The Battle Is Real | Kyle Idleman

Well, what's up, Pando family? My name is Matt Robinson, and I'm a great forward-covering alcoholic and addict, and I'm a pastor here at Southeast. And we are so grateful that you are participating with us today, and you chose to be with us as we worship. I'm really excited for what this day is going to bring and what this service is going to bring. Had some great correspondence this week with two facilities here in the state of Kentucky where we have 19 people getting together to do pathways. Another facility in North Carolina, and another facility in Florida. So if you are doing Spiritual Pathways on our Pando app, or you're participating with other people in that, we'd love for you to write in. Or if you just want to write in and let us know about what God is doing in your life, how the kingdom of God is moving in all places, it's such a blessing for us. Also, if you're loving the Southeast content and the things that are out there, the podcast, the different write-in options, the Spiritual Pathways things that are there, man, please hit Subscribe on our channel. That way you don't have to worry about guessing for when stuff comes up. Would just love for you to stay up to date and connected with us through all the things that are coming. Really grateful for this series that Kyle is kicking off today. It's a great look for us.

How do we live our life in recognizing the spiritual realm and the spiritual world that is there, but also the physical realm that we live in? And there's just the walking and the tension that we have as humans where we are in the physical realm, but we are participating in a part of the spiritual realm. I really feel like it's going to be a great asset, a great resource, and a great opportunity for you to learn some stuff about yourself and what God is doing in you. And also a great time for you to invite somebody else that you think, man, this would be really good for them to hear right now. How do we balance the spiritual and the physical realm at the same time? So we're grateful to get started today. I invite you to kind of take a couple of deep breaths, get yourself centered and present, and let's get locked in and let's worship together today. We sing, He's holy. He's worthy, no other one who's worthy, so worthy. Nothing compares to His glory and power. In Him, through Him, for Him. He's everything. He's everything. He's everything. He's worthy, no other one who's worthy, so worthy. Nothing compares to His glory and power. In Him, through Him, for Him. He's everything.

In Him, through Him, for Him. He's everything. He's everything. He was there in the beginning and He'll be here He's the first and the last and the only one never no defeat. He's the reigning King of Heaven, the God of victory. He's the cross and resurrection. He's the fire and the wind. He was there in the beginning and He'll be there in the end. He's the first and the last and the only one never no defeat. He's the reigning King of Heaven. ♪ You got a victory ♪ ♪ In him, through him, for him, is everything ♪ ♪ In him, through him, for him, is everything ♪ ♪ In him, through him, for him, is everything ♪ ♪ In him, through him, for him ♪ ♪ There is no other one who's holy, so holy ♪ ♪ No other one who's worthy, so worthy ♪ ♪ Nothing compares to his glory and power ♪ ♪ In him, through him, for him, is everything ♪ ♪ In him, through him, for him, is everything ♪ ♪ In him, through him, for him, is everything ♪ ♪ In him, through him, for him, is everything ♪ ♪ Everything changed, it's getting harder to recognize ♪ ♪ The person I was, before I encountered Christ ♪ ♪ I don't walk like I used to, I don't talk like I used to ♪ ♪ I've been washed from the inside, I've been washed from the inside ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, I know it was a flood ♪

♪ Could have only been the blood, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was a flood, could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ I cannot explain, another's more real than this ♪ ♪ In the presence of God, oh, when my heart experienced ♪ ♪ When my shame hit the wayside, and my sin met the most high ♪ ♪ I was washed from the inside, I was washed from the inside ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, I know it was a flood ♪ ♪ Could have only been the blood, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, I know it was a flood ♪ ♪ Could have only been the blood, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Only by your blood, oh we thank you, oh we thank you Lord ♪ ♪ We thank you Jesus ♪ ♪ It's never been about performance, perfection ♪ ♪ Or striving for acceptance, let me tell you ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood, it's never been about deserving or earning ♪ ♪ It's a gift that's freely given, let me tell you ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood, it's never been about performance ♪ ♪ Or perfection, or striving for acceptance, let me tell you ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood, it's never been about deserving or earning ♪ ♪ It's a gift that's freely given, let me tell you ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood, does anybody wanna be holy or righteous, purified or spotless, let me tell you ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood, does anybody wanna be worthy, forgiven, justified, really living, let me tell you ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood, does anybody wanna be worthy, forgiven, justified, really living, let me tell you ♪ ♪ By the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was a blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was a blood ♪

♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Only been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ What could wash away my sin ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus, why? ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus, why? ♪ ♪ Oh, precious is the flood ♪ ♪ And this my sin ♪ ♪ No one else I know ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ Thank you. Jesus, we praise you in this place this morning. And we come with so much gratitude that you poured out your blood on the cross for us. God, we give you all the glory this morning. We fix our eyes on you. Give us eyes to see, give us ears to hear. We love you. It's in Jesus' name, amen. We are about to see a move update from our care ministry. You guys can go ahead and have a seat. Let's check out the screams together. I started to be a facilitator because of my own grief journey. I lost my dad and that journey led me to be a facilitator. I didn't want to do this. It wasn't on my bucket list of things to do, but I kept getting that nudge from the Lord. And I wanted to say no,

