Below Crossing Church. How are you doing today?
It is a good day to be in the house of the Lord and it's a
good day to be with the people of the Lord.
Look at this crowd. Look around.
I hope that that's happening at all of our locations.
Today, we're so thankful that each and every one of you are
joining us at those locations, if you're inside her online.
We're so thankful for each and every one of you as well.
And for those of you have 48, I mean, you're you're in,
Saturated ground right now. There were 800 men, this past
weekend, part of uncommon and God was doing business.
I mean it was stuff was going on and it was really, really good
stuff. And I have to tell you of all of
The Uncommon men's conferences, I've been to hear this one
particularly at least for me. And some of the circles that I
was in relationships, I was in talking, there was some I'm
serious spiritual warfare going on and it wasn't just with just
the guys that were attending it was with the leaders.
It was with people that have been entrusted you know with the
care. And the love of others that
they're just, they're just in the battle and make no mistake.
There's a battle going on, and we need to know how to fight
those battles and how to win those battles.
And I have to tell you that even That battle is very real.
God is always had always has been, and always will be more
powerful. And that's what we want to
concentrate on today. We're in the third week of weeds
in my garden. We had an introduction week and
then three weeks and I spoke to you a couple of weeks ago.
And if you might, if you were here a couple of weeks ago, I
introduced the sermon with the fact that Allison and I I went
to go visit friends in Post Falls Idaho which is just right
across the Idaho border from Washington Spokane, Washington,
they're they're good, friends of ours.
As a matter of fact, Jim Putman. He's been here a few times and
with with some of his leaders and shared with us a lot on
discipleship and so we've done a lot together.
Just trying to iron sharpens, iron encouraging each other and
I was in the car with They were driving us around to the various
locations, and I was asking him, like, what's the sermon series
that you've done recently? That you really felt had was
impactful and they told me about a series, they had done called
Irreplaceable and as we were talking in the car, there were
some things that became apparent.
First of all, the the series Irreplaceable was born out of a
response to this epidemic of suicide that they were
Experiencing in their community and surrounding area and
particularly with regards to teens and and of course that's
not just part of that area that's happening all across our
country but what really impacted me is as they were sharing, it
was very personal to them. I mean Lori was in a car, she
was crying and she was sharing some of the stuff that that they
had deal with it. You could tell that that hit it.
Only affected her personally and as she shared what she said was
that she had attempted suicide as a teen herself, the pastor's
wife there. And, and I've gotten to know her
because her maiden name is Harris and found out that she's
actually my cousin. Didn't know that and the reason
I'm telling you, that is this, have you ever noticed in your
life that when somebody, you know, throws out a label?
Maybe it has. It's a label for a particular
kind of mental illness, you can just kind of like label that.
I mean, some people, even use those labels kind of flippantly
and they'll use it, you know, maybe even a derogatory term.
But when something happens in your family to When you
experienced it personally and and and your kind of immersed
into that, it changes your entire opinion, doesn't it?
And so just hearing that from Lori, it really affected me.
It changed my opinion and I mean, it became more personal to
me. And they did it when they did
this series, they actually videotaped her sharing her story
and I asked her if we could share her story with all of you.
So, I want you to watch this video.
She shares her story We all have our Brokenness in our issues and
our things and the more we can be open and honest and real with
people, the more they can feel like they can be open and real
and honest. The biggest lie for me was that
but I wouldn't be missed that. I wasn't important anymore that
it didn't, I didn't matter at the same time I just I had a
serious boyfriend and he broke up with me for another girl at
the time. And so that kind of Spun my
world out. I had a really, really close
best friend at the time, she started dating a guy who was
they were really serious. So she kind of dropped out of my
life. So I felt really alone.
No one would miss me. They would be able to be fine
without me. I just didn't want to live
anymore. Then I, I just didn't want to go
on. I chose to take my life when I
was in high school. When I was going through those
hard times, I was really struggling the most just because
I wasn't being real with myself and with others.
I was trying to hide my had a pretty shallow relationship with
with Jesus. It wasn't till much later that I
grew my relationship with Jesus that I started to kind of figure
out. The church's role helped me in
my life. The church's role is to create
an environment where people can build relationships and through
your relationships, is when you can be real and open and honest
with people, so that you can bring the heavy hard things out.
