Soldier / Athlete / Farmer

Welcome to the Lookout Weekly Podcast.

Church of the Lookout is in Boulder, Colorado, and our vision is Jesus abiding in his presence, growing in his family, and living on his mission to transform the world with awe-inspiring love.

Visit us online at the lookout.church.

You guys ready for the word this morning?

Okay, awesome.

It's always a good day when you show up and there's food after the service, too.

So everyone's in a slightly better mood already, right?

So this morning, if we haven't met yet, my name is Luke.

We're gonna jump into the word.

I'm just gonna uh just bring a message this morning.

It's not a part of a series, just more of a heartbeat as we're coming into the fall together.

And to start off, I just want to reiterate what we call our vision here.

And uh some of you guys know this.

I just want to say it together.

You don't have to say it, but if you if you're a part of this church, you want to say it with me, let's let's say this together.

Our vision is Jesus, abiding in his presence, growing in his family, and living on his mission to transform the world with awe-inspiring love.

Who believes that this morning?

And uh there's there's no greater joy than that than that we have than to turn our eyes to the person of Jesus.

We don't just sing about him as if he's not in the room.

We don't talk about him as if he's not here among us.

Everything we're doing is about tuning into the heartbeat of God so that we can faithfully be the people of God on earth.

That's what he's called us to be.

Amen.

So, you know, this year, as we've been turning our attention to Jesus, we've we we believe that one of the things thematically over this year is that he's been wanting to expand our vision to catch his heart for others.

And we've had this theme for the year for the sake of others, and it really has to do with the heartbeat of John 3.16 that says, For God so loved the world that he gave.

He gave him his very self.

And and in like manner, um, you know, we have to, in certain seasons, move with the heart of God to expand our vision beyond our tiny little lives and to make sure that we're always catching his heart for those around us, right?

And we have to continually call ourselves back into alignment with his heart because the forces of this world form us and shape us from all sides.

I don't know if you guys know that, but I just want to just kind of bring this front and center right now, and it can be said like this: if we are not intentionally discipled by Jesus, we will be unintentionally discipled by the world.

If we are not intentionally discipled by Jesus, we will be unintentionally discipled by the world.

And you guys know what that feels like.

If you ever just, if you're kind of a go-with-the-flow kind of person, I'm a go-with-the-flow kind of person.

I'm pretty easy going.

I like going with the flow.

But the thing is, if you've ever noticed about your own life, when you go with the flow long enough and wide enough in your life, in enough areas of your life, you will find that there's this doling, numbing, clouding effect of this world where there's a diminishing that kind of starts to happen.

You never drift into focus, you never drift into discipline.

We always drift into comfort and ease and the and the and the wide path forward.

You guys hearing me this morning?

We can drift when we go with the flow.

When we're not aligned with the king and his kingdom, we can lose our potency, we lose the sharp edge, we lose that prophetic edge of what it means to live as the people of God, not just in our words, prophecy, but in the way that we live.

And yet Paul says in Romans chapter 12, what does he say?

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world.

But what?

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

So according to Paul, if you don't want to conform to the patterns of this world, if you have felt the effects of just going with the flow and you're, and it seems like you're going maybe not the right direction, in Paul's words, he says, Do not be conformed, but be transformed by how?

By renewing of the mind.

So every so often, and this really should be a lifestyle, but I think there's seasons where God says, I want, I want to give you a new mindset for the season ahead.

Okay?

So this is where I want to jump into today.

I want to jump into a passage of Scripture.

Another passage from Paul, if you're familiar with the scriptures, Paul, the Apostle Paul, he wrote most of the New Testament in these letters.

In this particular letter, he's writing to his spiritual son, Timothy, a young man that he he called forward and he helped shape and form.

As Timothy was a young man.

Timothy is now pastoring his own church, and Paul's writing him a letter.

Okay?

And this is really the second letter that Paul writes to Timothy.

If you have your Bibles, open up to 2 Timothy chapter 2.

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

And we're gonna start in verse 1 and just hold this here.

I just want you to pay attention.

He's gonna highlight a few personas within this passage.