but I started to say yes to God and be obedient to him. I meet people at the hardest time of their life and I get to walk this journey with them. It's not easy, but I get to see healing for people. I get to see them finally meet Jesus and have joy in the midst of their sadness. And I get a front row seat to that. It got me through probably one of the darkest times in my life. I was married for 54 years, eight months and four days. And without this group, that journey back to where we are now would have been most difficult. I remember when my dad had first passed, I came very quickly, about less than 30 days. And I met Ellen, her dad had passed away as well. I just remember being very angry and she got me to open up and I dealt with my anger and it took me a long time, but the grief group helped a lot. That's what Ellen kind of teaches, that, okay, he still loves you, he still cares, you're going through this, but just stay in here, stay with it. Lynn and myself, we was together 27 years. She was my rock, I lost that rock. I found this group here and they just brought me in, treated me like family. I've baptized two or three people from the group, one of which who was out of church for 40 some years and never wanted to be in church. And after completing the workshop,

he chose to be baptized and wanted Jesus in his life. Ellen and Lynn. They baptized me on the day that my love had passed. And this group has saved my life. I'd do anything in the world for this group. It would be easy to assume that groups like this are sad and not full of hope and just dreadful to go to. And yeah, it takes courage to walk in a group when you feel the way you do from grief. But you know, the group and the workshop is filled with joy. It's filled with laughter. People are laughing and enjoying life again. One of the things I love about our church is our desire to walk alongside those that are trying to move forward through life's messes. We believe in creating communities so people aren't alone through the hard and unexpected seasons of life. Our care ministry exists to do just that and for people to find real hope and healing. Through MOVE!, we have a goal of 75 new care groups over the next three years to help the hurting in and around our church. And because of your generosity, we're close to 60% towards reaching this goal. 43 new care groups have formed since the start of MOVE! and new care groups are launching right now across all of our campuses. But we know the need is still great. Just like Ellen, we're looking for people that have found healing on the other side of grief, addiction, abuse, or mental health issues to be a part of what the Lord is doing. If you have a story of your own, we invite you to come and be a part of healing in someone else's life. To learn more or to get involved, text CARE to 733-733 to get started in changing someone's story today. I am so thankful for our care ministry. I know that there are many of you in this room who have experienced that kind of care,

that kind of love. I've worked at several other churches. I've got some buddies across the nation at churches. What I've experienced is that God is doing something incredibly special here through our care ministry here at Southeast. We are making space so that hurting people can find a place for comfort in community. They can find a place where they can journey with other people alongside the scriptures and looking to Jesus. I just know that there are a number of you in this room, like the Holy Spirit has comforted you in a powerful way. He has walked you through a season that you could never have gone through on your own. I just wonder if potentially the Spirit is tapping you on the shoulder saying it's time to comfort others with the same comfort that you were comforted with. We would love to have that conversation. Our care team would be honored to walk with you in discovering what it would look like to be a facilitator or a group leader in one of our care ministry groups. Maybe you're in here and you're saying, you know what, like I've been doing this all by myself and I'm tired of walking this journey alone. We have so many care groups that we would love to have a conversation with you about joining one. I just think everything is better in relationship. And so if you want to head out to our atrium, our care ministry is out there and somebody would love to talk to you about joining one of our groups. Again, you can either text CARE to 733-733 or you can head out to the atrium and talk to somebody about joining. You know, every single week we take communion and it's a time in our service where we slow down and we follow Jesus's instructions where he encourages us to look back and to remember his sacrifice. And so very specifically, we remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. I just think every so often I like to remind myself, and I want to remind us this morning

that we're not looking back simply on a historical fact. It certainly happened, but what we look back and we remember is the event that secured our future hope. And so quite literally what we're doing is we're looking back so that we can look forward and hope to when Jesus will return. I think as we continue our conversation about people who are experiencing grief, pain, and suffering, the good news that I have for us this morning is that there is a day where everything will be made new. I love in Revelation chapter 21, it says this, it's describing a picture of heaven. It says this starting in verse 3, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, now the dwelling of God is with men. and He will live with them. They will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away. He who is seated on the throne said, I am making all things new. And so as we continue worshiping together, let's fix our eyes on Jesus. Let's look backwards at His sacrifice that secured the greatest hope that we could have ever imagined. Let's worship and let's take communion together. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Raise the Lord ♪ ♪ Come on my soul, oh don't you get shot on me ♪ ♪ Lift up your soul, if you've got a liar inside of us ♪ ♪ Get up and raise the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh come on, come on my soul, oh don't you get shot on me now ♪ ♪ Lift up your soul, if you've got a liar inside of us ♪ ♪ Get up and raise the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, raise the Lord ♪ ♪ I'm gonna be yours now, I am in your heart ♪ ♪ So I drop my head and praise you again and again ♪

♪ For all that I have is a God, we sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it's not much, I'm nothing else before you ♪ ♪ It's just for the heart, we sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ God, what can we say but thank you. We have nothing to offer. I have no payment that would be enough, nothing we can do to deserve it, but you and your generosity gave your only son, Jesus. You so loved the world that you gave him so that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. And that means, God, that as your sons and daughters, we should always be the most grateful people in the room. Like no matter what's happening, no matter what circumstances we're dealing with, that underneath it is this anchor of gratitude that goes directly to the cross. Doesn't mean we don't grieve, doesn't mean we aren't sad, doesn't mean we don't struggle, but underneath it is this gratitude where we're just aware of your kindness to us. We're aware of our promise of eternity. We have that hope that we just can hold on to. And God, I pray in the next few minutes that by your spirit, you would open our eyes, that you would soften our hearts. Lord, I believe that you want to wake us up

