The Apostle Paul's Program for Peace

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♪ Oh there's nothing better than You ♪ ♪ There's nothing better than You Lord ♪ ♪ There's nothing, nothing is better than You ♪ ♪ I'm shaking and I'm singing with my youth ♪ ♪ Oh there's nothing better than You ♪ ♪ There's nothing, nothing is better than You Lord ♪ ♪ There's nothing, nothing is better than You Lord ♪ Oh no! Come on every voice, hey! ♪ You turn mourning to dancing ♪ ♪ You give beauty for ashes ♪ ♪ You turn shame into glory ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can ♪ ♪ You turn all my fondness ♪ ♪ You turn mourning to dancing ♪ ♪ You give me beauty for ashes ♪ ♪ You give me beauty for ashes ♪ ♪ You turn my shame into glory ♪ ♪ You turn shame into glory, hey ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can ♪ ♪ You turn all my fondness ♪ ♪ You turn ice into water ♪ ♪ You turn bones into armies ♪ ♪ You turn seas into islands ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can ♪ ♪ You're the only one who can ♪ Come on, give Him praise today. Hallelujah. Men, it is so great to be gathered here

with you all this morning. My name is Micah, and as we continue today, we're gonna do so by reading God's Word together. Can I invite you to read our call to worship out of Psalm chapter 94? Will you say these verses with me, church? Blessed is the man whom you instruct, O Lord, and teach out of your law, that you may give him rest from the days of adversity until the pit is dug for the wicked. For the Lord will not cast off His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance, but judgment will return to righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would soon have settled in silence. If I say, my foot slips, your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, your comforts delight my soul. This is the word of the Lord, and we all say, church, let's continue singing together. ♪ I was a wretch, I remember who I was ♪ ♪ I was lost, I was blind, I was running out of time ♪ ♪ Sin separated, the breach was far too wide ♪ ♪ But from the far side of the chasm, you held me in your sight ♪ ♪ So you made a way across that great divide ♪ ♪ Left behind heaven's bone to build it here inside ♪

♪ And there at the cross, you paid the debt I owed ♪ ♪ Broke my chains, freed my soul ♪ ♪ For the first time I had hope ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, for the blood applied ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, it has washed me wild ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, you have saved my life ♪ ♪ You broke my chains, freed my soul ♪ ♪ You brought me from the darkness into the light ♪ ♪ You glorious light ♪ ♪ You took my place, laid inside my tomb of sin ♪ ♪ You were buried for three days ♪ ♪ But then you walked right out again ♪ ♪ And now death has no sting, oh, and life has no end ♪ ♪ For I have been transformed by the blood of the lamb ♪ ♪ Sing thank you, Jesus, for the blood of mine ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, it has washed me clean ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, you have saved my life ♪ ♪ You've brought me from the darkness into glorious light ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus, for the blood of mine ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, it has washed me clean ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, you have saved my life ♪ ♪ You've brought me from the darkness into glorious light ♪ ♪ You've brought me from the darkness into glorious light ♪ ♪ There is nothing stronger than the wonder, work, and power of the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ The power of the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ In cause of sons and daughters, we are answered by our Father through the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ In cause of sons and daughters, we are answered by our Father through the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ There is nothing stronger than the wonder, work, and power of the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ The power of the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ We are answered by our Father through the blood, the blood ♪

♪ There is nothing stronger than the wonder, work, and power of the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ The power of the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ In cause of sons and daughters, we are answered by our Father through the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ In cause of sons and daughters, we are answered by our Father through the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus, for the blood of mine ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, it has washed me white ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, you have saved my life ♪ ♪ You brought me from the darkness into glorious light ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, for the blood of mine ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, it has washed me white ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus, you have saved my life ♪ ♪ You brought me from the darkness into glorious light ♪ ♪ You brought me from the darkness into glorious light ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, it has washed me white ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus, you have saved my life ♪ ♪ You brought me from the darkness into glorious light ♪ ♪ You brought me from the darkness into glorious light ♪ You brought me from the darkness into glorious light. You brought me from the darkness into glorious light. And we sing, oh, the blood of Jesus. Sing it if you know it. Oh, the blood of Jesus. Oh, the blood of Jesus. It washes white as snow. Let's sing, oh, the blood of Jesus. Oh, the blood of Jesus. Oh, the blood of Jesus. It washes white as snow. Yeah.

It washes white as snow. It washes white as snow. There is a day coming when the old will pass away. Every wrong will be made right. There's no darkness, no night. And the sun will light the way. There is a king coming, the one who conquered death and grave. There's no more pain and no more sorrow. This hope for tomorrow is our hope for today. Hallelujah. And he who was and he who is and he who was and he who is. Come on. He who is to come. Christ, the son of man. Riding on the clouds with the crown upon his head. Oh, every eye will see him with the nail scars in his hands. Hallelujah. And hallelujah. Hear Jesus' hallelujah. There's only one way to be. Yeah. For glory and all praise. In all wealth and all honor. Strength, wisdom, and power. To the Lamb that was slain. Oh. He who is to come. Christ, the son of man. Riding on the clouds with the crown upon his head. Oh, every eye will see him with the nail scars in his hands.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. He who is to come. Christ, the son of man. Riding on the clouds with the crown upon his head. ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ He is surely coming, oh can you feel it too? ♪ ♪ All this tension growing stronger, it's just a sign ♪ ♪ He's getting closer and He's already on the move ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, oh this story has been written ♪ ♪ We all know how it ends, if my future has been made clear ♪ ♪ If my life is worth the same, oh He's coming back again ♪ ♪ He's coming back, He's coming back again, He's coming back again ♪ ♪ He's coming back again, He who is to come ♪ ♪ Christ, the son of man, riding on the clouds ♪ ♪ With the power of all His hand, every eye will see Him ♪ ♪ And when the stars descend, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ He who is to come, Christ, the son of man, riding on the clouds ♪ ♪ With the power of all His hand, every eye will see Him ♪ ♪ And when the stars descend, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ Would you give a praise today to the Alpha and the Omega, the God who was and is and is to come. Be praised, be honored, be glorified, be praised, be honored, be glorified, be praised, be honored, be glorified. Can I invite you to sing this with me today? ♪ It's your breath in our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise, pour out our praise ♪

