Jehovah Nissi - God Has a Name - Pastor Pete Wright

Hey there, this is Jen Wade, part of the core team here at Springs Church. We just want

to say thank you so much for joining us and listening to our podcast. We are praying that

it encourages you and it inspires you. And if you'd like to find out more about Springs

Church, please visit our website springschurch.co.uk. Here's today's message.

You may be wondering, Pete, what is this fancy cup? Was anybody wondering that on the table?

Thank you for asking Rachel. Rachel Price, not for long. This time next week, newlyweds.

So this cup is no ordinary cup. You can see that there are a myriad of different hairstyles

on there and I reckon I've had at least a quarter of those hairstyles. This cup was

bought for me by some students from year 11s that left my class about, I don't know, probably

like seven, eight years ago now. And they bought me this because I was quite famous

for changing my hair styles. I wasn't scared to have a new cut. And so they thought they'd

remember. And they knew I liked my cup of tea. And they also knew that my hot drink

didn't stay hot for very long because I got too excited teaching that by the time I came

to have a sip, it was cold. So they bought me a big cup in the hope that it might stay

warmer. It didn't. But this is my cup. But this cup soon became known as something else

behind my back. I did not know. Fast forward a few years later and I go for a haircut in

the barbers just down the road here. And I sit in the barber's chair. I've never been

to this barber's before. And this lad's given me a gornal skin fade. And as I sat down,

he actually said to me, he says, he says, are you doing Thor? I said, what? He said,

don't you remember me? I was like, I really don't. And I'm getting worried if we got like

a good history because he's got a razor on my beard later. So and he says, yeah, I'm

so and so. I was at Ormiston Forge Academy. You taught me. And more importantly, you taught

in the class next door the day that we were giving your mate, Mrs. I won't say her name,

real hassle next door. We were being horrible. Don't you remember? I was like, I don't know

what you're talking about. He says, yeah, you came in with Thor's hammer and empty this

very cup empty. And we were giving Miss such a hard time. You didn't say anything. You

just came in and you just went. You said, don't you remember how we all just went silent?

Everyone was like, did you not know that your nickname was Thor? I was like, no. And it

turns out that my nickname for my students behind my back was Thor because of Thor's

hammer that day in the RE department in Oldhill. Amazing. And I'll be honest with you, I wish

I'd known at the time because I would have milked it while I was teaching there. I would

have absolutely milked it. And yeah, so there you go, Thor. I don't know if you think that's

a befitting name for a pastor and a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I quite liked

it. I mean, maybe it had nothing to do with Chris Hemsworth. Let's be honest. There's

no muscles going on here. Please Lord, please Lord help me. Help my wife. So Thor, there

you go. We all have names, correct? You all do. You all have a name. I'm wondering what

your nickname might have been as you're growing up and whether it's a nickname that you were

proud of. Anyone proud of the nickname they had? Anyone like that? Danny Ilkyu has always

been known as Silky Ilky for as long as I've known him. Got a few people proud of the nicknames

they had. And then there's other nicknames that we just like. We can't mention them in

church guys. We cannot. They're just too naughty and near the knuckle. The point about names

is this, that names represent us, don't they? And they go before us. So like, I don't know

if I want to know actually what my name represents in your heart and mind. I don't know what

you think of when you hear of the name Pete Wright. I don't know, but a name, anyone's

name, anyone's nickname, it conjures up ideas about that person, where they have been, what

they have done and what we can expect of them because of our previous history. Does that

make sense this afternoon? Okay. Names matter. They identify us out from the crowd, don't

they? See, here's the thing with God. This week we're starting a brand new preaching

series. It's going to go for a good few weeks. And as a preach team, we're really excited

about it. Keep a lookout for some newbies on the preach team this time around. And we're

excited because this, this preach team is called God Has A Name. God Has A Name. But

it's a little bit of a cheeky title because God in fact has many names. Did you know that

this afternoon? I was chatting with some people that were up in church and they did not realize

