"Battle Ready" Pt.8

Hi, this is John Ozanting, lead pastor of Evolve Church, and this is the Evolve Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

Hey everybody, so good to see you again.

Thank you for leaning into this eighth part of our Battle Ready series.

And my sincere hope throughout the last seven weeks, including today, part eight of the series, is that you would feel equipped and encouraged and inspired to pick up and put on the complete set of armor, the well-made weapons that God's laid out for us.

Let's do another recap, a full recap.

Week one, the Father has laid out some well-made weapons for each one of us.

The big question was this Are you armed, dangerous, and battle ready?

Did you know that you've got weapons?

Are you using them?

Week two, put on the belt of truth.

The big question was this Are you choosing to wear Jesus as your truth?

And what is truth?

It's your way to closeness with the Father.

No longer concealed, no longer hidden, free from the bondage of shame.

Week three, put on the body armor of righteousness.

The big question was, are you caught up with and consumed with the pursuit of trying to be good enough for God to love you?

If you find yourself in that trap of always behaving good enough, hoping that God's favor will be on you if you behave well, maybe you aren't wearing the body armor or breastplate of righteousness.

Week four, put on the helmet called salvation, this protective force, this uh blocking out outside lies, insulating so we can hear clearly the voice of the Father.

In what way are you still living unforgiven and held captive and orphaned?

The enemy's attack comes as a whisper, as a lie.

You're not good enough, you're not worthy, but you're not worth it.

That you aren't actually loved.

So that helmet of salvation reminds us that we're not orphaned, that we're not held captive anymore, that we're not unforgiven.

So good.

Week five, put on the shoes called peace.

I loved this one.

Are we anchored, grounded, supported and preparing for his perfect peace in order that we might be bringers of that peace to somebody else?

There's an attack on your peace.

If the enemy can rob you of your peace, then you can't be a bringer of peace.

So those shoes called peace.

Week six, lift high the shield of faith, but not alone, not in isolation, not by yourself.

If anything, the last nine months have reminded us and enforced in us and pulled out of us, is that we're terrible when we are in isolation.

We are much stronger, more effective, more on purpose when we are doing life together in community.

Whether that's digital community like this or in person, in safe ways that our government's currently allowing us, but we are meant to lift high the shield of faith in conjunction with our community of faith.

We talked about the tortoise shell and the Roman testuto shield wall, and how when I'm going through a fight and I lift high my shield of faith, how beautiful when brothers and sisters before me and behind me and beside me are also lifting up their shields.

So what is it that's tempting or distracting you from holding tightly to and growing high, lifting high your shield of faith?

And then last week, uh week seven, um, the first part of today's message.

So there's two parts of week seven, words are powerful.

I say they're most powerful when they're spoken.

Do you believe that reading the Bible regularly, to know the Bible very well, to confidently and daily speak the Bible out loud is an absolutely razor-sharp weapon in your life?

So let's pray, Father, in Jesus' name.

We just surrender these moments, this time, this pause.

We surrender it to you.

We surrender it to your voice, to your spirit leading us.

We open up our minds, we open up our hearts, we open up our spirit, we open up our intelligence to the teachings that we're going to go to together from the Bible.

And we ask you to be present and real, close, personal, as we lean into this eighth and final message in our battle ready series.

We love you, God.

Thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

We've been reading from Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 20 in the Passion Translation.

Ephesians 6:10–20

And if you have your Bible or your smartphone, uh feel free to go there this week and just refresh Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 20.

Ephesians 6:10–20

We've been reading from different translations throughout this, but predominantly from the Passion translation.

And I love that we ended with verse 17 and on last week.

Embrace the power of salvation's full deliverance like a helmet, and then take the mighty, razor-sharp spirit sword of the spoken word of God by praying passionately in the Spirit, as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times.

Verses 18 and on, Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Big question.

Same big question today as it was last week.

Do you believe that reading the Bible regularly, to know the Bible very well, not just so that you can quote it verbatim from words in your head, but that you can live it and breathe it and share it with words from your heart?

Do you believe that reading the Bible regularly, to know the Bible very well, to confidently and daily speak the Bible, the nuance, the essence, the life, the themes of Scripture, speak them out loud is an absolutely necessary weapon in your life.

Why?