♪ It's your breath, can you sing, in our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to you only, it's your breath ♪ Today, it all belongs to you. We will pour it out, pour it out. Yes. ♪ So we pour out our praise to you only, it's your breath ♪ ♪ And all the earth will shout your praise ♪ ♪ Our hearts will cry, these bones will sing, praise ♪ Come on, come on church, lift your voices, lift your hands, all the earth. ♪ And all the earth will shout your praise, our hearts will cry, these bones will sing ♪ ♪ Our hearts will cry, these bones will sing, praise ♪ ♪ Our hearts will cry, these bones will sing, praise ♪ ♪ And all the earth will shout your praise, our hearts will cry, these bones will sing, praise ♪ ♪ Our hearts will cry, these bones will sing, praise ♪ ♪ Our hearts will cry, these bones will sing, praise ♪ ♪ It's your breath in all of us, so we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise, it's your breath ♪ ♪ In our love, in our faith ♪ ♪ So we won't rise to the sunset ♪ ♪ In our love, in our faith ♪ ♪ So we won't bow our heads ♪ ♪ We pour it out, we pour it out ♪ ♪ Until we're in some paradise ♪ ♪ In our love, in our faith ♪ ♪ So we won't rise to the sunset ♪ ♪ In our love, so we pour out our praise ♪ ♪ In our love, so we pour out our praise to you only ♪ It all belongs to you, Lord. It all belongs to you, Lord. For greater you, Lord, and greater to be praised.

For greater you, Lord, be high and lifted up. Be high and lifted up, as high as the heavens are to the earth. So great is your steadfast love towards us. And Lord, today we receive of your love, but also we give back to you all that we can, in every way, at all times. In Jesus' name, everybody said today. Amen, amen, amen. Hallelujah. Amen. Man, it's always great to get to worship with you. Why don't you do this? Greet the people you're seated next to. Keep things moving, all right? Well, good morning, church family. So good to see everyone this morning. I really don't know where we go from there. I think all of us are a little bit undone after worship, but what a great reminder already that no matter what we may have facing in our lives right now, how important it is to gather back together as a church family to worship God and really remind ourselves of His goodness. But we're so thankful that you're here. If you're new to Church on the Move, my name is Priscilla. I'm up here with my friend Corey, and this weekend we have our lead pastor,

Pastor Whit George, back with us. He will be continuing our series called Breakthrough, and I wanna encourage you, if you've missed any of the messages throughout this series, go back and listen to them. Every single one of them has been really meaningful. In fact, we've heard from so many people in our church family how God is doing a really significant work in their lives as they've been going throughout this series. So Pastor Whit is coming out in just a moment to share, but before he does, we wanted to welcome anyone who may be here for the first time. So if that's you, we're so thankful that you're here. In fact, there's a few of us that would love to meet you in person. So we're gonna be hanging out in the lobby space right after service. If you don't mind swinging by so we can say hello face to face, but while you're with us, we have a couple of next steps we would love to invite you to take. If you are here with us for the first time, we wanna know that you're here. Would you text the word new to 23101? We're gonna send you a Chick-fil-A gift card, a small way for us to say thank you for worshiping with us this weekend. It's actually a great weekend to be here. Right after our 1130 service,

we're hosting an event we call Next Move. If you've been wondering more about who we are as a church or how you can get connected, it's a great place to find out. Our team will be there. Pastor Witt will be sharing. We'll have lunch together. We have childcare. Would you join us? Let us know you're coming by texting the word next to 23101. That's right. We would love to see you in Next Move a little bit later today. Also on your way in, you should have received this countdown to Easter handout that just lines out everything that's happening between now and our Easter services. So there's only a few things I wanna highlight on this card as you're reading through it. Starting with time change weekend. Next Sunday, we are going back to our pre-construction service times of 830, 10 and 1130. We're so excited about that. Most of you know that during construction, we were having to adjust our service times a little bit just to give us more time to navigate all of our spaces. But now that our front door's open, our lobby space is done, we're really looking forward to going back to service times

all of us can actually remember. So 830, 10 and 1130 starting next Sunday. Then the following weekend, we're really excited to welcome our founding pastor, Pastor Willie George. It's always so special when he's with us, but I do wanna let you know how we're gonna kind of close out our Breakthrough Series. For those of you who were here in the fall, you'll remember at the end of our James Series that we had special prayer services where we spent some time worshiping together and praying for one another, taking communion. Well, we're gonna do that again to close out our Breakthrough Series on March 21st and 22nd. So you'll wanna make sure that you make plans to join us for that weekend. And then we're only a week away from the kickoff of Holy Week and our Easter services. So if you didn't get one of these cards, grab one on your way out. We also have Easter invites on the table so you can start thinking about who you can bring with you. But it's gonna be a. really special next few weeks together. We're gonna take a moment now to worship God with our giving, excuse me. You can give electronically by texting the word GIVE to 23101. There's also an envelope on the seat back in front of you

if you can't prepare to give by cash or check and you can drop it off at a drop box at any of our exits. There's also a card, our generosity card in the seat back in front of you and it talks about the ways we give, our tithe, our compassion offering, which helps meet real needs in our community really around the world and then our expansion offering, which helps us to continue to do the work of the ministry around here and I think we have a expansion update today. We do. It's been really cool to see how the first phase of our expansion projects have been completed but we're not done yet. Phase two is actually underway right now where we're taking some time to remodel our kids' lobby spaces and classrooms. So we brought a video with us real quick just to show you a few of those updates, so check this out. Hey everyone. Starting since last May, we have been able to make a lot of progress on the Tulsa project as a whole. One of the things that we want to continue to do is show you the rest of the building, not just this lobby, yes, we're excited that's open, but also to show you what we're doing in our kids' environment.

