Latest / Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten / The Offensive Church: Taking Territory From Hell (Starts With Your Body)
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: Welcome to the Faithful Fitness Podcast for my Dad. Coach
- 0:06Speaker 1: Alex Van Houghten helps you get stronger and mind, body,
- 0:09Speaker 1: and spirit. He believes that your body is a temple,
- 0:12Speaker 1: so taking good care of it is an actual worship.
- 0:15Speaker 2: I should know. I live with.
- 0:16Speaker 1: Him every week. He brings truth from the Bible, took
- 0:19Speaker 1: from science, and stories that will set your heart on fire.
- 0:22Speaker 1: May God bless you to become everything He made you
- 0:25Speaker 1: to be, just one percent better every single day.
- 0:30Speaker 2: What's up? Faithful Coach Alex van Houghton here, super excited
- 0:33Speaker 2: to talk to you today on the Faithful Fitness Podcast,
- 0:37Speaker 2: where we work to make the most out of the
- 0:39Speaker 2: body God's given us. And this episode is a special episode.
- 0:42Speaker 2: It's podcast only, you won't be able to find it
- 0:45Speaker 2: on YouTube. Kind of as a thank you to you,
- 0:47Speaker 2: but also because I think it's a very powerful opportunity
- 0:51Speaker 2: to share something that's been on my heart. Last week,
- 0:53Speaker 2: I had the opportunity to preach a sermon at our
- 0:56Speaker 2: church and you'll hear a lot of kids laughing and
- 0:59Speaker 2: the congregate involved in the sermon, so I hope you
- 1:02Speaker 2: appreciate that. But in this sermon, I talk about the
- 1:05Speaker 2: offensive church and what it means to be on offense
- 1:09Speaker 2: this year, taking the territory back from the enemy that
- 1:13Speaker 2: he has stolen in our body. I hope you'll appreciate this. Also,
- 1:17Speaker 2: if you haven't already, you need to join our Shred challenge.
- 1:22Speaker 2: It kicked off in Earnest this week and we'll run
- 1:25Speaker 2: all the way through the month of January. It's our
- 1:27Speaker 2: premium challenge in the Faithful Fitness app and so follow
- 1:31Speaker 2: the link in the show notes. If you click on it,
- 1:33Speaker 2: it'll prompt you to make an account if you don't
- 1:35Speaker 2: already have an account, and you can join the Shred
- 1:39Speaker 2: and make this an amazing start to twenty twenty six
- 1:42Speaker 2: for you. Without further ado, here is the Offensive Church.
- 1:47Speaker 2: Good Morning, Church, Good morning. How's everybody doing this morning? Yeah?
- 1:51Speaker 2: Bright eyed and bushy tailed? Sweet? If you guys know,
- 1:55Speaker 2: Pastor Tim got a little younger and prettier, So soup.
- 1:59Speaker 2: I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm Pastor Alex ben Holten,
- 2:01Speaker 2: my wife and I have the wonderful privilege of leading
- 2:04Speaker 2: children in children's ministry. In fact, this year is our
- 2:08Speaker 2: seventh year at New Life Church. Yeah, yeah, it's very
- 2:13Speaker 2: exciting for us. What I always remember because my wife
- 2:16Speaker 2: was super, super pregnant with Bennett when we first came,
- 2:20Speaker 2: and I think, I'm just kidding. I didn't bring a
- 2:22Speaker 2: picture because I value my life. So I'm so excited
- 2:27Speaker 2: to bring this message to you guys today. I get
- 2:29Speaker 2: the last message of the year, so we save the
- 2:32Speaker 2: best for last. I'm just kidding. They let me teach
- 2:36Speaker 2: this sermon because I teach kids regularly and this is
- 2:39Speaker 2: a family service, and so I am not generally distracted
- 2:43Speaker 2: by crying children or throne items or objects or screaming.
- 2:48Speaker 2: So we're going to make it all together. And if
- 2:49Speaker 2: you don't like my teaching style, it's totally fine because
- 2:52Speaker 2: Pastor Tim will be back next week for our regularly
- 2:54Speaker 2: scheduled program. So thumbs up if you guys can hang
- 2:57Speaker 2: with me today. Okay, some of y'all didn't thumbs up,
- 3:00Speaker 2: And you'll notice that children's pastors we require participation, so
- 3:05Speaker 2: we have our ways. We have our ways. I do
- 3:07Speaker 2: want to address the kids real quick, kiddos, Do you
- 3:09Speaker 2: guys see this big giant rope here? Okay, this is
- 3:12Speaker 2: a very important part of the sermon and I'm going
- 3:15Speaker 2: to need some help later in the sermon, And if
- 3:18Speaker 2: you're paying really close attention and you're minding your mom
- 3:21Speaker 2: and dad, and I feel like you've behaved yourselves really well,
- 3:24Speaker 2: I might call on you to help me on stage.
- 3:27Speaker 2: And so also, no picking your boogers during this sermon.
- 3:30Speaker 2: I'm serious. I don't want boogers on my rope, all right,
- 3:33Speaker 2: So if you're if you're minding your manners and doing
- 3:35Speaker 2: a good job in church, I might call on you.
- 3:38Speaker 2: So kids, thumbs up if you guys understand the assignment. Okay,
- 3:41Speaker 2: the parents don't want to get on stage, but y'all
- 3:43Speaker 2: can't believe how much kids like to get up here
- 3:47Speaker 2: and have a good time teaching. I see you kids, Like,
- 3:50Speaker 2: all right, I'm paying attention, mister Alex. I got this
- 3:53Speaker 2: all right. So we're going to start our sermon today
- 3:55Speaker 2: with it with a few questions. This is a pole.
- 3:58Speaker 2: This is an honest poll of the room questions to
- 4:00Speaker 2: get us in to the meat of our message today.
- 4:03Speaker 2: So first by show up hands, show of hands. If
- 4:07Speaker 2: you agree. He's got his hand rad already. I don't
- 4:10Speaker 2: even asked the question. I like, if you agree with
- 4:12Speaker 2: this statement I love Christmas, raise your hand if you
- 4:16Speaker 2: agree with that statement. I loved ba humbug. I see you. Okay,
- 4:19Speaker 2: almost everybody one of you didn't get your drone for Christmas. Okay,
- 4:22Speaker 2: all right, raise your hand, show hands. You better raise
- 4:25Speaker 2: your hand on this one. I love my mama. I
- 4:28Speaker 2: love my mama. Yeah, and all the mama said, amen,
- 4:30Speaker 2: you better. I brought you into this world. Okay, all right, uh,
- 4:35Speaker 2: show up hands. I love the cold. Who loves the cold? Okay?
