Battleship - Prepare For Battle

Stand to your feet, put your hands together and worship God, and we're gonna celebrate baptism today as well. ♪ This is my story, I testify ♪ ♪ Blessings on blessings poured on my life ♪ ♪ When I start remembering how good you've been ♪ ♪ Fear turns to faith, tears turn to praise ♪ ♪ Chains of depression broken by grace ♪ ♪ When I start remembering how good you've been ♪ ♪ Cause you've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me ♪ Sing it out. ♪ And you've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me ♪ Yeah, so good, so good. ♪ Enemies weapons fall to the ground ♪ ♪ Guardians of heaven always around ♪ ♪ When I start remembering how you carried me home ♪ ♪ You made my cross, you called me by name ♪ ♪ Loved me like I was, but you didn't leave me that way ♪ ♪ Where's death now I live, yeah that's what you did ♪ ♪ You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me ♪ ♪ And you've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me ♪ ♪ From morning to night, the lows and the highs ♪ ♪ I look back on my life and all that I've seen ♪ ♪ And you've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me ♪ All right, put your hands together. Let's celebrate the goodness of God together today. Let's worship Him. Here we go. Here we go. When I say God is good, you say all the time.

When I say God is good, you say all the time. When I say God is good, you say all the time. When I say God is good, you say all the time. When I say God is good, you say all the time. You say God is good when I say God is good. You say all the time when I say all the time. You say God is so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. From morning to night, the lows and the highs, I look back on my life and all that I see. From morning to night, the lows and the highs, I look back on my life and all that I see. And you've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. So good, yes. Oh, you're good. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. He's good. Tell him he's good. Yes. When all I see is the battle, you see my victory. When all I see is a mountain, you see a mountain roof. ♪ I walk through the shadow of your love surrounds me ♪ ♪ There's nothing to fear now for I am safe with you ♪ Sing. ♪ So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees ♪ ♪ With my hands lifted high, oh God, the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night ♪

♪ Oh God, the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ And if you are for me, who can be against me, yeah ♪ ♪ For Jesus, there's nothing impossible for you ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, when all I see are the ashes, you see the beauty ♪ Thank you, God. ♪ When all I see is a cross, God, you see an empty tomb ♪ ♪ An empty tomb ♪ ♪ So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees ♪ ♪ With my hands lifted high, oh God, the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night ♪ ♪ I'll sing through the night, oh God, the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ And almighty fortress, you go before us ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ You shine in the shadows, you win every battle ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ And almighty fortress, you go before us ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ You shine in the shadows, you win every battle ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ And almighty fortress, you go before us ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ You shine in the shadows, you win every battle ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ So when I'm fine I'll fight on my knees ♪ ♪ With my head sitting high ♪ ♪ Oh God the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ And every fear I lay at your feet ♪ ♪ I sing through the night ♪ ♪ Oh God the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ The battle belongs to you ♪

♪ Oh God the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ Yeah, praise you Lord ♪ ♪ Oh God the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ Peace, bring it all to peace ♪ ♪ The storm's surrounding me, let it break at your name still ♪ ♪ Call the sea to still, the rage in me to still every wave ♪ ♪ Oh God the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ Oh God the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ Oh God the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ Every wave at your name ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you make the darkness tremble ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus, Jesus, you make the darkness tremble ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ With all these bones to live ♪ ♪ And all these lungs to sing once again ♪ ♪ Praise Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ You make the darkness tremble ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, your silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you make the darkness tremble ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you make the darkness tremble ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, your silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you make the darkness tremble ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Your name is a light that the shadows can't deny ♪ ♪ That the shadows can't deny ♪ ♪ Your name cannot be overcome ♪ ♪ Your name is a light forever lifted high ♪ ♪ Your name cannot be overcome ♪