So today, I invited our kids' pastor, Hannah Barrett, who oversees our kids' ministries here at Tulsa to give us a little tour of what's going on behind these walls and the rest of our kids' space. Yeah, let's go take a look. So this was our old cafe area. Now it's gonna be our kids' play area that will extend kind of to the outside. Mom can get a cup of coffee or dad and bring their kids out and it'll be open seven days a week, which we're really excited about. Yeah, and we're also excited to show you what some of this looks like. Yeah, let's go to the warehouse and check it out. So we just got these pieces in. We're really excited. I'm really happy with how they turned out. I think the kids are gonna love it. You know, we want church to be a place where kids know that they matter, that they belong. Church is a fun place. God wants them to have fun. And so this is something that's really important for them to use their imaginations to grow and enjoy being in our beautiful church. Pastor Lee is totally gonna crawl through there. We're gonna have a hard time keeping him out of there. One of the things that has been obviously part of this project

is updating all of our kids' classes that have needed it. Tell us a little bit about what we've been able to do. Yeah, so we've been able to get some new carpet and paint in some of our classrooms, which was really needed. We have added a classroom, which will enable us to open another nursery, which we really need. Yeah, especially on Sunday. Yes, that's a big deal. And then we have our new check-in systems that's gonna be really easy for families to use. So one of these spaces that we've updated is our Summit classroom. This is our fourth and fifth grade age range. We wanted to have a space to be able to meet in small groups. Fourth and fifth grade is a really important time in a kid's life, and they need to be able to ask important questions. And so we wanna provide a space to do that. We're not just doing childcare. We're doing ministry. Yeah. A lot of life-changing impacts happening in these spaces. So in addition to what we've done in these classrooms with carpet, paint, we've updated all audio and video. We've added secure doors for all of our kids' hallways to be secured areas if need be.

We also have a brand new kids' entrance that we're gonna have. We've got a food truck courtyard right out front. Right behind me is our main Kids on the Move check-in area, first-time families. All the lobby will be updated and open by Easter. So just, man, a lot going on around here. Yeah, I actually met a family the other day. They came in and there was a teenage girl, and she said, I've actually been here before. And she said, I used to come here when I was a kid. I wanted my siblings to be able to come. She said Church on the Move was a safe place for us to be. She was one who'd had a really rough childhood, but she felt safe here. And that's the impact that we get to have in our church, in kids' ministry. Yeah, so many stories like what Hannah just shared that we don't have time to share today, but what you're a part of and what we're hoping to accomplish here at Church on the Move is continuing to invest in our next generation. So I just want to say thank you for your support, partnership, as we continue to make an impact in kids' lives. Well, good morning, Church on the Move. Good to see everybody this morning.

And let me welcome our congregants gathering online. Maybe you're in a hospital room. Maybe you're not able to come this weekend. Maybe you're traveling. Welcome to you. And then let me also say welcome to our men at Dick Connor and our ladies at Eddie Warrior. We have two churches and prisons, and we like to welcome them. So can we put our hands together? Great to have all of you wherever you're coming from this weekend. If you have a Bible, I want you to grab it. We're gonna be looking at Philippians chapter four, the first nine verses. We got a lot to get into today. If you don't have a Bible, words will be on the screen. You can follow along with me, but I will begin reading in verse one. This is Paul writing to a church in Philippi. Here's what he says. Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. I entreat you odia, and I entreat. Syntyche, to agree in the Lord, yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything. By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. This is the word of the Lord and we all said, thanks be to God. Let's pray. Father, we humble ourselves before your word, knowing that it is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path. We would have no clue where to go if not for you guiding and directing us through your word. Thank you for these verses. Preserved throughout the centuries, men and women died, many of them so that we could have these words preserved for us. Let us not take that for granted.

Help us, Lord, to humble ourselves, to open up our spiritual eyes and ears to hear and to receive. Let us receive with meekness the implanted word of God. Whatever you ask, the answer is already yes. We trust you, we will obey. In Jesus' name we pray and everybody said amen. Well, I'm not often one for sermon titles, but this weekend I wanna talk to you kinda under this heading, Paul's Program for Peace. It's a major theme really of this passage, how to have peace. Too many of us, our lives are not marked by peace. Our lives are marked by the same strife and division and anxiety and stress and worry that so many others in the culture around us are marked by. How do we get peace? I think peace is a core component of that capital L life that Jesus came to offer us, to give us, to provide for us. How do we get it? Paul's gonna lay it out here in this passage and I've got four thoughts I wanna kinda pull out from these verses today. A lot to cover, so let's jump right in. The first step in Paul's Program for Peace would be stand firm. Look again at verse one, look what Paul writes. He writes this, therefore my brothers whom I love and long for my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord my beloved.

Now this stand firm command is a common command for Paul. He likes charging the church to stand firm. We see it in let's say the rest of Philippians. For instance, in verse 27 of chapter one, look what he writes, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm. Same idea, but different words are communicated in chapter three, verse 16, only let us hold true. Hold true, stand firm, same idea. The idea is that we're holding onto what has been given to us, standing firm in what has been delivered. Perhaps the most famous usage of this command comes from a different letter that Paul wrote to a different church in Ephesus. It's in Paul's letter to the Ephesian church and in chapter six, a well known passage, many of you know this passage, Paul writes this, finally, notice the similarity in language, finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, put on the whole armor of God, but look at to what end, to what purpose, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. He continues this theme of standing in verse 13, therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm.

Verse 14, stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and so on and so forth, he continues describing the armor of God. I wanna point out to you that it's interesting why this armor is given. You would think that he would say, now here's all of this armor, here's all of this weaponry, now attack. He doesn't say that. He says stand firm. Why does he say stand firm? What does it mean to stand firm? Well, the first thing I can tell you is that it's not a passive thing. Paul isn't just telling us to sort of wait around on God to act or move. No, this is an active participation with the work of the Spirit. And I think the best way I can explain it to you is to kind of consider this. Imagine, if you will, that today you just said, I am no longer taking care of my house. I'm done. I'm done sweeping the floors. I'm done making any repairs. I'm not mowing the lawn. Some of you are already on this maintenance program. I see. I'm not caring for my house anymore. I'm doing nothing. I'm done. What's going to happen to your home in short order?

