Standing Ground: On Your Feet

For the last several weeks, we have been in a series called Standing Ground.

Standing ground.

We're talking about something that the Bible describes, and honestly, the words that we've kind of come to use in our culture have been spiritual warfare.

Spiritual warfare.

We see this in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 12.

Ephesians 6:10–12

A final word.

This is very common language in Scripture.

That there is a spiritual world.

That spiritual world is real.

It is powerful.

It is influential in the world in which we live.

That spiritual world is filled with God.

God in all of God's forces, right?

The Bible often describes God as the God of heaven's armies, the God of angel armies.

Like so there's that.

But then there's also Satan.

And there's there's evil spirits, there's demons, that kind of stuff.

It's very common language in scripture, but we have to ask ourselves a question, as Jesus followers.

I know not all of us have decided to follow Jesus in the room, but most of us have.

We have to ask ourselves: do we actually believe this is true?

Do we believe this is true and to what extent?

Is this just superstition with a little bit of truth, or is this actually true?

What Paul is saying is that we need to be on guard, be ready to fight against, stand our ground against evil, dark, spiritual forces that seek to take back some of the ground that God has won for us.

Do we believe that?

We've been using some illustrations to illustrate this.

So a lot of us may maybe see the world like this.

We see that there's physical and there's spiritual, and every once in a while they overlap.

Every once in a while there's an overlap moment.

And maybe in that overlap moment there's a God thing, there's a miracle, God moves, it's amazing.

Or maybe in that overlap moment it's something dark, something twisted, something demonic, we might say.

And I've found that even people who don't believe in the spiritual will see something so evil in the world that they might even say, ugh, that's like demonic.

Yeah.

But what if the overlap is more than this?

What if it's like this?

What if there's an extreme amount of overlap?

If that's the case, then shouldn't we be ready?

Irene used a word during Lord's Supper, it was expectation.

Shouldn't we have an expectation, if that's true, that we are absolutely going to experience a supernatural good things, blessings from God, miracles from God that don't make any sense, except that it's from God.

I have found, by the way, it's amazing how many Jesus followers, how many Christians today believe in a supernatural God, but then don't believe in supernatural things.

It's weird.

Like if I believe in a God who is supernatural, shouldn't I expect to see some supernatural stuff in my life?

To see God move in ways that don't make any sense.

If this is true, we should expect, we should expect the supernatural, the good and the bad.

If this is true, we should expect spiritual resistance.

Now look, I know that to a lot of people this is like nonsense.

This is silly stuff.

I'm just saying this.

For me, I'm a Jesus follower.

So I don't pick and choose what I believe about the world based on what I like and what I don't like, based on what I wish to be true or what I don't want to be true.

Great example.

I don't like the idea of hell.

I hate that idea.

Does anyone here like the idea of hell?

Good.

Because if you like the idea of hell, I'd be like, why?

That's a you're messed up.

I don't like the idea of hell.

I would love to believe that hell is not real.

I would love to believe that regardless of how anyone lives their life, regardless of whether or not they know Jesus, that everybody's gonna be good.

But if I hand you a Bible and you read it, if I handed you the teachings of Jesus and you read it, you would never, ever walk away with the conclusion.

You wouldn't shut the book and be like, everyone's good.

No matter what, it all works out for everybody.

That's just not in there.

I don't like the idea of hell.

I don't want to believe in hell.

But who cares what I believe?

What does Jesus believe?

Jesus talked about that, taught about that.

A third of his parables and teachings were warnings.

What's he warning people against if there's nothing there?

I'm saying the same is true when it comes to this spiritual warfare stuff.

I don't always like the idea of that.

I'm one of those people that, like, if you if you want to say, hey, I think there's something spiritual happening that's causing all of this stuff that we're dealing with, part of me is like, I don't know if we want to go there, you know?

And I'm a pastor.

I'm just being honest.

See, at the end of the day, I'm a Jesus follower, and Jesus taught on this.