♪ Jesus, Jesus, you make the darkness tremble ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, your silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you make the darkness tremble ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Your name is a light that the shadows can't deny ♪ ♪ Your name cannot be overcome ♪ ♪ Your name is a light forever lifted high ♪ ♪ Your name cannot be overcome ♪ ♪ Your name is a light that the shadows can't deny ♪ ♪ Your name cannot be overcome ♪ ♪ Your name is a light forever lifted high ♪ ♪ Your name cannot be overcome ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you make the darkness tremble ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you make the darkness tremble ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, you silence fear ♪ Whatever it may be for you, think about this. The same Jesus that could physically move the mountains,

he can move our spiritual mountains. He can move the hurdles inside of us. He can, like we were just saying, he can bring still and calm and peace to our rage and our chaos and our brokenness. The way that Jesus does that is by giving us access to God the Father, the creator of the universe. The Bible says that God loved us so much that he sent his son Jesus into the world so that when we believe in him, when we put our trust in him and his sacrifice and what he's done for us, we can live a new life, a life that's forgiven, and a life that lasts forever with him. That's what we remember when we come into a time of communion today. Some of you grabbed communion elements when you came in the room today. We're gonna pray together now. And just, when you're ready, share in communion together. Remember that Jesus moves mountains in our lives. Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you that Jesus brings peace, forgiveness, comfort. And we thank you that Jesus can move mountains in our lives. We pray that that would happen, Father, that in this moment, as we remember the sacrifice of Jesus, that we remember that we have a way out of the situation we're in.

We have freedom, we have forgiveness, or we have a way to be put back together again. How we thank you for Jesus. It's in his powerful, mountain-moving name that we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Hi, I'm Gina. We are so happy you're here with us today. At Pantano, we are all about connection. When people come together in community, it brings hope, support, and real impact to our lives. If you're here on campus, we'd love to meet you. Stop by Next Steps after the service, and our team will help you find a great way to get connected. Joining us online? You belong here too. Take a moment to visit Next Steps online and fill out a Connect Card. And don't miss out on what's happening throughout the week. Follow the We Are Pantano community on social media for updates, encouragement, and more ways to stay connected. Serve Our City is next week. If you're new here, it's a special week where we take church beyond the building and into our communities, showing up for people with real compassion, humility, and love, just like Jesus did. Because of this, we will not hold back

Because of this, we will not hold regular services the week of April 23rd and 26th as we head out to serve together. There's still time to sign up and be part of it with your family and friends. Just visit Next Steps to get involved. Thank you for being a church that lives on mission and reflects the heart of Jesus in our city. For more information and details on how you can participate, stop by Next Steps. At Pantano, one of our core values is this, Radical generosity reshapes our world. As a kingdom-first church, we share our resources and live our lives selflessly so people can experience the love of Jesus in real, tangible ways. If you feel led to give, you can drop your gift in the giving. visit our website or text give to 46356. Another way we get to live this out is through our partnership with We Love Our Schools. This is where Difference Makers like you can adopt a local school and bless every staff member there. Those who sign up receive a $200 gift card to use as seed money for a meal, treat, or gift. Last year together we blessed more than a hundred and sixty schools. Generosity is something we all get to be part of and we are so grateful for you. You can sign up for We Love Our Schools on the Next Steps page. Thanks again for joining us. We can't wait to see what God has in store for us today. Yeah, we can do better than that. Come on, Pantano. How are we doing today? Now that you're in the celebration mood, I think we need to bring up the that today is a very special day. Today is Pastor Trevor's birthday. Yeah, and I