It's going to become a mess. It's going to fall into disrepair. Why? The second law of thermodynamics, it's the law of entropy, which is that everything tends or trends toward disorder. Have you ever noticed that you never come home and sort of accidentally find your house cleaned up? Never happens, does it? But your house finds its way to messy without you even trying. It just happens. Cleanliness or maintenance, just kind of holding the line, takes effort. The same is true with your car. The same is true with your body. You have to work just to stand still because the current of the world sort of runs against you toward disorder. The same thing is true spiritually. Standing firm then is not this passive thing. It's this active fight against the entropy, the spiritual entropy, that would pull us in the wrong direction. The idea is that I have to hold on to, and this is an active thing, what has been given to me. In other words, hearing the gospel once isn't enough. How many of you know you need to hear it and hear it again? After all, does not the scripture say that faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing by the word of God? You need to hear it again. Look at what Paul writes in, let's say, Philippians 3, 1. Look what he writes. Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. Now, look at this.

To write the same things to you. In other words, Paul is saying, look, I know I'm saying the same thing that I've already said, but what does it matter? It's no trouble for me and it's safe for you or certain for you. Something to hold on to, secure, firm. That's the idea of this word safe. What Paul is saying is that you need to hear the same things again. The hearing it once isn't enough. Hearing that you're a new creation in Christ one time isn't enough. It's going to take an active pursuit of these things. You're going to have to work at them. You're going to have to reapply, as it were, the gospel to your heart, like a fresh coat of spiritual paint. So when you go to God's word and you read about Christ, you read about what he's done for you, you read about who God is, you read about who you are in him, all of this reminds you of what we so easily drift from and forget. That's what it means to stand firm. I need to hear it again, and again, and again, and again. I heard an interesting study this last week. Actually, I was reminded of it. So how many of you came to the Bible master class on Thursday night? Anybody come to that? A few of you. It was so good. And I want to encourage you. We actually recorded it. The overwhelming refrain that I heard from everybody that I talked to afterwards was, I had no idea this software was that cool. If you're using AI right now and you're using AI to help you with, say, Bible study questions, can I just say, stop, watch this video,

and just see what this software can do. It's two months free. That offer is still available. We get nothing from this. There's no financial kickback for us. Really is we want to help you understand the scriptures better. You'll find it on our YouTube page, the Bible master class. I'm telling you, go watch it. It'll be well worth just an hour of your time. One of the things that Scott Lindsey, who was the representative from Logos, who was doing the training, one of the things that he said or he cited was this Power of Four Bible engagement survey. And if you want to look that up, you can search that, Power of Four Bible engagement survey. They surveyed over 600,000 people. And what they found fascinating is that when a person studies the Bible, calls themselves a Christian, and studies the Bible one time a week, here's what they found. It makes almost no difference in the life of that person. In other words, if you were to compare their life to the life of an unbeliever, and we could kind of chart all the different things that sort of go on in our modern American life, the stuff that we struggle with, pornography, drinking too excess, loneliness, anxiety, depression, whatever, our lives look pretty much the same. There's really no difference. Read the Bible two times a week, still does almost nothing. Three times a week, still nothing. This is crazy. But four times a week, off the chart change. Four times or more, something about being in the word

regularly now change starts to happen and they can measure it. This is crazy, but look at this. People who read the scriptures four times a week or more, drinking to excess dropped by 62%. Viewing pornography dropped by 59%. Lying went down 28%. Gossiping went down 28%. Look at this, feelings of bitterness dropped 40%. Destructive thoughts towards yourself or others dropped 32%. Loneliness went down 30%. Fear and anxiety dropped 14%. What's happening? We are standing firm. The cultural current, friends, flows against you. It flows downhill. Jesus said, wide and easy is the path that leads toward destruction. Have you ever been in a river that had a strong current? All you had to do was simply get in the water and it would take you where it wanted to go. You have to fight against that current. That's why Paul says you need some spiritual armor. Now stand firm. Here's the idea. Christ has won a battle, a great battle, a great victory. There's ground that's been delivered to you. You are now a new creation in Christ, but you won't hold on to that spiritual ground

unless you're willing to fight for it. And the way you fight for it is to reapply it over and over and over again, applying the gospel to your heart and mind. We need to be reminded of these things. Why? Because we forget. So number one, Paul would say, stand firm. This is the first step in Paul's program for peace. Now, the second step is this, deal with division. Look at what Paul writes, starting in verses two and three. He says, I entreat you, Odia, and I entreat Syntyche, to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Now here, I'm gonna pause and talk about resolving conflict, releasing bitterness, dealing with unforgiveness, that sort of thing. Forgiving the person who has wronged you. But I wanna pause here and just offer a couple of thoughts before I kind of dive into the content here because I think it's important that we address this particular issue with the nuance and wisdom that it deserves. Too often, the church just sort of rushes into kind of lighthearted, pithy slogans about forgiveness, forgive, and forget.

We say things like love covers a multitude of sins. Yes, it does, but we also need to apply these things rightly and with wisdom. So let's just note some things here before we dive in. Number one, this is a disagreement that Paul is referring to between two women who are part of the church. And their disagreement is clearly not moral, otherwise he would have addressed it. How do I know that? Because Paul does address severe moral grievances in other letters, he doesn't do that here. We can also see that what's going on here is between two godly women. Look at what Paul says. These women have labored side by side with me in the gospel, that's the idea. These are believing women. This is not someone who's wandered off into heresy who is no longer a believer. He's talking about two women who are sisters in Christ who have worked beside him in planting churches, sharing the gospel, and yet they have some kind of sharp disagreement. So what can we derive from this? Well, first of all, what we can say is what Paul is talking about here and what I'm about to talk about here does not apply to an abusive, wicked person. We're talking about sheep here, not wolves. Let's just put it that way.