Scripture is clear.

We are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies.

At its core, our battle, the battle we're in, is spiritual.

And if we believe that, if we take Jesus at his word, if we take the teachings of scripture at their word, and we believe that, then we should be prepared.

And the good news is we are.

That's the beautiful thing.

We don't have to be afraid of this.

This isn't like, ooh, we, you know, no, like, guys, you're victorious.

You're a bunch of you're a bunch of warriors.

That's what you are if you're a Jesus follower.

And you've been equipped, you've been given spiritual equipment.

Ephesians 6, 13 through 17 says, Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you'll be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.

Then after the battle, you'll still be standing firm.

Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness.

For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the good news, so that you will be fully prepared.

In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil, put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

You've got equipment.

And so if you believe that there is a spiritual reality, and you believe that it's real, and you believe that, yes, we have an enemy, and yes, he's against us, and you believe that you have even a sliver of a chance to encounter that enemy, which scripture, by the way, says your chances are much higher than sliver.

But if you believe you even have a sliver of a chance to encounter that, then shouldn't you be equipped?

You've been given equipment, but the choice is will we put it on?

Will we wear it?

Will we walk in the victory that God has won for us?

Will we stand our ground?

And we've been going through each of these pieces of armor one week at a time.

We did the belt of truth.

Last week was the body armor or the breastplate of righteousness.

Today we're gonna talk about shoes.

And uh I want to ask a quick question.

I want you to be honest.

I need people to be honest.

You guys ready to be honest?

It's good to get things off your chest sometimes, right?

Who here has a shoe problem?

I would like to see you raise your hand if you have a shoe problem.

You know what I'm talking about.

I don't even have to define it.

You have a shoe problem.

Who here is is with someone that has a shoe problem that did not raise their hand?

That's what I thought.

Like if you have a shoe problem, that means if someone saw your closet and saw all your shoes, you would have to explain things.

Right?

You'd have to say, now hold on a second, just so you know, right?

I I have a shoe problem.

I'll admit it.

I am a man who owns more pairs of shoes than my wife.

That's not normal.

Any other guys with me in that?

Any other men in the room?

Like I, yeah.

I have I have a problem.

I really, really like sneakers.

I like sneakers a lot.

I just do.

Like when I was a kid, I was really into sneakers, and then I became an adult and I stopped being into sneakers, and then I had a kid who really liked sneakers, and then it just like sent it into overdrive for me.

It's like, you get some shoes, and I'll get let's go get shoes together.

And so we're actually in the process of moving right now, and we're packing up all this stuff, and and uh, and my box, it's in storage right now.

My box of shoes is a bigger box than I thought I would need, which was interesting.

And written on the box says, Justin, I know I have a problem.

Please don't judge me.

That's what's written on the top of this box.

It is one box, by the way.

It is one box, not multiple.

It's just a big box.

And so there's a person who's gonna help me move, it's like, I have this box, it says you have a problem, don't judge you.

I'm like, that's master bedroom.

It's my shoes, you know?

Now, I'll say this: I don't own hundreds of pairs of shoes.

I feel a need to defend myself.

I feel judged.

Um, I don't own hundreds, it's like dozens.

And I haven't spent thousands of dollars on like a pair of shoes.

The most I've ever spent on a single pair of shoes was$350, and don't judge me.

I said don't judge me.

Hold on.

You know what?

Hold on.

You wanna go there?

We're gonna go there.

I'm gonna talk for one minute to all the women who just went, oh, okay?

Because I know, like guys, you that went, oh, I get it.

You just don't spend money on anything, you're fine.

Um, I'm sure none of you have like motorcycles or go golfing or anything like that.

I never do that, but I'm sure you're good.

You don't spend any money on that.

Um, you know?

So all the ladies who just said, oh my gosh, you know how much money I've spent on purses in my life?

Zero dollars.

You know how many scarves I own?