I want you to pay attention to this text because he's gonna revisit this.

Paul says this you then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.

Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

And so, as Paul is writing to Timothy, there's a couple things to know.

Things have gotten hard for Timothy.

They've definitely gotten hard for Paul.

People are leaving Paul, and he's writing to his son Timothy to encourage him about what it's like to lead when he's in a hard place.

You can either cave in or give in or give up.

And so you can kind of hear in Paul's tone this kind of fatherly call-up message.

He's writing to his spiritual son to fortify his spirit, to encourage him from the inside out, right?

To remind him of the mindsets he was going to need in order to serve faithfully to Pastor Well and to move forward faithfully with what God had given him.

And so in this particular passage, he highlights three personas that describe the shift that Timothy needs to enter into.

And the three personas are this: a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer.

A soldier, an athlete, or farmer.

Now listen, I don't know how many soldiers, athletes, or farmers are in this room, but I have to confess that I know very little about these three vocations.

Okay?

I would not encourage you to come up to me after the service with any follow-up questions.

Like, Luke, could you tell me a little bit more about the soldier life?

I'm just gonna be like, I have no idea.

Um I'll point you to Bob, okay?

But I do know soldiers, I do know athletes, and I know farmers.

And it's fascinating when I it's fascinating when I spend time with each of these types of people to pay attention to the way they think, the way they behave, the habits they form, the mindsets that that they think through as they prepare for each day.

So I'm gonna walk through a few of these things, and I want you to kind of highlight soldier, athlete, farmer.

I want you to pay attention because I think there's an invitation for each of us here today.

Are you guys with me?

Okay, there's an invitation for each of us here today.

So a soldier is what the first thing that Paul calls Timothy into.

More than once in scriptures, Paul uses this imagery to invite us to see our discipleship, our apprenticeship to Jesus through the lens of being a soldier.

In Ephesians we see this too.

Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

He says, put on the full armor of God, that you might stand against the evil one.

And he would say, Our wrestle is not against flesh and blood.

Just to be clear, the battle's not here.

The battle is against rulers and powers and principalities in heavenly places.

But he said, Don't be mistaken.

There is a spiritual war around you.

Peter would say a similar type of thing in 1 Peter chapter 5.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

He he encourages the people of God in his letter to stay alert, to stay sober-minded.

Why?

Because Peter says it like this the devil prowls around like a roaring lion in order to encourage people.

No.

He prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking people to devour.

So according to Peter, he said, you guys better, you need to open your eyes.

You need to wake up, much the same as a soldier in battle who knows there is an enemy lurking around.

Not that we get obsessed with the enemy, but don't be mistaken.

Don't be unaware of the enemy's schemes.

And so, so so Paul he says, Sharon's suffering is a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

So, how could we describe a soldier?

A soldier is one who embodies a mindset that is undistracted, focused, mission-driven, living to please the one who enlisted him.

Let's remember this morning that we did not call ourselves into God's kingdom.

He was the one who called us into his kingdom.

That we have a master and we have been enlisted into his service.

Can we just settle into that for a second?

There's a lot of ways to relate to God, but one is as master.

The soldier's mindset every day, a soldier wakes up and asks these kinds of questions today.

What are my marching orders?

What's God's mission for me?

And how can I serve my master?

Right?

What are my marching orders?

What's God's mission for me?

How can I serve my master?

Now, that master language that is going to pop up from time to time, that's a little troublesome, is it not?

We have a little trouble.

We love relating to God as father and friend and healer and comforter, and he is all of those things and more.

But let's not forget that he's also a master.

And this is part of the problem with American Christianity, is everybody wants a savior and nobody wants a master.

Let me say it again.

Everybody wants a savior, but very few want a master, because to have a master is to surrender complete control and sovereignty of my life.

It's to surrender to one who enlisted me into his service.

And in Paul's language, it's to be a good soldier is not only to suffer, but to share in his sufferings, to share with him in suffering.

And so because that's a difficult, that's a difficult pathway, it's not an easy pathway.

What can happen is this we can often opt for the shadow alternative of a soldier, which is what?

A civilian.