What I'm gonna say here does not apply to you kind of going back and making peace with the stepdad who molested you. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about getting back together with your abusive ex-husband. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about going back into business with the so-called Christian businessman who swindled you out of a lot of money and is unrepentant. I'm not talking about that. We're talking about real disagreements between real believers. Now, there are steps, appropriate pastoral steps for those other situations, and harboring vengeance and resentment against people that have deeply wronged you is still not healthy for you. But here, in what we're gonna talk about today, we're talking specifically about sharp disagreements, division between brothers and sisters. in Christ. Now the first thing I would say to you about this is I want you to pay attention to just how important Paul treats this. The fact that he's addressing this, first of all let's just remember how these letters were written and heard. Paul is writing this letter and he's distributing, he's giving it to an individual that would take it

to the Philippian church and it would be read out loud. Stop and consider what that would mean. Imagine you're in the congregation and you're Euodia or Syntyche and we're reading through this really encouraging letter of Paul just talking about how generous and wonderful they've been and how they've been praying for him and he really appreciates that and then you come to this section and all of a sudden you get called out personally, not just once, but repeatedly for 2,000 years this is how you'll be remembered. And yet, this is how seriously Paul takes it, this is how seriously the spirit takes it. Division in the church, in the body of Christ is a really big deal to the Lord and why shouldn't it be? Think about it. Ephesians 2 says that he has broken down the dividing wall of hostility. In other words, in Christ the animosity, the hostility that was between us and God's people and us and God has been broken down in Christ. Peace has been made. If that's the case, who are we to try to rip apart what God has brought together? So here, Paul and the spirit are treating this division really seriously. Let me share with you a quote from J.A. Mateer. I think it's powerful. He says this, where there is disharmony inside the church, there is bound to be defeat outside.

Where Christians cannot bear the sight of each other, they will not be able to look the world in the face either. They cannot win on the main front of their contact with the world if they are secretly carrying on warfare on a second front of their own devising. What we're talking about here is dealing with conflict, division that springs up amongst believers and it happens. We're human. We see things differently. We have different values. Our temperaments are different and we see the world from our perspective, not often realizing that other people see the world from a different perspective. I have found that at many points in my life, I have accidentally trampled on the values of another person. Things that were really important to them that I just didn't realize were that important, but me acting in a certain way or saying a certain thing hurt them. I had no idea. Division begins to form. Tension begins to form. How do I know if I've got this, Pastor? How can I know if something like that is going on? Well, here's how you can know. If there was someone that you were to bump into in the church out in the lobby or see maybe coming down the hallway and you would be tempted to turn the other way,

never to make eye contact with them, to try to avoid them, then I think you have something to deal with here. If their name coming up on your phone would cause you some stress on the inside, if sitting down to have a conversation with them just kind of gets your blood boiling or your emotions and sort of inside just sort of all turned around, then perhaps this is something that you need to address. What do we do here when there's division in a relationship? Well, Paul says, I entreat you odia and I entreat syntyche. Notice he uses the same word for both. He says, I entreat both of you to agree in the Lord. What does that mean? I think we could put it simply like this, move toward relationship. Now, I wanna unpack this for you so you'll understand what I'm saying. Do you remember a few weeks ago I taught on your emotions? What do you do with your emotions? And do you remember kind of the sinful, unhealthy response with our emotions is to turn them inward, to move toward isolation with our emotions. That's always the wrong way to deal with any situation. Isolation is almost never good. In fact, Luther said that sin itself is humanity curved inward, turned in on itself. That's the idea and that's what sin always does. It leads us to isolation, it leads us to hiding. So we end up not dealing with the problem or we end up talking to everybody but the person

that we're in conflict with rather than moving back into relationship. Now again, let me clarify. When I say move toward relationship, I'm not saying restore this person to the same level of relationship that they had before. Let's be honest. Sometimes the wound goes so deep, the trust has been broken. so severely that there's no hope this side of heaven of repairing or restoring that relationship back to what it was, and rightly so. I can, how many of you know, I can forgive you, but that does not mean I have to trust you. Let me say this again. Do you know that you can, in a godly way, I can forgive you, meaning I harbor no bitterness, no resentment, I'm not wishing for your destruction, but neither do I, and can I trust you anymore? That's wisdom and love working side by side. We need both. So moving toward relationship, what does it look like? Well, I think J.A. Mateer gives us a great description. Here's how he puts it. Look at this, and this will be enlightening for you. Neither is to wait for the other. That's the key. The one is not to say, I am perfectly ready to accept an apology when it is made. How many of us, come on, let's be honest,

that's how we've responded? Maybe when a spouse has hurt us? Oh, I'll accept the apology if he'll make it. I'll listen to an apology if she's willing to come forward and make that apology. You know what often I find? Is that we like to treasure our hurts. So it's weird, strange thing that human beings do. We like to sort of feed on our pain, like Gollum with the ring, my precious. We hold on to this thing. We treasure this wound on the inside, sort of postulating, envisioning how we want them to show up and make things right. Of course, no one can meet that standard, and so it allows you and your kind of pride and sort of high-mindedness to sort of maintain what you think is the moral high ground against the other person. That's not how we're to respond in Christ. Look at this, nor the other is to say, I am perfectly ready to make an apology when I have a hint that it will be accepted. Some of you, this is exactly why you don't move toward relationship, because you're not certain. In fact, you have a pretty good hunch that if you were to sit down with them, it might not go very well. And so you let yourself off the hook. I need do nothing, because I don't think

they'd want to hear it, even if we sat down. But look at this, each must make the first move. Why? Maybe you're sitting here going, why? Why should I do that? Why should I do that? Let me tell you why, because that's exactly what God in Christ has done for you. Are you called, do you call yourself a Christian? Then what does it look like to behave like Christ? Well, let me give you a verse here, Romans 5, 8. Look at this. But God shows his love for us in that, while we were, let's all say this word out loud, still, not when you were on your knees repenting, not when you acknowledged that you had done God wrong, not when you owned up to your rebellion, while you were still in the throes of sin, Christ died for you. In other words, who made the first move in the relationship between you and God? God did. He moved toward you. We're then called to be eager to make that first move in our fractured relationships. Now, what again does that mean? It doesn't mean moving toward that person with the aim of them having the same position that they used to have, but rather releasing the bitterness. Now, Paul takes this so seriously.

