1 Peter: Blessed Assurance (Stand Together)

If you have your Bibles quickly, let's move on from deviled eggs to get into Jesus' eggs.

That was the worst dad joke ever.

That was that was so bad.

All right.

First Peter chapter 5.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

We're going to be ending our series on blessed assurance today.

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Uh, we do something every year that we call our annual legacy video.

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We are we can do more together than we ever can, uh, separated from one another.

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All right.

Announcements out of the way.

I'm ready to get into God's word with you and kind of bring everybody up to speed.

If this is your first time joining us, we've been walking through First Peter and to kind of get our minds where Peter is, because you know, 2,000 years later, we can lose context a little bit.

The best way to get our minds around this is imagine with me that you are watching the news and it's you know it's storm season, so you're watching, you know, Ryan Hall or Chris Allen, whatever it is you're you're watching, and and all of a sudden they tell you that the biggest hurricane ever is brewing right off of uh Florida.

And and you are just like amazed.

It fills up the whole screen.

And then while you're looking at it, you realize that right in the middle is where your best good buddy lives.

Like the guy that you love, he lives right there.

And all of a sudden you go, Oh my goodness, uh, where is he?

Is everything okay?

And and you're just you're concerned for your friend.

And then as you are concerned, you get contacted from inside the storm and you get an email because that's what Peter might have done 2,000 years ago.

He sends an email and he's like, Hey, I got some stuff I gotta tell you.

And that's not that unlike what is going on because Peter is right in the middle of what we would consider to be one of the greatest storms that the early church had faced up to that point.

And we've been talking about how the early church started in 33 AD with the resurrection of Jesus and the Holy Spirit descending on the people, and they began to go out and spread the gospel.

And eventually Peter and a bunch of others made their way to Rome.

And in the 60s, that all of a sudden the biggest storm the early church had ever faced happened.

You have Paul who's been arrested, you have Rome that burns, and they blame the Christians, even though we had nothing to do with it.

And so they start persecuting the Christians and rounding them up, and there's all these things that's happening, and and Peter is right there in the eye of the storm, and all the provinces of Rome would have heard about what was going on.

And so Peter, seeing all this that's happening and also knowing it's heading their way, he sends them a letter.

And you imagine all the things he could have said.

He could have said, you know, that they're they're hunting us, they're chasing us down.

Some of my friends have already been killed.

Or if it was a storm, they would have said, he would have said, I don't have a car anymore.

It's in my neighbor's house right now.

You know, I don't, I haven't found my mailbox in two days.

Like he could have talked about all of that, but of all the things he could have said, the main message of 1 Peter, right in the middle of a storm, is that I've got great news.

That no matter what storms we face in life, Peter tells us that in the middle of the worst storm the early church had ever faced, that we can stand strong because of our blessed assurance, because of Jesus.

That he's saying that I'm not denying to that storms are happening and that that bad things are all around.

I'm just saying that's not all that's happening.

And that when all the storms come, I have found that that solid foundation, that that firm foundation we just got through singing about, it really does stand through every situation.

And that's what he was talking about.

And in chapter one, that was the whole focus of saying we have that anchor of our soul, that living hope that because of Jesus, all things are possible.

And then he says, because we have that living hope, we're not just holding on and waiting for a different day, but we actually can be a living example into the world and make a difference because many times it's in the storm that you see who people truly are.

And he said, let them see Jesus in all of us.

And he just goes through all the different ways that we can find out or how we can be that living example.

And I don't know over the course of our series, which was my favorite, my least favorite was when Eric Leach told all you guys I got toed like three times in a week, okay?

Told him, Don't ever do that again, especially if you have photo evidence, okay?

Don't do that.

But it's been amazing to see how all of that works.

And then now, as he is kind of coming around third plate, heading home, he's ending the letter.

He's not ending it with, you know, poor pitiful and all this kind of stuff, but he's actually saying, let's move forward.

Let's finish the journey that God has begun, has begun in all of us.

And so we're gonna read this final chapter as one final thing all the way through because it's just beautiful the way it is.

And I'll be honest with you, this is my favorite chapter in all of 1 Peter.

So let's read this together as he is finishing up this powerful letter.

He says this He says, And now, after everything I've told you, a word to you who are elders in the churches.

I too am an elder and a witness to the suffering of Christ Jesus.

And I too will share his glory when he is revealed to the whole world.

As a fellow elder, I appeal to you, care for the flock that God has entrusted to you.

Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly, not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.

Don't lord it over people uh assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.

And when the great shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.

In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders.

And for all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Stay alert.

Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.

He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

So stand firm against him and be strong in your faith.

Remember that your family of believers all over the world, they are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

And in his kindness, God has called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus.