- 4:40Speaker 2: Some of you like the cold. Some of you like
- 4:42Speaker 2: hot cocoa and fireplaces, but you don't really like the cold. Okay,
- 4:47Speaker 2: all right, I've got two more. I love olives. I
- 4:50Speaker 2: love I hate olives. You weirdos, Oh my gosh, my
- 4:53Speaker 2: whole family on the front rover here, Oh we love olives.
- 4:55Speaker 2: I can't stand them. It's a love hate thing. Okay,
- 4:59Speaker 2: all right. And then and last, but not least, last,
- 5:01Speaker 2: but not least, this one's serious. I love my body.
- 5:07Speaker 2: Raise your hand if you love your body. Okay. There's
- 5:10Speaker 2: about as many people in here who love their bodies
- 5:12Speaker 2: as love olives. So like, we're gonna work on this
- 5:15Speaker 2: well well seriously, because by the end of this sermon,
- 5:19Speaker 2: By the end of the sermon, my prayer is that
- 5:22Speaker 2: we can take some territory from the enemy today. With
- 5:25Speaker 2: regard to our bodies, God made your body. He made
- 5:30Speaker 2: you on purpose, for a purpose. He didn't make a mistake.
- 5:34Speaker 2: And one of the places that Satan attacks us as
- 5:37Speaker 2: Christians is in our bodies. And so today and our sermon,
- 5:41Speaker 2: I want the opportunity to convince you that God made
- 5:45Speaker 2: you not just your spirit, not just your soul, but
- 5:48Speaker 2: your body, and he made you to learn how to
- 5:51Speaker 2: love that body he gave you. Well, so I'm gonna
- 5:54Speaker 2: pray over you, guys, and then we're gonna get into scripture.
- 5:57Speaker 2: You guys, go ahead and bow your heads with me.
- 5:58Speaker 2: Father God, thank you so much for this. Thank you
- 6:00Speaker 2: for the opportunity to be in your house. Thank you
- 6:03Speaker 2: that I only have to preach this sermon once, and
- 6:05Speaker 2: thank you for every person you brought to this room today. God,
- 6:09Speaker 2: I pray that you would bless us, speak to our
- 6:11Speaker 2: hearts and teach us how to love what you've made.
- 6:18Speaker 2: You are a good father, and we worship you today
- 6:22Speaker 2: in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right, if you brought
- 6:26Speaker 2: your bibles with you today, we're going to be in
- 6:28Speaker 2: Matthew chapter sixteen, verses fifteen and eighteen. Matthew Chapter sixteen,
- 6:34Speaker 2: Versus fifteen and eighteen. Matthew's in the New Testament. It's
- 6:39Speaker 2: the first Gospel of the New Testament. Matthew, Chapter sixteen,
- 6:45Speaker 2: Verses fifteen and eighteen. Before I read these verses to you, though,
- 6:48Speaker 2: I have to give you some backstory, and I have
- 6:50Speaker 2: to give you some time to get there. Get all
- 6:52Speaker 2: these kids open their bibles. Man, that makes me so happy.
- 6:57Speaker 2: We'll pat on the back for the children's ministry pastors,
- 7:01Speaker 2: all right. And if you're an adult who didn't bring
- 7:03Speaker 2: your bible to ship, what is wrong with you? Come on, guys,
- 7:05Speaker 2: bring your bible to church, all right, But I'm not
- 7:08Speaker 2: giving you two heart of a time. We'll have it
- 7:10Speaker 2: on the screen for you. Matthew, Chapter sixteen, Verses fifteen
- 7:14Speaker 2: and eighteen. Now, before we read this verse together, I
- 7:16Speaker 2: gotta give you some backstort. I gotta tell you what
- 7:19Speaker 2: this verse is saying and what's happening at the time.
- 7:23Speaker 2: So this is the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospels tell
- 7:26Speaker 2: the story of Jesus's life Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
- 7:29Speaker 2: The Gospels tell the story of Jesus's life when he
- 7:31Speaker 2: came down from the Father and was born a virgin birth.
- 7:35Speaker 2: We just celebrated that right, the best gift. And then
- 7:40Speaker 2: Jesus grew up to be a man, and God gave
- 7:43Speaker 2: him a ministry. The message of good news just spread
- 7:47Speaker 2: to the whole world, the gospel, and he started preaching
- 7:50Speaker 2: the good news and calling people to be his disciples.
- 7:53Speaker 2: Whoa He started healing people like people were blind and
- 7:57Speaker 2: now they could see. They were deaf, and now they
- 7:59Speaker 2: can hear that they were leprous, and now they were clean.
- 8:02Speaker 2: And people were talking about Jesus. You tend to talk
- 8:04Speaker 2: about somebody when a paralytic man gets up, grabs his
- 8:08Speaker 2: matt and walks right. Okay, so we're in Matthew chapter sixteen.
- 8:12Speaker 2: All that's happened so far, and people are talking about Jesus,
- 8:15Speaker 2: and Jesus is sitting with his disciples and he's asking
- 8:17Speaker 2: them what do people say about me? And the disciples
- 8:21Speaker 2: tell Jesus, well, some of them think you're a great
- 8:24Speaker 2: prophet like Moses or Elijah. Some of them think that
- 8:27Speaker 2: you're John the Baptist come back from the dead. And
- 8:30Speaker 2: Jesus says, okay, who do you say that I am
- 8:32Speaker 2: so Jesus turns on them, and that's what we're going
- 8:35Speaker 2: to pick up. I have this in the King James version,
- 8:37Speaker 2: by the way, for a reason. We'll get there in
- 8:39Speaker 2: just a second. So verse fifteen says he saith unto them,
- 8:42Speaker 2: But whom do you say that? I am? Points at
- 8:47Speaker 2: them right now. In verses sixteen and seventeen, you can
- 8:50Speaker 2: read there Peter gets a gold star. He says, you're
- 8:53Speaker 2: the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God,
- 8:57Speaker 2: and Jesus's gold star. Peter, I'm just kidding. That's not
- 8:59Speaker 2: what he says. He says, only God could have revealed
- 9:03Speaker 2: this to you. And then he goes on to say this,
- 9:05Speaker 2: and this is the meat of our message today. He
- 9:07Speaker 2: goes on to say this, thou art, Peter, and upon
- 9:10Speaker 2: this rock I will build my church in the gates
- 9:14Speaker 2: of Hell shall not prevail against it. Hell will not
- 9:18Speaker 2: prevail against the church. Is that good news? Say it
- 9:23Speaker 2: with me. Hell will not prevail against the Church. One
- 9:26Speaker 2: more time? Hell will not prevail against the Church. And
- 9:30Speaker 2: one of the little girls in the room said, that's
- 9:31Speaker 2: a bad word. You made me say a bad word.
