How to Dress for Success

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By the way, just a footnote, I was thinking as we were singing that, you know, we say Christ is risen, and I think some of us, there's a, I don't know, what I'd call a kind of internal warmth in that, kind of a joy in that.

I don't know if we recognize the full implications of that.

Just a mini sermon for a second while the band makes our way to there.

Off the stage, when we say that, do you realize we've moved from a creation of God to a child of God?

So just a thought.

All right, let's get to the full-length sermon then.

So I grew up in uh rural southeast Louisiana.

It is not what I would call the Mecca of fashion.

Uh we were at least several years behind, and even though our city had a Dillard's in it.

Um but every year, you know, from I don't know, whatever it was, kindergarten through about age 14 or so, my mother would come home and she would decide what I was going to wear to school.

And she would say, wait, I got you these shirts and I've got you these jeans, and these are the things you're gonna be wearing.

I'm like, but Mom, I don't want to wear those.

And she's like, Okay, well, this is what you'll be wearing.

Uh I remember she came home one day with some brown tennis shoes, kangaroo brand shoes.

And I'm like, Mom, I don't think brown really is the way to go.

Okay, well, these were on sale, and that's the way it's gonna go until you wear these out.

And then so I would drag my foot outside the car trying to wear them out sooner.

Then I'm about, uh, I don't know, I think I'm a freshman in high school, and I'm in our library one day, and our library was not terrific, okay?

But I found this dusty copy of a gentleman's quarterly magazine.

I'd never heard of such a thing.

I started thumbing through this and I'm like, oh my goodness, look at these clothes.

There is a magazine dedicated to men's fashion.

And there's there's words in there I can't pronounce and stuff in there I can't afford.

And I'm like, oh man, what about?

And so for a while, I started to develop uh kind of some fashion rules and things, and then also I started to develop what I called kind of this uh how to dress for success.

What does that look like?

How to dress for the right occasion and the right time, and how to be a little more overdressed and underdressed, and when do you wear this and that, et cetera, et cetera?

And so GQ is giving all that to me.

But what I didn't realize was that the Bible has actually something to say about dressing for success as well.

And that's what I want to look at today with you.

Now, besides the Word of God, which absolutely in and of itself is sufficient, but I also want to uh reference David Pallison's book, Safe and Sound.

He gave us some things that I think will help us explain the why, what, and how of spiritually dressing for success.

So if you have your Bibles with me, uh turn to Ephesians, a book in the New Testament.

If you find Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, move about three-quarters of the way forward and you'll find Ephesians.

If not, it'll come up on the screen behind me.

But Ephesians is a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus.

And Paul has given them all kinds of good instructions.

I mean, Ephesians is chocked full of good things, but toward the end of that letter in chapter six, Paul gives kind of a summation, but he also says, hey, here's some things I want you to be sure you are dressed for spiritual success.

And so let's read that.

Chapter 6, starting in verse 10.

Paul's letter reads, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you've done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Now let me begin this morning by giving you a definition of what I would call the definition of success.

It's really short and easy.

It's really just being prepared for what's coming.

If we're dressing well, we dress well for the weather, we have the right outfit for the right occasion, et cetera, et cetera.

And so my definition of success when we're talking about how do we dress for success, that definition is be ready for what's coming.

But why do we need to be successful from the spiritual perspective?

Why would that even be an issue for us?

Well, this is why it's an issue, because we're at war.

Now you may not believe that.

You may say, wait, this is a little bit mystical and magical.

You're talking about heavenly realms and spirit stuff, and we're not at battle and what and all that.

The Bible doesn't necessarily use the term spiritual warfare, but I promise you, we are at war.

And if you don't think the devil's real, then you're wrong.

We'll talk more about that in just a second.

But this idea of spiritual warfare, I want to give you three ways.

David Paulison does a nice job in his book of helping us better understand spiritual warfare.

The first thing he says is that spiritual warfare really is a metaphor for taking sides.

It's really this idea of are we going to be with God or against God?

The Bible says that.

The Bible says very clearly, you're either with me or against me.