Because words are powerful, and I believe they're most powerful when they are spoken out loud.

In February of 2014, our family had a very beautiful opportunity to take a holiday at a resort in Punta Kenna.

And we were there with Nicole's extended family, and it was a great vacation of two weeks with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and parents and siblings, and we had a blast.

We stayed at this amazing resort there and just rested.

And you know what was really cool?

This chain of resorts, some really good family friends are our members there.

And so it was through them that some of the member benefits were shared with us as a part of our two-week vacation.

And one of the benefits that we got to lean into on these two weeks was that we had a concierge assigned to us for those two weeks.

We had a dedicated staff member.

We had we had like a walkie-talkie kind of cell phone.

Uh, we had a few of them that if we called, it went straight to this person, to this staff member.

And that concierge uh was there to help make this vacation absolutely amazing.

And I remember like all of us just loving this because we would be sitting poolside and somebody, I'm hungry, I could use a snack.

And we'd be like, okay, we'll go get no, wait, we have a concierge.

And so we would place a call, and he's like, you know, they've made fresh paella down by the beach today.

Can I bring some plates of paella to you, poolside?

Of course, right?

And so anything we could think of food, snacks, beverages, reservations, excursions, bookings, anything we wanted, this concierge provided.

All we had to do was make a phone call.

And then we returned home to real life.

I gotta tell you, I'll be honest.

I hate it when my kids treat me like they're concierge.

I hate it.

Uh, I know Nicole hates it.

I don't love it when my kids treat me like they're concierge.

Dad, I'm hungry.

Dad, I want something to drink.

Dad, I'm bored.

There's nothing to do.

Dad, dad, dad, fix me.

Make life better.

Can any parents relate to this?

Come on, give me something in the online chats.

Let me know.

You can feel my pain.

How many parents watching hate it when their kids treat them like their personal concierge?

This ain't the flipping Caribbean, kid.

Go cut yourself an apple, right?

But don't use the uh steak knife, use the good knife.

Uh so um don't get me wrong.

Uh I might sound a little, you know, kind of cold even saying this, but uh I actually do love to do things for my children.

I I love to do things for my kids.

I do, I really do.

So don't get me wrong here.

I would just um rather provide and care for them and create special moments for them out of love and out of relationship rather than demand and obligation.

I would way rather plan something special and surprise my kids and uh you know take their breath away because I love them and I desire to be close to them and I have a relationship with them rather than just their demand for a concierge to check their boxes.

Too many of us have a prayer life that smacks of God as concierge rather than God as father.

Way too many of us have a prayer life where we see God as our concierge and not as our dad, our father.

So let's talk about your view of God.

Honest question.

Do you see God as a concierge, or do you really see God as a father?

Do you see God as a concierge to bark your orders at, to bark your wants to, or do you see God as a father to sit with, to listen to, to receive from, to converse with and to enjoy.

Let's talk about prayer.

Too many Christians have a prayer life that smacks of God as concierge.

God, I need this.

God, I want you to do this.

God, I need you to look after this, God, rather than God as our Father.

Ephesians 6, verse 18.

Ephesians 6:18

Take the mighty razor-sharp spirit sword of the spoken word of God and pray passionately in the Spirit as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times.

One of the strongest and fiercest ways that you can wield your razor-sharp spirit sword of the spoken word of God is through a prayer life.

Not a prayer moment, not a prayer routine, not a prayer habit, but a prayer life.

Pray passionately in the spirit as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times.

Words are powerful.

I say they're most powerful when they're spoken.

God's words are powerful.

And I say they're most powerful when they are spoken aloud through an active and constant life of prayer.

God's words are most powerful when they're spoken out loud through an active and constant lifestyle of prayer.

Prayer is one of the, if not the, one of the most powerful uses of your human voice.

But sadly, too many of us have have a prayer life that smacks as God as concierge rather than God as Father.

We're invited here in Ephesians 6 to wield this sharp, razor-sharp spirit sword of the spoken word of God through a life of constant prayer.

I desire, if I were to be completely honest, I desire to have my heart and my habits and my words deeply shaped and impacted and altered by the living spirit word of God, the nuance, the essence, the underlying themes and truths of Scripture.

I want them to give life to who I am and how I speak and how I serve and how I love those around me.