from some of the distractions of this world, some of the worries of this world, and you want us to focus our eyes on heaven, you want us to focus our hearts on eternity. So would you move in that way? Would you open our eyes so that we might see? It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. You can be seated. Amen. There are a lot of ways that you can start a sermon. Like you can open with a joke. Kind of loosens people up. And listen, a lot of people grew up in churches where people didn't really smile. The first church I ever preached at, there was this man named Herschel who was a greeter at the front door, and we had this thing we did. He would have this look on his face like somebody just canceled the potluck, and I would walk in on Sunday mornings, I'd shake his hand, I'd say, Herschel, good morning. And Herschel would say, every Sunday, well, we'll see. Like, sometimes people in church need to smile, and it helps people kind of prepare to hear sometimes a message that might be a bit difficult. Like, you can open a sermon with something that is especially relevant, like a headline or a statistic, something that makes people sit up and lean in

because it comes from what's happening in the world around us. It connects the sermon that people are about to hear with the tension that they're actually living in. You can open a sermon with a story, like a personal story, something a little vulnerable, maybe self-deprecating, enough to make people say to themselves, oh, good, like, he's a mess, too, it's not just me, and that can help build some trust in the message. I'm just saying, there are lots of ways that you can start a sermon, which got me thinking, like, how did Jesus do it? Like, how did he start his first sermon? And what we're gonna see is he didn't warm up the room with a joke, like, hey, what's the deal with these fishermen? He didn't do that. that he didn't start with a statistic about how hard life was under Roman occupation. He didn't begin with this relatable story about growing up in Nazareth. Instead, he starts with a single word, a word that would have made everyone uncomfortable. It's in Matthew chapter four, verse 17. It says, from that time on, Jesus began to preach, repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. No warmup, no crowd work, no icebreaker. He like starts with the word repent. Now, the truth is, if you studied the gospels,

Jesus would often start his teaching with a little humor or a story, but his ministry begins, like his preaching begins with one word, and it's repent. If Jesus had a communications team, like that word would have gotten washed from the first draft. Jesus, hey, why don't you just go straight into the kingdom of heaven has come near. Skip repent. Or better yet, Jesus, start with a miracle, like the water to wine thing, huge hit. Crowds love it. Do that every time. But he starts with the word repent, which either means Jesus is really bad at introductions, or repentance is the whole point. Like repentance is the only right response when confronted with the preaching of Jesus announcing the reality of the kingdom of heaven. And so this week, we're starting a new series called The Kingdom is Real. And each week, we are gonna be confronted with the reality of the kingdom of heaven, and our right response each week is gonna be repentance. Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven, and a lot of us believe in the kingdom of heaven the way we might believe in Antarctica. Like we believe it's real,

but we're not really sure how to find it on a map. Like, we don't really think about it. Doesn't really impact our lives today, but yeah, you know, it's out there somewhere. If you ask 100 people, like, what's the kingdom of heaven? How would you define that? What's that mean? About 95 out of 100 would say, the kingdom of heaven, that's where you go when you die. That's where you go when you die. But Jesus uses the language kingdom of heaven constantly, and he almost never means that. So in Matthew's gospel, the language is kingdom of heaven. In Mark and Luke, it's the kingdom of God. The word kingdom in Greek doesn't primarily mean like a territory. It means reign, and it means a king has come. And so when you hear the word kingdom in the gospels, don't think of realm, think of the word rule. The kingdom of heaven is not so much where you go when you die, it's what breaks through when you finally surrender. The kingdom of heaven is the reality of God's rule and reign breaking in to our ordinary lives right here and right now. And when your eyes are open to it, like when you start to see the kingdom of heaven breaking through, it just changes things. Like when the kingdom of heaven becomes real to you, it changes how you pray.

It changes the way you spend money. It changes the way you see people. It gives you this purpose. It gives you hope that isn't dependent on circumstances. It allows you to filter everything through the lens of eternity. And there are these moments where I'm just overwhelmed by the reality of the kingdom of heaven. Moments where the kingdom of heaven breaks through into our world, and it just gets my attention. I gotta tell you about this device I've started to wear. I've got it around my neck here. It's this little white square. Can you see this? It sits on the back of my spine, and when I slouch, it sends an electric signal, like an electric shock, into my spine. Like it's nothing too dramatic. Like I'm not being tortured up here. It's like a shock collar for people with bad posture. Like it's meant to get my attention. It's meant to fix my posture. I ordered it off Amazon. When it arrived, my wife opens the box, and she's like, what is this? And I said, that, my dear, is your replacement. Like you no longer have to say to me, stand up straight, shoulders back. Like you don't have to be the posture police

in my life anymore. Like you are fired. And seemed a little skeptical of this thing. A little disappointed, like I was taking away some of her purpose in life. But the reason I need this thing, is my natural position had become, oh, my natural position had become this, like slouch. wakes up one day and decides I'm going to have terrible posture. It's just like a thousand small surrenders hunting over a laptop, nobody in the room saying anything about it, like years of my body, like negotiating for the position that takes the least amount of effort. And by the time I noticed it, like slouching wasn't the exception. It was just me. It was my default. It was my resting state. And so left alone with no outside correction, my body doesn't drift towards good posture. Nobody has to train you to slouch. You just have to stop paying attention and then gravity and convenience does the rest. And I think this is what happens to us oftentimes spiritually. And nobody decides in this one dramatic moment, I'm going to stop living like the kingdom is real. It's smaller than that.

It's slower than that. It's a thousand mornings where you wake up and you don't pray. It's a thousand decisions that get made without the kingdom in mind. It's a thousand Sundays where you go to church for a little tune-up and then you just really don't think about it the other six days of the week. It's a thousand moments where you let the group chat form your soul and your outrage before you let Jesus form anything. And then one day you look up and you realize this slouch, this posture, this spiritual apathy. It's not a phase you're going through. It's just you now. It's your resting state. And so what this device has taught me, it doesn't fix my posture, right? It's not doing the work for me. It never once like physically pulls my shoulders back and tells me to stand up straight. All it can do is interrupt me. It can get my attention. It can break through the distractions. It can break through my apathy. It makes me aware of the drift. It wakes me up, at least for a second. But the actual, you know, stand up straight part, like that's still on me. I really believe that this is what happens when the kingdom of heaven breaks through into our world.