can't confirm and I can't deny that he's actually listening to you right now. So why don't we sing a loud happy birthday to you because I know he would love it. Let's go. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Trevor. Happy birthday to you. Let's give it up for our pastor. Yeah. Well, I can guarantee that I probably won't have a job after this weekend after doing that. He's already told me that I'm fired, so I said, all right, I'm gonna do it again. But it's so wonderful to celebrate him. He's been an awesome leader that keeps us on mission and on vision, and he's given so much to our lives. Why don't we give it up to him one more time? You see, every single week there are thousands of people connecting with us online. There's thousands of people that are actually watching through the Pando app. I mean, our church is actually an influence wherever we go and wherever we're streamed. And can we say this with me? We are one church, multiple campuses, with one mission. That's us. That's Pantano Christian Church. Let's give it up. And with that being said, I want to shout out the Gospel Rescue Mission that's with us. Yes. Yeah. I want to celebrate our God Behind Bars campus that's with us as well, and also our Benson campus that we actually just started in December. We want to invite you in. And it's so beautiful to celebrate each and every week that we're one church, one mission. We're everywhere in multiple campuses, and what better way than to start our services like that every single week. Amen? Today we're going into a message that probably will be profound for many. I know that it was a shift in my life when I realized what we're going to talk about today. Just in case you're wondering what this is doing here, my favorite movie is Gladiator. Yeah. If you don't know what Gladiator is, go watch it. We're going to talk about preparing for battle. And I remember that this came to my heart one time when I was beginning my walk with Jesus. I remember that I was trying to figure it out, trying to figure out what it meant to walk with Jesus. I was trying to figure out how to pray, how to get into those rhythms. I was trying to figure out how to read my Bible, and I was just really trying to figure out how to live out my purpose. And I remember one night I had a dream. It wasn't a Martin Luther King kind of dream, okay?

And I remember in this dream, it wasn't just any dream. It felt very different to me. It felt very spiritual, and it felt very real. How many of you guys had those type of dreams before? And I knew that that dream had shifted something in me because the reality is it was like I could see the enemy working behind the scenes in my life. I couldn't see his face, but I could feel a presence. I could feel like he was doing all he can to stop me from fulfilling what God had called me to do. And what caught my attention as I realized it, it was... It wasn't during the day, this was happening during nighttime. It was happening overnight. It was happening while I was asleep, while I was unaware. I could see how the enemy was working diligently, working overtime, he was setting up traps, he was planning attacks, and he was trying to lay out the day before me before I even had a chance to step into it. He was working overtime. And I could see how he was diligently just trying to set up roadblocks for me. He was setting up barriers. And I was even shocked because I even saw in the dream that the guy was even paving speed bumps. I go, man, this guy is like construction worker now or what the heck? But I thought he was being very creative laying down the speed bumps, and I could even see that he was even setting up detours. It was like he had a plan, like he had a strategy. He was trying to slow me down.

He was trying to frustrate me. I don't know how many can identify with those type of days. He was trying to frustrate me, he was trying to distract me, he was trying to take me off what God was calling me to do in my life for that day. And I remember that something started to shift in my heart as this dream was progressing. I remember that I wasn't afraid and I wasn't panicking. It was like my eyes were being opened to a new reality. It was like I was seeing things differently through a different perspective. And when I woke up, there was some sensation, a strong thing in my spirit. And I remember waking up and I said this, not today, Satan. How many can say that, not today, Satan? Come on, say it, not today, Satan. There we go. And before my feet even hit the ground, my knees did. I prayed like my life depended on it. And I prayed like my family's life was at stake. And I remember that day, I surrendered my day. It was like I learned a new practice of surrendering my day daily. And not only my day, I surrendered my thoughts. I surrendered my attitude. Somebody said, wow, that's a big thing. It is. Some people got attitude, right? Come on, you can say amen, brother.