that there were many different names for, for God. That doesn't mean we serve many gods

of course, but we serve one holy God. We believe who is God the Father, God the Son and God

the Holy Spirit. But as we go through the scriptures, what we find is that different

people gave God different names to describe, exemplify their experience of God or God himself

gave himself a new name by which we could know him. Is that interesting or what? So

you might have been a Christian for a while or this might be your first time in church

or a church like this. We believe that there is one God, but one God happens to have many

names. Fascinating. Now I want to be really clear this afternoon because I'm about to

use a name for God that you may associate with a completely different set of religious

rules and regulations. Okay. I'm going to take back a name today that belongs to followers

of Jesus Christ who believe that he is the Son of God specifically. That he's divine

in nature and that he's the only way to heaven. The ancient name for God in the original language

that the Old Testament is written in is the name Jehovah. Have you ever heard that name

before? And so I want to be really like straight to the point. We're not Jehovah's Witnesses.

Okay. That's not what we are. It's a little bit like American football thinks it's football,

but it's not just because it's got a ball. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's a

ball, but it ain't the same game at all. Stop calling it football. Jehovah's Witness is

not Christianity. Okay. We're taking back the name Jehovah. It's the ancient name for

God. Is that okay? We're there. Okay. Now this name Jehovah is fascinating because if

you want to go a little bit Hebrew, you never pronounce your J's. You pronounce a J as a

Y. So it's actually Jehovah. And if you go back really far in ancient, it's not even

a spelt out word is the name Jehovah. It's actually four vowels that instead of pronouncing

a word, they pronounce the sound, which is more like breath, which is fascinating because

God is the breath of life. And His name is so holy that the ancient people of God thought

that you weren't, you couldn't even pronounce the name of God because it was life itself.

How do you pronounce life? Just breathe God in, breathe God out. But we came away with

this translation name Jehovah. Now today I'm going to talk to you of the first Jehovah

name of God. And the first Jehovah name of God is this. Can I have a drum roll please?

On your knees. There it is. And there it is. Jehovah Nissi. Jehovah Nissi. Turn to your

neighbour and say Jehovah Nissi. What's it all about mate? Jehovah Nissi. Jehovah Nissi.

Listen, the name Jehovah means this. It means the ever existing one who reveals himself.

That's what the name of God means. Jehovah means the one who is everlasting and reveals

himself. That's good isn't it? It's a good name for God. But Jehovah Nissi. We'll find

out what Nissi means in a short while. To find out we have to go to the one and only place

in the whole Bible where this phrase Jehovah Nissi is said, is used. We go all the way back

to a second book in the Bible called Exodus. You ever heard of Exodus? You might have heard

of a guy called Moses. If you've been around church for a while you definitely have. If

you're new to church you might have watched the Prince of Egypt by Disney. Anyone? Alright.

In Exodus chapter 17 we find a guy called Moses. Just a few chapters earlier God had

Exodus 17 · chapter mention

used this guy Moses so powerfully to set free more than half a million Hebrew Israelite

people out of slavery in Egypt. A few chapters earlier than Exodus 17 Moses is used by God

miraculously to rescue his people out of slavery. That's good news. It's a good story. You should

read it sometime. And then we get to chapter 17 and this is a few weeks later from the

Israelites being set free from slavery. And what we find in chapter 17 is Moses leading

at least 600,000 former slaves out of Egypt through a wilderness called the Sinai Peninsula

and towards the promised land that God had got for those people. Several weeks had passed

since the miraculous escape and Moses and 600,000 Israelites they come to a place called

Rephidim. Rephidim means this place of rest. I'm glad it's a hot day today because maybe

we can at least empathise a little with the deserty weather. Imagine walking for weeks

with 600,000 people if there's one thing you need it's a good rest. You come to Rephidim

the place of rest. It's been a monumental few weeks pushing on through the wilderness,

pushing into their freedom, pushing away from slavery, pushing their hearts, their souls,

their minds, their bodies, even their faith pushing it to the limit to take hold of the

freedom that God had for them. And as Israel makes camp there at Rephidim and tries to

settle for a little while, a tribe called the Amalekites set about them. They begin

to attack them. Now what you may not know about the Amalekites is this, that they had

held a hatred for people blessed by God for hundreds of years. They'd just been set free

from slavery in Egypt, come to a place of rest and just as you think life is getting

more secure, your security is robbed by the first people who can attack you, they do and

oh my gosh I thought we were free, I guess we're not free after all. Now here's the thing,

in a place called rest, a place in the journey that should have been peaceful came panic.