And so the first thing about spiritual warfare we have to understand is that there are two entities.

One entity is the devil who is created.

He has limited power, presence, knowledge, etc.

Oh, but then there is the creator who is unlimited in all of those things.

Those are the two heavenly entities, if you will, that we have got to choose whose side are we on, God or Satan?

And God is the supreme being in this war.

And so we still, though, have the freedom to choose, and we must choose.

And by the way, you could probably say, you know what, I'm a good guy.

I mean, I don't really cause any problems.

I mean, I go about my business, I'm nice to people.

I even stop for the fellow that has a flat tire, yada yada blah, blah.

And you're like, I should get into heaven, right?

I mean, God is a loving God, and He should let everybody in if they think that everything is good.

Here's what's going to happen we're going to get to the end, and God is going to say, there is no neutrality on judgment day.

It's either for or against.

Paul is encouraging us there.

Look at verse 11, kind of the second part of that verse, and he says, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

Paul is not really encouraging as much as he is imploring us.

He's saying, please understand, you have got to be ready for what is coming, and you've got to stand against.

The second thing we need to understand about spiritual warfare is that it is a synonym for the struggles of the Christian life.

Now, I recognize some take this to an extreme, right?

They overdraw their checkbook.

Oh, it's the devil.

The car won't start.

Oh, it's the devil.

I got fired at work.

Oh, it's the devil.

All these things.

Or some won't take it far enough.

They won't believe or give credit to the devil at all.

Let me tell you this: Satan has his hand in everything that is wrong and is dark.

And the greatest trick the devil ever pulled is convincing the world that he doesn't exist.

The Bible commentator James Boyce said this that many Christians see Christianity not as an entrance into warfare, but as an exit from it.

This idea that God is going to save me, I mean, the minute I say yes to Jesus, I'm never sick again and I'm happy all the time and everything goes great.

They do not see that Christianity is not just saying yes to Jesus, but it's saying, and I will take this fight on.

I will be engaged in spiritual warfare.

Absolutely.

By the way, if you don't think that's the case, then not only are you fooling yourself, but here's what I would tell you.

If you're not a Christian, why would Satan care?

You're already on his side, right?

We don't get on Satan's radar until we are going against his preferred outcome.

There is a war.

And the third thing we need to understand about it is that it is a battle for lordship.

It's a conflict over who we are, what we believe, how will we live.

It's a conflict over shaping our every thought, our every decision, our every action.

In short, who are we going to serve?

Now, I do think there is a little bit of a difference, perhaps, and this may be semantics, the difference between allegiance and full-on.

What I mean by that is, you know, I think you could give allegiance to a king and go, yeah, king, I'm for you.

You better believe it and go about our business.

And they say, are you for the king?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're for the king and go about our business.

That is not what we're talking about here when we're talking about lordship.

We are fully talking about all service and a full-on, intimate relationship.

The story of Job is, I think, a good indicator of how Satan works at times.

So it's an Old Testament book of Job, and it's this story where Satan goes to God and says, Hey God, um, I don't know that your servant Job is as good as you think he is.

In fact, you've really blessed him.

Let me mess with him for a little while and let's see just exactly how much on his side uh on your side that he is.

And so God gives permission to Satan to say, okay, you can do anything you want to, but don't kill him.

And Satan takes full effect of that.

He kills all his children, he takes his wealth and possessions.

I mean everything.

Job is stripped down, including his health, is gone, and it all happens pretty much in one day.

Now, if we read that, we would think, well, yeah, that's about right.

That's what the devil does.

He does evil things.

I mean, that's what he's always about, that's what he's doing.

He's just being mean.

That's not really what that story tells us.

What that story tells us is that warfare that was taking place, it was for Job's soul.

Satan wasn't so much worried about I want to do evil to Job.

He was trying to determine is Job really on God's side or not.

That same warfare for the loyalty of soul is taking place today, and we certainly are a part of it.

And it the way I look at it is either I want my way or I want God's way.

By the way, those people in heaven have said, God, let your will be done.