- 9:33Speaker 2: We're talking about the actual place, Jesus's actual words. Sorry, sweetheart,
- 9:38Speaker 2: we're not saying anything bad. A promise Hell will not
- 9:40Speaker 2: prevail against the Church. Now that's good news. That's good news.
- 9:46Speaker 2: And I want to teach you something about scripture for
- 9:49Speaker 2: you in twenty twenty six. In scripture, there's something called milk. Milk,
- 9:54Speaker 2: and scripture is when you read it, you understand it,
- 9:57Speaker 2: and it teaches you something about who got it is,
- 10:00Speaker 2: how he made the world, and it gives you something
- 10:02Speaker 2: that can strengthen your spirit. Milk. It goes down easy,
- 10:07Speaker 2: It's easy to digest. Milk. All of us were babies
- 10:10Speaker 2: at one point and we needed milk. Yeah, not you.
- 10:14Speaker 2: You weren't a baby. He's so cute. I can't have
- 10:17Speaker 2: him on stage later, I won't pay attention. Milk. There's
- 10:19Speaker 2: some milk in this verse. The milk in this verse
- 10:21Speaker 2: is that Jesus is the Messiah, that his disciples understand it,
- 10:26Speaker 2: and that people are confused about who Jesus is, but
- 10:29Speaker 2: they aren't. They know who he is. Gold Star Peter, right.
- 10:33Speaker 2: But scripture is not just milk. Sometimes you come across
- 10:37Speaker 2: phrases and words that you really got to sit on.
- 10:40Speaker 2: You gotta meditate on those things. You got to pray
- 10:42Speaker 2: about them. You gotta study them and let them sink in. Right,
- 10:46Speaker 2: and in this verse, there is a phrase like that
- 10:49Speaker 2: in your Bible. If you're an underlying or highlighting person,
- 10:53Speaker 2: don't worry. It's not sacrilege. You can write in your
- 10:55Speaker 2: bible it's okay. In verse eighteen, where it says the
- 10:58Speaker 2: gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church, your
- 11:02Speaker 2: translation say the gates of Hell will not overcome the Church.
- 11:06Speaker 2: The gates of Hell will not dominate the church. That
- 11:08Speaker 2: phrase right there, will not prevail against the church. Underline that,
- 11:12Speaker 2: square it, highlight it, circle it, draw a star in
- 11:15Speaker 2: a happy face. You can do what my friend does
- 11:18Speaker 2: and write the pastor's name and the date where they
- 11:20Speaker 2: preached on it. That would make me feel really good.
- 11:22Speaker 2: The gates of Hell will not prevail against the church.
- 11:25Speaker 2: There's some meat here. There's some meat here. We're chewing on.
- 11:29Speaker 2: Anybody like beef jerky, Okay, milk goes down easy. There's
- 11:32Speaker 2: some protein in there. It'll build your spiritual muscles. But
- 11:35Speaker 2: we're gonna chew on this piece of scripture. You don't
- 11:38Speaker 2: just pop beef jerky and swallow it. Bad day for
- 11:40Speaker 2: you if it's not bad when you choke, it'll be
- 11:43Speaker 2: bad later. You got to chew on it. You gotta
- 11:47Speaker 2: get all the flavor out of it. You gotta get
- 11:48Speaker 2: the protein out of it so you can build your muscles,
- 11:51Speaker 2: your spiritual muscles and your physical muscles. I can't get
- 11:54Speaker 2: away without doing that. Show me your muscles. Yeah, yeah,
- 11:57Speaker 2: come on, don't be shy, guys. I'll stand here as
- 11:59Speaker 2: long as it takes there it is. Yeah, all right,
- 12:01Speaker 2: tell your neighbor. We're gonna pump you up today. Yeah,
- 12:04Speaker 2: I'm serious. I'm serious. Y'all all think I'm serious. I'm serious.
- 12:08Speaker 2: All right, So we're gonna chew on this because I
- 12:10Speaker 2: need you to learn something about this phrase. Okay, the
- 12:14Speaker 2: gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church. Now,
- 12:17Speaker 2: the New Testament was not written in English. The New
- 12:19Speaker 2: Testament was written in Greek, and we didn't read Greek
- 12:22Speaker 2: just now. But this phrase will not prevail against the church.
- 12:26Speaker 2: It's a Greek word and it goes katisca. Can you
- 12:31Speaker 2: say that atisco? You're not saying it catiskcah. It's gonna
- 12:36Speaker 2: stick with you if you say it. There you go. Okay, Oh,
- 12:40Speaker 2: and here's an issue church. This translation is not a
- 12:44Speaker 2: very good translation to tell us what Jesus is saying.
- 12:48Speaker 2: So I want to teach you something about what Jesus
- 12:51Speaker 2: is saying about his church, because there's some milk here.
- 12:53Speaker 2: The gates of Hell will not prevail against the church.
- 12:56Speaker 2: But there's some meat here too, and it will change
- 12:59Speaker 2: your life if you understand this. So I need two
- 13:02Speaker 2: volunteers who have been paying attention and are particularly good
- 13:06Speaker 2: at a mean face. Let me see your mean face
- 13:09Speaker 2: right there. That's pretty good. Come here, I need you.
- 13:12Speaker 2: That's good. Let me see your mean face. You didn't
- 13:15Speaker 2: hold it, you gotta hold it, show me. No, you're
- 13:18Speaker 2: not mean enough. All right, there's one. There's one. Come here,
- 13:21Speaker 2: I need you, Come here, all right. All right. That's
- 13:26Speaker 2: not who I pointed at all. But that's okay. That's
- 13:28Speaker 2: all right here all right, Can you guys give me
- 13:32Speaker 2: a hand for the I'll get you. I'll get you.
- 13:34Speaker 2: Go have a seat. I got, I got you. That
- 13:36Speaker 2: was the one I pointed at. That's okay, all right?
- 13:38Speaker 2: Hold this, hey, it's really sharp. Okay, don't swing it around.
- 13:42Speaker 2: Got it? All right? He's not so mean anymore, is he?
- 13:46Speaker 2: All right? All right? Hold this? Hold this my man, okay,
- 13:49Speaker 2: all right, just like that. All right, we're gonna battle.
- 13:52Speaker 2: I'm just kidding. We're not gonna batt all right, you're
- 13:54Speaker 2: just you're just standing there, all right. What is Baker
- 13:57Speaker 2: holding a shield? What's your day, man, Henry? What's Henry
- 14:02Speaker 2: holding a sword? Okay? Question? How does this work? Baker?
- 14:05Speaker 2: How do you use a shield? Yeah? You protect your
- 14:07Speaker 2: body with it, right, all right? And without cutting me?