Have you ever identified with that situation? You come to a place in your life that should

be peaceful, should be restful, should be time to make hay but instead your peace is

robbed, your security is shattered. Here's the thing, Moses by this time is well into

his 80s. Is anyone in the room into their 80s this afternoon? Do you feel like it sometimes?

Yeah we've got someone here. Moses is in his 80s can you believe it? And even though Moses

has got a fighting spirit, his body is not going to allow him to fight very well for

very long against this tribe that want to cut in on the people who have been set free by God.

And so what Moses does is he gets his young prodigy, a guy called Joshua and he says Joshua

go pick some men who are young enough to go and fight for us and go and take them down

to the battlefield to meet the Amalekites in battle. And so Joshua picks a bunch of

people, a bunch of men of fighting age but you need to understand something church this

afternoon. These men were not fighters. Only a few weeks ago they were still slaves who

were in subservient manual labor to harsh slave owners. They were farmers and builders.

They were not soldiers. And so when Moses says to Joshua go pick some men and go and

fight they didn't have a clue how to fight. But when your freedom's at stake you better

learn how to fight pretty quickly, hello? And so the people of God go down into the

valley and they go and meet the Amalekites. But because Moses could not fight himself,

him and his two closest friends, a guy called Aaron and a guy called Her, they go up onto

a hillside and they can watch the battle as it unfolds. And something's really interesting.

Moses cannot lift a sword in anger but he can lift his hands in prayer. Do you hear

what I said? This man in his 80s and his two best mates Aaron and Her, they couldn't lift

a sword in anger or throw a spear in aggression but they could lift their hands in prayer

and in honor to the God who set them free. And so that's what they do. They go to the

top of a hill and Moses lifts up his hands. And this curious thing happens in this battle.

As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning. But whenever he lowered his

hands, the Amalekites were winning. It's a curious thing in this battle that when his

hands are raised, the people of God are winning the day. And when his hands go down, the enemy

starts to take over in battle. But here's the thing church, his friends Aaron and Her,

they can see that Moses in his 80s, he's starting to lose strength and so they grab a rock and

they place it behind him and they lower down their friend so that in the midst of the battle,

this old man of faith has rest in the middle of the battle. And rest is good but it ain't

going to keep his arms up. And so Aaron comes and stands on one side and lifts one arm and

Her comes and stands on the other and lifts the other. And for as long as it takes, for

as long as it takes for the battle to be won, this man of faith is going to have his arms

held high until the enemy is defeated and freedom is tasted once more. Wow. The battle

is long. I imagine he had pins and needles and all the blood ran from his fingertips

back towards his vital organs but by the end of day, by the sunset, the battle had been

won against all odds. Doesn't that just sound like our God? That when we're in a battle

in life against all odds, mysteriously, everything around us can look like we're going to be

defeated but in a moment of prayer, the peace of God, the rest of God, the friends of God

come around us until the battle is won. Wow. And here we find this once only announced

once in scripture name for God, Jehovah-Nissi. Right at the end of the battle, I think it

will come up. Moses builds an altar. In other words, he builds like a little stage if you

like and he calls it Jehovah-Nissi which means the Lord is my banner. Wow. The Lord is my

banner. Following victory, Moses builds an altar. In other words, he doesn't just run

back off to home. He doesn't forget what God's just done. He pauses for a moment and he builds