Look at what he writes here. Again, let's look at these verses, particularly in verse three. He's entreating you, Odiah and Syntyche, to agree in the Lord. But look at this verse three. Yet, yes, I ask you also. Now, we don't know who this is, who this you is here, my true companion. We don't know who this is. But whoever Paul was entrusting this letter to is gonna be reading it to the church in Philippi. But notice what he says. Help these women. In other words, division in the church is a team sport, something we all ought to get involved in. In other words, when we're aware of division, when there's a sharp disagreement between brothers and sisters in Christ, we, if we love our brothers and sisters, ought to come alongside them and say, let me help you. Let's go to them. Let's sit down. Let's see if we can resolve this. And you might say, well, I'm certain that if I sit down with them, it might not be received. In fact, it probably won't be received very well. So be it. You can't control what the other person will do or how they will respond.

But let me tell you, that does not let you off the hook. You still sit down with them and you say, hey, here's where I'm coming from. And if they'll listen, praise God. If they won't, you've done what you were supposed to do. Scripture says, so far as it's possible on you, live in peace with all men. This is what we're called to. Now, this is the outcome. What are we looking for? Two outcomes. So number one is this, trust God with the outcome. What do I mean here? I mean, instead of holding on to the bitterness, the feelings of revenge and anger, well, I hope they get what's coming to them, or whatever, right? Like, we're trusting the Lord with that. We've put the situation in his hands, recognizing that he is judge, he is the righteous judge, and I am not. It's not my job to sort of stand in judgment over everybody around me. I have to release and trust that to the Lord. How do I know when I've done that? When I can come to this second thing, I now desire the other person's good. And friends, this happens with me, where there's folks that are around me that I see things that they're doing

that I disagree with, and I disagree with sharply. You know what I do? I entrust it to the Lord. Lord, I don't know the whole situation here. I don't know what you're doing, how you're working, I don't know what you've spoken to them. I am entrusting this to you, and I pray for their good. When you can come to this place, then you know that your heart is no longer harboring bitterness or resentment toward another in Christ. Let me tell you something. So many of us, the reason we don't have peace is because we're harboring bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness. They cannot coexist in the same place. If you want peace in your life, if you want all of that turmoil to go away, deal with the division in your relationships and release, so far as it depends on you, the bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness. That's number two. Stand firm, deal with division. Number three, in everything, pray. Let's look again at Philippians four, verses four through six. Rejoice in the Lord always, Paul writes. Again, I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone the Lord is at hand. Really, I could have made this like six points,

Paul's program for peace. We didn't have time for that. So I'm not gonna get into this theme of rejoicing. This is a really common theme in Philippians specifically. Something worth studying, not gonna do that. What I wanna focus on today specifically is verse six. Do not be anxious about anything. How many of you have heard this verse before? How many of you, you've heard this verse and you've heard this command, do not be anxious about anything? Come on, be honest. You'd say, that's ridiculous and impossible. No one can do this. I mean, anybody ever felt that way? You ever read that and thought, please, who can do this? Do not be anxious about anything. But Paul gives us the antidote to anxiety. Gang, we're living in an anxious time. If anybody needs this, it's us. But in everything, here's the antidote. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. Now let's just acknowledge that we're living in a really interesting time right now. The modern world is different and our generation and what we're dealing with right now is different in so many ways than much of what the rest of humanity or forebears have experienced in the past. For instance, if you were to go back

just a couple hundred years ago, imagine how life would be different specifically in this way. What you would be aware of that's broken in the world around you. Think about it. 200 years ago, there's no telephones, there's no telegraph, there's no radio, there's certainly no internet and there's no social media. How do you know what's happening around the world? How could you know? Even if news was to travel to you, you would receive it only months after whatever event you were learning about, if not years after it had already happened. Your awareness of what was going on in the world would be located right around you. Basically, your immediate circle. I mean, stuff could be going on in the next county and you would almost have no idea that it's happening simply because you wouldn't be living in this world where we're constantly bombarded with negative news, the brokenness of the world, a wildfire here, a flood over here, kids dying over here, some centuries old conflict between two different people groups over here that's been erupting again. And not only that, are we not only aware of all of this stuff, but we're expected to have an intelligent take about it. We're expected to be nuanced and have done the research

because, and especially if you're young, by the way, you're expected like so much of, I think so much of what we're consuming is like trying to educate you so you can have an impact and make a difference in this world. I get it, like it's a good idea that we wanna make an impact and make a difference in this world, but what we're doing is we're taking on a burden that is far too big for us to bear. No wonder we're stressed. No wonder we're anxious. We're being bombarded with bad news. I'm supposed to understand what's going on in some centuries old conflict between two different people groups halfway across the world, and I'm supposed to dig into it, do all the research and have a nuanced take about which side is right and which side is wrong and get all up in arms about it? Seriously, that's how I'm to live my life? I don't think so. I don't think there's any way I can deal with all of that. What we're doing is we're taking on more than we should, and it's overwhelming us. What's the antidote? Prayer, prayer. I can't always control what I see.

I can't always control. Now, we're gonna talk about that in a second because we do have some real measure of control, what we take in, but from right now, let's just assume that there are things that are troubling me and the world around me. Rightly so, what do I do with it? Take it to the Lord in prayer. Look at what D.A. Carson, this is a stinging quote, but it's so good. Look at what he says. I have yet to meet a chronic worrier who enjoys an excellent prayer life. The reason that so many of us are dealing with turmoil, stress, anxiety, is that our prayer life is anemic. Maybe we pray, but we just sort of skip across the surface. Our prayers have no real depth to them. Lord, protect my family. Lord, put a hedge of protection. We don't even know what that means, but we heard it somewhere in church. Put a hedge of protection somewhere. I think that's in the Bible. I don't even know. Bless this food. Our prayers are really no deeper than what we see from Ricky Bobby and Talladega Nights. Dear Lord, five pounds, six ounces, or whatever it is, baby Jesus,

you know what I'm talking about? It's like we use all of this religious jargon. We're not giving our real life, our real heart, our real concerns to the Lord. We're just sort of kind of skimming across the surface of sort of like basic kind of needs. We're not offering to the Lord the kind of real anxieties and troubles of our heart. Look at what D.A. Carson says again here. He says, when was the last time you prayed, explicitly and at length, over the things that worry you, trouble you, plague you? Did you take them out? And recount them to God one by one, laying your burdens on him. The reason I think prayer for so many of us doesn't feel real is because we don't get real with God. We give him kind of the surface level stuff. We go no deeper in prayer. Can you imagine a relationship where all, the whole like depth of the relationship was just talking about the weather and sort of what's going on. Can't wait for the weekend. Like that would drive me so crazy. I can barely handle small talk, like just little increments as it is. I want real relationship with the people that I'm gonna be around.