- 14:12Speaker 2: How do you use this? Henry? Okay, you're swinging around right? Okay? Okay,
- 14:18Speaker 2: So I have a question. Which one of these two
- 14:21Speaker 2: is on offense and which one's on defense? What's what's
- 14:24Speaker 2: he on? He's on defense? Right, you're on defense, right, Baker,
- 14:29Speaker 2: you're protecting yourself. And what's he on offense? He's on offense.
- 14:33Speaker 2: His job is to take territory and if required, hurt
- 14:38Speaker 2: people on the way. Again, he's watched a few war movies.
- 14:41Speaker 2: Good job, Mom and dad. All right, all right, you
- 14:43Speaker 2: guys are good. Go ahead and go ahead and go
- 14:45Speaker 2: back to your seats. Thank you for your mean faces.
- 14:46Speaker 2: Give them a hand, guys. Okay, all right? Offense and defense?
- 14:50Speaker 2: What's that sound like? It sounds like it sounds like
- 14:54Speaker 2: a promise. It sounds like I'm gonna wake up every
- 14:56Speaker 2: day and I'm just gonna watch out. I'm gonna watch
- 15:00Speaker 2: out for all the stuff that Satan and Hell throws
- 15:04Speaker 2: at me. Hah, And I'm just blocking. I'm just blocking
- 15:06Speaker 2: all day long. But the word katiska hole does not
- 15:10Speaker 2: mean that. The word katiska hole does not mean you're
- 15:12Speaker 2: on defense. In Greek, the word katiska hole means the
- 15:17Speaker 2: gates of Hell will not be strong against the Church.
- 15:20Speaker 2: The word katiska hole means I'm the Church. I'm on offense.
- 15:25Speaker 2: I have the Son of the Living God on my side,
- 15:28Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit lives in me, and I'm taking territory
- 15:31Speaker 2: from the enemy today. I'm not on defense. The gates
- 15:36Speaker 2: of Hell will not be able to defend against the Church.
- 15:40Speaker 2: That's what katiska hole means. Guys, how many times did
- 15:44Speaker 2: you wake up this year on defense? How many times
- 15:46Speaker 2: did you wake up this year? I'm gonna stand on
- 15:49Speaker 2: the promises of God. Satan's got nothing on me. I'm
- 15:52Speaker 2: gonna speak truth in love. I'm gonna put Bible verses
- 15:55Speaker 2: on my mugs. Hell's got nothing on me today. Look,
- 15:57Speaker 2: there's nothing wrong with that, all right. I've been on
- 15:59Speaker 2: defense this year. That's not what Jesus said. Jesus said,
- 16:03Speaker 2: on this rock, I will build my church, and the
- 16:05Speaker 2: gates of Hell will not be able to defend against it.
- 16:09Speaker 2: The gates of Hell will not be able to keep
- 16:11Speaker 2: the Church from taking whatever territory God has called the
- 16:15Speaker 2: Church to take. That's the power of the Son of God,
- 16:18Speaker 2: who came to earth to spread the good news, to
- 16:21Speaker 2: save you, to call you and to make you His church.
- 16:26Speaker 2: What if you woke up every day of this year
- 16:29Speaker 2: on offense. What if you woke up every day of
- 16:31Speaker 2: this year and you said, Dear Lord, thank you so
- 16:33Speaker 2: much for another day to take territory from Hell today. Yeah,
- 16:37Speaker 2: this sword's not that sharp, by the way, I know
- 16:39Speaker 2: some of you were flinching while I was swinging it.
- 16:41Speaker 2: It's from the costume store. We have a lot of
- 16:44Speaker 2: those at my house because we're raising two boys. This
- 16:47Speaker 2: is the picture of the church. This is God's will
- 16:50Speaker 2: for the church, that the church is on offense. I
- 16:54Speaker 2: am on offense. Can you say that with me? I
- 16:56Speaker 2: am on offense. I'll sound as happy about it as
- 16:59Speaker 2: I do. I'm on offense. If I'm on offense, it
- 17:03Speaker 2: looks like this I've got a picture for you. It
- 17:06Speaker 2: looks kind of like a candle light service. It's not
- 17:08Speaker 2: an actual picture from our candlelight service. In fact, I think,
- 17:11Speaker 2: I think if you look really close, you can see
- 17:13Speaker 2: whoever's photography this is. But this, this is God's will
- 17:16Speaker 2: for the church that Christ lights up our life. He
- 17:21Speaker 2: says that his disciples are like those whose candle has
- 17:24Speaker 2: been lit. The light of our life has been lit,
- 17:26Speaker 2: and the candle'sn't yet go back. I need that. Thank you.
- 17:30Speaker 2: If you came to our candlelight service, you saw that
- 17:32Speaker 2: every light lit up the darkness all around it. There
- 17:35Speaker 2: was no darkness near me when my candle was lit.
- 17:38Speaker 2: There is no darkness near Bennett, my six year old,
- 17:40Speaker 2: he got to go solo this year, and I was
- 17:41Speaker 2: watching him the whole time. I was like, watch it.
- 17:44Speaker 2: I cut I shut him down at the passing his
- 17:46Speaker 2: hand through the flame thing. But it was bright, and
- 17:48Speaker 2: it was bright around him, and it was bright between us.
- 17:51Speaker 2: There was no darkness between us. And this whole room
- 17:55Speaker 2: was filled with candles and there was no darkness in
- 17:57Speaker 2: here either. That's the picture of God's will for the
- 18:00Speaker 2: church that Jesus lights the candle of every life, and
- 18:05Speaker 2: that the light of Christ blows back the darkness. And
- 18:08Speaker 2: I'm sorry, but darkness has no choice. You light a
- 18:10Speaker 2: candle in the darkness, he doesn't get to fight back.
- 18:12Speaker 2: It just kind of goes away. So why, pastor Alex,
- 18:16Speaker 2: have I felt like I've been on defense a lot
- 18:19Speaker 2: this year? I'll show you. So this next picture is
- 18:22Speaker 2: a candle I'll buy itself. Notice the darkness all around it.
- 18:25Speaker 2: You see the darkness all around it. Satan's been working
- 18:28Speaker 2: overtime in the world lately. Have you noticed if you
- 18:32Speaker 2: follow Jesus and the light of your life has been lit,
- 18:36Speaker 2: if you look around, you'll see darkness. You'll see pockets
- 18:40Speaker 2: where Satan and Hell are not about to give up
- 18:43Speaker 2: any territory without a fight. If they are on defense,
- 18:46Speaker 2: they're really good at it. I would make a football
- 18:48Speaker 2: reference here, but I don't know whose defense was really
- 18:50Speaker 2: good this year. So they're really good at they're not
- 18:51Speaker 2: giving up without a fight. Right. Let me show you
- 18:54Speaker 2: what this looks like in every individual life. I've got
- 18:57Speaker 2: one more picture here. It looks complicated, but it's not.