a place to remember that God is good and he saved me that day. And if ever I find myself

in trouble again, I will look back to this altar, call praise and I will remember that

my God who is for me is not against me and he will rescue me again like he did that day

because the Lord is my Jehovah-Nissi. Someone asked me the question before I started this

message, do you stop to celebrate the victories that the Lord brings? Do you stop to celebrate

the victories the Lord brings? Because when you stop to celebrate any victory that God

brings you, no matter how small or how big, what you do in your memory, what you do in

your life, what you do in the history of your friends and family is you have a reference

point to go, I know right now is tough, but do we all remember when God did this? So take

a moment every time the Lord comes through for you and give him praise. Moses called

this place of praise by the name of God Jehovah-Nissi. In other words, the ever existing one who

reveals himself as my banner. Why the Lord is my banner? It's a real weird thing to say.

We have these banners just to say, hello, welcome to Springs Church. Hopefully you know

the church that's running the service because of the banners that you see before you. On

ancient battlefields, this is what would happen. Each army would have their own banner and

their banner could be a flag with a symbol on it. Banner could be a pole with a symbol

on it. Have you ever seen the film Gladiator anyone? And the Roman soldiers marching to

battle with a pole with an eagle on top. Ancient battlefields, ancient armies carried banners

and as long as that banner was held high, you knew that your side was still in the fight.

Do you hear me this afternoon? And so what you do is you make sure that that banner stays

high because as long as that banner is high, your side is still in the fight and while

you're still in the fight, there's still hope that there could be a win here. And if there

could be a win here, your courage is stirred up and you're willing to fight even harder

because that banner is not going down because as soon as it does, my hope is lost. But as

long as that banner is held high, there's still chance and we're still in the fight.

Is that good news this afternoon? So Moses that day, he did not take into battle a physical

flag. He did not take in a pole with him. He did in another story later on in Exodus.

He didn't take any physical. He just sent the man of God into battle with some lads

who didn't know how to fight. The banner in that battle was not a physical flag. It was

the presence of God Himself. And so Jesus, no I'll come to him later, and so God announces

Himself as Jehovah-Nissi. I am your banner. You may not see me but I am with you. I'm

in the fight with you. Moses called God Jehovah-Nissi. God, you're my confidence. God, you're my

hope. God, you are my courage. God, you are the strength of my heart on this battlefield

of life. God, you're my victory. Here's the legacy of that day. When the people of God

came out of slavery, the Amalekites were the very first people to ever attack Israel and

Israel would face a lot more battles. But here's the thing. God taught His people right at

the start of their newfound freedom that whenever you find yourself in a spot, I'm with you.

Christian, person walked into church for the first time, doesn't know anything about Jesus

or God. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, God is with you forever and no one can take

that away from you. I don't know how long you've been walking planet Earth but you may

have noticed that our lives are punctuated by battles, aren't they? Punctuated by skirmishes.

I heard someone define life-wanters struggle. I thought that was pretty depressing but I

kind of understood where they're coming from because it is a fight to survive in all sorts

of ways in life. We have health battles, social battles, family battles, economic battles,

political battles. If there's one thing we need in the midst of our troubles and trials,

it's a banner of hope, strength and courage. Are you with me this afternoon? Has anyone

got a bit of breeze yet? Thank you Lord. And I don't know how long some of you have been

Christians but it's not as like you become a Christian and then suddenly the battles

disappear. The battles still present themselves but we're not fighting on our own anymore.

Have you noticed that? You see, the scriptures are really clear that when we put our faith

in Jesus and leave a kingdom called darkness and step into a kingdom called the light of

His love, the enemy of our souls prowls around. He hates the freedom we have like the Amalekites

hated the freedom the Israelites had and the enemy of our souls, the devil loves to make

a mess of things, loves to throw sin our way, loves to throw temptation our way, loves to

throw circumstances in order to bring us down. We enter into a different kind of battle when

we become people of faith. But when we follow Jesus into freedom, our souls find true rest.