So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

All power to him forever.

Amen.

I have written you, uh, written and sent you this short letter to you with the help of Silas, also known as Sylvanus, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother.

My purpose in writing is to encourage you and to assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God's grace for you.

Stand firm in this grace.

Your sister church here in Babylon, another word for Rome, sends you your greetings, as does my son Mark, the guy who wrote the gospel of Mark.

Greet each other with a, oh Lord help us, kiss of love, and peace be with you who are in Christ.

Well, it did say, greet each other with a kiss of love.

So when I count to three, I want you to give somebody a big sloppy kiss.

One, two.

No, don't do that.

Don't do that.

No, that six feet, six feet.

All right, yes.

But greet each other with a kiss and peace be among all of you in Christ Jesus.

This doesn't sound like to me, like a guy who is giving up.

This doesn't sound like somebody to me who is saying it's getting really bad, we're all about to die, so good luck with that.

No, it sounds like he is saying, this is how we move forward.

This is how the church never dies, this is how we keep taking ground.

Peter, there's a storm all around you.

I know.

Isn't it so good to have Jesus?

That we can absolutely continue to move forward no matter what obstacles are around us, but he shares with us in this, we can only do it one way, and that is this that we are a living example of hope by how we continue to stand together.

By how we continue to stand together.

If you're taking analog notes, I want you to circle that word together.

If you're taking digital notes, just take a Sharpie and just mark all over your phone.

I promise it's fine.

That's a joke.

Don't do that, all right?

I'm not buying you a new phone.

But continue to stand together.

He's saying we can do all of these things if we stand together.

Look at somebody and say, stand with me.

Now, if you're from Alabama like I am, we we have a way of putting with and me together in a very unique way.

And we just say, stand with me.

So look at somebody else and just kind of blur it all together and say, stand with me.

That just feels better, doesn't it?

Yeah, it's just there's no sense in extra consonants when you're from where I'm from.

All right, just go ahead and save them for later.

But he's saying, if you stand with me and I stand with you, that's the crazy thing about storms, is it has a way of bringing people together, which is kind of reminds me of this idea of what he's talking about.

I've been sharing with you guys some of my storm stories, and I know some of you shared yours with me, and it's it's amazing how we don't love storms at all, but they do create uh some rather unique memories.

And one of them that stands out to me is actually my favorite thing about storms, and that is I don't like them, but isn't it amazing how when there is a storm, it has an interesting way of bringing people together.

This is how it works at my house.

In the event of a storm, I will be found at the nearest window.

Okay, I've told you, and we've we've addressed that that's not a healthy thing.

Okay, I don't need to be at the window, but that's where I'll be.

My wife is usually on her phone checking the weather, letting us know we need to take cover.

I have one daughter who's been in cover, okay?

She's been there, she is there, all right?

And then I've got another daughter who's not quite sure where to be, so she just kind of bounces between us, and we've we've mentioned that the dog is with me, okay?

That's where we are.

And then what invariably happens is as soon as the wind picks up, the power goes out.

And what usually happens at my house is when the power goes out, most of the time it seems like our cell phone signal goes out too, which makes me think that it really is the apocalypse.

You know, that the AI has taken over because it's taken over our phone.

We have nothing, and all we can do is just stare at each other.

And all of a sudden I realize I don't want to be here right now, you know, because I don't know what to do.

But you know what is amazing?

Some of the greatest memories I have are right in the middle of uncomfortable situations.

Because you know what happens for us is when the power goes out, especially if it's at night, we end up instead of isolating and everybody going to their own rooms, everybody acts like they're not afraid of the dark until it's dark, you know?

And then we all end up gathering around each other.

Yes, Maggie's playing cards with us, by the way, if you didn't notice.

All right, but we all end up starting gathering around each other.

We light some candles and we play cards.

We tell stories.

We start, it's amazing how the unfortunate side effect of storms is it can cause people to isolate.

But many times, if we if we do it the right way, it actually causes people to come together.

And I can't tell you how many times that we have sat there in the dark playing cards, telling stories, and all of a sudden the lights come back on.

And believe it or not, I'm sad.

I'm sad because I actually had a moment there where our family, we weren't distracted, we weren't doing everything else, we just had a chance to reconnect with each other.

Isn't it amazing how many times there's so many bad things about storms, but one of the fortunate side effects, it has a way to bring out the best in people.

It has a way to connect people all over again.

And one of the greatest things about the storms of life, when you're around brothers and sisters in Christ, is that when I'm weak, you get to be strong.

When when you're weak, I get to be strong.

When I'm strong, you're weak.

Every situation we go back and forth and back and forth, and we get to share that hope.