Those in hell have said, God, let my will be done.

It comes down to mine or yours.

A determination of lordship.

Now, I think it's also important that we rightly envision spiritual warfare not just as being on the defensive, but we also have to mount an offensive uh front as well.

I think we've got to take the attack to the evil one.

How we speak truth in love and we demonstrate Christ-like lives.

We'll get to that more in a minute, but I don't want you to think that this idea of spiritual warfare is a defensive only posture.

Now let me mention this.

Some of you are thinking right now, well, Wade, the war has already been won, right?

I mean, that song Redeemed, that they say that the war has already been won.

God has victory.

The Bible even says it.

Jesus has conquered sin and the grave and all these things.

Absolutely, I agree with that.

Jesus has won over death and sin and the grave and has defeated Satan.

But here's how I look at this idea of spiritual warfare.

I look at it kind of like the war of 1812.

If you know your history at all, you know, in 1814 we took a little trip.

So Colonel Jackson is in New Orleans.

He's commanding the American troops, and they're going against the British.

And I think they're even using alligators as cannons.

I don't know, but it's it's a Cajun free-for-all down there, and they don't know the war is over.

Word hadn't gotten to them yet.

And what are they doing?

They're still battling it out.

I don't know if Satan understands that the war has already been won.

But I guarantee you that rascal is battling every chance he gets to win just a little bit.

And he's battling for our souls and for us.

The war may be won, but those battles are for things like our flesh and our attention and our affections.

And if we're not careful, he will get all of that.

The battles are won only to the extent that we avail ourselves to this armor of God, as Paul puts it.

So that's the why behind being dressed appropriately.

Why should we?

Because it is coming, and we need to understand those three points.

Now, let's look at what do we wear and how do we wear it in order to be dressed successfully for this spiritual warfare.

Now, by the way, when I pack for a trip, like an overnight trip or a week long or whatever it is, I always overpack.

We go to the beach every year for a family vacation.

I usually bring two suitcases and a Louis Vuitton steamer trunk with me, okay?

I mean, I got all kind of stuff.

I've got jackets and swimsuits.

My wife is like, Wade, we have been down here for 15 straight years.

It's never gotten below 90 degrees.

Do you think you need a jacket?

Not gonna get caught off guard, Amy.

That's right.

Always gonna have it ready.

And then you know what I end up doing?

I don't wear really any of it.

I stay in the same clothes for about three days straight.

And she's like, Are you gonna change?

Nope, on vacation.

I always overpack, though, because I never know, right?

I may need a rain jacket, I might need this, I might need that, da-da-da-da-da.

Paul knows exactly what we need to wear.

And every article that he mentions here is necessary and it will serve us well.

Allow me to call your attention again to the text and let's take a look at these various articles, if you will, and let's see what they do for us and how do we put them on.

Take a look at the first part of verse 14.

Paul says, Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.

The belt of truth.

Now, I think that's an odd place to start.

The belt is always the last piece of the outfit for me.

You know, I first pick out the pants and the shirt, and then that determines the shoes, and then the shoes determine the belt.

Why in the world would Paul start with the belt?

Why would he do that?

Well, Paul understands just like a real belt kind of holds us together, kind of pulls the outfit together, he understands so the truth of Christ and his saving work holds us together.

The belt of truth has to come first.

If Christ is not raised from the dead, if he did not defeat sin in the grave, if his blood is not the redemptive power that we sing and read about, then absolutely we're still in our sin and darkness wins, and Satan is the victor.

Our faith, in fact, would be pointless.

But since Jesus is true, since he is everything the Bible says he is, since he's the only religious uh figurehead, the only religious leader that have said, I am the truth, then we get to have victory in that.

And by understanding that truth, that is then the foundation of everything else we put on related to our belief.

That's why Paul starts with the belt.

Now we have to be mindful that the Bible calls Satan the father of lies.

So Paul starts with this idea of truth to show the stark contrast between the father of lies and Jesus, who in him is all truth.

Well, how do we put it on though?

What does that look like?