And as such, allow me the opportunity to be a conduit of those themes, conduit of those nuances, a conduit of those truths from a posture and motive of loving and serving others just to pour it out as I live my life, surrendered to Jesus.

It is the clear, perfect will and desire of God that you have an active prayer life in every day of every season.

You don't have to wonder about this.

If you're brand new to faith in Jesus, or if you've been serving God for years and years and years, it is the Father's perfect desire, his perfect will, that you have an active prayer life through highs, through lows, through ups, through downs, through valleys, through mountaintops.

Pray.

A lifestyle of prayer.

Ephesians 6, 18, pray passionately in the Spirit as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times.

It doesn't actually leave a lot of wiggle room, does it?

Constantly, every all.

Constantly, every all.

It's the Father's will that we have a life of prayer.

Excuse me.

Matthew 6, we we learn from Jesus how to pray.

And Jesus is teaching his followers not a formula for prayer, but a heart's a heart posture of prayer.

And today I want to share three different postures of prayer with everybody watching.

To encourage you to begin to use your voice out loud in a habit and a lifestyle of prayer.

So Matthew 6, verses 9 through 13, Jesus says, Pray like this, our Father dwelling in the heavenly realms, may the glory of your name be the center on which our lives turn.

Matthew 6:9–13

Manifest your kingdom realm and cause your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth just as it is fulfilled in heaven.

We acknowledge you as our provider for all we need each day.

Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us.

And would you rescue us every time we face tribulation and set us free from evil, for you are the King who rules with power and glory forever.

Amen.

Some of you watching may have the Lord's Prayer, as this is called, memorized.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, right?

You might have memorized that from the time you were a child.

But in there are themes and nuances and spiritual essences of how we can have and develop a lifestyle of prayer.

And you've maybe heard some great teaching on prayer.

I don't profess in any way to be an expert of prayer, except that I desire to pray regularly and to pray in very real language and to pray often and to pray short prayers and to pray long prayers, and I just want prayer to be a part of my lifestyle.

And so three postures that I want to talk to you today about prayer.

The first posture is this worship and praise.

Or praise and worship, but worship, a posture of worship and a posture of praise.

That's the first one.

And Jesus comes out of the gate in verse 9 of saying, Father, dwelling in the heavenly realms, may the glory of your name be the center on which our lives turn.

Whew.

I love that Jesus prioritizes as a first posture, a posture of worship.

God, may the glory of your name be the center on which my life turns.

May the glory and the greatness of your name be the center on which my life turns.

In other words, God, you're greater.

You're greater than everything.

What if worship and praise wasn't just a song that you sang on a Sunday, but a heart cry in powerful moments woven throughout each and every day of your life?

The truth is, some of you have not exercised your vocal cords in a posture of worship for months and months.

You've observed other people singing songs.

You've watched musicians on a screen, but you've done just that.

You've just watched.

You've observed.

And maybe you've believed that because of COVID-19 and being stuck at home, that you can't exercise your voice in a posture of worship.

And as such, your heart and your soul have been deeply impacted by that vacancy.

You feel it, you just haven't known why.

You've forgotten that your voice, articulating the faithfulness and goodness and grace and hope and freedom of our faithful Father through a posture of worship and praise is actually powerful.

It's why you were created.

God designed you, calls you son, calls you daughter, so that you might look up off of your circumstances and with a heart of worship, a posture of praise, out loud, just declare his goodness.

Father, your constant grace remains my cornerstone.

For all that you've done, I will pour out my love.

Jesus, I love you.

You are the one my heart adores.

Yes, those are lyrics that we just sang together.

But they're also me just articulating how good God is.

I love that a human voice lifted high and out loud with the sound of worship and the sound of praise actually delights the Father's heart.

There's not much else that brings him that great joy as when you use your voice to worship and praise our good and faithful Father.

Did you know that this one prayer posture is going to be your eternal posture?

One day, everything we know and experience in this lifetime, we're gonna graduate and step into eternity.

And the posture of your eternity is simply gonna be holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

A posture of worship, a posture of praise.

So why not practice here and now?

In his presence, your voice will be a constant cry of worship, a constant cry of praise, a posture of worship and praise.

And that's the first prayer posture that I wanted to highlight today that Jesus leads us into as a way to start praying.