Because remember, biblical hope is not just something out of nowhere, but it is actually the dynamic living confidence that the promises of God are still true.

And that's what Peter is saying is he is saying there's so much that we can still do.

So I'm not saying goodbye.

I'm saying move forward, move forward together.

And it's the amazing thing about storms that they can cause us to isolate.

But more times than not, it causes us to come together, to put aside our differences and to say, listen, I don't want to be here, you don't want to be here, but we're here, so let's get connected.

Let's stand together.

And so what I want to do as we finish this is I just want to celebrate some different ways that we have stood together this past year and really talk through the idea of what does it look like for God's people to stand together while facing the storms of life.

And I just look at it like this.

If I'm gonna stand and if you're gonna stand, we might as well do it together because we're better together than we would ever be apart.

And so I don't know if you're sitting beside somebody you like today.

You got 30 seconds to find someone you like.

If not, you're just stuck with them, okay?

But here's the thing.

Well, I want you to look at your neighbor and I want you to say, stand with me.

You don't like them that much, do you?

Okay, all right, find the second choice and say, I'm gonna stand with you.

I'm gonna stand with you.

What does that mean?

What does it mean if we just decide, like I don't want to be in the storm, you don't want to be in the storm, but if we're in one, we might as well do it together.

And he said, there's four different ways that he says we can stand together through any storm.

And when we do that, not only does it encourage one another, but the world on the outside looking in, they said, they must truly believe what they say.

Because when everything goes crazy and everything's going wrong, watch how they stand together.

Here's the four things.

The first one he says is this is he says, as a living example, we continue to stand faithfully.

As a living example together, we stand faithfully.

We stand together.

And what a wonderful example in a world that is constantly pushing for isolation, that we refuse to isolate, even though for many of us we start that way, but at some point we draw one another back in and say, I'm not gonna let you stand on your own.

I love how he says it like this.

He says, as a fellow elder, so he's reminding them, I'm in this with you.

I appeal to you, care for the flock that God has entrusted to you.

Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly.

Not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God through that.

Don't lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.

And when the great shepherd appears, you'll receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.

What he's saying is, is many times when there is a storm, we have this tendency to want to just do triage.

Let's just, let's just see how we can, let's see what we can do.

Let's see if we can make this work.

And it's just kind of we get we get nervous a lot of times because there's a storm happening.

And what Peter says is slow down, do it for the right reason, stay faithful because we trust that Jesus is in control.

He says, Remember the great shepherd, the one who is ultimately in control.

He is here and he is watching.

Therefore, I can serve faithfully and I can continue to show up every single day and I can do the right thing for the right reason because everybody's an example.

It's just some people are an example of what not to do, right?

But he's saying, be a good example.

And there's a promise that he's that God's word says, let's not get tired of doing what is good, because at just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.

Look at somebody and say, Don't give up.

Like, like our our goal, what what is God's plan for your life?

To not give up.

Because if you don't give up, there's a harvest of blessing coming.

And whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good.

And sometimes one of the hardest things to do is to stand faithfully.

Because many times, sometimes the greatest act of faith is faithfulness.

One of the greatest examples of God is how we show up for one another over and over and over again.

And we continue and continue to be faithful in all things.

And what I love about this is it is it appears as though Peter is actually reminding them, remember what got us here.

Remember what it was, that secret sauce of the early church that has been with us this whole time.

And we're actually gonna read about that starting tomorrow.

As a matter of fact, if if you're reading God's word with us, tomorrow we're gonna start the book of Acts.

And if you'd like to read God's word with us, you can text RLC Bible to 94,000 or scan that QR code.

We're gonna read through Acts, and it's amazing because in Acts chapter 2, the Bible says the Holy Spirit fell upon the church to empower them for ministry.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And then you wonder kind of how did what did they do with it?

After the Holy Spirit had empowered them, how did they then, you know, go into all the world and make a difference?

And Peter is calling them back to this because actually what it says is after that happened, the Bible says all the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper, and to prayer.

And they worshiped together in the temple each day.

And they met in the homes for the Lord's Supper, and they shared their meals with great joy and generosity.

And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

So the secret saw, so the early church was that they were empowered by the Holy Spirit and they stayed faithful to one another.

They continued to show back up over and over and over again and doing the little things, helping one another, doing the Lord's Supper with one another, worshiping together over and over and over.

And he's saying, You want to stand through any storm?

Keep showing up for each other.

Keep being faithful.

That's what it looks like.

That's what grace with skin on it looks like.

That when all the world looks, they say, look at how they love one another and how they stand together.

And I just want to take a moment and brag on all of you here who are at RLC because I have watched so many of you stand together this year when it comes to faithfulness.