Well, you you read your Bible, you believe that Jesus is everything it says he is, and you fully subscribe to his ways and to his teaching.

That's how we put on the belt of truth.

Just a footnote.

You don't have to believe it for it to be true.

Okay?

Some of you are thinking, yeah, I don't really believe some of this and all of that.

And I mean, I wasn't sure about, but that's okay.

You don't have to believe it for it to be true.

And by the way, just another footnote.

If you don't have a plan for spiritual warfare, if you don't have a plan for your marriage, for your life, if you don't have a plan to parent your kids, no problem.

I don't want you to worry.

Satan's got a plan.

And so you'd better be ready.

All right.

Let's continue on then.

In that second part of 14, Paul says, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.

Now, this is an article that provides both protection and, in a sense, some offense as well.

The protection is kind of obvious, you know.

If you wore a breastplate, it'd be protecting your core organs and all, and kind of making sure you were well defended in that.

But I think it also is a piece of offense in that it kind of goes forth.

This breastplate is going forth for us.

How is it doing that?

Well, it's called of righteousness, and so if we think about where is Jesus' righteousness, we think about the way he lived: goodness and love.

He demonstrated faith and kindness and humility, fruit of the spirit is what the Bible calls those things.

Jesus showed that here, and by the way, it's the same righteousness that is now ours to express in how we treat others.

And so, if we are a subscriber to that righteousness, if we are going to demonstrate goodness and love and kindness and patience and all of those things that are the fruit of the spirit, then where are we going to demonstrate it?

We're going to demonstrate it to others, right?

And so, therefore, that righteousness is going out from us.

So the breastplate is both defensive and offensive, and that it is going out doing the work of the Spirit.

It goes forth from us so that it is an example of a Christ-like life.

Well, how do we put that on?

How do we put on righteousness?

Well, I think it starts with understanding.

It starts with understanding in two fronts.

Number one, we have to understand what it is defending us against.

For some of us, that's pornography.

For some, that is negative peer pressure.

For some, that's believing lies about our worth.

Either undervalued or abundantly valued.

You gotta be absolutely certain that you understand yourself well enough to know what am I needing to be defended against?

The devil never comes in ugly packages.

I don't know if you've ever experienced him.

He never shows up at the door really ugly and with a pitchfork going, I'm the devil, here I come.

It never happens like that.

Understanding how you portray goodness and love and all those fruit of the Spirit, what holy habits are you going to take on?

Those holy habits like uh reading your Bible and praying, fasting and evangelizing, just telling people what you believe, perseverance and service, tithing, etc., etc.

Those are holy habits that we should have such that we are living a life of righteousness.

And when we do, we are going forth in that.

That's what I mean when I say we have to take the attack to the evil one as well, and not wait for him to come at us.

Let's continue now.

In verse 15, Paul says, and with your feet fitted, with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

Now, look, uh, you could take my man card perhaps after this, but I'm gonna say the shoes make the outfit, all right?

I firmly believe that.

Um, and I think the best shoes are those that look good and are comfortable, all right?

I'd recommend a couple of brands to you.

I'll do that afterwards if you want me to.

But I'm also willing to sacrifice uh, you know, a little bit of comfort for fashion.

I'm willing to do that.

But why in the world would we be talking about shoes of readiness?

What is possible?

Paul talking about here?

Well, Paul is actually making a reference to Isaiah 52.

Let me read that to you.

It'll come up on the screen.

It says this how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation.

Isaiah is describing the Lord coming in person, bringing comfort and redemption, peace and salvation.

But still, what does that have to do with us wearing shoes of readiness?

We should be outfitted in such a way that we are always ready to demonstrate the peace of Christ and to tell of his good news, the gospel.

That's what Paul says right there.

It says, readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

We always have to be ready.

Okay, so I'm with you.

Wait, I'm subscribing to that.

How do I put on the shoes?

What does that look like?

Well, it's simply this.

1 Peter, one of Jesus' original disciples, writes a couple of letters that are found in the Bible.

In 1 Peter, it says this be ready to give an account of why you believe what you believe.