- 19:00Speaker 2: It's three circles all the way around the candle, the
- 19:02Speaker 2: wide circle, the big circle, where the light extends the
- 19:05Speaker 2: furthest This is our community. That's another word for church eclicia,
- 19:09Speaker 2: the community. Do you think Satan wants our communities lit
- 19:13Speaker 2: up by Jesus's light. No, he wants our communities to
- 19:15Speaker 2: be unsafe. He wants our communities to be isolated. He
- 19:18Speaker 2: wants our communities to be greedy. Notice though, in order
- 19:21Speaker 2: to attack the light that shines in the community, he's
- 19:23Speaker 2: got to attack what first. He's got to attack the family.
- 19:27Speaker 2: You guys see that. Do you guys think Satan wants
- 19:31Speaker 2: our families lit by the light of Christ. No, he
- 19:36Speaker 2: wants our families to be filled with lies, strife, unforgiveness, trauma.
- 19:40Speaker 2: Holidays can be like that in some households. Right you
- 19:43Speaker 2: walk in, You're like, I don't know who's gonna go.
- 19:44Speaker 2: I see a few of you who are like, yep,
- 19:46Speaker 2: that was I don't yep. Not talking about it? All right,
- 19:48Speaker 2: we'll go there later, not today. But notice that if
- 19:51Speaker 2: he's going to attack our families, he's got one tough job. First.
- 19:56Speaker 2: He's got to attack us where our body, our in
- 20:00Speaker 2: individual body. He's got to stop the light of Jesus
- 20:03Speaker 2: from shining out of every single one of us first
- 20:06Speaker 2: before he can fill our families with darkness and lies,
- 20:08Speaker 2: so that he can keep the community from being brightened
- 20:12Speaker 2: by Christ too. You guys, see how this works, Light
- 20:15Speaker 2: of Christ. You're not on defense, you're on offense. But
- 20:17Speaker 2: if you're not playing offense, you're not gonna take the
- 20:20Speaker 2: territory of your body. You're not gonna take the territory
- 20:22Speaker 2: of your family, and you're certainly not gonna take the
- 20:25Speaker 2: territory of your community. And you are going to fight
- 20:28Speaker 2: every single day on defense. He wants your body so
- 20:32Speaker 2: racked with pain, addiction, confusion, weakness, and fatigue that you
- 20:39Speaker 2: wake up every day just praying for relief, not praying
- 20:44Speaker 2: to take territory. Dear Lord, please help my leg today.
- 20:47Speaker 2: Dear Lord, please help my mind today. Dear Lord, please
- 20:52Speaker 2: take this sickness away. There's nothing wrong with those prayers, guys,
- 20:55Speaker 2: there's nothing wrong with them. But if that's every day,
- 20:58Speaker 2: Satan's having his way with you. And that's why a
- 21:00Speaker 2: lot of you, guys did not raise your hand when
- 21:02Speaker 2: I said I love my body. He said, I got it.
- 21:04Speaker 2: I'm good like it's helpful. When you're young, things tend
- 21:07Speaker 2: to work a little better. There's a certain age. You
- 21:10Speaker 2: wake up in the morning and you're not sure what
- 21:11Speaker 2: you did in your sleep, but like you're injured, like
- 21:14Speaker 2: and you didn't even get to earn it, Like you
- 21:15Speaker 2: just woke up and you're like, well, that's new to
- 21:19Speaker 2: go on offense in our bodies. We need to know
- 21:22Speaker 2: the truths of Scripture. I'm so passionate about this. I
- 21:24Speaker 2: spent an entire year of writing a devotional this year
- 21:27Speaker 2: and publishing it called Faithful Fitness. It's a forty day
- 21:30Speaker 2: journey through Scripture to help Christians take territory from the
- 21:34Speaker 2: enemy in their body so that he stops having his
- 21:38Speaker 2: way with the church. Drives me bonkers, So I wrote
- 21:40Speaker 2: about it, and I'm really excited. I get to take
- 21:42Speaker 2: a few people through in life groups this year through
- 21:45Speaker 2: that forty day journey. I hope you'll join us. And
- 21:47Speaker 2: I don't have all the time I need on stage
- 21:49Speaker 2: today to teach you the truths of Scripture about your
- 21:52Speaker 2: body and to give you some practical tools to help
- 21:57Speaker 2: you in twenty twenty six. So I'm going to do
- 22:00Speaker 2: a very little bit of one and a lot of
- 22:02Speaker 2: bit of the other. I've got three verses for you.
- 22:04Speaker 2: We're not gonna have enough time to go flip there.
- 22:06Speaker 2: So I just want you to write these references down
- 22:08Speaker 2: and study them on your own. To the kids who
- 22:11Speaker 2: have their Bibles, that means look it up later. The
- 22:14Speaker 2: first verse is First Corinthians six nineteen through twenty. Do
- 22:18Speaker 2: you not know that your bodies are temples of the
- 22:21Speaker 2: Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you've received from God.
- 22:25Speaker 2: You are not your own, You were bought at a price. Therefore,
- 22:30Speaker 2: what honor God with your bodies? First Corinthians six nineteen
- 22:36Speaker 2: through twenty. That's Paul speaking. Another verse truth of scripture
- 22:40Speaker 2: about your body that God made is in Psalms one
- 22:43Speaker 2: thirty nine fourteen. The Psalmist says, I praise you. Speaking
- 22:49Speaker 2: to God, I praise you because I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.
- 22:54Speaker 2: All everybody say, all all your works are wonderful. I
- 23:00Speaker 2: know that full well. God did not make a mistake
- 23:03Speaker 2: when he made you. Some of us have a few
- 23:05Speaker 2: more challenges than others, but he did not make a
- 23:07Speaker 2: mistake when he made you. Last, but not least, because
- 23:10Speaker 2: there's a lot more. But like I said, I don't
- 23:12Speaker 2: have very much time here. The natives are getting restless,
- 23:15Speaker 2: Ephesians five twenty nine. The apostle Paul says this, he's
- 23:18Speaker 2: actually talking about marriage. But it's so crazy. It's so
- 23:21Speaker 2: crazy what he says here. After all, no one ever
- 23:26Speaker 2: hated their own body, but they feed and care for
- 23:29Speaker 2: their body, just like what Christ does. The church scripture
- 23:33Speaker 2: is filled with truths about how God made your body.