The shadow of a soldier is a civilian.

And Paul says it this don't get entangled in civilian affairs.

In other words, you are not like them.

You are not like civilians.

There's nothing wrong with being a civilian, but when you're called into service, you are different.

You have a soldier mindset, not a civilian mindset.

Don't get entangled and enmeshed in that way of thinking.

Okay?

Which is the way, what's the way of thinking?

Civilians get distracted.

Soldiers remain focused.

Some of us are so busy in our lives.

When I talk to people, ask them how they're doing, nine times out of ten, they tell me how busy they are.

They usually say, I'm busy but good.

I'm busy but good.

Let me just tell you, you're busy, but you're not good.

All right?

Um when you when we're when we're chronically overscheduled and overfilled in our lives, how how do we expect to live with a sense of focus on what the master is actually asking us to do?

How many things do we commit to that are apart from the core of what he's called us to do?

Come on, somebody talk to me.

Hey, can I push on you this morning?

Can we do that?

Can I ask some hard questions?

Okay.

Civilians get distracted, soldiers remain focused.

Civilians avoid suffering, soldiers share in suffering.

We don't avoid suffering, we share in suffering.

Civilians are concerned with themselves, soldiers fight on behalf of others.

John Stuart Mill says that like this about war.

He says, War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things.

The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling, which thinks that nothing is worth war, is much worse.

A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing he cares more or more about than he does about his own personal safety, is a miserable creature.

And so the question that we have to answer from time to time is this What in my life am I fighting for?

What is worth fighting for?

Certainly a nation.

But your marriage, the hearts of your children, fighting for the church, fighting for the lost.

What is your mission?

What has God given you to do?

And listen, it's a high cost, but guess what?

It's also a high reward.

Because what does Paul say?

The reward is the pleasure of God.

The reward of a soldier is the pleasure of the master.

How good it is to bring delight to the heart of God.

Anyone with me on that?

It is a good thing to bring delight to the heart of God.

And there's a lot of ways to bring delight to the heart of God, but look, but listen, when we are faithful with what he's, the mission that he's called us to, it pleases his heart that we're willing to share with him in his sufferings.

It's a high cost and a high reward.

So let me just ask this like final question here.

Soldiers ask, what is God's assignment for me?

It's a difference between a soldier and a civilian.

As we wake up and we say, What's on your agenda today?

Jesus knew his mission and his father's timing.

So where have civilian pursuits taken prior to our life, and where is God calling us to be a soldier?

Okay.

But the second of these personas is this one of athlete.

He doesn't just say soldier, he says athlete.

Now I have a neighbor who in his prime ran nine full Ironmans.

Nine full Ironmans.

And years ago, when I asked him, I said, oh my gosh, I was like, dude, what does that take?

You've got to be kidding me.

What does it take to run even one?

Just give me one, one Iron Man.

And he said, Alright, here's what it comes down to.

He said, in the middle of a race, once you've once you've swam 2.6 miles and you've biked 112 miles, and you're in mile eight of your full marathon, what it comes down to is it's a mental game, and he and he said this.

He said, What it comes down to is your mind has to your mind has to become the sole destroyer of your body.

And I said, that's awesome, but I'm out, bro.

I'm out.

You got me there.

You know what?

I'm gonna stick with pastoring.

I'm good.

I'm good.

I'm what you call a beta male, all right?

I like just put me in a good coffee shop with some books and an almond croissant.

We're good.

That's gonna be fine.

I'm gonna watch you from a distance and I'll be there, man.

I'll be there.

But Paul's message is very clear.

Athletes must be disciplined in their training.

And so a good athlete, any athlete preparing for a race of any kind, but the preparation is wild.

Preparing for an Iron Man becomes a full-time job, at least six hours a day before the race.

And you're aware of every single calorie you put into your body, your water intake, you're tracking your sleep, your heart rate, you're doing the cold plunges, the hot plunges, all the plunges.

You're doing affirmations even while in the bathroom.

You're just affirming yourself all day.

I can do this, I have what it takes, I'm an athlete, this is what we're doing, all right?