And then, by the way, don't be shy about sharing it.

You know, here's the thing.

We're kind of quick to tell people, oh man, have you heard about that new restaurant?

You know, I had a sandwich the other day.

It was terrific.

Let me tell you all about it.

And I figured out a way to save money, and let me tell you about that.

And you know what?

I got a new car and I would subscribe that to you because it did, di-d-d-d-d.

But you know what?

We'll be virtually mute when it comes to the things of the soul, right?

When it comes to eternal perspective, we won't say a thing.

And Paul is saying, you better get on the shoes of readiness because when you do, you're going to be called on.

You're going to be called on whether you want to be or not.

People are looking whether you realize it or not.

You better always be ready.

How do I always get ready?

How do I do it?

What does that look like then?

Well, I read my Bible, I understand what I believe, I understand who I am in God and what He's called me to.

That's how we're ready to share that good news that Jesus is Savior.

And by the way, let me tell you this.

This is not always talking about eternal only, heaven only.

This is talking about abundant life right now as well.

If you are a child of God, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

It is not just eternal perspective that draws us.

It is this invitation that a God is saying, come and join me in this abundant life that I have for you, for the right now and for the then.

Look at verse 16.

Paul says, in addition to all this, now don't lose that there.

Don't think, okay, we got some really core stuff.

This is really good, and now we're going to add some other things, kind of some dressing on top of this, maybe some, you know, a cufflinks or a tie.

You could go open collar if you wanted to.

No, no, no.

Paul's saying, in addition to, you also need these very necessary things.

So he says, in addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Now the enemy fights hard.

You only have to be a Christian for about five minutes to understand that.

Satan lies and he schemes and he deceives, he accuses, he hurts and he divides.

And he'll use all that just with you and your marriage, perhaps, or you and any relationship.

In fact, he'll certainly use that between you and God.

Wherever lies and hostility control a relationship, the devil dominates.

And it is to cause you to sin, absolutely.

That is one of his goals.

But do you know what his ultimate goal is?

Causing you to sin so that you are separated from God, and then you know what he wants to do.

He wants to kill you.

Because Satan believes death is the end, right?

He believes it's over at that point.

And so we must take up that shield of faith.

We must understand that while the belt is a necessary base, the breastplate is both protection and offensive in a sense, that the shoes are ready to be used.

The shield is the only piece that is purely defensive, the only one that is to communicate pure protection while we face the counterattacks of lies and hostilities, those flaming arrows, as Paul calls it.

Now, let me say this, and this may sound a little bit odd, but faith in and of itself has no protection.

Okay?

Just believing in something, there is no protection.

All right?

If I go outside right now and I build a plastic car and I'm like, I really, really, really believe this is gonna protect me, it ain't gonna help me any more than not, right?

What does faith then do for us?

Well, what faith does is it shapes our beliefs, which then cause us to act.

But in and of itself, it doesn't necessarily have a protective power.

So why in the world would we be picking up a shield of faith?

Why then would it be something necessary to defend against?

Faith does this: it looks with confidence to the one who does protect us.

To God.

So if I have faith in God and I'm picking up, if you will, that shield of faith, absolutely, I am, in a sense, uh not hiding so much, but being secure in my protection behind the Lord Almighty that's in front of me, and I have faith in him that he's going to protect.

That's why Paul says you've got to take up this shield of faith.

But how do I do it?

How do I put it on?

Well, when all is said and done, when you've researched all the different religions, when you've read all the books, when maybe you've let your kids decide what religion they're going to be in, you let them explore and you go through all this stuff, it really boils down to one thing.

You just have to trust.

You just have to have faith.

What else does Paul tell us to take on?

Well, in 17 he says, take the helmet of salvation.

Now, uh, I think to some extent, this idea of helmet is, oh, okay, it's the last piece of the outfit, right?

This is kind of where we're putting on the crown jewel, if you will, of this outfit.

We're going to tie this whole thing together.

Well, Paul is saying, yeah, you can.

It certainly is protection.

Absolutely.