And for you, this might mean that in your commute, instead of listening to the news or instead of listening to the radio, that you lean into a song of worship and in the privacy of your own car, blare and bust out your lungs in a loud voice that just sets your heart in line with this posture of worship and praise?

What's your first response when you're having a bad moment?

What's your first response?

Is it to turn to call a friend?

Is it to just distract yourself with Amazon Prime or Netflix or social media?

What's your first response when your heart's feeling uneasy?

What if it was a language out loud of worship, a language of praise, just to reset, get your gaze off of what's going on around you and on the Father.

He is good, he is faithful, he is kind, he is loving, he is wise, he's overflowing with mercy.

Speak it, pray it out loud.

Number two, gratitude.

A posture of gratitude.

And this is the second out loud spoken word of the razor-sharp spirit sort of God that I want to bring to your attention today.

Gratitude.

Do you take moments just to get your eyes up and say, God, thank you.

I love that you you can't you can't read through the book of Psalms in the Bible without hearing this phrase.

I will give thanks to the Lord.

I will give thanks to the Lord despite my circumstances.

I will give thanks to the Lord, even though these crazy things are going on.

I will give thanks to the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord.

This prayer language of David all throughout Psalms.

I will give thanks.

Will you?

Will you give thanks?

Even as a parenting exercise, come on, to the mums and dads.

Um, or even if you're in an incredibly beautiful relationship to married uh spouse or a partner, how beautiful is gratitude in our like horizontal relationships?

And I and let's be honest, I'm gonna I'm gonna talk to the parents in the room again and to the kids that are watching.

Look, if my kids come to me with dad as concierge, I am not quick to respond.

If my kids come to me with gratitude and thankfulness for what they've seen take place in our home so far, man, I can't wait to do things for them.

Gratitude seems to unlock things in our relationships.

Maybe your marriage has struggled this year because you've forgotten to be grateful for your spouse.

You've forgotten to communicate thankfulness and gratitude.

Let's flip that back to the Father.

If God is gracious and good, and if He's our provider, and if He's given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through Jesus Christ, I can't help but know that gratitude is one of the keys that unlocks the Father's heart.

Gratitude is one of the things that just postures us to hear from the Father and receive from the Father.

1 Thessalonians 5, verse 16 through 18 says, always be joyful, never stop praying, be thankful in all circumstances.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18

Come on.

That's so good.

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

It is God's will for you to be grateful in every circumstance.

Does that mean that my natural circumstances can't rob me of a posture of gratitude?

Yeah, come on, so good.

I love the Passion Translation.

Let joy be your continual feast.

Make your life a prayer.

That's what we're talking about.

Make my life a prayer, Father.

And in the midst of everything, be always giving thanks, for this is God's perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus.

Is God's perfect will, His perfect plan for you to live in this posture of gratitude?

Somebody, somebody needs this today.

In the midst of everything, be always giving thanks, for this is God's perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus.

A posture of worship, gratitude.

And number three, a posture of asking.

I said it.

Asking.

Some of you have not because you have asked not.

Now, it's third in the list for a very good reason.

I think it's important that we remember that a part of a lifestyle of prayer is that we're allowed to ask God.

We're allowed to ask.

That we feel comfortable asking the Father.

Sometimes we feel like, man, God's dealing with a crisis in an emergent country somewhere where there's poverty and starvation.

God's dealing with that.

How can I ask him for peace to get through my day today?

And the answer is you can because he wants you to.

You can because he's good.

You can because he's your father too.

But it's not all about asking for stuff.

Okay?

And the Bible actually teaches us two different kinds of asking.

Asking for others as being a really, really important habit.

You can ask God on behalf of other people, and you can ask God for yourself.

But listen to what Jesus says in Mark chapter 11.

Mark 11 · chapter mention

Jesus was a matter of fact.

He said, embrace this God life.

What God life?

Jesus says, really, embrace it.

And nothing will be too much for you.

This mountain, for instance, just say, go jump in the lake.

No shuffling or shilly shallowing, and it's as good as done.

Ask.

That's why Jesus says, I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large.

Include everything as you embrace this God life, and then you'll get God's everything.

And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking.

If you have anything against someone, forgive.

Only then will your Heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sin.

It's not just about asking for stuff, it's actually about a posture, a heart posture.