We've had so many good things.

We've also had many challenges as a church this year.

And one of the things that's been such a blessing to me is watching people show up over and over and over again and being faithful.

And then we've been kind of putting some numbers together to show what your faithfulness has done.

But this year, because we have stood together faithfully, we have been able to give over five fifty thousand dollars to missions and been able to give over 400 Bibles away.

Can we celebrate that?

Is that not amazing?

And you know, you know how you do that?

I I could never do that, you could never do that, but when we stand together, it's amazing what we can do together.

And that's showing up over and over and over again in in sunshine and in the rain.

We say, I'm gonna stand, you're gonna stand, we might as well do it together.

So I'm gonna be faithful.

I'm gonna be faithful and giving.

I'm gonna be faithful and making a difference with somebody else.

I'm gonna continue to be faithful.

And can I tell you, I know there's bad things going on in the world, but just like Peter was saying, there's good things happening too.

And so every once in a while, we need to remember that when we stand together, God is able to make a difference.

And so look at your neighbor and say, stand with me.

I'm gonna stand, you're gonna stand, we might as well do it together because we can make a bigger difference together than we ever could apart.

He doesn't just say stand together faithfully, but I love this one.

He says also stand together humbly.

I used to know a guy who did not know how to pronounce the word H.

And so he would say, humbly.

And I had no idea what he was talking about.

And finally I say, Oh, humbly.

He's like, Yeah, humbly.

All right, so however you say it, humbly.

I love how God's word says it like this.

This is one of my favorite passages.

It says, in the same way, you who are younger, it's talking about me, okay, you who are younger, I don't know why y'all laughing, must accept the authority of the elders.

And all of you, look at look at somebody and say, all.

Now look at them and say, I'm talking about you.

I'm talking about you.

Dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another.

And I love that he says it like that, because that word dress yourselves, the actual literal definition is like if you were to take a jacket and you were to tie it in a knot.

So he's saying, not only do you have to decide to do it, but kind of make a commitment to it.

You know, you ever you ever go to tie something, you don't tie it all the way, and it kind of falls?

This is like tie it and then tie it in a double knot.

Like you, you have just decided that I'm gonna live in humility as you relate to one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

He said, How do I do this?

We do this by humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God.

And at the right time, he will lift you up in honor.

So give all your worries and cares to God.

Why?

For he cares about you.

One of the most amazing things that we can do is when you don't have Jesus in your heart and Jesus in your life, you you constantly have to try to one up everybody else because that's all you have.

Because nobody else is looking out for you.

You hear all the time, I gotta look out for number one because nobody else is looking out for number one.

Thank goodness for Jesus.

Because the Bible teaches us that the exact opposite is true, that actually I can humble myself under the mighty hand of God because God is at work, because God is moving.

And it's out of the overflow of my thankfulness for God that I'm able to then serve somebody else because I'm constantly giving my worries and my cares to God.

Why?

Because He cares about us.

And remember that humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less often.

It's saying, I know who I am in Christ.

I know that in Christ I'm significant, I'm secure, I'm accepted.

And from that place of complete security and complete confidence that Jesus is my King, now it doesn't have to be about me.

I can serve you.

And I actually prefer it if you can't pay me back, because then God gets all the glory.

And I can't do that unless I'm standing with you.

Because then when I'm standing with you, I get to see what's going on and I can help you because I have the honor of being somebody else's miracle.

One of the greatest ways to see a miracle is to see a need, and then say, God, I want to be part of meeting that need.

And you get to see this over and over and over again in the Bible.

And there's there's one story we're gonna call, you know, most miracles don't happen in isolation.

Moses got to experience this.

I don't ever heard this story, but the Bible said that, you know, these in the book of Exodus, these recently liberated, um, recently liberated uh uh Israelites were trying to figure out what to do.

And you know, in Exodus and Numbers and Deuteronomy, they're they're walking through and trying to get to the promised land, but they don't know how to fight.

They've been slaves for 400 years.

And now there are these people called the Amalekites who are trying to destroy them.

And God tells Moses that if you get up on a mountain and you hold your staff above your hand, I'm gonna do a miracle.

And I'm gonna do a miracle because in my mind, when the when the army sees Moses, they remember that God's in control.

And so you're gonna be a symbol that God is in control, and as long as your hands are up, Moses, I'm gonna give them the victory.

And so Moses goes up on a mountain, he's gonna, he's gonna be a miracle to that, to that, uh, that army, and he goes up there.

But the Bible says that as long as Moses held his staff in his hand, the Israelites, Israelites had the advantage.

But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage.

Moses' arms soon became so tired that he could no longer hold them up.

And that's the danger of trying to do life alone.