Salvation is protection from eternal damnation.

It is protection from permanent separation from God.

Absolutely, it's protection.

From hell is our eternal destination.

But it's also a beacon.

In a crowd, you'll notice the helmet before you will anything else.

I want you to think of uh the USC Trojan mascot, right?

He's typically got on the Roman garb and all, and he's got the gold helmet with the red brush on it.

And so this idea of, I'm gonna see that before I see anything else in a crowd.

I don't even know what shoes you're wearing and whatever you're, but I see that helmet.

What's Paul telling us in that?

Paul is telling us is that this beacon of salvation, it is necessary to understand what you have in salvation because without it, there is not joy now, there is not peace now, there is not understanding now without salvation.

And that idea of confirmation of that salvation really is this is how we wear it.

How do I put on the helmet of salvation?

Be saved.

That's how.

If God is revealing himself to you, if he is calling you to him, then please accept the invitation.

Because that salvation is not just for your soul in heaven, that salvation is for right now, and eternal peace and joy that we have only comes from that.

And when we have it, it becomes a beacon for everyone else to see.

Paul gives us something else here to take up.

Second part of 17, he says, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

The sword is the word, but why would he use a sword?

Now, this is a little bit of an odd analogy, I think, for just a minute, if you were just to glance at that.

I mean, you would think, well, listen, the people are guided by the word of God.

It gives us characteristics of God, it tells us stories of God.

I mean, it is life itself, I've heard.

Why in the world would Paul say it's a sword?

Take a look at Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12, that'll come on the screen.

Hebrews 4:12

The Bible says this of itself.

For the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword.

It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.

It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

So take the sword that is the word Paul tells us.

It's a weapon against the evil one, absolutely.

We saw it in Matthew when Jesus is tempted.

Satan tries to use the Bible a little bit, and Jesus says, uh uh, let me tell you what it says.

And Jesus is fighting back in that.

He's absolutely using it as a weapon, but I don't want you to think we're clubbing people over the head with it.

I also want you to realize this.

I think of it as a sword, certainly, because that's how Paul describes it, but I also think of it like a surgeon's scalpel.

This idea of it has the ability to cut and expose, and that's necessary for the healing.

Until you let the word of God get in there and get after it, until you let some of that sin be exposed, all of that be exposed, until you let the word of God fully penetrate like a double-edged sword would, we are going to lack in our ability to conduct spiritual warfare.

The sword has to be applied in battles in love and in all occasions, so that it alone judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart.

So, how do I carry it?

I mean, do I carry the Bible around with me all the time?

Do I put it in a holster?

Do I what do I do with it?

No, you know what you do?

You do just what it says to do.

Read it and then hide it in your heart.

Hide it in your mind.

Memorize scripture.

A lot of us would say, man, I've never memorized scripture.

I don't do that.

I mean, I just read it.

Then I would challenge you, you will not have that sword at the ready when you need it.

And I would also say, on the other hand, because I'm one of those that have said that a lot, you probably memorize more than you realize.

And so you've got to be ready with the sword.

And so we are dressed.

What do we do now?

We've got it all on.

It sounds good, all of that.

What are we supposed to do?

Well, we do what Paul tells us.

We take a stand.

We do not sit idly by, but instead we demonstrate this full armor of God.

Paul would not go through all this detail, all these instructions, this insistence, if it were not certain the evil one will come against you.

In fact, Paul uses two Greek words to kind of describe this idea of warfare.

The first Greek word that he uses kind of denotes a remote battle, one of those things where you would be firing cannons and shooting these flaming arrows and stuff like that, right?

We're not going to do close quarter combat with arrows and things.

But the other Greek word he uses is where we get our word wrestle from.

It's this idea of close quarter, hand-to-hand combat that we're going to be taking on the enemy and we better be ready.

The remote and the immediate is what we have to be ready for.

Now, I want to challenge you to do this.

I want to challenge you in your mind's eye to move from the idea of putting this on as a uniform, because that would denote something you could take off, right?

I want you to move from the thought of a uniform to a skin.