None.

You know how many hats I own?

Zero.

None.

Zilch, bracelets, never spent a dime on a bracelet in my life, no jewelry whatsoever.

So you calculate all that you've spent on all your stuff, I'm doing fine.

Okay?

It was one pair.

They were special edition Kobe Bryant's, and I had to have them because they were limited editions, and I'm sorry, but I could sell them for just as much as I bought them for at any minute.

I swear, I could sell them online, it'd be fine.

No, I I know I have a problem.

I have a shoe problem.

But I I will say this, I will say this.

In my way of looking at things, which is admittedly self-referential and trying to like justify my own actions, I get that.

I'm I'm I I hear myself.

That's what I'm saying.

Um, if you're gonna spend money on any part of your body, spend it on your feet.

Like, seriously, your feet, if you're a fully grown adult, they're static.

You buy a good pair of shoes, you got that pair of shoes for 20 years.

You're good.

You buy a pair of pants, who knows, right?

Like, who knows?

Seriously, you buy a shirt that's expensive?

Like, I I pretty much wear his hand shirts.

That's about all I wear.

Because I'm what's called a marge, which means you should be a medium, but you have to wear a large.

You know, any other marges in the room?

Yeah.

I'm a marge.

But my feet, I gain weight, my feet are the same size.

I lose weight, same.

So if you're gonna spend any money on clothing, make it your shoes.

And and and here's the other thing: your feet are like essential.

They're the foundation of your body.

It's your foundation, right?

You gotta take care of your foundation.

They're essential.

Feet are essential.

So shoes are essential.

That's what I'm trying to say.

And and and to tie this together, I promise this has a point.

In the Roman armor that Paul is referencing when he wrote this chapter in Ephesians, the shoes for a soldier, they were absolutely essential.

I mean, you're going over rough terrain, you're fighting battles where it's going to be raining, you need to have grip, you need to have the ability to plant your feet and know that they're not going anywhere.

If you'd have been a Roman soldier and you put on every other piece of armor but you didn't put your shoes on, that wouldn't make any sense in the world.

The shoes were absolutely essential.

And Paul describes the shoes in an interesting way.

Verse 15, he says, For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the good news so that you'll be fully prepared.

Now, most of the other bits of armor, it's like one word: shield of faith, you know, righteousness, truth, that kind of stuff.

But the shoes, it's the peace that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared.

Other translations, NIV says, with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

The New American Standard Version, which is the closest to the original language, it just doesn't always read in our vernacular.

Having shod, when's the last time your feet got shod?

Anybody have some freshly shod feet?

No?

Okay.

Um, with your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

And so all the other bits of armor, you read it, you're like, yeah, I get that.

You get to this one and it's like, what, what is this?

I don't quite see it.

It's a little hazy.

And there's really there's really two ideas, two key ideas.

It's number one, readiness or preparedness, readiness, and number two, it's peace.

And so we're really praying through how to how to address this, how to teach this.

What we decided is to take two weeks.

Because you've got two feet.

You know?

You you buy shoes in pairs, so we're gonna take a pair of Sundays and devote it to the shoes.

So this week, this week, think about it like your left foot.

It's the the left shoe of readiness.

And next week we'll talk about the right shoe of peace.

And the peace one, by the way, I'm so excited about next Sunday because anxiety, worry, fear, stress, all of that is a result of lack of peace.

And if that's something that you deal with, and by the way, statistically, like like most people do, and sometimes in a really intense way, your peace comes from having both feet planted with your hope on Jesus.

If you've got one foot on Jesus and one foot in the world, you will not have peace.

You gotta have both feet planted with Jesus.

And we're gonna talk about peace next week, and I'm really excited about that.

But today we're gonna talk about readiness.

Readiness, because here's the truth: you're not ready for the day until your shoes are on.

Am I right?

I've got kids, young ones, and one of the biggest battles I fight that I actually believe is demonic, it's so intense, is getting my kids out the door every morning.