That's the danger of trying to stand by yourself, is that we all have a certain amount of strength for a certain amount of time.

But there are times when we get weary.

There are times when you you can't YouTube enough things to figure out what to do because sometimes I just need somebody else.

But what the Bible said is that actually there were two guys, Aaron and her, found a stone for him to sit on and that he stood on each side of Moses, or they did, and they were holding up his hands.

So the hands, his hands were held steadily until sunset.

And as a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of the Amalekites in battle.

God has given you a plan for your life, but he doesn't mean that doesn't mean that you have to do it by yourself.

That actually one of the greatest things about standing together is this is that standing together does not mean we will never struggle.

It means we never struggle alone.

And then when when I need you, you are there.

And then when you need me, I can be there and we can struggle together because we're standing together.

And one of the greatest things that Peter is telling us is he's saying is as we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God because we know that God is moving on our behalf, now we can move on somebody else's because we know God is taking care of us.

And I just want to say thank you, church, because I have watched so many people this year who have been like Moses, and you're doing the best that you can, and you're trying, but your your arms have gotten weary.

But you know what I love is I have watched how so many other people have said, okay, I'm gonna come alongside and I'm gonna help you.

I can't be a dad for you, but I can walk with you.

I can't raise your kids, but I can stand right there with you.

I can't help you with your job, but I can pray for you, and I can call you on your lunch break, and I can make sure that you're okay.

And if you don't get up for church, I'm knocking on your door, I'm bringing you, we're gonna stand together.

I've watched all of that this year, and I just want to say thank you for that.

And I'm also saying thank you that you haven't rang my doorbell on Sunday morning, okay?

Because I don't need that kind of aggravation, but some people do.

And the reality of it is because we have stood together, we have been able to have over 70% of you at RLC have been part of life groups, and we've been able to have over 310 sessions at RLCC.

Can we thank God for that?

310 times.

Now, RLCC is our counseling center.

We've been able to help people take those next steps and say, hey, listen, you're not gonna struggle and do this by yourself.

That's what we do is we do this thing called life together.

And Peter is saying that's how we go to the next step.

He said, We're not saying goodbye.

We're saying onward.

He's saying carry on.

And he said we do that by staying faithful to one another.

He's saying we do that when we lock arms and we're humble about it and say, Listen, I'm not gonna make it about me, I'm gonna make it about you.

And we're gonna serve one another, and that's how we stand together.

Look at somebody and say, stand with me.

Look at it when we say he said, keep standing with me.

Like we've been doing it, but we're gonna keep doing it.

And when we do that, we're a living example of this is what God can do.

And he said, we do it by standing faithfully, by standing humbly.

I love this one though, is he also says that we stand strong, that we have to stand strong together.

I love how over the past few verses he's been saying, don't forget that God is in control, don't forget that God is doing great things.

Don't forget that.

Make sure you remember that God is in control.

But he also reminds us that two things can be true at the same time: that God is in control, and he says, stay alert.

Look at somebody and say, Watch out.

That was awesome.

Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.

He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

That word devour literally means to swallow whole.

He's not just interested in wounding, he's interested in destroying.

So, what do we do?

Do we run away?

No, we stand firm against him and be strong in your faith.

Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are, and in his kindness, God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus.

So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, strengthen, and place you on a firm foundation.

And then Peter just gets excited.

He's like, All power to him forever.

Amen.

So, what is he saying?

He's saying that yes, God is in control and he has won.

That's why we can step in and be strong and mighty in God.

Two things that we must remember is that the devil, not our neighbor, is our enemy.

And Jesus has already won the war.

Now, I don't know who you're sitting beside.

So maybe you don't mean that maybe you don't write down the first one.

Okay, you know, I'm playing.

The devil, some of you are going, I see that look on your face.

Okay, maybe they are your enemy, but they're not your ultimate enemy, okay?

The devil, not our neighbor, is our real enemy.

Can I tell you who's not your enemy?

The Republican Party?

The Democrat Party?

The president who we you hoped might have been, you know, governor or mayor, who might have won elections.

It's getting super quiet and super awkward.

I get that.

You know, those people are not our enemy, the devil is our enemy, and that's why the Bible doesn't say, be careful, watch out for politicians.

No, he said, watch out for the devil.

Because the devil will use different things to try to kill, steal, and destroy.

But Jesus said, I came to give you life and to give it to you more abundantly.

About the same time Peter, or excuse me, Paul is writing the same thing to a church called Ephesus.

Right?

The same time he was saying, I need you to understand what we look like when we stand together.

And he's writing to Ephesus and he gets to chapter 6 and he's like, I wish I could help you understand that you are not powerless, you are not a victim in Christ Jesus, but God has a plan for your life, that God is on the throne.