When things come Lies, don't go away, Satan attacks, you with
your weaknesses. He tries to come after me all
the time with that same lie and now I know where it comes from
and I can battle it through prayer and talking about it with
other people and they can battle it with no through prayer.
Write out your life and work through it with someone, whether
it be a counselor or a friend or a pastor people don't judge you
like I thought they would I think about me being able to
have a family, my kids, my grandkids being in Ministry and
God using my story, but it's been the hardest thing about
talking about this moving forward is.
I am valuable and I am My life matters.
God gave me a second chance and so I'm thankful for Second
Chances, not everybody gets to have that.
Horse that videos, very personally, impactful for me,
but I think probably the thing that that really comes out of
that, that rises to the surface, at least in me, is just how
ruthless Satan is. She makes no bones about it.
That, that voice whispering in her ear was not just her inner
voice. If there was something going on
there were lies that she was believing lies that were being
created and she was believing and Satan is a liar and he
speaks to us in those in those quiet Whispers, And he just so
ruthless. You see, he wasn't just trying
to destroy Lori at that vulnerable time in her life as a
team, he was trying to destroy the marriage that she was going
to have later on. To an impactful, Pastor she
would he was trying to destroy those children that she was
going to have. He was trying to destroy the
grandchildren that she was going to have in those pictures that
you saw. He was to try trying to destroy
all of that and who knows how many impactful relationships
that they have had. where God is taken ground, that Satan was
trying to eliminate You know, I Was preparing to preach this
sermon. I can hear Satan lying to me.
I could hear him. You don't have any business.
Preaching this what do you know about this?
You don't understand. You just, you just need to stop.
You need to phone it in. He was lying to me.
And I had to recognize what I was hearing who I was hearing,
and I had to call that out so that I could prepare what I'm
going to share with all of you today.
And here's what I want to say, it is time to go to war.
It is time to go to war. Look at 2nd Corinthians.
Chapter 10, verses 4 and 5. The weapons.
We fight with are not the weapons of this world.
On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds. You got a stronghold in your
life right now. We demolish arguments, is there
a voice in your head? Is there an argument in your
head right now? We demolish arguments and every
pretension, is there a pretension in your mind that
sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.
So together. Today I want to ask you for
something, I want you To join with me and I want us to
demolish these strongholds of Satan.
These pretensions of Satan and I want us to do it with what God
tells us to do it with. And that is the truth.
And the truth is found in God's word.
So I want us to pick up our weapon.
We do have one, it's called The Sword of the spirit.
The Bible defines the sword of the spirit as the word of God
and I want us together to fight this liar.
Are you willing to do that with me today?
All right, so I'm going to start this battle in the most unlikely
place. And that's First Corinthians
chapter 13. Now, most of us have heard First
Corinthians chapter 13. Not because we're Bible
students, not because we have the Bible memorized or or, you
know, for any one of those other reasons.
It's because most of us have attended a wedding.
And if you've attended a wedding, you've heard these
words. If I speak in the tongues of men
and angels and have not love, I am but a resounding gong.
Have you heard this? Yeah, it's a beautiful
description of love. It's actually a definition of
perfect love. But what I did after having that
little conversation with god and the devil, well I was working on
this sermon is is God impressed on my mind.
First John, where John defines God saying, that people that
don't love. Don't know, God.
And then, he says this for God is love.
How many of you heard that before that God is love actually
there? Is something in the scripture
that actually defines God as love.
So if there's a definition of Love In First Corinthians 13, it
is also a definition of God. Right.
So I want us to use this scripture that you're familiar
with today, to help us to understand, actually how to do
battle with the devil. And then we're going to go to a
bunch of other scriptures because listen, it's not about
what I have got to say. It's whatever the Bible says if
you're going to fight in this battle, you have to know what to
fight with. Okay, so here's why I set up
these chairs. How many of you've ever watch
cartoons? Have you ever seen the cartoons,
where the person's they're in there trying to make a decision
and there's the little devil guy and then there's the little
angel guy and they're both like talking to you and supposed to
like inner voice only. It's really not in her voice you
know, kind of some of us kind of made know that now that's what I
want. These two chairs to represent,
this is the devil chair. This is the devil chair.
