not the nature of god uh uh silence right when those things come flying at you that you have the word ready that you that you are in faith that your you know faith comes from hearing the word of god right so that we're in faith to withstand when the enemy comes to discourage and try to tell you you know what just leave la you're not good enough just walk away from this just you're never you know when the enemy just starts coming whatever the lies are the lie of the day when he starts reigning in on the lie of the day that you in that place you can stand with your faith and say wait i know i know who god is i know what he's called me to do guys it doesn't require faith if you can see it that's just called sight right faith is when you can't see it faith is when you're not seeing it faith is when you're not seeing the answer you're not seeing the breakthrough that's when that's where faith is that's that's the good juice right there that's that's the beautiful stuff that means faith can only happen when you're deeply uncomfortable ah but i want to have faith on my couch i want to have faith at the day spot like why why do i have to be uncomfortable like it's it's human nature to want to resist it but that's where faith is it's the place where you're not seeing it yet the the place where it's not lining up and that is our shield hiding in that and resting in that and i don't know about you but we've had seasons in our life where it was so crazy that i didn't even feel like i i had the strength to lift up my own shield of faith and i had to hide under the rest of y'alls i had to hide into my my spiritual community who came around me and put up their shield of faith you know while i'm was in a vulnerable place that's why we need each other i need you to believe right now for me for my family because we are you know whatever it is and and together and many times they would do this in battle they would link up and and put their shields together so if somebody was in a vulnerable place you know everybody else's could protect them faith is powerful you know i've been thinking a lot about the fact that so many people in the church in the west are deconstructing their faith right now and um i don't know i could be wrong but i think there's two types of deconstruction one satan said in the garden did god really say he questioned the authority of god he questioned the word of god he questioned the intentions of god he questioned the goodness of god did god really say and that's one type of deconstruction where you partner with the enemies but did god really say and then there's a second type of deconstruction where jesus said you've heard it say you've heard it said but i say and jesus begins to confront cultural you know religious norms and jesus begins to confront and he says you've heard this said but this is what i say and he calls everybody in the room higher and that's another form of deconstruction and i think that's far healthier than partnering with the enemy who's like did god really say just a thought jesus is dismantling unhealthy traditions but he's if you'll notice when you look at the life of jesus um jesus never validates anybody's doubt he's merciful but he doesn't validate it he's he he calls people higher in their doubt because he understands how powerful our faith is we talked about at the beginning of this series that faith is like a key that with faith you can open up every door in the kingdom right faith is powerful we have you know how really exercising our faith growing our faith is so vital friends for how we're going to stand firm and there's going to be times where things don't line up and things don't make sense and it's gonna look it will look like god abandon you it will look like god didn't come through it will look like fill in the blank and that is the moment friend that is the moment where you stand in faith that is the moment where you hold up that shield of faith because there's just arrows flying at you give up he's not good what all the things that is where you hold your shield of faith paul's giving us deep wisdom he goes on to talk about the helmet of salvation you know helmet obviously covers your head um and also like righteousness salvation and you know rest in the work of christ to save us it begins and ends with him but it also involves us as we journey with the lord and we allow him to work that salvation into every part of our thoughts and our minds and our lives in the battlefield for our mind is you know probably the primary place where spiritual battle is fought you know i think often about scriptures that remind us take your thoughts captive focus on what god is doing right come into alignment with the truth there's something about understanding on a daily on a daily place that i am saved with the finished work of jesus he's enough therefore i'm enough that when we have to get ourselves rooted in that place and take authority over what's going on in our mind this infuses you with strength to overcome what feels like it might be kicking your butt that day this is a piece of warf this is how we fight once again we're we're used to fighting wars we're used to fighting our problems with money with all caps with power and muscle with wit with trying to outsmart the system the whoever and it's just so counter culture to everything we know god is trying to teach us something you know how you're actually going to win is you've got to get control of what's going on up here how you're actually going to win is you've got to come into alignment with the truth here you've got to get covered with what christ has already done for you and get rooted in that that's got to be covering your thoughts or your you will be open to great you know pain and destruction how do we put on the helmet of salvation you let god renew your mind you take your thoughts captive you invite god into your thoughts you align your thoughts with the finished work of jesus this is it it requires work guys it takes work to get up and put a helmet on takes work to recognize you know what that's an intrusive thought that's not a godly thought i'm not going to partner with that i'm