He's like, I wish I could help you understand what we look like.

And I wonder if while he was writing this letter, he looks over and he sees a Roman soldier and he's going, That's it.

That's exactly what we look like in the spirit.

We don't look like some weak whatever, but we're an army.

And so he says it like this.

He says, So be strong.

Somebody say, be strong.

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Put on all God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil.

For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil spirits in heavenly places.

Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.

And then after the battle, you will be standing firm.

So stand your ground.

Put on the belt of truth and the body armor of righteousness.

For shoes, put on peace that comes from the good news.

Hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil and put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And what he's saying is that when I stand strong and when you stand strong, the enemy can't stand strong.

He's got to flee from the army of God because we're already victorious in Jesus' name.

That's why he says, Stand.

You got nothing to fear.

So stand.

Put on the nature of Christ, put on the goodness of God, and just tell the devil, devil, in Jesus' name, you have no power here.

That God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind, and that the weapons of our warfare are mighty in God.

And he's saying, take those and go and win the lost.

The Bible says in the book of Revelation, we overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.

The two most powerful weapons you have is the name of Jesus and the story of your salvation.

And I just want to say thank you because this year I have heard so many people saying, You're not going to believe this, but I finally told my uncle about Jesus.

You're not going to believe this, but I started telling people at work about Jesus.

And I told my neighbor about Jesus.

And it's been amazing.

And I just want to say thank you for so many of you who have been telling your story and walking with people.

And I just want to say that because we have stood together this year, we've seen 26 people get saved and 30 people baptized.

Can we celebrate that?

I am so thankful for that.

And that's the ones that we know of.

I can't tell you how many times people have sat down with a cup of coffee with me and said, hey, six months ago I got saved.

Tell somebody.

Because we want to help you up.

We want to take these next steps together.

So it's like 26 going on 500.

I don't know how many it was.

I'm thankful for every single one of them.

But here's the thing if I'm going to stand and you're going to stand, why don't we stand together?

Because we can do so much more together than we could ever do apart.

And what what my goal is in this message, just to tell you, yes, there's bad things going on.

But that's not all that's going on.

That as we stand together faithfully and we stand together humbly, and I'm not going to make it about you, and not make it about me, I'm going to make it about Jesus.

And as we stand together strongly and tell the devil, you're not going to have my family.

You're not going to have our church.

As we do this, God's doing more than we realize.

And I just want to encourage you that God's doing some amazing things.

And that if we do that, the whole purpose of Peter's letter is this, and that's my hope for you today, is that we also stand encouraged.

Stand, encouraged, whisper to your neighbor and say, I'm still standing.

And then look back at him and say, stand with me.

That's why we were never intended to do this thing called life alone.

We were intended to stand together.

To stand together.

I love how he finishes this because remember, he's been talking about our living hope as our anchor of our soul, about how we are related to government and to all these other areas in our private life and our public life, our outward life, and he says, and then all of this, my purpose in writing this is to encourage you and to assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God's grace for you.

You know what I love about that is he is saying, I wanted to assure you that when you go through difficult times, that doesn't mean God has left you.

That when you see struggling happens happening and you start experiencing different things, that doesn't mean that God is not on his throne.

But actually to tell you that because he is on his throne, I'm here to encourage you and to assure you that God is doing more than we sometimes realize.

And can I tell you, church, God is always doing more than we realize.

God is up to something, God is moving.

And one of the things that I love about our church is how we continually encourage one another to say that, hey man, we're a spiritual family together.

I'm gonna give you one more thing that we're thankful for before we end our time together.

I I love this so much because one of the things I love is I love that we had the opportunity to give over 400 Bibles away.

And we actually had someone the other day that asked if they could buy one, and I was like, No.

How much do you want to buy it for?

No, I didn't do that.

No, we we give we're giving them away.

But what I love too is is we we talk to people who say, you know what, I never actually have read my Bible until I started coming to real life church.

And now, because you talk about it every week, I finally made it through the New Testament.

Can I tell you that's amazing?

And now we're gonna be starting the Old Testament soon, and we get to read Leviticus together in Jesus' name.

It's gonna be awesome.

But I just wanted to celebrate with you because I'm I just want to say thank you for spreading God's word with me because we have encouraged each other to dig into the Bible.

Can I tell you, I just saw this yesterday?

The Bible breakdown has been downloaded over 147,000 times in the past 12 months.

Is that not amazing?

That is awesome.

And my favorite thing is the most viewed videos, Leviticus chapter 2.

Leviticus 2 · chapter mention

Come on.

I love it, I love it so much.