And yet we're bringing to God just this surface level stuff. And yes, God is so much more gracious, thank God, than I am. But I do sometimes wonder like, how does he feel? Does he ever sometimes go, come on with this drivel. Like you could give me so much more than this. This is what we're talking about? You are so stressed and anxious about this real stuff and you're not talking to me about it. And I'm eager to help you, but you refuse to open up. Why? We think we have to clean our prayers up, have all of this beautiful, perfect, biblical Christian kind of language when all he really wants is for us to get real. And this is what we see throughout the scriptures. We see people who get desperate, who are desperate enough to offer their real self to God. He shows up. In the New Testament, there's some amazing stories of people who got bold and got a little crazy in the presence of Jesus, crying out. Do you remember blind Bartimaeus? How he cried out to Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And what happens?

He responds. Jesus shows up. Why? Why does he respond to our desperation? I heard someone talk about this, this last week. Moved me deeply. In fact, I'm being convicted myself right here in this whole area of praying and praying with greater intensity and fervency and bringing real emotion to prayer. Why? Why does God respond to that? Is it just because he likes to see us desperate? No. It's because our prayers, when we pray in that desperate kind of way, you know what happens? Our prayers are finally lining up with reality. There's a cosmic battle going on all around us and all we can come up with to pray for is Lord, Keep us safe today, help us have a good day. Thanks for the sun and the sky, and bless this food. In Jesus' name, amen. Like, that's it? There's so much more to be praying about, and yet our prayer lives, and I have to hold myself in this, have been somewhat anemic. We're not bringing the real stuff to God. Lord, save a generation.

Lord, rescue the lost. Lord, do something about people who are entering into a Christless eternity all around. Pour out your spirit in Tulsa. Do a work. I wonder what would happen if there was a group of people who started praying like that. What we can see throughout history is that any time a group of people got serious about prayer like that, God did pour out his spirit in significant ways. D.A. Kersing continues. He says, this time and time alone, quiet before God. That is what we need. Our lives are so rushed that we begrudge a three-minute quiet time, and then we wonder where God is. Yet the psalmist had it right. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Here's my very simple pastoral advice. Any of you can follow it. You can start today. If it concerns you, pray about it. Take it to the Lord, and not just tritely. Pray about it and stay with it until you have assurance. What does that mean? You know that the Lord's got this.

I have transferred. I'm no longer carrying the burden. That's what that means. I've stayed with this long enough that I am certain the Lord has it. Lord, you've got this now, and you may have to repeat that process because how many of you know these burdens come on us again and again and again? I'm giving it to you, Lord. I'm just transferring this over to you. Why? Because that's exactly what the scriptures instruct us to do. Look at what Peter says. Therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. This is the promise. This is what Paul writes. Look at the promise, the response. By everything, and everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, present, make your requests known to God. This is the response, and the peace of God, the promise. The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Now this is, it's not exactly what you might think because what you'd think he'd say is

by, and everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God and he will grant them one and all. But he doesn't say that, does he? He says in the peace of God, we'll guard your hearts and minds. Why does he say that? Because we don't often know even what we're asking for. We don't always ask for our own best interest. You understand this if you're a parent, right? Do you remember when your kids are younger especially, they ask for stuff that isn't in their best interest. They ask for things that you as a parent just look at them and like, you're nice about it but that is not, that's a dumb request. I am not giving that to you. What do you do as a good mom and a good dad? What do you do? You give them better than what they asked for. Why? Because I know what they truly need. Now come on, how much more does your heavenly father know what you need than you know what your own kids need? So what are you doing? You're trusting him with your anxieties and you're trusting him with the outcome. And what does that produce? Peace. Peace that God, I don't know how you'll do it. This is what I've asked for but I know

that whatever you'll give me will be better. It might be harder for a season but it will be better. I'm trusting you. Stand firm, deal with division, in everything pray and lastly, think on these things. Now let's look at how Paul finishes here. Verse eight, finally brothers, whatever's true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable. If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Now let's just pause here and just make the obvious point that you have to guard what you think about. You can't just let anything into your heart or soul. You have to be careful about this. On just sort of a basic level, some of you need to change the music, the movies that you watch, the books that you read. I'm not just talking about it's not Christian, it's just downright filthy. You will not become more like Christ, listening to and watching rubbish. I'm not saying you need to spend the rest of your life watching only Christian movies or G-rated movies. Simply saying that some of the stuff has no redeeming value and we ought not watch or listen to it or read it. It just has no real value. It's just purely entertainment

and it is feeding our souls the wrong thing. But I also think there's some stuff that's sort of on the line. It's not necessarily bad, I just can't let too much of it into my heart. For instance, I like watching debates. I like watching two people on different sides of issues debate and it's often contentious. I like political debate, I like theological debate, I like social debate. I just enjoy it. I can only watch or listen to so much of it. Because I find that when I listen to it, it just kind of riles me up. I get a little angry, I don't know if you feel that way, and I just like, I don't need to listen to this all the time. It's okay in small doses, but I don't need to dwell on this. It doesn't do anything good for my soul. I need to be thoughtful about what I'm consuming. Friends, can we just be honest about what we're taking in on our phones, what's coming across our feeds? That so much of that is not making us more like Christ, it's only contributing to the anxiety, only contributing to the worry, contributing to the fear, contributing to the lust. And when you get to the point where you're serious enough about changing this, that you're willing to make some real changes,