It creates this moment where our eyes are open. Wakes us up. Wakes us up from the monotony of life. It confronts our spiritual slouch. The slouch that we've stopped noticing, this kind of the small little shock that says you've drifted again. You didn't even feel it happening. You're sleeping again. You need to wake up. When I think of moments like this, where the kingdom of heaven breaks through, I think of times when I'm in the baptistry. And I'm listening to people share their story with me. I'm standing waist deep in water and I'm listening to somebody's like 60 second version of their whole lives. There's brokenness and there's confusion and there's shame. But then there's this two-word transition. And this two-word transition shows up again and again in a hundred different stories. It is the hinge that one story after another tends to swing on, especially in the baptistry, the two words. But God, I thought my addiction was going to be the last chapter of my story. But God, I thought I was too far gone to be forgiven. But God, I thought my marriage was something that could never be put together. But God, I thought the diagnosis was going to be the end of me. But God, I thought the way I grew up was going to be my kid's story too.

But God, and those two words, but God, like those are kingdom of heaven breaking through words. And I just want you to notice something about that phrase, but God, like nobody in the water ever says, but I, but I got my act together. But I finally figured it out. But I finally tried hard enough. Like this story doesn't pivot on but I, the story pivots on but God. And that phrase is an announcement that the king has shown up, that the kingdom has broken through. And when the king shows up, addiction loses its grip and shame stops winning. When the king shows up, he steps into a story that you thought was finished and he says, I got another chapter to write. And so sometimes, standing in that water, I can't help but whisper to myself, it's all real. I, I whisper that in the baptistry, but I once whispered it in a hospital room. I walked in to visit a family whose little girl was stillborn, and so the father was sitting in a chair beside the bed holding his daughter's lifeless body against his chest. And then in that room with the nurse standing quietly by the door, the family joins hands around the bed where the mother is lying, and they start singing through tears, how great is our God, how great is our God. It just came out of them, and all I could do was whisper, it's all real. I whispered that once, right back here. A couple in their 60s sat in this sanctuary and shared with me that the weekend before they had driven four hours to a prison to visit

the man who had murdered their son three years earlier. They didn't go to yell at him, they didn't go looking for closure, rather they had been praying for this man by name every day for three years, and they were finally ready to do the thing that they thought would be impossible to do, to forgive him, face to face. And so they sat across from him in this prison, across from him at a metal table, a guard close enough to overhear, and they said, we forgive you. And then they told this man why they were able to forgive him, and they shared the gospel, they shared Jesus with him. And as I listened, I just whispered to myself, it's all real, it's all real. I whispered it once a few years back now, I was watching a couple in our church adopt a nine-year-old boy who had been in and out of six potential homes six times. Someone had decided, he's too much. And I stood in a courtroom on that day, and a judge asked this boy, do you understand what's happening to you today? And he nodded yes, big grin on his face. And then he started crying, kind of half crying, half laughing, just overwhelmed by the moment of it. And his new mom and dad come around him, and his new siblings come around him, and they celebrate. He had almost come to the conclusion that it was never gonna happen, and then it happened. And I said to myself, it's all real. I have seen the kingdom come in church, but I've seen it in hospital rooms, I've seen it come in prison visitation areas, I've seen it in courtrooms. And in those moments, it's like my eyes are open, I recognize this reality that's always been there, but sometimes I'm just distracted, and I'm busy, and I lose sight of it. I want to go back to Matthew 4 17 here for a moment. We read what Jesus says, but there's something really significant about the context of this verse. Like it clues us in on when and where Jesus says this, and it turns out that it matters a lot. So look at this verse again. It says, from that time on, from that time on, Jesus began to preach, repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. From that time on. Okay, from what time on? Well, Matthew is pointing backward. He's referencing what just happened in chapter 4, and so the question is, okay, well what happened right before Jesus stood up and said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is real? Well, if you go back to

the beginning of chapter 4, like same chapter, just like 13 verses earlier, verse 1 says, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. So Jesus has spent 40 days with no food. He's all alone, and then at the end of this 40 days, the enemy attacks like three times. The enemy comes at him. He's weak, and he's hungry, and he's alone, and Satan's like, okay, now's the time, and he attacks. But here's the point. Jesus had just stepped off the battlefield. So when Jesus steps off the battlefield and begins speaking of the kingdom, he's not stepping out of his office. Like, he is speaking with the dust of the battlefield still on his feet. And so when he declares the kingdom of heaven has come, this isn't just like this poetic language. It's not just like an announcement before the sermon starts. Like, this is a declaration of war. War against sin, and war against darkness, war against shame, war against death itself. And so when Jesus spoke about the kingdom of heaven, he was declaring war against the kingdom of darkness. Whenever he speaks about the kingdom of heaven, there's almost always an enemy. There's always a battle. So the kingdom is real, and the battle is real. John 10, verse 10, Jesus said, the thief has come to kill, steal, and destroy. But I've come that they may have life and have it to the... Well, Jesus says, my kingdom has come to bring the fullness of life, but there's an enemy. The battle is real. There's kingdom of light, kingdom of darkness, which brings us to Ephesians chapter six. Paul is riding in a prison. He's chained to a soldier, and he's gonna use that image to help us understand what we should look like if we're gonna live like the battle is real. Ephesians six, verse 12, that our struggle, like it's real, our battle is real, our struggle is real, but it's not against flesh and blood,