God's words are powerful.

I say they're most powerful when they're spoken out loud through an active and constant life of prayer, through worship and praise, through gratitude, and through asking.

Prayer is one of the most powerful uses of your human voice, but not a prayer moment or just a quick prayer before bed or a quick prayer before you eat dinner.

A heart style, a lifestyle of prayer.

Sadly, too many of us have a prayer life that smacks of God as our concierge rather than our close, intimate, relational father.

And so we pray for others.

The Bible calls this supplication.

You don't need to remember that word, but maybe you heard it growing up in church, or maybe it's brand new.

But when we ask God on behalf of others, we're supplicating, supplication.

And when we ask for ourselves, it's intercession or petition.

And this is where today's big question really matters.

Do you believe that reading the Bible regularly, to know the Bible very well, to confidently and daily speak the Bible out loud as you supplicate and intercess, as you ask God on behalf of others and your own home, do you believe that it's an absolutely necessary weapon in this life?

I want to give you a couple examples.

There's some beautiful prayers in the Bible.

And the Apostle Paul, as he wrote through about, you know, so much of the New Testament, he wrote down such incredible prayers that we can pray and we can learn.

We can read these words, have them impact our heart and influence how we pray for others and how we pray over our own lives.

And I want to I want when it comes to asking, I want you to remember, and this is something I try and teach my kids, it's not just about asking God to do stuff for me.

It's actually about asking God to change me so that I can influence the world around me.

It's asking God to move by his spirit into other people's lives so that they'll be aware of his presence, experience his grace, and have that overflow in their life.

It's not about asking God for a happy meal.

It's about asking God for life change, for transformation, to make us more like his son Jesus.

Ephesians 1.17 says this: I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the spirit of wisdom and the spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him.

Isn't that a very different ask?

And God, I need you to help me with my hydro bill.

And I believe God can do financial miracles in your life.

I believe more than that, he's given you his spirit to use wisdom with your finances to get out of crisis so that you can be a financial blessing to other people.

But so often we diminish our asks to little things that we think we need God to do for us rather than a deepening intimacy and a revelation of his word.

Paul goes on to say, I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling.

That is the wealth of God's glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones.

Oh, this is so good.

But Ephesians 1 could shape your prayer life this week as you're driving somewhere running an errand, all of a sudden you think about a friend you haven't thought of for a while, and you say, Hey God, I've been thinking a lot about Brett today.

Father, would you lean in close to him and remind him through your Holy Spirit today that you are his wisdom?

God, more than anything, I want him to remember that there's a deeper intimacy available in his relationship with you.

Would you illuminate the eyes of his imagination with the light of your presence so that he's confident in your love?

He's constant, confident in who you've called him to be as your son.

I ask in Jesus' name that he would experience the greatness of your power in his life.

I just supplicated by praying Ephesians chapter 1, verses 17 through 19 in my own language over my friend Brett.

Ephesians 1:17–19

I can pray that same prayer over my own life, over my own home.

Hey God, I'm leaning in close to you today.

I want to be reminded, Holy Spirit, that you're my wisdom, right?

Ephesians 1.

Here's another beautiful prayer, Romans 15, verse 13.

Romans 15:13

Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him.

And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his superabundance until you radiate with hope.

Father, I just pray today for my kids.

I pray for my wife Nicole.

Would the hope of Jesus fill us up today with overflowing joy?

Perfect peace as we learn to trust in you.

That's my prayer today.

God, would you surround us today with the power of your Holy Spirit and with your superabundance?

That comes from you, God.

As we lean into your presence, allow it to be so real that we just radiate your hope everywhere we go today.

I'm just praying Romans 15 over my family.

It comes from a heart.

Do you believe that reading the Bible regularly, to know the Bible very well, to be able to speak the Bible confidently out loud, yes, as we worship, as we praise, yes, as we as we're grateful, but as we supplicate and intercede, as we ask on behalf of others and ourselves for God to do things not for us, yes, we can.

Go ahead.

Ask God to do things for you.

Ask God for healing, ask God for provision.

He's a good father.

He loves to do those things.

But more than that, inviting Holy Spirit to change us.

That's a beautiful ask.

Philippians 1, 9 through 9 and through 11.