Come on, man. Come on, wives. But I remember I had to surrender my attitude. It was one of my biggest obstacles. And I also had to surrender my schedule. And I remember that I grabbed the Bible and I opened scripture and God began to speak first into my life. Because I knew that I was waking up to the same schedule every week. I knew that I was gonna encounter possibly the same people that day. And I knew I was waking up to the same responsibilities. But this time, it was a totally different, complete, different understanding. Because I realized something that day. And to this day, I think that this is true and it's stayed with me ever since. That you're not just waking up to a schedule. You're waking up to what? A battle. And when you know that, it changes perspective. When you know that, you encounter your day differently. You can't just wake up on automatic. You can't just wake up on autopilot. When you know that, you don't drift into your day. When you know that, you prepare for your day. And that's exactly what this series is all about. Battleship, preparing for battle. That's the title of today, that we're preparing

for battle every single day. And last week, Pastor Trevor actually kicked it off and he told us something that we probably can't forget. That Pantano, our church, as we continue to move the mission forward, we're not called to a battleship, a cruise ship type of mentality. We are called into a battleship type of mentality. And he told us this, this isn't a cruise ship, it's a battleship. How many are prepared for that? Some. We'll get there. Week one was all about getting on board of that battleship. Week one was that we realized, hey, we've been a little too comfortable. We're sitting and taking, now we need to go serve. We gotta go serve, go make a difference. Today is about asking this question. Are you ready for the fight? I didn't say are you ready to fight. Some of you guys started puffing up already, right? The word fight, whoop, you guys start flexing. No, I'm not trying to fight you. I'm talking about the fight. The fight that we all encounter. The fight that we all face. And I'd like to remind you that a cruise ship is about comfort, but a battleship is about what? Combat. And I want you to think about a battleship for a moment.

Everyone has a role. Everyone has a position. No one is sitting around. Everybody is needed, but we also realize that every role requires preparation. And that's why we push rooted a lot. Rooted is actually your preparation to realize that you're in a battle. Realize that you're gonna encounter thoughts, you're gonna encounter things that you need to be equipped for. And that's why this weekend we're gonna have over 400, this week we're gonna have over 400 people celebrating their experience that they've graduated from our rooted experience. How many can give it up to them? Yes. Because in battle, unprepared people put everyone at risk. There are no spectators on the battleship, so we wanna encourage you, sign up for the next rooted. And we also heard last week that Pastor Trevor described this type of mindset of a cruise ship. And I'll be honest as I was sitting there, I started to have the thought, and I started to ask myself, how often have I shown up to church like that? And I realized that when I showed up to church like that, it was many seasons in my life, where I would show up, I would sit down, I would listen and leave.

And the next week, repeat. Time after time, seasons in my life, those are the type of cycles that I was falling in, because I realized that I was more focused in this season of life, in what I was getting out of it. Instead of what God was calling me to do. And maybe that's not just me. How often do you treat church like that? We show up, we sit down, we listen, and we leave. And somewhere along the way, church becomes something we attend, instead of something that we are part of. And then automatically, we start living a life that's kind of just inautomatic, and we start asking questions. Did I like service today? Did I like Pastor Saul's shirt, because it's a little bright? Did I like Gregory's vest, because it was a little purple today? And we start asking those type of questions, and we start looking through the lens of, did this help me, or did this not? Did that meet my needs, or did it not? Even though those are not bad questions, but I believe that they're incomplete questions. Because following Jesus was never meant to be about comfort, it is always meant to be about what? Calling. As we remember from last week,

Jesus didn't die to create a cruise ship type of church. Because when we look at scripture, that's not the kind of church Jesus described. He died to launch us into the community, to go and make disciples. He died to launch a battleship type of church, a church that moves, a church that fights for people, a church that steps into broken places and brings hope, a church that pushes back the darkness. That's what we're called to, yes. Because the church isn't supposed to sit back. The church is supposed to advance, every single time. But the reality is, some of us have probably come in to church this way this morning. We've been sitting in the deck chairs for a long time. We become too comfortable, we become passive, and we are just observing. And honestly, that's a dangerous place, when we're just observing. We're just observing to see what happens, or what so and so is doing. But that doesn't cause us to engage the mission. And today, God is calling us to step into our battle stations. He's calling us to step into our purpose. He's calling us to make a difference. He's calling us to engage the mission, which to us, to our church, the mission is loving people to Jesus, and launching passionate difference makers.