You know, there's a spot that where for some reason or another
he gets in our heads and we hear him, okay?
And then this is the god chair. This is the god chair.
This is where he speaks to us. he speaks to us through his word
and I want to show you The difference between what that
voice says in your head that you shouldn't be listening to and
what God has said, ready? And some of you are going to
relate to this because you're going to my I heard that exact
thing. Satan says got a sick and tired
of you. You are constantly whining and
complaining and failing. How could he not be tired of
you? First Corinthians 13.
God, defined as love. I'm patient.
Truth. He's patient with you.
Satan, he lies to you and he goes, God is bringing you this
in your life because of the mess you've made, you discussed him.
This is God's punishment on you. I'm kind.
I'm patient and I'm kind. God's a killjoy.
All he wants to do is take away your fun and take away your
freedom. He doesn't want you to be happy.
That's just not God at all. I don't envy.
Who can be like God anyway? Seriously, he is so much better
than you. You don't deserve him.
I don't boast. God, he's ashamed of you.
You never ever. Stop making him look bad.
I'm not proud. You deserve, whatever, you get,
you made your bed now. Just lie in that bit.
I don't dishonor others. Just think about how you have
wasted, all of those important moments of your life, the
opportunities that you had that you miss, what a failure you
are. I'm not self-seeking.
How could God feel anything, but anger towards you?
He never ever gets a break from your stupid choices.
I'm not easily angered. Come on, get real.
There's just too much in your life to be forgiven for
forgiveness, is for people who are better than you.
I keep no record of wrongs. You know what God is looking for
an opportunity to judge you someday, you're going to pay for
what you've done. I don't Delight in evil.
I rejoice in the truth. God.
You've abandoned me. I always protect.
You're suspicious of me. I always trust.
You've given up on me. I always hope.
You're tired of me, aren't you? God?
I always persevere. You have failed me.
I never fail. Those are the lies that you've
been hearing. Those are the lies.
I hear. Those are the lives.
We all here. Because that's what we are.
We're human beings, and we're Sinners.
And that boat is sinking and you don't have a big enough bucket
to bail it out. but God does God, does I want you to know
some specifics from God's word about his love for you.
And here's the first one God's love for you is personal.
It isn't like, oh God loves it, the whole world.
And so kind of a general sense, you know, he kind of loves
Humanity, know, God loves you, it's personal.
Look at first, John, 3:1 see what great love.
The father has As and I love this word everybody say this
word lavished, say it again. Oh yeah, this is like when you
order steak and you order everything that you can order on
it on it right. That's lavished that we should
be called the children of God and that is what we are not like
some of, you know, that is what we are.
The reason the world does not know us, is that it did not know
him. It's personal because God
considers you, his child. Look at Ephesians 1:5, he
predestined us for adoption. To sonship and daughter ship
through Christ Jesus in accordance with his pleasure.
And we'll look at this word right here.
He didn't do that because he felt obligated to I made him.
So I guess, I gotta know he loves it.
He loves the fact that he can call you his child God's love
for you is personal. He is adopted you into his
family. Look at John 3:16 for God.
On this little word is the one most powerful words in the New
Testament. God so loved he didn't just love
he. So loved the world that he gave
his one and only son that whoever believes in him, shall
not perish but have eternal life.
This is the measure of God's love for you.
That is your worth. In the eyes of almighty God,
that he would not spare his own son, it's personal.
Second thing about God's love is it is powerful enough to get you
through your pain. We all have pain sometimes, it's
incredible pain. Overwhelming pain.
But God can get you through your pain.
Look at David's words in Psalm 31.
He says I will be glad and rejoice in your love for you saw
my affliction And you knew the anguish of my soul.
He will love you through the suffering.
He will love you through the pain.
Look at Lamentations 3:22-23 to I will remember them and my soul
is downcast within me, some of you right now that would
describe you, my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore, I have hope because
of the Lord's. Great love.
We are not consumed for his compassion's never fail.