I continue to pray for your love to grow and to increase beyond measure, bringing you into the rich revelation of spiritual insight in all things.

Beautiful prayer in Philippians chapter 1.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

Hey God, today I want to take a moment and pray for Dave.

I know he's got lots going on right now.

His commitments, his work, his family.

Today I'm asking that his ability to love well would grow and increase beyond measure.

God, allow his love to grow in everything he's doing today.

God, I know that love is gonna open up his heart and life to be able to understand you more, to sense your presence, to hear your voice more clearly.

That's gonna help him make wise choices.

I know it.

God, I know it.

I ask that each moment of his day would be filled with understanding how Jesus makes him righteous and how that brings him close to you.

I just prayed Philippians 1, 9 through 11 over my friend Dave.

I could pray that same prayer over my own life.

We open up our prayer language and a lifestyle of prayer through these postures: worship, praise.

Not just songs we sing on a Sunday, but a heart response to the faithfulness and goodness and mercy and kindness of God.

A language of gratitude.

I will give thanks in every circumstance.

Does that flow out of your life?

Do you model that for your home?

Do you model that for your workplace?

Just a lifestyle of gratitude.

And then the confidence to ask God.

Yes, ask him for stuff.

But don't just ask him for stuff.

He's not your concierge, he's your dad.

He wants to shape you, he wants to transform you, he wants to change your life.

Ask him to do stuff in you so that he can live out through you.

God's words are powerful.

I say they're most powerful when they're spoken aloud through an active and constant lifestyle of prayer.

A posture of worship and praise, a posture of gratitude, and a posture of asking for others and for your own home, for your own self.

One of the strongest and fiercest ways you can wield your razor-sharp spirit sword of the spoken word of God is through an active lifestyle of prayer.

And so we close with Ephesians 6 18.

Take the mighty razor-sharp spirit sword of the spoken word of God and pray passionately in the spirit as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times.

You've put on the belt, you've put on the breastplate, put on the helmet, put on the shoes, you've picked up the shield.

And then constant, always, at all times, a lifestyle of prayer as an active razor-sharp spirit sword of the spoken word of God coming out of your heart and bringing life and freedom and victory and healing to the world around you.

Put on the complete set of armor that God has prepared for you.

Well-made weapons designed to not only keep you safe and protect you, but help you take new ground in this faith fight called life.

You are not fighting against human beings, you are fighting against principalities, against forces, against the attack of the enemy.

The enemy is active, seeking whom he may devour.

Lean in, put on the armor.

That's my prayer and my hope as we bring this series to a close today.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Listen, if you've been in the fight of your life, if the last month, the last week, the last nine months of 2020 just feels like a deep dark pit, I want to remind you that God is not far removed.

He loves you, he cares for you, he's given you a right relationship with him through Jesus.

He's given you the gift of his Holy Spirit, he's given you his active word, scripture, the Bible.

And so it's on us to put on truth, to put on righteousness, to remember our salvation, to live in our peace, to lift high our faith, and to activate the spirit sword of the spoken word of God.

It's on us.

You can do this, but you don't have to do it alone.

Lean into your small group this week.

If you're not a part of a group yet, get in one.

Get in one.

I'm looking forward to even just coming through into 2021 as we launch new groups in January and February, and even some beautiful new resources that help bring people to freedom in the new year.

God is with you.

And if you're brand new to faith, brand new to community, if you've never ever made Jesus Christ the center of your life, the center on which your world turns, we want to give you that opportunity today.

In a moment, we're gonna pray a simple prayer, a powerful prayer, a prayer of faith as we invite Jesus to be the center of your universe, the center of your life, the foundation that you build on.

And in Jesus, that's where you are gonna find life and hope and freedom and forgiveness and purpose and a sense of true worth and identity as a son or a daughter of our amazing God.

And so if you're watching today and you've never invited Jesus to be your Lord, the center of your life, would you just pray a simple prayer with me?

Say, dear God, thank you that through Jesus I can have real life.

Today I choose to accept Jesus as my center, as my savior, as my redeemer, to put things right between you and I.

Forgive me for everything I've done wrong.

Come into my life.

Fill me with your spirit, with your love and grace.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you so much for listening to today's message.

If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit.

And if you need any more information, visit EvolveChurch.com.

We hope to see you soon.