well then you'll see some real difference. Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are true, think on these things. But then notice how he concludes, verse nine, what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, there's a great outline for a sermon right there, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Here's my final point, and I wonder if you've ever noticed this, that negative thoughts come easy, but right thinking takes practice. Have you ever found that the worst thoughts pop into your mind unannounced? You're just like, you're not even looking for it, some terrible, awful thing just shows up in your mind and you're like, where did that come from? I wasn't looking for it, I wasn't thinking about anything like that, it just showed up in my mind, why are you here? That's how it works, negative thoughts show up unannounced and uninvited. But what I've found is that right thinking, thinking about the Lord, worshiping him, meditating on scripture, that takes practice. Paul says practice these things, you're not gonna get there accidentally. Too many of us have uphill ambitions and dreams and downhill habits. And if you want real change in your life,

it's going to take practice. Practice thinking, meditate, and in this way, we've kind of come full circle. Stand firm, it's the same idea. Think about these things, put them in your mind and heart, let them pass through your mouth, quote the scripture out loud together, and begin to cultivate a new imagination. Four things, stand firm, deal with division, in everything pray, think on these things. And I think you start putting these things in place, you will see the peace of God show up in your life like never before. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? I felt prompted this week as I was preparing this sermon to just give us some time to respond. I know we've got different volunteers who are moving into their positions, I get that, but if you would, if you're not a volunteer, would you just mind holding still for just, I'm not gonna keep you long. But I'd just like to give us some time to respond to this. I think it's important that when the word is preached, we don't just rush right out and enter back into life again so easily, do we forget? We need to take some time to maybe allow the spirit to speak to us, and I've been praying that he would this week. Three different kind of calls I wanna make this weekend

that maybe might describe you. The first is, you wanna put a greater priority on your time spent in the word. Now everybody could raise their hand here because come on, let's be honest, how many of us, we could all spend more time in the word, but I'm talking about specifically, you've been convicted today. You know that you are not prioritizing that whole standing firm thing, that's you. And you're convicted around it, that think on these things thing, that is you. And you're realizing I need to change what I'm thinking about, I need to change what I'm consuming, this may change sort of the pattern and rhythm of my life, but I'm willing to do it. And before God today, you wanna just acknowledge that that is the case and you are making a vow, I'm changing that. I'm gonna prioritize the scripture and time spent with the Lord in a new way. Would you be bold enough, I'm not gonna have you stand up, but would you just throw up your hands and say, wait, that's me. All over the room, all over the room. Wonderful. The second call I felt prompted to make this weekend is for those of us that are feeling stirred to a deeper level of prayer, a more honest kind of prayer. Maybe we could say fervor and frequency. I need to bring my whole self in prayer, but also I want to be praying more. I want to be praying about bigger things. I think maybe the Lord is stirring us as a corporate body, as a church, to pray in a more intense kind of way and maybe even have prayer gatherings. I'm not ready to announce anything yet, but I'm just feeling some of that stirring. But I'm just talking about you right now. You're just feeling I need to

be praying more. And when I was talking about it today, something just went off on the inside of you that was just like a tuning fork. Yes, yes, yes. I want to be doing that. I want more of that. I need to be casting all my anxiety on Him. If that's you, would you be bold enough to just throw your hand up and say, wait, that's me? Yeah, hands all over the place. Awesome. Lastly, and perhaps most personally, that whole division thing, bitterness, resentment. This might be with a spouse. This might be with a child. This might be with a sibling. This might be with a parent who's maybe not even living in Tulsa, but they're at a distance. There's animosity. Things aren't right. And you want to commit. You know you're being convicted. I need to deal with this. I can't control how they're going to respond, but I can control how I respond. You want to make the first move. You might not be ready to do it this afternoon, but you are, before God, vowing to, I'm going to, Lord, would you give me the steps? I want to do something about this. If that's you, would you be bold enough to raise your hand and say, wait, that's me? Yeah. Wonderful. Lord, I pray for your people. Lord, you know every heart. You know what we're dealing with. You know what plagues us, what troubles us, what worries us, and you have stirred us today by your Spirit. I'm so grateful. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for doing what only you can do. Now, Lord, we make, in each of these cases, these solemn vows before you. In church, I charge you not to take this lightly. Too often we're in churches and services, and there's an altar in the moment, and it's kind of a thing like sort of between us and God, and we don't take it with the kind of reverence and respect. Let's just consider that we've just made a promise to Almighty God. Now, Lord, help us by your Spirit to keep it. Help us to walk this out in obedience. We will stumble. We will fall. We will forget. Lord, you're gracious to meet us there, but help us to get back up, to not stay down, but to keep moving forward, and these steps of breakthrough leading toward peace, wholeness, shalom, and every relationship that we have. In Jesus' name, thank you for the implanted word. Now may it bear much fruit. In Christ's name, we pray, and everybody said, amen. Now, at the close of the service,

if you have a prayer need, our prayer team will be down front standing right in front of me, all along the front of the stage. We would love to be able to agree with you in prayer about whatever you might be going through. And if you happen to be here and you're like, you know, I think I'm in kind of a new place in my relationship with God. In fact, maybe you've said over the last few weeks, I don't know, I think maybe I'm a Christian, or I think I'm wanting to get serious about my faith again, our team has a little booklet down here that we'd love to give to you. It just talks about what it means to be a Christian, and we would love to hand that to you, give you whatever next steps. It's a great little book. Grab it, take it, study it, look at it. It's not an opportunity for us to get you on a mailing list or to harass you about coming back here. We truly just want to resource you in your walk and journey with Christ. Stand to your feet. We're going to close with this blessing out of Numbers chapter 6, how we always close at Church on the Move. And we're going to put it on the screen. I like to say it out loud with all of you so you can join with me. Here we go. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. God bless you. I love you. We'll see you next week. You're dismissed. breaking news breaking news breaking news breaking news breaking news Breaking news breaking news breaking news breaking news breaking news breaking news

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