going to bring it into alignment with the word of god says it takes work but you know what that's a whole lot less work than trying to pull a big old arrow out your head pick your work right pick your work it's easier although we're so accustomed to just believing whatever pops in our head it's frightening but what we're being invited to do is to be strong in the lord this is part of maturity this is part of how you walk empowered all these things fit together and we have to learn to take our thoughts captive letting the lord renew our thoughts goes on to the sword of the spirit i love this because this really is the most offensive uh weapon here so many of these others are more defensive this is really offensive i mean it can be both but um a sword a dagger the word of god to me this is how do you how do you go into the enemy's camp how do you steal back how do you take land how do you gain ground you have to know the word of god because you have to know what the promises are what you're invited into right you have to know how to use the word of god how to okay what's the invitation what's the promise um you got you know whether the promises hey come to me all who are weary and burdened and i will give you rest well now that you know that's a promise you take that sword and you're like let's go because i'm film tired right so now you know that's available to you it opens up a new space for you um or the spirit of the sovereign lord is on me he's anointed me to preach good news to the poor to bind up the brokenhearted to set the captives free okay let's go that's the promise that's available let's go i'm anointed by god to help set the captives free i'm anointed by god to bring good news that that's a pro it opens up a whole new realm for you so when we we move with the sword of the spirit it means you you know it shows you what's available so you can begin to walk in it but it's also really defensive because we watch jesus model this so beautifully right when he was being tempted every time the enemy came with just a little bit of deception just a little temptation he always every time he responds with the word of god he's like get behind me satan that is not that's not what's written which means we have to know the word you guys this cannot be i've said this so many times you cannot wait till you're in crisis to be like googling what's a good verse for this where you call your mom or you call your mentor hey what's a good verse for this moment you've got to have the word of god in you that means you don't wait till the storm to try to build the walls you build the walls all the time brick by brick layer by layer every day get in the word chew on it let it be a part of your life memorize it soak in it meditate on it pray it out sing it out do what you have to do but get the word in you because it is your lifeline it's your lifeline it's both your defense and your offense why would we you know if you think about this why would we ever i certainly wouldn't want to i mean i wouldn't even want to go to war with all you know weaponry available to me why would we show up knowing that there's a spiritual battle if you you know if you knew you had weapons in your house that could right now annihilate the enemy's assignment over your family why wouldn't you use them why wouldn't we use them we have weapons that annihilate the enemy we've got to to i think truly we have a bit of a discipleship problem in the church the big c church we haven't really understood how to be powerful how to use the weapons god's given us and it's this maturing and this bringing us back to all of us are powerful you guys we're all powerful you don't need somebody else who's you know feels like they're more spiritual to to come solve this for you all of us are sons and daughters of the living god who are powerful we get to learn to walk and live in that place of power and then pray in the spirit i love this prayer is a weapon it's the key right prayer pushes the kingdom of darkness back notice it says pray in the spirit not pray in your opinion not praying in your fear not praying in your you know cynicism not praying it's pray in the spirit get into connection and union with god and from there pray that is a powerful weapon prayer is a powerful weapon that means you bring it to god in prayer before you call your friend event you bring it to god in prayer before you let yourself get level 10 stressed out right prayer is a weapon i love when i think about these how well jesus modeled all of these he modeled how to do this and i don't know about you but i i want to learn to fight battles the way jesus did because my way of doing it doesn't work it doesn't it can only go so far right we need to learn to fight battles the way jesus did we're adopted we're chosen we're citizens of the kingdom we're empowered we're mature we're wise now we have everything we need to live strong but we have to apply it and we have to utilize it we're designed for strength we're overcomers we're victorious in fact i love romans 8 37 know in all these things you are more than conquerors through him who loved us right the true test of our trust in god is when challenges come but i love that that was this romans this is also you know paul's writings saying you are more than a conqueror and in the greek it means to be preeminently victorious or to have an overwhelming decisive victory when somebody who's more than a conqueror doesn't just hope for things to go according to plan they expect to win they expect to win the word conquer literally means that you will battle it means you will battle count on it don't be shocked when it you know it's at your door you will battle but you're not just gonna you know overcome and survive there's so much more you are more than a conqueror you have an unshakable position you have unshakable victory you have an unshakable eternity you belong to an unshakable kingdom with unshakeable glory you begin to understand that you are strong at a whole different level because you're standing in his strength you're standing in his might i actually want to read romans 8 where this comes out of once again this is