Where was Moses' rest? Away from the battle or during? His rest was during the battle.

His friends bought him a rock and I want to encourage you today that Jesus Christ, the

rock foundation of our faith is the rest that you need for your soul and I need for mine.

I don't know if you're going through a battle today but can I encourage you to get around

people of faith like Erin and her who will hold your arms up when you have no strength

and will not give up with you, not give up on you until the battle is won. Big life group

this Wednesday, whole church get together. If you've never been to a life group, don't

worry, come to church Wednesday night, 7.30. We're going to talk more about the names of

God. We're going to meet people who are going to help us in our faith. Is that good? Listen,

when once our freedom is won, we have to fight for it to keep it. 1 Peter chapter 5, 7, 11,

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

it says, do this now, cast all your anxiety on God because he cares for you but also be

alert and sober in your mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion

looking for someone to devour. You resist him, stand firm in the faith because you know

that the family of believers, hello Springs Church, throughout the world is also undergoing

such sufferings and the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ,

after you've suffered for a little while, will himself restore you and make you, hello,

strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever, amen. And then the

message translation, the message paraphrase if you like, says like this, it says, hey

church, Springs Church, keep a cool head on this hot day. Stay alert, the devil is poised

to pence and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up.

You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians

all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. Springs Church, keep your hands

held high. So can I encourage you today, guard your heart by keeping Jesus front and center

of your life. Are you with me today church? On the battlefield of your heart, my banner

is Jesus. On the battlefield of my mind, hello, my banner is, on the battlefield of my eternity,

my banner, my hope, my courage, my, the banner's not down so I'm still in the fight, Jesus.

See amazingly, didn't he find rest during the battle and you can find rest in the battle

too. As a 17 year old, can I give you a personal story of experiencing Jehovah-Nissi? Is that

okay? You see, in the book of Joel chapter two, the prophet prophesied that in the last

days, your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams. And I was

17 years old when one night I'd gone to bed and I hadn't fallen asleep, but I did fall

into what I could only describe as a vision. Now I know, you might be in church for the

first time today and it's about to get weird. And I know I wasn't asleep, but I also know

I wasn't awake. I could only describe it as I was in a different place. And instantly

I found myself in a shouting, roaring battle in the middle of the battlefield. And when

I shut my eyes, I can still see everything about it. And there was, there was aggression

and there was fighting and there was a clashing of swords. And at this point in my journey

with Jesus, I'd never been filled with the Holy Spirit and spoken in tongues, spoken

in a language that God wants to gift us all with. And in the middle of this battle scene

vision that I can't really describe completely to you, I heard a voice say, Pete, speak in

tongues. And out of nowhere in this vision, I started to speak in tongues. And as I started

to speak in this heavenly language, God did something. I heard what I can only assume

was some kind of angelic voice that just roared like thunder and just shouted, praise the Lord.

It was like this deafening battle cry. And when I heard this shout of praise the Lord,

I heard screams. And the screams were of the enemy that God was defeating and they started

to run. And the people of God started to look at each other and started to run after the

enemy and hunt down the enemy. And I came out of that vision just like that. And I knew

I wasn't dreaming and I knew I wasn't awake, but I knew what I'd seen. I can remember it

vividly to this day. Maybe I'd eaten some interesting cheese that night or maybe God

met me that night. Fast forward a few years, I know he's Jehovah-Nissi. In the middle of

the battle, I was encouraged to lift the name of Jesus high in prayer. And then I heard

a praise the Lord and then I heard the sounds of the defeated enemy. There was another one

two weeks later, but that's not for now. A little later on, I'm 31 years old. No, 30

years old, 10 years ago this year. And we're about to start prayer meetings at the Memorial

Hall just up the road here because we got a sense that God wants to transform our community

by His love. And the night before we held the first prayer meeting in a string of prayer

meetings, I was driving back from my dad's house less than five minutes away and I was

so overcome with anxiety at the risk that it was to start a church. Because Lord, if

I do this, there's no going back. If this works, great. If it doesn't, I'm going to

feel so failed. And I remember being so anxious, Rachel and the kids were in the car with me.