I want you to move to this idea of, I put it on, yes, but it doesn't come off.

Why doesn't it come off?

You know why?

Because I don't know when Satan's gonna attack.

He's cunning and deceptive, and surprise attacks, and stealth is his absolute modus operandi to get us.

And he's always ready to pounce.

And so you better always be ready with the full armor.

We can't say, ah, well, you know what?

That attractive lady at work talked to me, and uh, I left my shield at home.

I don't know what I'll do now.

We can't let ourselves for just a little bit think about our neighbor's bigger house and four sports cars and all that and be envious of that.

We gotta make sure, oh, wait a minute.

I'm supposed to have on that full armor.

Remember, I'm supposed to be righteous in my kindness and gentleness, etc.

No, we gotta be real careful to always wear it.

So if you subscribe to that, you say, I'm with you.

I'm always gonna wear it, I'm ready.

So what?

Now what?

Well, we just follow Paul's instruction then, right there in verse 18.

Paul says, and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and request.

And with this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Paul reminds us to seek strength, direction, and aid through prayer, being fully ready to take on this spiritual warfare dressed for success.

Let me pray for us.

In just a minute, Lindsay will play a little something over you.

And after I pray, I want you to consider this.

God gives us a free will.

But in the end, he's gonna ask you, is it yours or mine that you're gonna follow?

God, thank you for the privilege that you give us free will.

And while that sounds really good, I think that sounds dangerous sometimes because if left to our own devices, we will likely always choose us.

God, what we want to choose is you.

What we ought to choose is you.

What you tell us to choose is you.

And so, Lord, let us put on that full armor.

Fully ready for the spiritual warfare that's coming.

Thank you for your mighty hand and your mighty saving grace.

God, there's a war going out there.

It's going on for our souls.

And the great thing about it is when you call us into that field of battle, you do not call us alone.

You're not a general that's going to send troops and wait at home for the results, but instead, you're right there with us.

You are giving us everything we need to wage that war.

So, God, let us wage that war in a way that demonstrates our belief in you and in your belief in us.

We pray these things in your son's saving name.

Amen.

Well, thank you for being here this morning.

I appreciate your attendance and your attention.

We want to make you aware of a few announcements.

The first one we want to make you aware of is called the Empower Series.

This is a conference that we're offering here at Grand Parkway.

It's free for you to attend on March 31st, but you have to register online.

We already have, I think, 120 folks or so coming.

This workshop conference is a chance for us to better understand and identify mental health issues and then how we might come alongside and help folks in that.

We want to be supportive of that and think of that.

So if you're able to join us on March 31st, please do so.

You can go to our website and register for that.

Our next video comes by way of, excuse me, our next announcement comes by way of video.

Pay attention to that as we get ready for our student camp.

That's a very busy environment.

We want them to focus on on uh one or two things for a period of time.

I love going to student camp because it lets me hang out with my friends um and meet new friends.

Um, but also because every time I go, I feel like God reveals something to me that I didn't know before, and it just helps me grow in my faith with Him.

You know, you don't have to be a strong believer to go to camp.

Either way, you learn something new that you didn't know before.

And even if you don't, you know, have a lot of good friends at the beginning, when you get there and spend a whole week with the same people, you're bound to make some new friends and some fun memories, and just learning more about God around other people who desire to know God just like you.

I enjoy being around um kids uh and seeing them grow, seeing uh what makes them tick, uh seeing them uh uh get a deeper relationship with Christ and and uh helping them uh work through some things that that they have to maybe see someone who's had a little experience in life.

I love playing games.

I love, you know, playing dodgeball and just talking with people, but also is small groups too, you know, just hanging out with girls your age and just like having an honest talk about, you know, hey, this is what's going on in my life and this is where God's leading me to, and just being open and honest with each other.

I mean, I grew up in church, but I never really, you know, decided, you know, this is something I want to pursue until probably the summer after camp.

I just felt the Holy Spirit speak into me, you know, just saying, just throughout the year, you know, like I hardly really thought about God.