That scripture goes on to say there are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness. When I feel hopeless and
helpless, God still loves me. And he loves you and it's new
every day. Never gets old and it never
wears out. Here's the third thing about
God's love. He loves you and me just as we
are Look at Romans 5:8, it says, but God demonstrates his own
love for us in this while we were still sinners Christ died
for us, he is loving you. Even while you're sinning in the
process of sinning, he's loving you.
Look at Ephesians 2 4 and 5 but because of his great love for
us, God who is rich in Mercy. Made us alive even when we were
dead. In transgressions, It Is by
Grace. You have been saved when I feel
dead and ruined inside his love can break through that.
Here's the next one. God loves you enough and he
loves me enough not to allow us to stay the way we are.
Look at 2nd Corinthians 5:14 and 15 for Christ's love.
Compels us. He's he's compelling us because
we're convinced that one died for all, therefore, all died.
And he died for all that those who live should no longer live
for themselves. But for him who died for them
and was raised again, God's love will direct you out of your old
life and he will direct you into your new life.
Look at Romans 5:5. And hope does not put us to
shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
God gives us exactly what we need to feel loved and then to
be loving to other people. God's love will not abandon you.
This is something else about his love.
It won't abandon you. Look at first, John 4:18.
There's no fear in love, we're fear, we have fear about
abandonment. There's no fear in love, but
perfect. Love drives out fear because
fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made
perfect in love. God can take your fear away,
look at Romans 8:35 and then 37 to 39, who shall separate us
from the love. Of Christ shall trouble or
hardship or persecution or famine, or nakedness or danger
or sword. No, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him who loved us, not because of our
love. But through his love, right for,
I am convinced that neither death, nor life nor angels nor
demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers
neither height, nor depth nor anything else in all creation.
Ation. Will be able to separate us from
the love of God. That is in Christ.
Jesus, our lord, God's love and you are inseparable.
Look at Psalm 5, 11 and 12, but let all who take refuge in you
be, glad let them ever sing for Joy spread your protection over
them that those who love your name.
May rejoice in you. Surely Lord.
You bless the righteous and you surround them with your favor as
a shield. God's love is a shield.
It will protect you and it will keep you safe.
God's love was never intended, though.
To just come to us. It was designed to move through
us to other people. You were never meant to be a
reservoir. You're meant to be a river, and
there's a mighty River of God's love that flows through you to
touch other people, John 13:34, a new command.
I give you love one another as I have loved you so you must love
one another. It flows through you, it
empowers, you to love others. Look at first John 4:19, Well,
this is how God showed his love Among Us.
He sent his one and only son into the world that we might
live through him. This is love not that.
We loved God. You don't, you don't create
this, but that he loved us, and sent his son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins, our love for each other.
Is strengthened because we love God.
And then that in turn, strengthens our ability to love
God. So like God's love comes to us.
Goes through us. We're able to love others.
As we love others. We learn how to love God more.
It just keeps rolling. This love Today.
I want you to accept the truth about who God is and I just
scratched the surface of the passages in the Bible about his
love. I want you to accept that truth
because Satan is trying to take you out.
He's trying to destroy you and it is the truth that dispels.
The lies and dispels the Darkness Accept who you are in
his sight, just like that song. You were taught when you were a
little kid, your precious in His sight.
Precious to him. I want you to know that there is
an enemy out there and he wants to destroy you.
But Jesus has defeated that enemy and you've got to accept
the fact that that enemy is defeated has, how did he do it?
He did it by coming down here and becoming one of us, he was
tempted in every way we were tempted.
He never gave into it. And when he died on that cross
and shed his blood, it was enough to cover all of our sin,
and all of our shame, and all of our guilt, and all of our
punishment it was enough, and that's why he said on that
cross. It is paid in full It has been
paid in full. He paid your debt and set you
free. And when he rose from the dead,
he did that to prove to you that he has power over life and death
and no matter what fears you might have about your future.
He is more powerful than death. He can raise you to life and now
Satan is defeated, all he has left is lies.
And he lies to us and I'm telling you don't listen to him.
You are loved. Beyond your ability to take it
in beyond your ability to measure it.
You listen to God, you're loved, and I'm asking, you run to him,
run to him. Today, we're moving to a time of
decision. so I'm standing here, I'm standing here and and And we
opened the CERN up with idea of suicide and suicide.
Those lies that come into your head have to do with, I want to
run away. Right?