So an athlete is disciplined, purposeful, full of integrity.

And the athletic imagery is used all through the scripture too.

That the the scriptures would continue, and Paul would often use the phrase of running your race, right?

And pressing on towards the goal, run with endurance, the race God has set before you, throwing aside any everything that hinders, right?

So running the race is part of this call that we have in the kingdom.

And we have to remind ourselves that we are athletes.

Timothy in 2 Timothy, just a chapter later, in chapter 3, Paul tells Timothy that all scripture is for, uh is God-breathed and purposeful for all kinds of things.

But one of those things is training in righteousness.

That part of what we're doing as we're reading the scriptures, we're training in righteousness.

And the word disciple actually is the same root word as the word discipline.

John Mark Comer said it like this: there are no accidental saints.

It requires you to reorder your entire life around following Jesus as your undisputed top priority.

So an athlete's mindset is to wake up every day asking this: what area of my life is God training me in?

How do I stay in peak condition to run my race well?

And where am I tempted to take shortcuts?

Where am I tempted to take shortcuts, right?

What race has God called you into?

Are you preparing on and off the field?

Are you taking shortcuts or are you taking your call seriously?

Right?

So an athlete also has a shadow persona.

If the calling is an athlete, the shadow persona would be a spectator.

Are we athletes or are we spectators?

See, in every arena there are athletes and there are spectators.

And here's the difference spectators watch, athletes participate.

Spectators watch, athletes participate.

As a Broncos fan, I have so many opinions and zero ownership.

Zero ownership.

I have so many opinions, but I'm not losing any sleep.

There's no skin, there's there's no skin off my back.

In the same way, if you're part of the church, you might have hopes of what kind of church will be.

But you guys know that only happens when you get what?

You get your butt in the game, to use technical language, right?

It only happens when we get skin in the game.

We have all kinds of hopes and wishes about our lives and the things that happen.

But it only happens as we choose to participate.

And you know you're in the game because after the game you you feel a little bruised up, you feel sore, you were knocked around a little bit, but but it's okay because why?

Because you know what it's for.

You know what it's for.

I'm telling you, the guys who serve, when you serve in the church, when you come early on a Sunday and you're you're doing stuff and you're creating an environment for others to come and counter encounter God, you come, you might leave feeling like, wow, that took a lot out.

But there's also this piece of, but Jesus, I know this is for you.

So how many of you guys know church is not a spectator sport?

You're listening to me now, you're all watching me from rows right now, but I'm trusting that as soon as we're done here, and we get to that barbecue or you go home, as soon as we're done here, as soon as the service is over, you're asking the question, all right, put me in the game, coach.

Where can I serve?

Where do you need me?

Send me into the gaps, tell me where you need me so we can run our race well together.

That's how athletes think.

Like, where can I participate and be a part of this thing?

Now, the other thing about athletes compared to spectators is this.

This might sound a little controversial at first, but I'll explain.

Spectators pray and athletes train.

Spectators pray, athletes train.

Here's what I mean by that.

I pray for the Broncos to win.

The athletes train to win.

They're probably praying too.

But there's a difference between praying.

God, I'm gonna pray that they win out there on that field, and then actually training to win.

Here's why that's important.

Everybody prays for God to change their circumstances, but few people pray for God to develop their character to become the kind of person who can change their own circumstances.

In other words, if you're a runner in a race, we all pray, God, just take me to the finish line now.

Just take me, just be me up, and just drop me off right at the finish line.

It'll be all for your glory, I promise you.

But athletes say, God, you've given me what I need.

Give me what I need in this moment to finish the race that you've given me.

That's how athletes think.

And yes, God can change our circumstances, but not enough of us pray for character and the internal resources to be faithful to what he's called us to do.

Prayer can be passive, it also can be very active.

Prayer is actually very important.

I'm not saying it's not important.

Wars are one in prayer.

We need prayer.

But prayer must be combined with an active training lifestyle.

Right?

So

So the reward of an athlete is what?

He says this, to be crowned with victory.

There's this element of when you train well and you race well, what you're living for is those words when you stand before Jesus.