And as I parked up outside my house, I was shaking so much that instead of pressing the

accelerator on my automatic car, the brake on my automatic car, I pressed the accelerator

and shoved so hard into my neighbor's car. The night before we started prayer meetings,

which were the precursor for this church, I was so anxious, I was shaking so much, I

couldn't drive my car effectively. We get out of the car and we'd really thumped our

neighbor's Jaguar, right? Get out of the car and I've got my torch on like on my phone

and there's not a mark on his car. And there's hardly a mark on mine. We should have both

been crunched, those cars. And I'm so scared. I got in the house and I phoned Pastor John

and I phoned another wonderful guy called Phil Harris. And they encouraged me and the

Lord that night. There was an Aaron and there was a her. Do you see what I'm saying? And

I can remember saying, John, are we doing the right thing? Because if we do this, there's

no going back. And they're like, yeah, of course this is the right thing. And they had

more confidence than I did. We held the prayer meeting and then we held one every week for

three months and then we started a church, Jehovah-Nissi. Sometimes we need to get shaken

to be aware of the fight to march forward into freedom. Amen. I want to tell you about

Jesus because our path to God, Jehovah-Nissi, is Jesus Christ. And I want to tell you tonight

that Jesus is our banner. He is our hope. He is our safety. He is our courage. He is

our Redeemer. You with me tonight? You see, just like banners were raised high, Jesus

was raised high on two occasions. And He can be raised high in an eternal third occasion.

The first occasion He was raised up, He was raised up on a cross made of wood. You may

have heard about this. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the perfect Lamb of God, was raised

up on a cross, nailed to it, and on Him all of the sin that you would ever commit and

all the sin that I would ever commit was laid upon Him and He died a death, a sacrifice,

which was a payment for my sin and your sin. He was raised up. My banner, Jesus, He died

for me. He died for you. Jesus, He says this, just as Moses lifted up a snake in the wilderness,

so the Son of Man must also be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal

life in Him. And then He says, come on now, for God so loved the world that He gave His

only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. It was

going to take Jesus being raised upon the cross to pay for my sin and your sin to win

our victory from the slavery of sin. And then He was, and then Jesus prophesied a little

later. He said, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself. He

was raised upon a cross and He died the death that we should have died. But three days later,

He rose up and was lifted high out of the earth. Are you seeing this tonight? And He

was raised to life for all time so that for any of us who ask forgiveness for our sin

because of what He did on the cross also accesses the life of Christ because He was raised high

from the grave. And He will never die again. And when you put your faith in Jesus, you

too, your body, you will one day be raised to life but your soul will only ever know

what it is to live forever. So what comfort can we take tonight from Jehovah, Nishe, Abba

na? Moses' prodigy, Joshua, had his own story and he says, God says this to him, Joshua,

have I not commanded you be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid. Don't be discouraged for

the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. And let me let you into a secret.

When you ask Jesus into your life and He becomes your Lord and Saviour, any promise from God

to His people becomes a promise to you also. That's the truth of the Christian faith. Now

here's this, if you're facing a battle tonight, I don't know if you are, most of you probably

are in some way, don't be discouraged. The Lord your God will be with you wherever you

go. So what courage? The scripture tells us this, it says that if God is for us, who can

be against us? Nah, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Christ who

loved us more than conquerors. You ain't even got to fight. You're not the conqueror. Jesus

is and because you're His mate, you get to live in the freedom that He's won. Amazing.

What else? You dear children are from God and you've overcome them. That's the enemies

of God because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. Let's just

let those scriptures sink in for a sec. Have I not commanded you, Springs Church, be strong

and courageous. Don't be afraid. Don't be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with

you wherever you go. If God is for us then who can be against us? In all these things

we're more than conquerors through Him who loved us and you dear children are from God

and you've overcome the devil because the one who is greater, the one who is in you,

who's that God Himself, Jesus by the presence of His Holy Spirit, God in you is greater

than any enemy in the world. Amen. Amen. Amen. Our victory is already won. Sin is defeated.