but against rulers and authorities, against powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. So Paul says, yeah, yeah, yeah, there is a real battle, but you may not be fighting it. Like the real battle is not against flesh and blood, which means a lot of us are in a battle, but it's not the real battle. Like you think the enemy is your mother-in-law, and it's not your mother-in-law. You think the enemy is the coworker that's been talking behind your back, and you know what you would say if he ever said it to your face. Like your enemy is not whoever you're arguing with in your car, even though they're not even in your car, like you're by yourself and you're still arguing. Like that's not the enemy. There is a battle, but your battle is not against your unbelieving spouse who's making fun of you for being here. It's not against the professor who's gonna belittle your faith this semester. Your battle is not against the person dating your child who seems to undermine everything you believe. Like you do have a real enemy, but your real enemy isn't the coworker who stabs you in the back. It's not the political extremist who's getting you riled up online.

It's not the relative who gossips about you. And the church, like we have an enemy, but the enemy is not the activist judge or the Muslim extremist or this political group. Like they're not the enemy. They are the hostages of the enemy. The real enemy is thrilled when you get caught up fighting as hostages. So yeah, the kingdom is real and the battle is real. Paul uses the image of a soldier to help us understand what a person who recognizes the reality of the battle should be wearing. He gives us this picture of a soldier. And that means the church then is an army. And yet sometimes I just step back and I kind of wonder, is the church more of an audience than an army? If you think through this, like an audience gathers, but an army assembles. Like an audience shows up when it's convenient. An army shows up when it costs something. An audience wants a good seat. An army wants a good position. Like I know some of you love your good seat. You've got strong feelings about the seat you're sitting in right now. There's people around here who've been sitting in the seat they're in since 2007. And if somebody comes in and sits in your seat, you're just gonna stand there until they get the hint.

I'm just saying, an army doesn't care where it sits. An army cares where it stands. An audience evaluates the message. An army receives marching orders. An audience says, I didn't get much out of it today. An army says, I know my assignment, I'm on mission. An audience comes to be moved. An army comes to be deployed. Like if you want to build an audience, entertain them. If you want to build an army, train them. If you want an audience, tell them there's a show. If you want an army, tell them there's a war. And so in case there's any confusion, let me say it plainly, there's a war. There's a war for your soul. There's a war for your marriage. And there's a war for your kids. Like you think they're just in their room scrolling on their phones. They're not just scrolling, they're fighting. They're in a battle and a lot of them are fighting alone and losing. There's a war for your peace. Like the enemy doesn't need to break you, he just needs to keep you too busy to be intentional. There's a war for your integrity. And it's not gonna likely be lost in one, in one dramatic decision. It'll be lost the way, you know, posture gets lost. A thousand small surrenders that nobody sees.

And there's a war for our church. But it's not being fought against the culture out there. It's being fought by whether or not people in here will pick up their armor. Like the battle is real. We just don't always have eyes to see it. One of my favorite scenes in the Bible is tucked into the Old Testament book of Second Kings. The prophet Elisha has become a problem for the king of Aram. And so every military move Aram makes, Elisha knows about it in advance and tips off the king of Israel. So the king of Aram. does what, you know, any frustrated, embarrassed, angry king might do. He sends an army. Not like a squad, but like a whole army. Chariots, horses, the whole thing. So an army is sent after Elisha. And during the night, it surrounds the city of Dothan, where Elisha is staying. And Elisha's servant, who's staying with him, wakes up early the next morning. You know, just a morning like any other morning. Make some coffee. Opens the door, steps outside. And he sees an army. An entire army. Frantically, he looks around for a way out.

But there is like, there is no way out. They are completely surrounded. And so he runs back inside and he tells Elisha, he says, oh no, my lord, what shall we do now? What do we do now? And Elisha says, don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed, open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see. And the Lord opened up the servant's eyes and he looked up and he saw that the hills were full of chariots of fire all around Elisha. And so he prays, God, open his eyes that he might see. And the servant's eyes are open. And he sees they are surrounded by heaven's armies. But if you go back and you look a little bit more closely at this, like what Elisha actually says to his servant before his eyes are open, Elisha says, those who are with us are more, are greater than those who are with them. It's interesting. You would think he would say, those who are with us are greater than them. That's not what he says. Those who are with us are greater than those who are with them. In other words, it wasn't just the armies of the kingdom of heaven there that day, but the kingdom of darkness was also there. So from the servant's perspective,

the battle was between him and Elisha and the army. That wasn't the real battle. The real battle was the kingdom of heaven against the kingdom of darkness. And the servant's eyes are open. And I guess he probably whispered to himself, it's all real. I want to spend just a couple minutes making this personal because I think it's one thing to say it's, there's a real battle. It's another thing to live like it. So I want to give you some symptoms of someone who stops living like the battle is real. Let me give you one verse to kind of hang on to throughout this. It's 1 Peter 5, 8. Be alert and of sober mind. Be clear-minded, be awake, be focused, eyes open because your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. And so Peter kind of uses this hunting metaphor. And the kind of hunter he chooses for the enemy is a lion. A lion doesn't just charge into the middle of a herd. A lion is patient. A lion watches. A lion is looking for the one who has drifted, the one who's fallen a little bit behind, the one who's wandered off, not really paying attention. And so a few symptoms of someone who isn't living like there's a battle.