Well done, good and faithful servant.

Well done.

You ran your waste, no shortcuts.

And even if you fell, even if you failed, even if you got diverted for a season, guess what?

You got right back on track.

Well done.

And all these things, there's grace.

All these things, there's mercy.

But it's the mindset that we're going after.

We are not spectators.

We are athletes running the race that God has given us.

That's hard work.

An athlete asks, this is kind of the final question here.

An athlete asks, how am I training for the race God has given me?

How am I training for the race God has given me?

Alright, you guys still dialed in?

We'll do our last one.

Alright?

Soldier, athlete, farmer.

Paul says, it's the hardworking farmer who ought to have the share of the first crops.

So I'm from Indiana, but make no mistake, I know absolutely nothing about growing corn.

Okay?

I know that you think, I know you look at me, you're like, wow, he looks like a good farmer.

It's not true.

We have, I do have some friends though, who recently followed through on a long-standing dream to buy a property and own some animals and start a small form farm, and we're like, that's awesome.

They knew it was gonna be a lot of hard work.

Um, but but shortly after they got this property, reality hit them square in the face, right?

Because they went, we I Megan and I went and visited them to actually help out because we knew that it was a very stressful time for them.

And shortly after we got there, and they they had just purchased some goats and some chickens, and they were, but but as we got there, um uh one of them was actually opening up about their life and all these things that were changes, and they were actually brought to tears by how difficult all of this was.

And what they had to go through, they had one goat that they had to literally wrestle to the ground all day, just just multiple times a day.

It was like a two or three-person thing.

They had she had bruises and scars on her from one goat.

And uh, and I the entire time I'm thinking, okay, come on.

Is that worth it?

This cannot be worth it.

Like, that's one goat.

And uh and so we spent some time with him on the farm, and then after that day, though, she sent us home with our own fresh goat milk.

Okay, so we got to try some fresh goat milk, and I'm telling you, we poured this goat milk and tried a taste of it, and it blew our minds.

It did not taste like goat at all.

Okay, it was incredible milk.

And and some of that was because the detail they were giving to every part of this process, sanitizing all the right things and feeding the goats the right things, and and we got to try the goat milk.

I'm like, are you kidding me?

This is like head and shoulders above anything you'd buy in the store.

Not only that, Megan took some of the goat milk home and she made her own goat milk cheese, as she does, right?

As she does.

Who does that?

I don't know.

Megan does, all right?

She went and made her own Chev, right?

This this amazing cheese.

We're eating her like this is incredible.

Thank you, goat, right?

And we got to experience the first fruits of this work and actually enjoy, like, wow, fresh, how how clean, how pure the outcome was of this.

Maybe, maybe you're a gardener, you know what that like that's like if you have a garden in your backyard and you you obsess over your garden and you obsess over the soil and over what gets put into the soil.

And you tend to that garden every day.

You you prune away what doesn't belong, you give it the right nutrients, you know exactly how much water and how much sunlight it needs, and then you get to experience the first fruits of that crop.

And you have your amazing garden salad at night, and it's just like, thank you, Jesus, this is incredible.

And it's just like free of toxins, it's free of all of the things, right?

So the outcome, you know, for a farmer, the outcome is directly related to the care of the process.

And uh if if it if you do the hard work, a farmer knows this, if you do the hard work of sowing seeds or tending to the livestock, you're going to experience an outcome that is far superior, superior than king super's.

That's just it's just how it works.

And so the qualities of a farmer, though, are one who is hardworking, patient, trusting for the future harvest.

And again, it's it this theme is all throughout the scriptures of sowing and reaping, the patience and waiting, abiding in the vine so that fruitfulness may come.

A farmer's mindset wakes up every morning asking these questions What must I sow into the ground today?

What needs to be tended to that is already growing?

And how do I get the best possible outcome or fruit from what I'm tending to?

That's what a farmer is thinking about.

They're thinking about how do I, what do I need to sow into the ground?

What do I need to tend to that's already growing?

And how do I care for what's growing so it has it yields the best possible fruit?