paul paul's writing in another letter but i want us to just to soak this in as we get ready to wrap up here romans 8 says this for those who are led by the spirit of god are the children of god the spirit you receive does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again rather the spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship he's just reiterating what he spoke in his other letter right and by him we cry abba father the spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are god's children now if we're his children then we are heirs heirs of god and co-heirs with christ if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory i consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us for the creation weights and eager expectation for the children of god to be revealed and we know that in all things can we say all things all things god works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose for those god foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among among many brothers and sisters and those he predestined he also called and those he called he also justified and those he justified he also glorified what then shall we say in response to these things if god is for us who can be against us he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things who will bring any charge against those whom god has chosen you who will bring any charge against you it is god who justifies who then is the one who condemns no one christ jesus who died more than that who was raised to life is at the right hand of god and is also interceding for us thank god who shall separate us from the love of christ shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword as it is written for your sake we face death all day long we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered no in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for i am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor demons neither the present nor the future nor any powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of god that is in christ jesus our lord i love this passage i love this passage god is for you this whole book of ephesians has established that god is for you who can stand against you yes there's going to be trials and hardships you can count on it but we can also count on the fact that when we share in his sufferings we share in his glory god is and will work together everything you're facing for your good it's who he is god doesn't waste pain god doesn't waste pain you're royalty you're redeemed you're passionately loved you're a child of god even the earth is groaning for you to get this for you to take your place you are more than a conqueror more than a conqueror there is nothing that can separate you from your birthright there is no situation there is no complexity that is too big that can separate you from the fact that you are chosen you are adopted you are empowered all the things we've been talking about this is who we are friend even if the story ends in death like it did for paul you're more than a conqueror when you're rooted in these things when you're rooted in the truth of god see we don't have to worry about outcomes there literally is no outcome in which you can lose when you're wrapped in the armor of god when you're standing in the finished work of christ there is no scenario in which you lose how much courage should that infuse into our souls i can't lose i'm more than a conqueror i cannot lose you see we're not just strong we are strong strong strong strong expect to win expect to see god move expect to see god break in yes you're going to face all kinds of hardships but we're going to get really good at battling in the realm we have authority which means we're going to learn to to take our thoughts captive and we're going to get rooted in peace and we're going to we're going to grow use our faith and exercise it right all the things we're going to get in the word of god because friends we are more than conquerors and this world is longing to see what powerful christianity looks like longing to see it the world has watched with hopelessness watching the church walk in her own strength and it's time to model what walking god strength looks like it's time to model what what walking in the finished work of christ looks like it's time to put on our armor to stand in our salvation to stand in our righteousness to stand in truth to stand in peace to stand in the word to stand in faith listen you don't need man's approval you don't need human recognition or permission or praise you have it all in your savior you have it all you don't need to hustle at this realm for somebody to tell you to validate you listen this book of ephesians infuses my soul i am chosen i am adopted i am an heir i am a daughter of the living god i lack nothing god says if i lack wisdom he will generously give it to me thank god right we begin to look at this and it should make courage rise up in you when you stop looking to other people to tell you you're doing good and you stop continually wrestling with imposter syndrome and you go you know what i know who i am and god and i'm called to live strong i am strong strong i can't lose i can't lose i want to end with this and it's where we started it's how paul began this whole passage in ephesians 6 10 he says finally my brothers be strong in the lord and in the power of his might expression family be strong in the lord in his might that's really good news you don't have to muster up your own strength you don't got to be smarter richer better more powerful be strong in the lord rest in him rest in the in the weapons he's already given you rest in his goodness rest in who he says you are you are more than a conqueror you're not just going to make it you're going to win it's impossible and if the story looks lousy well guess what the story's not over it's not over because god works everything together for our good and he is faithful and he is good and you look look at just the man who wrote these words inspired by the holy spirit paul's life went on to this day thousands of years later to continue to greatly impact and