Number one, you're shocked when the attack comes. Like if you really believe the battle is real, then stop acting so surprised when you're attacked. Soldiers don't come home from deployment. So you're not gonna believe what happened to me over there. People are shooting at me, but that's how we act. Like if something is coming at you and it's again and again, like at the same time when you're vulnerable, like at 1140 at night, like the enemy knows that's when to come after you or right after a fight with your spouse or after you've had two drinks or when you're in a hotel room out of town. Like it happens again and again and again. And it's like we're living on a playground instead of a battleground because we act surprised every time. So one symptom is that we just get caught off guard again and again. If we understood the battle is real, we wouldn't be surprised. Symptom number two, you treat spiritual disciplines as optional. Remember what Paul said in Ephesians 6, put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against enemy. I just wanna challenge you to go home and read that whole chapter of Ephesians 6. Like armor is not an accessory for the believer.

It is a requirement because you're doing battle. Last week I was speaking at this conference in Utah and my wife went with me. We celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary together, hiking in the mountains. At 31 years and we're planning on these hikes. I packed myself initially. I packed some basketball shorts, t-shirt, tennis shoes. I looked like I was dressed for a pickup game. My wife looks at what I'm packing and she's like, no, that's not reality. And so she orders me hiking shoes and like some wool socks and a backpack with a tube coming out of it so I can stay hydrated, as if I was gonna take it so seriously. I don't have time to stop and pull a water bottle out of the backpack, but she, she wasn't correcting my fashion. She was making sure I was dressed for reality. Like she wanted me to be dressed for the reality of where we were going and where we were gonna be and the conditions we were gonna be in. And this is what Paul does in Ephesians 6. He says, look, I know where you're heading. Like I know the climate that you're in and what you're wearing. It's not gonna work. And so here's how you should be dressing if you really believe the battle is real. In verse 18, he specifically mentions prayer. I think how you pray really tells a story about whether you actually believe the battle is real. Because the person who treats prayer like a last resort instead of a first response doesn't really believe that there's a battle. And the same is true in the way you worship. Do you kind of worship because you like the music or the feeling or the emotion or do you worship as a weapon? Symptom number three, your response to sin is always behavioral and it's never spiritual. Like you put your confidence in your own willpower instead of picking up the real weapons.

2 Corinthians 10 verse 4 says the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. And so willpower is just an example of one of those worldly weapons. Where we think, okay, I'm gonna make this happen. I'm gonna do it myself. I'm gonna be more determined. And when that's our weapon, it's like swinging a plastic sword at a lion and then being shocked that we keep losing. If you want victory, then you have to understand your enemy and you need spiritual weapons to put on the full armor of God. Symptom number four is you're unbothered by isolation. Like you think, I can follow Jesus by myself. Go back to this lion metaphor that Peter uses. He prowls around looking for someone to devour. And so a lion doesn't hunt the herd. He's just looking for whoever steps away from it. And most people who wander off from the herd and they get attacked, like they don't mean to wander off. I don't think that happens often where somebody announces, hey, I'm wandering off. Like they just stop showing up and then they stop being missed. And then they're alone on the edge of a tree line and they don't understand why it's all so hard. If you believe the battle is real, then don't isolate yourself. Like we need each other. You don't skip out on church for six weeks You make sure you have somebody in your life who can ask you hard questions and have hard conversations. Somebody that notices when you start to slouch spiritually. Symptom number five. You use words other than sin. You've stopped using the word sin and you prefer words that are more comfortable. So you say, oh, it was an accident. It was a mistake and I've been struggling. Or it's a failure.

We've got this whole vocabulary built around not calling sin, sin. But here's the problem with every one of those words. Like repentance doesn't really seem like the response. It doesn't work. Like it's hard to repent of a mistake. It was a mistake. Didn't mean to do it. Same with accident. It was just an accident. Hard to repent of an accident. You can't repent of a struggle because, hey, I'm trying. Repentance really only works with sin. And so if you really believe the battle is real, repentance is a regular part of your life. Not to shame you, but to free you. And so this is what Jesus says. He says, repent. The kingdom of heaven is near. Like your response, the kingdom of heaven, should be responsive. I think for a lot of us it's hard. It's because the word repent is a word that we think of as being written on a cardboard sign and held by a man on a street corner or or maybe it's a word you associate with an angry preacher who's yelling, red-faced, pounding the pulpit. Like repent sounds like a shaming word, like a religious word to make you feel worse about yourself. That's not the gospel. That's not what that word means. In the Greek, that word means change your mind and then change your direction. So it's not really even a religious word. And it's not really an emotion. It's turning. It's really a military word of turnabout phase where you're going one direction and you stop because you realize it's the wrong way and you turn and you go a different way. And that's not really a religious thing. It's just what smart people do. If you realize you're going the wrong direction, you stop going that direction, and you repent.

And this should be a regular part of our lives if we believe the kingdom is real. I have a word that I sometimes use instead of sin. It's one word that often keeps me from living like the battle is real. It's a respectable word, and I didn't realize I was using it instead of sin. Instead of using the word sin, I like to use the word busy. I've said it a thousand times. I've said it to some of you. I've said it to my wife, to my kids. I've said it to God and to myself. I'm not sinning, I'm busy. I'll just say maybe it's a busy season. Hard to repent of a busy season. A few months ago, I woke up early on a Tuesday morning and I went to elder prayer time at 7 a.m. I get on my knees with the elders, and I'm suddenly struck by something. It's really embarrassing for me to admit. I was struck by the fact that the last time I had actually prayed was the Tuesday before that. Like a week had gone by. I had preached, I had written, I had led without really praying. Like yeah, maybe some prayers before meals, but I mean like really praying, thoughtfully, intentionally praying. And so I'm on my knees there trying to explain to God. I'm not repenting, I'm managing.