- 23:37Speaker 2: Scriptures filled with truths about how you take territory from
- 23:41Speaker 2: the enemy in your body. But I want this to
- 23:44Speaker 2: be an intensely practical sermon because we're coming up on
- 23:47Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. People have New Year's resolutions who they
- 23:51Speaker 2: don't work. So I'm going to take that inspiration and
- 23:54Speaker 2: motivation you have and give you some real things to
- 23:57Speaker 2: work with. And this is where I'm going to need
- 23:59Speaker 2: my helpers who have been paying attention this whole time
- 24:02Speaker 2: and have been hoping to swing a sword or whatever
- 24:05Speaker 2: else on stage. Can I get a show of hands
- 24:06Speaker 2: who are willing to come up here? I need? Okay, yes,
- 24:10Speaker 2: you the young woman right here, yep, you can come too.
- 24:12Speaker 2: As long as you're nice to you. Is that your little
- 24:14Speaker 2: sister be nice to your little sister? Okay, canon, I
- 24:17Speaker 2: could use you for sure. Zeke I need you, buddy, Owen,
- 24:19Speaker 2: I'm here, Owen, Gabriel, how many is that? Yes? I
- 24:22Speaker 2: need you too, Yeah yeah, she's coming come here. Yeah yeah.
- 24:26Speaker 2: Just be nice to your little brother. All right. I
- 24:28Speaker 2: got two sibling pairs on stage. I don't know how
- 24:30Speaker 2: this is gonna go. So, hey, guys, I need you
- 24:32Speaker 2: on this rope real quick. I need you on this rope.
- 24:33Speaker 2: We're gonna have a tug of war. Yeah yeah, well
- 24:37Speaker 2: you don't have to go that far. Yeah yeah, okay, right, no, no,
- 24:40Speaker 2: you're not on my side. Everybody's against me. Yeah yeah,
- 24:43Speaker 2: everybody's against me here, all right? Can can you give
- 24:46Speaker 2: it up for my volunteers this a second? I need
- 24:48Speaker 2: to size up my competition here, dear, I might need
- 24:51Speaker 2: to switch you guys out for somebody younger. All right,
- 24:53Speaker 2: here we go. You guys ready for this? Okay? All right,
- 24:56Speaker 2: all right, here's the deal. I did not practice this,
- 25:00Speaker 2: and there's lots of breakable things around you. So here's
- 25:02Speaker 2: what we're gonna do. You guys are gonna hold the
- 25:04Speaker 2: rope with both hands. Hold the rope with both hands. Okay, yep,
- 25:09Speaker 2: some of you are following instructions. Okay, So you're gonna
- 25:11Speaker 2: hold the rope with both hands, and instead of pulling
- 25:14Speaker 2: me off the stage with you, because that would be
- 25:16Speaker 2: really terrible, let's see if you can just hold your
- 25:18Speaker 2: ground against me. Sound like a plan. Okay, So here's
- 25:21Speaker 2: the deal for some of you guys. You say, hey,
- 25:24Speaker 2: pastor Alex, I've tried to honor God with my body.
- 25:28Speaker 2: I've tried to feed myself well, I've tried to exercise,
- 25:31Speaker 2: I've tried to rest. I've tried to do those things,
- 25:33Speaker 2: but I fail every time. Kind of it's because it's
- 25:37Speaker 2: you against six unknown, very strong forces. We're gonna talk
- 25:42Speaker 2: about that today. But I've got no chance. I'm gonna
- 25:44Speaker 2: do my best. I've done my deadlifts. I have prepared
- 25:46Speaker 2: for this. I knew I was doing this on stage,
- 25:48Speaker 2: and there's no I'm beating these six kids. There are
- 25:51Speaker 2: very did I get seven? Okay? Dear, all right, you
- 25:57Speaker 2: guys ready for this. Don't let me move on the counter.
- 26:00Speaker 2: I'm gonna pull against you. Don't let me move you ready, one? Two?
- 26:03Speaker 1: Three?
- 26:04Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, they're very strong. They're so strong. Okay, okay, Pauls,
- 26:08Speaker 2: you're good, okay, all right, all right, give them a hand.
- 26:12Speaker 2: Don't go anywhere, kid, don't go anywhere kids, Okay, what
- 26:14Speaker 2: I need is more men in my life. Who I
- 26:16Speaker 2: can I'm just kidding. I got plenty of men. They'd
- 26:18Speaker 2: come up here in a minute to take them out,
- 26:19Speaker 2: wouldn't you guys? All right? All right, because in children's
- 26:23Speaker 2: ministry we make you earn your wins. All right. I
- 26:25Speaker 2: need you guys to come up here on this on
- 26:26Speaker 2: this carpet and just face face my audience and hold
- 26:29Speaker 2: hold my signs for me. Come here right here. Yep,
- 26:32Speaker 2: you're this one, hold that for me, and hold this
- 26:35Speaker 2: one awesome, and hold this one yep, and hold this
- 26:38Speaker 2: one all right? All right on, I'm gonna give you
- 26:41Speaker 2: a high five and send you back to your mom
- 26:42Speaker 2: and deck because I counted too many. All right, everybody,
- 26:44Speaker 2: give it one in hand. Good job, buddy. They would
- 26:46Speaker 2: have lost without you, all right, okay, all right, So
- 26:50Speaker 2: so check it out. These these kids represent forces in
- 26:54Speaker 2: your life that will work against you when you try
- 26:57Speaker 2: to take territory from the enemy and your okay, all right.
- 27:02Speaker 2: These two are personal forces. Everybody say personal. These two
- 27:06Speaker 2: are social forces, everybody say social. And these two are
- 27:10Speaker 2: structural forces. Everybody say structural. Okay, these are real things.
- 27:14Speaker 2: And as I go through them, if God lays one
- 27:16Speaker 2: on your heart and says, hey, you you need to
- 27:19Speaker 2: take this territory from the enemy. If God says that
- 27:22Speaker 2: to you, I want you to write it down. I
- 27:24Speaker 2: want you to write down what I tell you here,
- 27:27Speaker 2: because this is real life. This is real life. This
- 27:30Speaker 2: is why people fail at this all the time. All right,
- 27:32Speaker 2: the first one? Hold your sign up, nice and high. Brother,
- 27:34Speaker 2: what's it say? Want to? This is your personal motivation?
- 27:39Speaker 2: Not yet, sweetheart, this is your personal motivation. If this
- 27:43Speaker 2: is working against you, it's pulling against you on the
- 27:46Speaker 2: other side, You're not gonna be able to take territory
- 27:49Speaker 2: from the enemy if your personal motivations are not rooted
- 27:52Speaker 2: in God. I want to lose ten pounds. Sorry, that's
- 27:55Speaker 2: a terrible motivation. It's not gonna work. I want to
- 27:57Speaker 2: be out of pain. Yeah, I feel you, but it's
- 27:59Speaker 2: not gonna work. I want to look good about girls
- 28:02Speaker 2: to notice me. I hear you. That's not gonna work.