It don't hold us back from God anymore. When we hold Jesus high in our lives, we're still

in the fight. Hello. When we hold Jesus high in our lives and He is our banner, we still

have courage, we still have hope, we still have His grace. So what does God wants to

know tonight? Band, why don't you come up and we'll worship God with joy and confidence.

God is your banner church. Lift up your head. Maybe right now you might need to close your

eyes and take a deep breath. Maybe right now you just need to remember that God is with

you and that you can be filled with hope, courage and be renewed with confidence that

you're not alone. Can I ask you a question, church tonight? Can I ask you a question?

Have you asked Jesus to stand with you? Did you know that Jesus was already standing on

the battlefield called your life? He's calling to you and He says, hey, follow me. Follow

me. You don't have to do this alone. You don't have to hold your head down in shame. You

don't have to be discouraged. I'm here. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever asked

the God of heaven to save you in this life and for your eternal life? You may not know

this today, church, but you can be made right with God today. Did you know that? You can

be made right with God when you make His son Jesus your banner, your confidence, your hope.

Just before we started the service, Gary Basley over there, he reminded me of a scripture

that says, God, your banner over me is love. There's forgiveness for us tonight. There's

grace for us tonight because God is our banner. No enemy can take the banner of our God down.

And while His banner is high in our life, we're still in the fight. Amen? Amen. We're

going to sing and respond in song in a sec. But in the silence of your heart, in the middle

of the battle you're in, can I ask you to just close your eyes? And in your heart of

hearts, just call on the name of Jesus. Turn your attention towards His presence. Enjoy

the strength that comes knowing that He is with you. Rest in the battle. Friends in the

battle. Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord is my banner.

Thank you, Lord. You are not alone. Be strong and courageous.

I, the Lord, go ahead of you. I, the Lord, fight with you, fight for you, fight beside

you. You are so loved. So loved. So loved.

Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life.

Break every stronghold and shine through your fear.

I'm just going to ask Stella if you could just put that prayer on the screen for us.

A prayer of hope, a prayer of courage, a prayer of thanks.

If you've been a Christian for a while, this prayer will serve to anchor and reconfirm

just how good it is to know God. If you're in church tonight and you just feel like,

you know, I need to get my life right with God, I need to have God right at the centre,

I need a captain of this ship called my life. This prayer will also be a step towards, a

step towards Jesus. And I want to encourage you tonight that if

you seek Him in humility and ask that He would forgive you, He will so fast.

And He will come to be with you and remain with you.

Father God, I've heard today that you are Jehovah-Nissi, my banner.

Only you can give me hope that cannot fail. Only you can provide my life with sure victory.

Every battle of every type, in every season, I can look to you. I remember today that before

I ever knew you, you knew me. Long ago, you had already provided for my

victory and freedom. Jesus, thank you that as I put my faith in

you, the enemy's grip on me is no more. Jesus, I put my faith in you, my banner.

I submit to your love and truth. I ask you to be with me and by your Spirit

be within me. Thank you for new confidence, strength and

hope in the light of your presence. Holy Spirit of God, I want to live in step

with you, being transformed for your glory, walking in the grace of God.

May your power work in me and through me. Amen.

If God is your Jehovah-Nissi tonight, why don't we stand and if you're willing to do so like

Moses did that day, why don't you lift your hands in honor of His presence in your life

and Him at your forefront. And let's sing songs that proclaim who He is

and let it rest so heavily on our hearts that we go out of this place changed by His love

and His provision and His confidence and His strength.

Thanks again for listening. To hear more of our messages, make sure to subscribe to our

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If you feel like you got something out of today's message, why not share it with your

friends and spread the good news of Jesus. We are praying for you. We love you. So please,

if you need anything at all, check out springschurch.co.uk. God bless.