I'm like God, I've been busy. You get it, you get it. Like I'm using the word busy. But as I knelt down, I could feel the tears rolling up in my eyes. I tried to explain again to God, God, I've been busy doing what you asked me to do. And yet I knew down deep, like it wasn't the right word. Busy wasn't the right word. This is one of the best tricks the enemy has played on me. Because in my line of work, like busyness can look like faithfulness. I can prepare a message on prayer instead of praying. I can talk about God for a living and then go almost a week without saying anything to God. And I don't know of another job quite like that where you can be that far away and then from the outside, it looks like devotion. I had been so busy talking about God that I wasn't talking to him. And then it dawned on me, maybe, maybe I have used this word busy instead of sin in other ways too. Because when I have been short with one of my kids, I'm impatient, get angry. I don't say I'm sinning. I say, hey, I've got a lot going on right now. It's a busy season. When my wife is telling me something and I'm kind of looking at her and nodding and I'm not really paying attention.

I don't say, I'm not honoring you. I don't say I'm sinning. I say, I'm distracted. Do you understand? It's busy right now. And 31 years in, she really doesn't get frustrated anymore. Not really. She kind of just accepts the fact that there are these stretches where I'm in the house but I'm not home. And I've been okay with that because, you know, it's my schedule and it's hard to repent of a schedule. It's just a schedule. When I haven't been the spiritual leader my family needs, like where there's been stretches where my kids' spiritual leadership came more from my sermons that they heard in church. I don't say I've neglected that role. I don't call it sin. I just say it's a busy season. And here's the part that's hard to say out loud. Like sometimes I'm busy and in my busy season, I'm more focused on building an audience than an army. Now, some of it's disobedience or some of it's obedience, some of it's faithfulness, but a lot of it's protecting a reputation or trying to impress a room. But a busy season isn't something you can really repent of. It's something you survive. It's something you can explain.

It's something that everybody else has to just tolerate until it passes. And I've been in a busy season for about 25 years. And at some point, it stopped being a season and it just started becoming my posture, my default, my resting state. I'm 50 years old and I'd like to stop lying about it. It's not a season, it's a sin. It's hard to repent of a season. I told you about the baptistry, standing waist deep in that water, listening to story after story, hearing those two words, but God, but God. I just want you to notice where that phrase shows up in a person's story. doesn't show up in the part where they have it all together. It shows up in the part where they finally stop pretending. Like every time the turn comes, the kingdom of heaven breaks through right after someone tells the truth about themselves. I know that some of you are longing for a but God moment in your story. And you felt discouraged for a while or you felt worn out for a while and you're ready for some hope and you're ready for some redemption and you're ready for him to do something beautiful out of some things that are broken. The best way I know to invite a but God moment into your life is repentance.

It's surrender. The kingdom of heaven breaks through in those moments where you, when you see the truth about yourself, it invites God to break through. It invites a but God moment. Well, Elisha prayed a simple prayer over his servant and it is the prayer I wanna pray over you. God, open their eyes that they may see. Let me do that. Lord, right here and right now, would you let us see what we've been missing? We are caught up in the distractions of this life. We're caught up in the worries of this world. All of us have things on our mind constantly. It's the day-to-day things. And we need you to show us the reality of the kingdom, the reality of the battle. So God, would you let us be an army? Would you let us be a church that lives like it's real because it is, that lives like the kingdom is real, that understands the battle is real? And so would you open up our eyes that we might see what's really happening around us? And Lord, would you let our response be a humble repentance? Would you let us understand that repentance is something that you invite us into, not as a way to shame us, but as a way to free us? God, would you let repentance be just a regular part of following after you, Jesus,

that we just, we can often have our eyes open and we can see and we can turn. And Lord, I know in those moments, we are inviting you to break through. And so would you let that be just a part of who we are as your followers, that'd be a part of who we are as a church, we'd be a church that repents. So give us the humility, give us the courage to do that. Open our eyes so that we may see it's all real. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. I wanna give you just a chance to respond to what we've talked about today. As we worship, for some of you, this is gonna be sitting where you're at or standing as we worship in a moment and practicing some repentance as we worship. Maybe identify some words that you've been using instead of the word sin, not as a way to shame you, as a way to free you, as a way to celebrate the kingdom of heaven, breaking into your life with grace and with hope and new beginning with peace and joy that happens when we repent. For others of you, maybe it is a time to recognize that you've been sleeping and there is a battle. The battle is real, you haven't been living like you're on a battleground, but on a playground. And so today's the day where you say, okay, I'm going to surrender my life to Jesus. I wanna follow after him. I wanna live with eternity in mind.

I wanna live like the kingdom is real. Or for some of you, maybe it's this isolation that you've gotten really comfortable with, but you're way more vulnerable than you realize. Like we need each other and this is not a perfect church, but this is a herd. This is a herd where we come together. We stand against the enemy together. We pray for one another, encourage one another. We spur one another on as the day of Christ's return approaches. We'd love to have you as part of our church family. So if you wanna talk to someone about that decision, you can go to our next step room right over here on your left, on the first floor. We'd love to visit with you. We'd love to pray with you. Let's stand together and let's worship. Word of God, praise God, thank you. Thank you. We need you. We need you. We need you. We need you. We need you. We need you. We need you. ciosy here with me tonight the pastor and the number one 播casting back, he'll tell you more about it later on. I want to talk to you tonight about a project that they've

been doing and I want to listen to you Still perfect, perfect in your way Perfect in your way I need you more than any other thing I need you more, my child and son I need you more than a heart would ever sing I need Jesus, I need you, Jesus You're greater in my weakness, You're pleasant in my pain You're tested and strong, perfect me in Your grace And when I'm facing danger or I'm hiding in my shame I look to You, Jesus, Lord, come, come present my pain I need You more than any other thing I need You more, my joy and suffering I need You more than a heart would ever sing I need Jesus, I need you, Jesus Nothing else will do, nothing else will do So every day, every hour, You are God and You're with me I won't ever be forsaken and You are here, I'm not alone So I can stand and not be shaken from Your kindness In the fire, You are God and You're always great Every day, every hour, You are God and You're on Your throne I won't ever be forsaken and You are here, I'm not alone So I can stand and not be shaken from Your kindness In the fire, You are God and You're always good You are God and You're always good You are God I need You more than any other thing I need You more, my joy and suffering I need You more than a heart would ever sing I need Jesus, I need you, Jesus