That means not only do we love people, and we rescue them where they're at, into a relationship with the Lord, but we also create disciples that make disciples. And that's how we can make a big difference. And here's a shift we need to make. I know some of you, when I said, are you guys ready for battle, a little hesitant. Am I, am I not? But the shift we need to make, is we don't come to church to sit and take. We come ready to respond to our calling. Because again, this isn't a cruise ship. This is a battleship. And when we understand this, we don't sit, we do what? We suit up. We get ready, we prepare. And I think for some of us, we need to speak very clearly. You might not realize it or not. You might not like it or not, but I got to let you in on a little secret. You are in a war, whether you know it or not. You are in a battle. if you know it or not. And I'd like for you guys to come with me to the book of Ephesians, chapter six, and I'm gonna invite you to open up your Bibles. And if you have your Bibles there, open them up. And I'm gonna encourage you to highlight, to write,

whatever the Lord prompts you with this morning. Highlight your Bibles. Put a little folder, a crease in it, so you can come to that every single day. So that you can remind yourself that you are in a battle. And this is what Ephesians six, verses 10 through 17 tells us. It says, be strong in the Lord and in his what? 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. Then Paul repeats the same sentence that he said in verse 10, in verse 13. And he says, therefore, it says, 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, with the 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 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. You know what's curious to me about these verses? Paul doesn't ask you, if the battle's going on, put on the armor. He doesn't say that. It's a direct statement that says, put on the full armor of God. Then you see it again, in three more verses, he repeats it again, and he says, put on the full armor of God. So we're gonna break this down today, because we need to realize that the battle is already happening. There's already a war for your life. There's already things that the enemy's trying to do to sabotage you, to stop you from fulfilling your purpose, to stop you from reaching your friend, your family, your neighbor. He's trying to stop you from growing, in the word of God. And we even see it in 1 Peter chapter five. He says, stay alert. Why? Because you gotta watch out from your great enemy. Whose great enemy? Yours, ours, mine. The devil. It talks about he prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

And when we read this, we see that the battle and the struggle is real. The war is real. The enemy is real. The fight is real. And you don't get to choose if the battle exists. But you do choose if you're ready for it. Because ignoring the fight doesn't remove the fight. And this is what we have to understand. That in this battle, it's not just something happening around you. A lot of us are really good at looking at what's happening around us. We're better to point out the flaws of the other person than to point ours out. We're better at pointing out and saying, man, this world is chaotic, and look at the war in the world, and look at all these things in the world. That's not the only war that's happening. The war that we're talking about today is the war that's happening in you. It's happening within you. It shows up in your thoughts. It shows up in your choices. It shows up in your reactions. It shows up in your decisions. And if you're not aware of it, and you're not prepared for it, you can lose those battles

without even realizing you're in one. And that's why it matters. We understand that we're in this battle, and we don't sit. We suit up. So let me ask you the question I asked you a little while ago, where some of you, bro, were like, mm, I don't know if I'm ready or not. I wanna hear it with the conviction in your heart. Are you ready for the battle? Yes. All right, some. I didn't hear the student section. Are you ready for the battle? Yes. All right. We're all on board now. And that's the question. Are you ready? Because if you're gonna step into what God has called you to do, and if you're gonna serve like Pastor Trevor talked about last week, we have a great opportunity to serve. Some of you have heard about Serve Our City, where we're gonna close the doors to the church, and we're gonna go out into the city, and we're gonna serve. If you guys want more information,

go to our Next Steps. You guys can sign up. This is the last week you can sign up. There's gonna be shirts out in the courtyard. You guys can get those shirts to be part of Serve Our City, but we believe God has called us not to sit and take, but to go and make. And if you're going to make a difference, the reality is we've got to be ready. Because you don't drift into spiritual strength, you prepare for battle. I love what 2 Corinthians chapter 10 says. It says we are human. How many humans are here today? Those of you who didn't lift up your hands, I was hoping you would say you're human. But it says we are human, but we don't wage war as humans do. We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture the rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey. This shows me that this doesn't happen by accident. You don't drift into prayer. You don't drift into just reading the Bible. You don't drift into doing what's right. You're intentional about it. You prepare for it. What you can drift into is distraction, into bad habits. And you can drift away from God if you're not preparing yourself every single day. And I want you to hear this. Casual Christianity cannot handle spiritual battles. Some people went, oi, oi, oi.