I want to run away. I don't want to deal with this
anymore. I don't want them have to have
to feel this way anymore. I don't want to hurt like this
anymore, I want to run away from that.
This is how I can run away from that.
And it isn't just that it isn't just, it isn't just that thing
that we're talking about. I mean, every kind of
challenging circumstances and difficulty in life.
There's something inside of us, this fight or flight, you know,
and we want to run away from it, right?
So, I'm standing here. How many directions can I run
away right now? I actually can run away from the
spot that I'm standing in an infinite number of different
directions. And the real problem is, which
direction is the right direction?
Haven't you experienced in your life that you try to run away
from something and then you end up in a spot that was even worse
than the one that you ran away from and you go how I get here?
And then I mean you have to win the lottery.
I mean you got this infinite number of directions to run away
and how do I know which one to run away from?
That's another lie. That's Satan's lie.
Running away, is a lie. It is not about running away.
It's about running toward, there's an old hymn, we don't
sing anymore. It's called the heavenly vision.
And the chorus of that old hymn goes like this.
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus look full in his wonderful face and
the things of Earth. Will grow strangely dim in the
light of his glory and grace and that is the answer.
The answer is not about running away.
The answer is about running toward because when you run
toward Jesus, listen to me, you're always running in the
right direction. Some of you here today.
And you have never come into an intimate personal relationship
with Jesus Christ. You watch 19, people do that on
the screen from last week. That's what God does, that's
what God's in the business of doing.
And it's incredible to be able to join with him and watch him
and be able to participate. Invites us to join him in that.
Some of you don't have that intimate personal relationship
with Jesus Christ right now. Have you been saying things
like? Well, you know, my family have a
Christian family, I can't go to church.
I am trying to do the right thing.
I'm trying to live the right way.
I don't want to be a hypocrite because, you know which, you
know, how do you stop that? Because we all are When are you
going to just run to Jesus? There's going to be somebody
right over there by that baptistry, ready to talk with,
you ready to pray with you and maybe you can be one of those
stories that we see on the screen next week.
Somebody who said I Surrender Lord, here's my life.
All my in consistencies all my Brokenness all my hypocrisy.
I'm gonna do this, terrible Lord, but I'm going to do it,
he's like, that's all right, I'm right here with you.
I won't leave you. I won't forsake you you come to
Christ today right over there. Some of you here today, you've
been Christians a long time and you know what you're struggling
right now because you're going. Yeah, I remember.
I mean, can't I remember I was hot for the Lord became a
Christian and, but boy, I'm struggling right now.
I'm pretty confused right now. Listen, I get it.
Every time I sin and I send plenty.
And so do you every time I send everything starts getting
confusing. Because I start letting that
voice talked. I mean, that that's that's like
the fertile ground, for that voice to talk to you and try to
tell you lies about who you are, and whose you are and what you
deserve and all of that stuff. I just mentioned.
Right. Here's a time where you call
Satan Al, are you want to go to war?
You want to go to war? I'll tell you where war begins.
When it's a spiritual war. Begins on your knees.
It begins on your knees. When you say, I don't know what
to do. You know why?
Because he's standing right behind you.
And when you get on your knees, he'll just step right over you
and he'll be in front of you, and he said, anybody wants him,
anybody wants her, you're coming through me and you're not
getting through me. So I invite you To let Jesus
Christ. Be your Champion today in the
situation that you're dealing with, maybe it's not you.
Maybe it's somebody in your family.
You've been praying, you've been, you've been crying out to
God. Well don't stop.
Don't give up. You never know when that moment
of breakthroughs going to happen.
And I encourage you to storm the Gates of Heaven today and pray
like hell and heaven depend on it.
For the person that you love. Some of you are going to see the
steps, fill up your and go. There's no room.
There's plenty of room. Let's go three, deep.
Let's go to war. Let's win this.
Battle, would you stand with me heavenly father in Jesus name?
I pray that you will fight a battle that we could never fight
and win on our own, but we can fight it and win it because you
have already fought it and you have already won it and that's
why Romans can declare that we're more than conquerors
father. Help us to trust in your Victory
today. As we seek you.
Break Down the Walls. I pray in Jesus name.
Amen.