And some of that is just so y'all can watch me struggle, and that's fine, okay?

I love it.

But you know what that means to me?

That means 147,000 times somebody connected with God because when we read God's word, we come to know Him a little bit more.

And I love that so very much.

And I want to say thank you for sharing that with somebody else.

And my my purpose behind all of this is this because what happened when Peter finished writing the letter is he got back to work.

History tells us that he continued to be part of leading the church in Rome, and things kept getting worse.

And he ends up writing 2 Peter, most likely from prison.

According to some scholars, possibly up within a month or two of him being martyred for his faith.

But you know what Peter didn't do is he didn't just give up on everything and just try to make it, but he actually was mentoring people along the way.

One of them was a guy named Clement from Rome.

And Clement took up that banner and he continued, and for the next 40 years, he also began to write letters and to begin to encourage people and tell them that I I knew, I knew Peter.

And Peter never gave up all the way to the end.

That John, the apostle John, while he was also experiencing these things in Ephesus and all these other places, he spent time on Padmus because of being a political prisoner.

Instead of just giving up, he was investing in a guy named Polycarp.

Very unfortunate name.

But Polycarp ends up becoming a leader in the church at Philippi.

And he started mentoring a guy named Justin Martyr.

Justin Martyr, he mentored two different people that got to a guy we all know named Augustine.

And they're saying, instead of quitting and giving up, it's how can I invest my life in somebody else?

Because my journey is only gonna last for so long, but the kingdom of God is eternal.

And can I tell you, church, that's what I've got to see so many people do this year?

And I just want to encourage you that I know that the year's not over.

Okay, we're we still got some more fun that we're gonna have this year, but as I'm looking toward 2026, I've never been more excited to be a Christ follower because I've noticed that Jesus is still on the throne.

And I want to give you this promise as we get ready to end our time together today.

There was a time when the nation of Israel had been liberated from Egyptian bondage, and they they then spent 40 years hearing about the promised land, and that one day the promised land was going to be there, and they were gonna have they were they're gonna have this wonderful time with God, and and Moses dies, Joshua takes over, and as they look over and they see the promised land, they realize oh, that God's not just gonna give it to us, right?

So we're gonna have to fight for it.

And this was God's promise.

He said, I know you've been through a lot, but I'm gonna be with you the rest of the way.

And he says this he says, Be strong and very courageous, be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you.

Study this book of instruction continually, meditate on it day and night, so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.

And then he said, Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

This is my command: be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

You know when I think about that, and I think about the nation of Israel, and they see, they see around them, they see the promised land, but it's not gonna be free.

They're gonna have to be faithful, they're gonna have to fight for each other, they're gonna have to be strong, they're gonna have to stay encouraged and going, God, how how am I supposed to, how am I supposed to move forward when there's when there's still gonna be battles left to fight?

So you're gonna do it with me?

That you're gonna lean close to me, and if you lean close to me, you're gonna prosper and succeed in all you do.

But this is what you've got to do.

You don't have to have it all figured out, you don't have to have everything you know wrapped up.

What you've got to do is to be strong, courageous, don't let fear take control, and realize that God is with you.

Can I tell you one of the things I love about being part of a church family is there are some things you never get to see unless you walk with somebody else.

I I would have never known what it looked like to walk through losing a spouse if I had been part of a church family, and to watch somebody truly hit rock bottom but still have a smile on their face, and then when somebody else lost their spouse, they were the first person to call them because they said, If there's one thing I know you can't do this by yourself.

I've seen what it's like to see somebody get diagnosed with something that they couldn't control and they couldn't do anything about, and they didn't even know how to get out of bed, and so somebody came up and laid in the bed with them.

That if you're gonna lay here, I'm gonna lay here with you and I'm not gonna let you go through this all by yourself.

That's what happens when we become part of a church family.

When when somebody loses their job, but they're not gonna, but they're not gonna lose a meal because people bring them so much food that they actually have to say, stop it.

I'm I'm gaining 10 pounds.

You didn't have to eat all of it.

All right, they're like, put it in the freezer, put in the freezer because there's more coming, there's more coming.

You know, it's like no.

If I'm gonna stand and you're gonna stand, we might as well stand together.

And can I just be honest with you?

I don't like storms, I don't love them.

My my hope for you as your pastor is that you will be blessed beyond compare, that you'll never hit a red light, your coffee will always be hot, and that in Jesus' name Alabama will win the national championship.

Not all things are meant to be.

That's my hope.

But you know what I know?

I know that everybody's got a private battle that nobody else knows about.

And I know that everybody in this room is either coming out of a storm, they're in the middle of one, they get ready to head into one.

And you know what the enemy wants us to do?

He wants us to think that we're the only ones that's struggling.