I heard it over here. Not pointing. But what this means, if your only time with God is on Sunday, you're not ready for Monday. Let's go back to Ephesians chapter 6 when it tells us to put on the full armor of God. I love this because it shows in Ephesians 6 what it really means. It means that God has already given you everything that you need for battle. But you still have to choose to put it on. This isn't something automatic. Because some of us wake up like Iron Man and we're like, suit on. We think it's automatic. It's not. That's why it's a character and not reality. We have to choose to put on the full armor of God and I'll explain that in a minute. We have to choose. We have to be intentional because this is an automatic. I love what Paul says here. He says, stand your ground. Stand firm against the enemy's schemes. In other words, don't just hope for a good day. Don't just wake up and casually go into your day. Don't wake up and just go automatically into your day. You have to prepare for the fight. If not, you'll be distracted, deceived, and frustrated. And when you look at the armor, when we look at these verses, we start to realize something powerful. That every piece has a purpose. That every piece protects something. Every piece prepares you for the battle you're already in. God didn't leave you exposed. He equipped you and he gave us Ephesians 6 so that we can look at and meditate on daily.

So let me break it down for you. Those that you have your Bibles open, I'm going to ask you to circle or highlight in verse 14 where it says belt of truth. Why? You have to stand on the truth. Because if you don't stand on the truth, you'll fall into the lies. You'll fall into the lies of the enemy. The second piece of the armor says breastplate of righteousness. You can circle that in your Bibles. Proverbs 4 tells us above all else, you got to guard your what? Your heart. Because everything flows from it. And that's what it means by putting on the breastplate because it protects the chest, it protects the heart. The next thing it talks about is the shoes of the gospel of peace. A lot of us need this. We need to go into situations with peace. We need to go into rooms, into workplaces, into wherever you go, wherever you enter and wherever you exit, we are called to bring peace into every space that we step into. The next thing it talks about is shield of faith. Because the faith blocks what the enemy throws at us. And if you realize it, the enemy here talks, the word talks about that he's throwing those flaming darts, those flaming arrows. And when I look at those arrows and when I see gladiator, did I mention I like the movie gladiator? I see how those arrows are launched from far away. And automatically they start to do a spin and they start to come down. But not only are they going to penetrate and hurt you. They want to burn you. They want to impact you.

They want to kill you. But faith blocks what the enemy throws at you. The next thing is the helmet of salvation and that's my favorite. That's why I brought this gladiator helmet that our bass player actually brought today. I would put it on, but I don't know if I'll be able to get it off. It was tempting. I looked at it and I go, yeah. That thing doesn't size up. Somebody will have to break out some Vaseline, a can opener. And probably when it's taken off, it'll make a suction noise. But I think, to me, this is the one that I struggle to put on and I forget sometimes. Because there's thousands of books out there that say you got to win the battlefield in your mind. You got to believe whose you are. And you got to believe who you are, who God created you to be. And if we don't win the battle in our mind, we will lose it in our life. And the last thing that we see as a piece of the armor is a sword of the spirit. And that's talking about the word of God. That's our weapon. The weapon is described like a double edged sword that cut through any lies, any deception, anything that the enemy tries to throw at us, we can cut with the word of God. We're called to use it. Why?