- 28:05Speaker 2: Your want to has to be rooted in God. Your
- 28:08Speaker 2: want to has to be a want to make the
- 28:11Speaker 2: most out of the body God's given me. I want
- 28:14Speaker 2: to honor Him in my body. I want to be
- 28:17Speaker 2: able to serve him with strength. I want my body
- 28:20Speaker 2: not to be an obstacle to the calling on my life.
- 28:23Speaker 2: Do you guys understand the want to? If you need
- 28:26Speaker 2: to work on your want to, write that down. You've
- 28:28Speaker 2: got to root your want to in God or it
- 28:31Speaker 2: will pull against you. And this guy is strong. You
- 28:34Speaker 2: guys see that? All right? You can pull on my side.
- 28:37Speaker 2: All right here, I can steal your sign hold that. Okay,
- 28:40Speaker 2: all right, I've got want to on my side now,
- 28:42Speaker 2: all right, now it's your turn. You got this? Hey,
- 28:44Speaker 2: can you show them your mean face you showed me earlier? Yeah, yeah,
- 28:47Speaker 2: she's got that offense down. Okay, now you can smile again.
- 28:51Speaker 2: All right? What's this one say? Able to this is
- 28:55Speaker 2: personal ability. If I'm trying to exercise, if I'm trying
- 28:59Speaker 2: to eat well, if I'm trying to rest well, I
- 29:02Speaker 2: gotta know how to do it. If I'm being honest,
- 29:06Speaker 2: so many people in the churches don't know how. They
- 29:09Speaker 2: don't know that. It's a really bad idea to start
- 29:11Speaker 2: your day with a donut. I guess sounds like a
- 29:13Speaker 2: good idea at the time, But if you're wrestling with
- 29:15Speaker 2: your blood sugar donuts are just I don't care if
- 29:18Speaker 2: they're in the church lobby, but the sugar still counts
- 29:20Speaker 2: all right, like they might even be blessed, but not
- 29:23Speaker 2: for you able to God is the possessor of all
- 29:25Speaker 2: knowledge and all wisdom. And in the world today, I
- 29:28Speaker 2: know there's a lot of noise. But if you pray
- 29:31Speaker 2: this year that God will teach you, Lord, teach me
- 29:34Speaker 2: how to make the most out of the body you've
- 29:36Speaker 2: given me. Teach me how to eat healthy for myself.
- 29:39Speaker 2: Teach me how to exercise in a way that doesn't
- 29:41Speaker 2: hurt me. Teach me how to do things when I
- 29:43Speaker 2: don't feel like it. If you ask God to teach you,
- 29:46Speaker 2: guess what He will teach you, and he'll get your
- 29:50Speaker 2: able to pulling on your side. Thank you, sweetheart. Can
- 29:53Speaker 2: you come pull over here with me? Okay? All right?
- 29:55Speaker 2: Next is all right, I'm losing them. Next is fans
- 29:58Speaker 2: and friends. Fans, You're not gonna do this thing on
- 30:01Speaker 2: your own, and you're certainly not gonna do it when
- 30:03Speaker 2: there are people on your life who are actively pulling
- 30:06Speaker 2: against you. I'm not trying to step on any toes here,
- 30:08Speaker 2: but I've been in the health of fitness world for
- 30:10Speaker 2: a long time. Friends and family are the number one
- 30:13Speaker 2: obstacle to somebody getting their body in a good position.
- 30:20Speaker 2: What you're not gonna eat any cookies? I made those
- 30:22Speaker 2: just for you. You're gonna offend me, Dude, I got diabetes.
- 30:25Speaker 2: Chill out. Be a lot more offended when my blood
- 30:27Speaker 2: sugar goes through the roof and we're in the hospital.
- 30:29Speaker 2: If I have a conversation with friends and family in
- 30:31Speaker 2: my life and I say, hey, this year, this year,
- 30:33Speaker 2: I'm taking territory from the enemy and my body and
- 30:37Speaker 2: I need your help. Will you help me in this?
- 30:40Speaker 2: I know you love me, I know you want the
- 30:41Speaker 2: best for me. I need your help and I'm learning.
- 30:43Speaker 2: I'm still learning. Will you help me in this? Most
- 30:46Speaker 2: of your friends and most of your fans will say yes.
- 30:48Speaker 2: And if they will be like no, you're gonna stay whatever,
- 30:51Speaker 2: in pain and addicted and all that stuff, just like
- 30:53Speaker 2: I am, you can say peace. I'm praying for new
- 30:58Speaker 2: friends and fans It'll be okay. So I'm gonna get
- 31:01Speaker 2: them pulling on my side. I'm gonna pull on my side.
- 31:05Speaker 2: Thank you. We got three more. It's a cool sermon
- 31:09Speaker 2: because you can see when it's over right. We're almost there.
- 31:11Speaker 2: All right. I made you coach, didn't I. That's cool.
- 31:13Speaker 2: That's a calling on this kid's life. I like that.
- 31:16Speaker 2: You guys don't know Zeke like I do. But he's
- 31:18Speaker 2: a leader. All right? What does this say? Coach? Coach?
- 31:21Speaker 2: This is social social ability? Social ability. Do you have
- 31:26Speaker 2: somebody in your life you can be honest with and
- 31:29Speaker 2: they will be honest with you and you won't be
- 31:31Speaker 2: resentful about it. That's a coach. A coach is somebody
- 31:34Speaker 2: you can be honest with, ask good questions of and
- 31:36Speaker 2: they will be honest with you and you won't resent
- 31:38Speaker 2: them for it. You need that sometimes you all need
- 31:41Speaker 2: a good kick in the bridges. And this could be
- 31:42Speaker 2: a friend in your life. This could be a doctor,
- 31:45Speaker 2: this could be a sports coach, this could be a trainer.
- 31:47Speaker 2: But we all need somebody in our life that we
- 31:50Speaker 2: can be honest with, who we trust and who's going
- 31:54Speaker 2: to be honest back with us and we're not going
- 31:56Speaker 2: to get upset about it. All right, Come pull on
- 31:59Speaker 2: my side, my man. All right. These last two are hard.
- 32:03Speaker 2: These last two are hard. Hang with me, MK. It's
- 32:06Speaker 2: good to see you girl. Do you have a good Christmas. Yeah,
- 32:08Speaker 2: she looks so sweet. All right, what's it say? Rewards?