Because if we can think that, we feel insecure, we feel isolated, we feel unworthy.

We think, well, yeah, everyone's got a private battle, but I really have one.

And if someone else found out that I'm not as awesome as I kind of let people think, and uh, if they if they see that this smile is only skin deep, and if they see that I don't have it figured out, you know, they they may not want me anymore.

But you know what I've seen over and over again?

I have seen that when people let that mask down and say, hey, listen, I don't have it all figured out.

Someone else says, join the club.

Me too.

How about this?

I'm gonna hold your hands up, you hold up mine.

And if I'm gonna stand and if you're gonna stand, we might as well do it together.

Can I tell you, church?

Jesus is with you more than you realize.

You're probably doing better than you realize because you made it here this morning.

That God is for you and not against you.

And if there's one thing you can get out of 1 Peter, when we end the whole chapter, Peter is not saying, good luck, hope it works out.

He's saying onward, keep going.

Nothing has changed about the goodness of God.

Can I tell you in this place?

I don't know what storm you may be going through, but I know one thing for sure, and that is Jesus has not changed his mind about you.

He still loves you.

He's still for you, he's still with you more than you can imagine.

In just a moment, the bands can lead us through a time of worship, and maybe, maybe that's what you need to think about today is to remind yourself God's with you.

Remind yourself that that God is for you.

And maybe in your time of worship, you just need to lift your hands and say, God, I'm just so tired in this moment.

I'm so tired of this private battle I'm going through.

Can you just remind me that you're here with me?

And the Bible says to give all your worries and anxieties to him, and he cares for you.

You used to sing this old song that said, Take your burdens to the Lord, but leave them there.

I don't know about you, but I'm really good at loaning my burdens to the Lord.

And then taking them back with me as I leave.

And it's almost like the Holy Spirit says, Stop, young man, put it down.

But this is my identity.

This is what people know me as.

I know.

Is it enough just to know that you're my child?

Maybe for a moment, that's what God wants to do is remind you that your identity is not in what you do, but it's in whose you are.

And if I'm gonna stand and you're gonna stand, we might as well do it together.

So, in just a moment, give you an opportunity just to allow the Holy Spirit to touch your life.

And if you're in here, maybe you don't have a relationship with God, maybe you don't know what it is to know that Jesus is your king.

I want to tell you, I'm so glad that you're here today.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell you that Jesus loves you, He has a plan for your life, He's not ashamed of you.

He wants to be that forever friend in your life.

And God's word teaches us that if we will confess our sins, repent, and turn to Him, He'll wash away our sins.

On the back of your connect card is the plan of salvation.

And it is a prayer that you can pray that if you can mean it in your heart, turn all of your sin, everything you have, over to the Lord, He wants to set you free.

And He wants to be your King.

And just a moment, as we worship the Lord, your next best act of worship is to stand up from where you are and join us at the prayer table back there where the banner is, and just say, I want to know Jesus.

And today could be your spiritual birthday.

I don't know what next step we all need to take, but I guarantee we all have a next step we need to take.

If nothing else, just to be in the presence of God for a few moments.

Let's pray together right now.

God, thank you so much for today.

Thank you, God, that you are with us and that you are for us.

I'm thankful, God, that there is nothing that we go through, God, that you are not right there with us.

And for some of us, God, it seems like the end of a long journey.

Help us to realize that it's not.

For some of us, it feels like we're just beginning and we don't know where to start.

Help us to realize that it's not.

That you've been with us this whole way, but you've also surrounded us with people who want to go with us.

I just bind in the name of Jesus every spirit that would try to bring discouragement, that would try to take away the joy of the world, that would try to make problems bigger than the power of God in Jesus' name.

And I ask you, Holy Spirit, to settle on your people this morning, to remind us of your goodness.

Remind us that we're never alone, and that many times, God, it is you that is holding up our hands.

And I pray that, Lord, you will give us the courage to not be afraid, but to stand together.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

And if you stand with me all over the house this morning, the band is going to lead us in a final song of worship.

I don't know what next step you need to take.

Maybe you just need to be right where you are with your hands raised and just take a few moments and just say, Holy Spirit, I just want to feel your presence and just be reminded that I'm not alone, that you're with me.

Maybe if you know the person beside you, you just want to grab them by the hand and maybe you make this prayer about them today and say, God, I pray that you will show yourself to them in some kind of way.

Maybe today is your spiritual birthday.

You want to give your life to Jesus.

Can I tell you it's the best decision you'll ever make?

I want you to join us at the prayer table.

We would love to pray with you and welcome you as you enter into the family of God.

But whatever next step you need to take, let's take a few moments and worship Jesus together.