Because the armor is not for display. The armor, it's for battle. It's not a decoration. It's not symbolic. It's survival. So every day, we have to make the choice. My hope and my prayer is that today we can actually receive that in our hearts, knowing that we can't just wake up tomorrow to a casual day. Some of us have probably already seen the effects of waking up to a casual day today. We have to prepare for the battle. We have to prepare and put on the armor of God every single day. We have to be ready. We can't walk into tomorrow unprepared. Because when we realize we're in a battle, we don't sit. We suit up. And the armor doesn't work unless we put it on. It's not a once a week type of thing. It's an every day type of thing. Because the battle is every single day waging for your life. So here's your next step. And I'm going to ask you to tell that to the person next to you. Start your day like a soldier. Tell them. Man, that's more words than you said. Come on. Some of you guys want to preach already. Start your day like a soldier.

What does that mean? Before your phone, before your schedule, before your stress, before you encounter your day, before your feet hit the ground, prepare for your day. Surrender your day. It's probably the best thing I can tell you today. Surrender your day every day. Read your Bible. Pray. Connect with God. Because if you don't prepare for tomorrow, you'll drift into your day. And what I've learned out of all this is a day surrendered to God is a day the enemy can't control. Yes. So guess what, guys? It's time to put the armor on right now. I'm not going to put that on. I already told you. But when you came in today, you were handed a card. And I don't see this just a piece of paper or a laminated piece of paper. To me, this is a reminder. This is a declaration. This is a battle plan. You might be familiar for it. You might be familiar seeing this maybe with a white piece of paper with some yellow decorative stuff. Because this was passed down to me. It was passed down to me from one of our elders

named Wendell Harris. Yes. And the awesome story about this is every time Wendell encounters somebody, whether they know Jesus or not, he's asking them, do you want one of these? And usually the response is, what's that? And there's a couple of stories that come to mind because I've talked to Wendell. Because if you know Wendell, for the last 12 years, he tries to bring scripture into a more practical way on how we can practice it. And he's grabbed this warrior prayer, and he's just handed them out. And one of the stories is from Doug, Gospel Rescue Mission. Very first time Wendell tried to hand him a warrior's prayer, Wendell goes, would you like one? And Doug says, I can have one? Wendell says, yeah, sure. He goes, what is it? He goes, this is putting the full armor of God on. And he took it. And he told Wendell, he started making this prayer every day. single day. He started to attend church here. And not before long, his mom started coming to church with him from Sahuarita all the way here. And because of his warrior's prayer and the dedication, one prayer that one man made, his life started to change. His perspective of life started to change. He was preparing for battle every single day. And before we knew it, his parents received Jesus and they get baptized. Yes. And that's not all. He passed away overnight. The beautiful thing of this story is, once we begin a prayer and we begin to live out our purpose, guess what

happened? Because he made the step to follow Jesus and to prepare for battle every single day, his brother, his brother's wife, and their two children got baptized on Easter Sunday. A legacy lives on when you're intentional. Lives are impacted when you're intentional. The gospel is preached when you're intentional with Scripture. And this is a way we can do that. So this is Wendell's gift and my gift to you. I remember another story where Wendell was actually serving at the gospel rescue mission. You guys tell the gospel rescue missions in the house? So beautiful. And Wendell was passing these out during a, it was like kind of like an outreach event for Thanksgiving. And some of the U of A football team showed up. Do we have any U of A football team guys right here right now? No? We have some people from the U of A but not the football team. Then Wendell started to pass these out and one of the team members goes, what is that? And he goes, Wendell says, it's putting the armor of God on. And then the football player goes, does that work? And Wendell said, yeah. I've been doing it for 26 years. This was something that was handed down to me 26 years ago from one of our pastors, Tim Coop. And I want to continue passing this on to all the people and tell them how to prepare for their day. Yeah. And I know some of you are not going to like the rest of this story, but I know some of us are going to celebrate. Yeah. When Wendell passes this out to the young man, the young man goes, does it work? He goes, yes, of course. Then he goes, you know what my coach said? What? That we need to have a toolbox. And this is going to go in our toolbox and I'm going to put it in my toolbox, but before we play ASU in the territorial cup, we're going to pray this warrior's prayer. I don't know about you, but if you know what the results were, the U of A whooped the devil's butts. 23 to 7. And they brought the trophy home. But we're celebrating the intention of these young men. They felt like it was their biggest challenge and they went and prepared. How many of you guys need to kick the devil's butt today? Yeah. I'm going to invite you guys to be intentional with me for a moment. Can you guys do that? For those of you watching online, I'm going to invite you to go to the next steps page and download this warrior's prayer. But I'm going to ask you guys, with your boldest voice, not