And the reality is this when we invest our time and energy and money and resources into kingdom things, we will experience the fruit of it in due time.

And in the same way, a farmer has a shadow as well.

The shadow side of a farmer is a consumer, it's the shadow side.

If you're not a farmer, you might just be a consumer.

And you can contrast that, a consumer mindset is so much different than a farmer mindset.

How?

Consumers take and farmers give.

Farmers are not primarily asking what do I get from this, but what can I give to it so that it yields a crop, a harvest.

Consumers expect instant results.

Farmers are patient.

When I go to King Supers, I'm expecting those shelves to be stocked, right?

I'm expecting it to just be there.

If it's not there, there's a problem in the universe, right?

There's a problem.

I have a problem.

There should be food on that shelf, right?

This should be waiting for me when I got here, because I have money, right?

And we just I show up and I just have these expectations, like this should be ready for me.

And if it's not, I am upset, I am dissatisfied.

That is not what a farmer's thinking.

A farmer's thinking of what needs to be done to cultivate the kind of environment where the crops come in due time.

Consumers demand farmers cultivate, they sow diligently, trusting in the process.

And that's the thing.

Faith oftentimes requires long-term commitment to small tasks.

Trusting that God will bring fruit in his own time.

And so you're thinking of that.

And you might be here even this morning and you and you're thinking, gosh, I know that sounds good, but it also sounds so tiring.

Some of us are so many of us are just, I mean, if you're honest, we're just very tired.

And so even some of these things about you know, being a soldier, an athlete in a farmer, you're like, ah, that just feels like a lot more work.

And I don't know if I have it in me.

And listen, you might be a part of the church and you've been here for a while and and and you're coming in and you're receiving a lot of life.

And we bless that, by the way.

We bless that.

If you're here and you're just like, I just need to, I just need to heal and rest.

There's a lot of people who join this church who just need to take a breath and recover and restore.

And I I want to say grace and mercy to you in that place, if that's you.

The the ultimate destination, though, I think, for all of us is that as we as we encounter the healing, the restoration of God from the inside out, that at some point we we get back to the field together and we do some good work together, and we're all finding ways to invest in what God is doing.

And the season ahead of us, I just believe, I mention all this because I believe the season ahead of us is gonna require a lot of hard work.

But not just hard work, hard work that has a high reward, high cost, high reward.

Because even for the farmer, they get to experience what they've put into the ground.

There's nothing better than when you invest in relationships and in family and invest in areas and you get to see the fruit of it in your time.

And you're just like, this is so worth it.

The first share.

And so the farmer's mindset comes into a place and says, I'm going to do what I can to take responsibility for this plot of land and make it everything it could be, not just for myself, but for others and for future generations.

Farmers ask, what am I sowing in today that will one day reap a harvest?

What am I sowing in today that will one day reap a harvest?

Okay, so here's what we're gonna do.

Here's what we're gonna do.

I'm gonna take just a couple minutes.

And I want you to think about I I'm gonna ask you to pair up with two other people.

Now, if you're new here today, I I'm not gonna make this super challenging or you know, you don't have to bear your whole heart, okay?

But like listen, I want you to think about the three kind of mindsets.

One of a soldier, kind of learning to be a soldier rather than a civilian, so focus and mission, one of an athlete, one who's you're learning to you're learning about train, you know, training and and and discipline versus just watching okay.

And then a third one about a farmer mindset versus a consumer mindset and what it looks like to think about being purposeful about what you're investing in.

I want you to think about out of all out of those three, which one do you feel in the season ahead is an invitation from God for you?

Which of the three?

Now, I'm gonna ask you to break up into groups of three and just to share.

Now, listen, you might just say the one word.

Uh, I feel like uh a soldier maybe is is is what God's calling me.

You don't have to explain it, okay?

You don't have to go, you don't have to tell why or any.

If you choose to, that's fine.

But you don't have to do that.

In fact, you can just say, you know, I'm gonna pass on this one.

That's fine too.

But just give us a second.

I just want to take just a couple minutes.

So everybody find two people around you.

Just answer out of the three soldier, athlete, farmer.