I need You more than any other thing I need You more, my joy and suffering I need You more, my heart would ever sing I need Jesus, I need you, Jesus Every day, every hour, You are God and You're on Your throne I won't ever be forsaken and You are here, I'm not alone So I can stand and not be shaken from Your kindness In the fire, You are God and You're always good You are God and You're always good You are God and You're always good You are God Oh, yeah ♪ Jesus for my family, I speak the Holy Name, Jesus ♪ Come on church, we sing. ♪ Shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streets ♪ ♪ Jesus in the darkness over every enemy ♪ ♪ Jesus for my family, I speak the Holy Name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus, shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streets ♪ ♪ Jesus in the darkness over every enemy, Jesus for my family, Jesus in the streets ♪ ♪ I speak the Holy Name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Your Name is power, Your Name is power ♪ ♪ Your Name is healed, Your Name is healed ♪ ♪ Your Name is love, Your Name is love ♪ ♪ Break every sorrow, Break every sorrow ♪ ♪ Shine through the shadows, Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ Your Name, Your Name, Your Name is power ♪ ♪ Your Name is healed, Your Name is healed ♪ ♪ Your Name is love, Your Name is love ♪ ♪ Break every sorrow, Break every sorrow ♪ ♪ Shine through the shadows, Burn like a fire ♪

♪ So Your Name is power, Your Name is healed ♪ ♪ Your Name is life, Yes it is ♪ ♪ Break every stronghold, Shine through the shadows ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ Your Name is power, Your Name is healed ♪ ♪ Your Name is life, Yes it is ♪ ♪ So break every stronghold, Shine through the shadows ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire, Amen ♪ God, You are so good and so worthy to be praised, Lord. And we thank You for all of the chains that were broken today in Your Name, Lord. God, we know that in Your Name there is freedom. In Your Name there is joy. In Your Name there is hope. We believe that truth, Lord. And we carry that with us as we leave here today. And everybody said, Amen. Man, that was an incredibly good time. And I use that word good, not flippantly or not just passing by. That was just a good time to worship together and also just be locked in with some great stuff that I feel like is so tangible and practical for me as a person in long-term recovery and somebody who's trying to live this life in a physical body, but yet participating in the things of the Spirit. And there was so many good takeaways from that that I'm hopeful that you were able to lock in on, even if it was just some awareness.

I loved at the very beginning when Kyle talked about how we don't mean to completely disconnect ourself from what God is doing or looking for the spiritual things, but we just get so caught up. He used the analogy of like the slouching, how it just slowly starts to happen. And you don't realize it, but you get so focused on the physical, the immediate, the present, what we can see, smell, hear, taste, and touch. We get so caught up in things like appeals and courts and lawyers and money on our books and all the things that are going on around us. And we just lose sight of the spiritual and what's there. I love it how at the end he connected us back with just we have an enemy, like we have an enemy. Bad things happen in this world for three reasons, I think. One, because I'm an idiot and I do dumb things and there's consequences. Two, because other people make mistakes and those consequences impact me. But also we have an enemy whose deep desire is to steal, kill, and destroy from us. And it's not just eternal separation that he's after, it's misery for us in the process. So I really be hopeful that this sermon series is something that's a blessing for you, that you're in. able to lock in and not just, not completely disconnect from the real world things going on in your life,

but also just acknowledge and look for God. God is always moving, God is always working, no matter how far away we feel from Him, and no matter how opposite we feel from where we are now to where God wants us to be or what we would like to have in our life, God is present in those things. So please, please keep your mind and your ears and your heart open for what God is doing. And if stuff happens this week, where things like synchronicity line up, or when things go together that seem like, man, this is wild, please let us know. It's such an encouragement to us to know how God is moving in that context. Want to remind you that this Thursday we have a podcast that'll drop, which will be a deep dive into the text and the sermon from this Sunday. So if you got something out of this and you want to learn a little bit more, you want to dig into more of the scriptures that was there, check out Thursday when our podcast drops, that comes out every week. And it'd be a great way for you to gather some people around and say, hey, let's dig into this sermon thing together. My favorite thing about our Pando get together every week is the prayer time we do at the end. Prayer is still something that's such a challenge for me

just to like do on my own. So reading prayers is something that I still do, is a huge part of my recovery. And praying out with you guys every time is something that I value deeply. So let's take some time now to do that. Let's take a couple of deep breaths and then let's pray this prayer together. Jesus, thank you for being a great redeemer. Even when life doesn't look the way I planned it, you are good. I trust your promises. I feel your provision. I love your word. Please protect me from temptation. Please restore what I've lost. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. I am not in control. I am waiting on you. In chaos, I need your peace. In loss, I need your comfort. In confusion, I need your truth. I trust you with everything. I love you. In your name, amen. Thanks for being with us today. Can't wait to be connected with you again the next time we get together for worship.