loudest, not annoying voice, I'm going to invite you to have your Maximus Decimus Meridius moment where we grab this warrior's prayer and we repeat this together. That we say this together because this is not a casual thing. This is something that we can do today to prepare for battle. Knowing that the battle is real. Knowing that the battle is true. Knowing that the battle is happening right now. This is an acute moment. This is a commitment. This is reading our battle plan. How many of you ready to read it together? Let's read it. Heavenly Father, your warrior prepares for battle. Today I claim victory over Satan by by putting on the whole armor of God. I put on the girdle of truth. May I stand firm in the truth of your word, so I will not be a victim to Satan's lies. I put on the breastplate of righteousness. May it guard my heart from evil, so I will remain pure and holy, protected under the blood of Jesus Christ. I put on the shoes of peace. May I stand firm in the good news of the gospel, so your peace will shine through me and be a light to all I encounter. I take the shield of faith. May I be ready for Satan's fiery darts of doubt, denial, and deceit, so I will not be vulnerable to the spiritual defeat. I put on the helmet of salvation. May I keep my mind focused on you, so Satan will not have a stronghold on my thoughts. I take the sword of the spirit. May the two-edged sword of your word be ready in my hands,

so I can expose the tempting words of Satan. By faith, your warrior has put on the whole armor of God. I am prepared to live this day in spiritual victory. Amen. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! That was not weak. That was not weak. That was not weak. That was not passive. That's what I want to encourage you to step in your day every single day. And I believe that you'll walk differently, you'll think differently, you'll respond differently. Because tomorrow, the enemy is not taking the day off. But this time, you'll be ready. You won't drift, you'll stand. Because this isn't a cruise ship again, this is a battleship. And we don't sit, we suit up. And we just don't go to church, we fight for people. We are the church. And let me leave you with this.

The enemy isn't afraid of a comfortable Christian. But he trembles at a prepared one. And if you're ready, yes. If you're ready to stop drifting, if you're ready to stop going into a day casually, and you want to be prepared, and you believe that this battle is real, I'm gonna invite you to stand to your feet at this moment while I pray for us. And some of you probably didn't have the opportunity to surrender your day. I'm gonna invite you just to lift up your hands and just surrender your day right now. And just say, Lord, I surrender this day, I surrender my thoughts, I surrender my attitude. I surrender today's schedule. And guide me. And some of you have prepared for the day. I'm gonna invite you to also lift up your hands and close your eyes and just worship him for this day. As I pray for all of us. Heavenly Father, I ask that in this place you raise up warriors in this place. People who are ready, people who are focused, people who are in mission. Let us not sit, but stand. Let us not drift, but prepare. Let us not consume, but live life on mission. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Amen. ♪ There's a grace when I pray for you ♪ ♪ There's a grace when I pray for you ♪ ♪ There's a grace when the heart is undefined ♪ ♪ Another way when the walls are closing in ♪ ♪ And when I look at the space between where I used to be ♪ ♪ And this reckoning, I know I will never be alone ♪ ♪ There was another in the fire standing next to me ♪ ♪ There was another in the waters holding back the sea ♪ ♪ Should I ever need remind of how I've been set free ♪ ♪ There is a cross that bears the burden ♪ ♪ And there another died for me ♪ ♪ There is another in the fire ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ as well. See what God might be calling you, what you need to step into today. Have a great week. We'll see you next time. Have a great week. God bless you. God bless you.