- 32:11Speaker 2: This is structural motivation rewards. This is messed up. This
- 32:16Speaker 2: is messed up. This is where the enemy gets us
- 32:18Speaker 2: the hardest in our world today because most of the
- 32:21Speaker 2: rewards are backwards. I picked on you about donuts and
- 32:23Speaker 2: the lobby, right, they're out there right now. I'll let
- 32:26Speaker 2: you borrow my sword. Not today satan rewards. The rewards
- 32:29Speaker 2: are backwards in health and fitness. Donuts taste so good, right,
- 32:32Speaker 2: they really do, very tasty. Hmm. I get my reward
- 32:35Speaker 2: right now. But if you're going to take back territory
- 32:37Speaker 2: from the enemy this year, you've got to get the
- 32:39Speaker 2: rewards on your side. You've got to get the rewards
- 32:42Speaker 2: on your side. Donuts and a lot of the other
- 32:44Speaker 2: cool foods we like to eat, they're not nutritious. They're
- 32:47Speaker 2: not food. They're fuel. If you want fuel, you gotta
- 32:51Speaker 2: do something that requires the fuel. So if you're gona
- 32:53Speaker 2: have donuts, do them on my leg day. That's all I'm saying.
- 32:56Speaker 2: I gotta get the rewards on my side. I love
- 32:58Speaker 2: going for a walk in the woods. Does anybody else
- 33:01Speaker 2: like the hike? I love it. I love it. Do
- 33:04Speaker 2: you know what I hate running on a treadmill? Hate it?
- 33:08Speaker 2: Hate it Like olives, I'd rather eat an olive, I'd seriously, So,
- 33:13Speaker 2: if I'm going to exercise this year, committing to running
- 33:17Speaker 2: on a treadmill is not helping me. I've made something
- 33:21Speaker 2: good for me very unenjoyable. So maybe I should commit
- 33:24Speaker 2: to hiking instead as often as possible, whether permitting. You
- 33:28Speaker 2: got like, I don't know, twelve hours and then it's
- 33:30Speaker 2: going south from here. Rewards, everybody say rewards. You gotta
- 33:33Speaker 2: see where Satan has flipped the rewards in your life backwards,
- 33:36Speaker 2: and you got to get them on your side where
- 33:38Speaker 2: they will be pulling against you. And you'd be like, oh,
- 33:41Speaker 2: why can't I eat anything I love? Why do I
- 33:43Speaker 2: gotta move? Exercise is terrible? And I hate sleeping. Some
- 33:47Speaker 2: of you have been there. It's your inner two year old.
- 33:48Speaker 2: Don't give in, all right, go pull on my side last,
- 33:50Speaker 2: but not least hold it up nice and high. Forest canon,
- 33:53Speaker 2: what's that say? Environment? Your home should be the safest
- 33:56Speaker 2: place in the world for you to eat healthy. If
- 33:58Speaker 2: I'm going to take back territory from the enemy, the
- 34:01Speaker 2: ice cream and my freezer, the Halloween candy carrot cake.
- 34:05Speaker 2: Still got a little left over for my birthday. Yeah,
- 34:08Speaker 2: don't worry, I'm running getting my fuel. I've got to
- 34:10Speaker 2: own my environment. I've got to own my environment. If
- 34:14Speaker 2: I'm going to take back territory from the enemy, I
- 34:17Speaker 2: have to work on my environment so that my environment
- 34:19Speaker 2: is conducive to me making the most out of the
- 34:22Speaker 2: body God's given me. If I don't work on my environment,
- 34:24Speaker 2: it's gonna work on me every day. I'm not saying
- 34:28Speaker 2: ice cream is terrible and sinful. I'm saying that if
- 34:30Speaker 2: you have a problem with ice cream, get it out
- 34:33Speaker 2: of your freezer. If you have to drive to dairy
- 34:35Speaker 2: Queen to have ice cream today, you'll work a little harder, right,
- 34:38Speaker 2: and it will happen a little less often, unless you're
- 34:40Speaker 2: in an coole who's saying like, no, that's not how
- 34:42Speaker 2: it works in my world. That's okay, Kennon, Will you
- 34:45Speaker 2: hope your mom with that? Okay, all right, go pull
- 34:48Speaker 2: on my side, thanks buddy. All right, do you guys
- 34:49Speaker 2: see how this works? Now, I'm gonna take back territory
- 34:52Speaker 2: from the Haha. Nobody's pulling against us. Yeah, that's pretty cool.
- 34:59Speaker 2: That's pretty cool. In fact, let's say I've had a
- 35:02Speaker 2: really bad day, and I am dead set on having
- 35:05Speaker 2: a really bad day, but all of the forces in
- 35:08Speaker 2: my life pulling me toward God. Then I don't even
- 35:11Speaker 2: stand a chance of mess into up, not against these kids.
- 35:13Speaker 2: Can you give my volunteers a hand, you guys, go
- 35:17Speaker 2: ahead and have a seat to God a seat? Have
- 35:19Speaker 2: a seat, got a seat? Really? Okay? Nice? Now, I
- 35:22Speaker 2: know I've had some fun, But I hope that you
- 35:24Speaker 2: were paying attention, that you wrote an area of your
- 35:26Speaker 2: life down that you know God wants you to take
- 35:29Speaker 2: ownership of. Because Church, we are on offense, and it
- 35:32Speaker 2: starts in us. It starts in our body. And when
- 35:35Speaker 2: we can take territory from the enemy and our body,
- 35:38Speaker 2: we can take territory from the enemy in our family.
- 35:40Speaker 2: And when we take territory from the enemy and our family,
- 35:43Speaker 2: we can take territory from the enemy in our community.
- 35:46Speaker 2: It starts in us. Do not let Satan turn you
- 35:50Speaker 2: so hard against yourself that he doesn't even have to
- 35:53Speaker 2: fight you anymore. He's got you pulling so hard against
- 35:55Speaker 2: the forces in your life, he can move on to
- 35:58Speaker 2: take other territory. In the darkness, winds it's not how
- 36:01Speaker 2: it's gonna work in this church.
- 36:06Speaker 1: Hey, if this episode helps you, jare it with someone
- 36:09Speaker 1: who needs to hear it, and don't forget to subscribe
- 36:13Speaker 1: and leave us a raving review so more people can
- 36:16Speaker 1: find faithful fitness. Oh and my dad's new devotional is
- 36:21Speaker 1: almost out now. You can grab a copy for yourself
- 36:25Speaker 1: and then join our free community at Better Daily by
- 36:29Speaker 1: clicking on the links in the show notes below. We
- 36:33Speaker 1: all have a cross to carry, but it's lighter when
- 36:36Speaker 1: we do it together, so check out both links in
- 36:39Speaker 1: the show notes. Don't be a big well bob, just
- 36:42Speaker 1: do it until next time. Don't forget, Train hard and
- 36:46Speaker 1: pray even harder.