You know, I showed up to church on Sundays, you know, I saw my friends, and then I kind of just leave it there and just leave.

Um but when I got to camp, you know, I just kind of made me realize how much, you know, I needed God and how much God loved me.

And so, you know, that's when I just realized I'm like what am I doing?

Like I just need it was just a like a light bulb moment, you know, just knowing that I've been in the dark for so long.

And now, like, I want to make the decision to know God and live my life out for Christ.

What do you say to others to encourage them to volunteer their time for students?

You're missing out.

It's a lot of fun.

If if you don't you don't go and and uh really see um what's going on with the next generation, uh you're just missing out because the picture that you get when you watch TV or you just see at a glance kids around you in whatever location you are, um you you miss getting to see the promise of the next generation.

Um we need more adults that are just willing to play basketball um all the time or just willing to just talk to us and just being open and honest with us.

Um it makes us feel like you know we're important and you want to hang out with us and you want to build a relationship with us.

Registration for Student Camp will open online on March 15th at grandparkway.org slash events.

Hopefully, one of the takeaways you saw from that is that you don't have to be a theologian.

Uh you just have to be an available presence in imitatable life.

Uh the man you saw rocking the Wranglers in the long sleeve shirt every day is Dennis Scott.

He's a he's a youth camp superstar.

Uh the students love him.

They love just being around him.

And so if you're looking for a way to get meaningfully involved and and contribute to the well-being of your church, uh that that's a great place to get involved.

Uh I have an announcement that affects the student ministry of our church uh that I'll make you all aware of and ask for your prayerful participation.

Uh, after a prolonged period of prayerful consideration, the elders of Grand Parkway have come to the conclusion that we need to make a change in the leadership of our student ministry, which what that means is that Jeff Witten, his time as our student pastor, will come to an end at the end of this month.

March 31st will be his last day.

Uh Jeff's been with us four years.

Uh and let me be let me be very clear.

Jeff has done nothing illegal, immoral, anything like that.

It's just as simple as this.

It came down to there were some key areas we wanted to see progress in.

Uh and this has been an ongoing conversation.

Not like last month we just came up with this.

And so uh we just came to the point where we felt like we need to make a change.

Uh and so uh because we practice full disclosure, let me tell you what we've done uh for Jeff because we care for him and his family.

Uh we've given him a he'll finish at the end of this month, and then he'll have a three-month severance where we'll pay his salary and insurance, which allows his kids to finish school and gives them to the July 1st to kind of discern what's next for them and how God is leading them.

Uh, one of the things they would love to do is stay and be a part.

They love being here, and I'm like, that's great.

And so one of the things that he's open to is hey, I may have to just work a regular job and then maybe look at another ministry position down the road.

And so if you know of anything uh that may be a fit, then speak to Jeff or speak to us, we'll pass it along to him.

Let me be clear.

We're not mad at Jeff.

We love uh Jeff and Caitlin and their kids.

Uh it's just that this is a leadership decision that we felt had to be made.

Um, I met with the students just now.

We sent an email to all the parents so you can have the conversation because you're their spiritual leader of your home.

You can talk to your kids.

I just spoke to your kids.

One of them asked a question and said, Well, what about the video?

What about camp?

Nothing changes about camp.

That will go on.

Someone asked me, they said, Well, will Cheyenne be our student pastor?

No, Cheyenne is a girl's student ministry associate, so continue in that role, and we will begin an active search for the next person who's going to lead our student ministry.

Uh, here's what I want you to pray about today, though.

I want us to be faithful to pray for the Witten family, uh, that God would give them just a revelation and discernment about what's next for them.

And then secondly, pray for our church family.

Uh that God would give us wisdom and discernment about the next person to step into this role.

If you have any questions, myself, any of our elders will be available.

We welcome that.

We practice full disclosure.

Uh, and we're hopeful as to what God's gonna do, both for the wittens and both for our church as we move forward, okay?

Again, uh any questions you have, you can ask us.

You don't have to wonder.

We practice full disclosure, all right?

Send your feet, let me speak a blessing over you.

Hold your hands up.