Which of the three do you feel like maybe an invitation from God for you in this season?

Okay, just a couple minutes here.

All right, friends.

Well, hopefully you learned something about the people you're sitting next to, and you can talk about it at the barbecue a little bit more.

Soldier Athlete Farmer.

I just think there's an invitation in this for all of us here.

And it's an invitation that's worth it.

Yeah.

Yeah, wherever you are.

Just take a seat.

We'll just we're gonna spend just a few more minutes here and bring the plane into landing.

But I I do believe that these mindsets are gonna serve us well in the season ahead.

I think in every season they serve us, but I just had a special sense coming into the fall to be reminded that the life he's called us to is not always easy, but it's worth it.

It's not always easy, but it's worth it.

Why?

Because he's called us to live with him, to participate in what he's doing.

And like we started, the scripture says, do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, right?

And so we have to continue to call ourselves back into alignment in this season here.

God, where are you asking me to dial in?

As a church, where are you asking us to dial in?

There's a spiritual war all around us.

And every now and then we do have to do a mindset check, a posture check, just to say, God, what does it look like to be in plumb line with what you're doing?

So we don't drift, we don't move from the left or the right.

We stay in the zone of what God's doing.

And listen, this isn't just about our own strength.

I just want to encourage us, this isn't just about mustering up energy.

This is all through the power of the Spirit from the inside out to receive his strength for the race we've been given, the battle he's called us to, the field he's called us to tend.

So, a couple things coming into this fall.

We're going to be working on some of these things, things that we can do to resist the way of the world and keep God at the center.

Next week we're starting a new teaching series and a focus even on worship as a house.

Now, worship is something that as a house we've we've kind of uh has been a value, a long-standing value, a heart of worship.

But I just really sense as we're coming into the fall, and the elders sense as we're coming into the fall, just to throw another log on the fire, as it were, and to not just take for granted this is something that we've been given, but remember what it means to have Jesus in the presence of God at the center of our very lives, not just on Sundays, but every day of the week.

All right?

So we're gonna call attention to worship.

We're gonna continue to create so loved moments.

We have over 534 so loved moments, those little wooden balls in the back.

We're gonna we let the soil rest over the summer, but as we come into the fall, we're gonna continue to stir up moments of love and action, finding chances that in everyday uh scenarios to love people where they're at and share those stories so we can continue to remember that we are called to live on mission with Jesus.

We have kids' night outcoming.

I hope that you all invite a family that has young kids.

We want to we want this place packed with young kids so that parents can be blessed as well.

We're doing outreaches uh to help build bridges.

We're gonna be doing more community and more men's and women's nights and other communal expressions to strengthen the bond between us, okay?

It's all gonna require some effort, it's all gonna require some focus, but I'm saying it's all going to be worth it because anything God calls us to is for his glory and our good.

Amen.

Everybody stand up.

We're just gonna end our time remembering the God that we serve, remembering the God that is worth it.

Amen.

Let's sing this together.

He deserves the glory.

Somebody give give him a shot of praise.

He's worth it.

He's worth it.

Now listen, some of you in this room, maybe what's coming up from you is you want to respond to that word.

Like you're like, man, I need supernatural strength.

Stay faithful to what God's giving me.

Listen, we're gonna have our ministry team come forward, our prayer ministry team on both sides after the end of the service.

Some of you will just go out and you can get started on the barbecue, that's awesome.

But if you're here today and you're like, I want to stay faithful, I want to stay dialed into what God has, but and I've been laid down, I've been rocked in my life, and I need an extra gas of strength to come forward and receive strength, okay?

I'm gonna bless us as we go this morning, that we're going called by God.

He is with us, and he's called us into his mission to transform the world with his love, alright?

So I'm gonna bless you with this prayer from Paul in Ephesians chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

He says, It's for this reason I bow on my knees before the Father, for whom every family and in heaven on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being.

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Amen.

Who receives that today?

Come on.

May you be filled with all the fullness of God.

We love you guys, bless you, can't wait to hang out with you after the service.

If you're a guest, we'd love to meet you in the back.

Have an awesome day.

Go with the peace of God.