advance the kingdom of god you see when we do it his way our impact is so exponential and so i want to pray for us in a moment i'm going to pray for strength i'm going to pray that god would root this this whole invitation that ephesians offers us into our spirits before we do i want to just um tory mention this but next week we're starting a new series called new and free um we're gonna be talking about mental health forgiveness breaking cycles of dysfunction recognizing codependency all the things we're talking about all the things and we're going to ask god to get us really healthy and i want to encourage you invite friends over the next six weeks we're having some phenomenal um friends of the house and and people in our own community they're going to be speaking people who just bring so much expertise and wisdom and perspective to these things and so i want to encourage you to bring friends who need to hear this who need encouragement will you stand with me as we close [Music] oh [Music] god i pray for every person in this room that hasn't felt strong lord me included lord in this season anybody that's just felt a little beat down weary weak unsure shaky defeated hope deferred [Music] god i thank you for the promise that you have for us i thank you lord that we are that you look at us and you say no no son no daughter you are strong in me let me teach you how to live out of your strength [Music] let me teach you how to live the way i see you i have weapons for you i have shortcuts for you i have secret weapons that are going to help you [Music] you don't have to do this in your own strength and so god anywhere where we've carried the weight of trying to do things in our own strength i pray right now god by the power of your holy spirit that you would just blow that off of us god break that off of us lord the weight the crushing weight that's been on some just lift that father right now in jesus name [Music] and father i thank you i thank you that us human flawed weak us god that you make us strong that in you we're protected and in you we can take ground and in you we can do what we cannot do in our own strength and in you lord we are more than conquerors and so father i pray that this revelation this understanding this expectation to win would go deep into our minds and our spirits for anybody lord who's been living under the weight of continually feeling like when's the next bad thing going to happen i pray for freedom i pray for hope to arise i pray lord for heaven's perspective that the the conversation in us wouldn't be waiting for the shoe to drop but rather waiting for the victory trusting and waiting for the next victory waiting to see the breakthrough waiting to see what god does with all this mess [Music] father i thank you that this is a room full of people that you call strong strong overcomers conquerors sons and daughters of the most high passionately loved and chosen marked with purpose lacking nothing you've promised us god we would do even greater things than you did and you're not a god who would lie and so god i pray for supernatural strength in every person today not human strength your strength divine strength divine strength to fill us lord i pray for our minds to be renewed i pray for a passion for righteousness being right with you and right with others lord that we wouldn't just keep sweeping that under the rug i pray that we would be rooted in peace lord i pray that we would be wrapped in truth god hungry for truth i pray that our faith lord would be fierce and that you would help us to get close to and around other people of faith lord that our shields could protect them and their shields could protect us i pray that your word would come alive to us in this season [Music] and i thank you god that this is a room full of victorious overcomers and we just release over you victory on victory on victory of what you're called to do we thank you father and we stand in this finally my brothers be strong in the lord and in the power of his night we stand in your might we stand in your strength god it blows my mind that you would even share that with us but we stand in that teach us to live from that place no more hustle no more anxiety no more the weight on ourselves but god we run into your way of doing it we thank you father that this is a season that we're gonna run victoriously in jesus name we pray amen amen amen amen well as we close guys we have um we have some of our thank you we have some of our prayer ministry team that would just love to pray with you if you want encouragement prayer for anything they'll be up here and just available just to pray with you um we love you bring friends next week and go grab a coffee and donut and if you brought a kid take a kid have a great week [Music] happy sunday everyone my name is karen theresa law and i have the honor of hosting you today for side sideland you will definitely want to come and hang out with us 15 minutes after service today as we get together virtually and talk about the message play games and hang out and get to know each other you will want to go to expression58.org backslash events to find the link and we will see you soon okay bye [Music] you are my friend [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] you are you you are [Music] heaven sings glory glory glory children sing glory glory glory heaven sings glory glory glory children sing glory glory glory heaven sings god children sing glory glory glory heaven sings lord [Music] children sing glory glory glory [Music] [Music] glory glory lord [Music] [Music] glory glory [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] it's fine [Applause] [Laughter] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] children [Music] [Music] i haven't seen [Music] i see your glory it's [Music] i see you're [Music] you are my first you are my friend [Music] you you are my first yourself um [Music] [Music] we [Music] [Music] you breathe out i will breathe [Music]

Channel: Expression 58

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Id: HWtYKkVgDH8

Length: 125min 1sec (7501 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021