Like, like just getting out when you have young kids, you know what I'm talking about.

Like, if you don't have young kids, you don't know how good you have it in some ways.

Like you think to yourself, I'm ready to leave, and then 15 seconds later, you're leaving.

That is not that is not my life.

You think you're ready to leave, 30 minutes later, you're finally leaving.

You're always late, and it's never your fault.

That's what it means to be a parent, okay?

I mean, sometimes.

But like, but like we have this battle in our house where I'll ask my kids, are you ready?

I've got two kids old enough to dress themselves.

Are you ready?

And they'll say, Yes, we're ready, and then I'll look at them and they're not wearing their shoes.

I'm like, how are you not ready until your shoes are on?

Where are your shoes?

On Wednesday, my oldest son Liam told me he was ready to go to school.

And I looked at him and he had one pair of shoes, or what pair?

One shoe on his foot.

One shoe.

And I'm like, son, where's your other shoe?

And he went, Oh.

He's like, it's up in my room.

I'm like, wait, are you are you telling me that that you got you put one shoe in your room on, walked downstairs in one shoe, got everything else together, got your book bag, and you were standing at the door ready to go to the car, wearing one shoe.

And he just went, Yeah.

Like, go, go.

You're not ready to go until your shoes are on your feet.

I'm glad that Paul connects shoes to readiness.

Because the reality is when you put your shoes on in the morning, that's like this subconscious moment where you go, now I'm ready.

Now I'm ready.

You put your shoes on your feet because you expect to go somewhere.

You have an expectation of going somewhere, and you're gonna need these to go.

We have to ask ourselves as Jesus followers what our expectations are.

Do you expect God to take you somewhere?

Do you expect God to use you?

Do you have an expectation that God has something for you to do today, something so important that you need to be ready.

You need to be ready if you're gonna experience it.

Do you have that expectation?

Are you ready?

Our enemy, he fights us with all kinds of tactics and strategies.

Scripture's clear on that.

The strategies of the devil.

And he's got all these arrows we might think of them as.

It describes them like that in Ephesians 6 that he throws at us.

And we've talked about some of those arrows.

We've talked about lies, right?

We've talked about pride last week.

And one of the things I think Satan hits us with is doubt and hesitation.

You ever have a moment in your life that you regret because you hesitated when you should have acted?

When I was 16, I pulled out in front of an El Camino.

Bad idea, by the way.

Those things are made out of solid iron.

If you're driving any car made past 1980 and there's an El Camino coming toward you, move.

Just move.

You will not win that fight.

Okay?

But I pulled out in front and I had I had time.

I had time to either reverse or gun it.

I had a moment, but I froze.

I hesitated, the car was totaled.

I called my mom, she said, Are you okay?

I said, Yes.

I called my dad, he said, Was it your fault?

Um said yes.

I hesitated.

I hesitated.

The world is shaped by people who take action when action is required.

Fulfillment comes from taking the appropriate action at the moment that it needs to be taken.

And Satan wants to hit us with doubt and hesitation.

He wants to get you to pause.

I look at scripture and I see all the people whose lives were changed forever, who lived these lives of destiny, lives that we read about and go, wow, I wish I could be like them.

And really, all they did was they took action.

They were ready.

They were ready to move when it was time to move.

I look at Peter.

We talked about him a few weeks ago.

His original name was Simon, he's one of the disciples, and Jesus is hanging out with all of his disciples at this place called Caesarea Philippi.

He asks a question.

He says, What do people say about me?

He wants to know what the word on the street is.

He wants to know what the reputation that he has among the people is.

And the disciples are like, Oh, well, people say you're a prophet, you're a great teacher.

And then Jesus turns and he puts them on the spot, like he often does, and he says, Who do you say I am?

All of us have to answer that question.

Who do you say I am?

And Simon says, I say you're the Messiah.

That's a big leap.

That's a big leap.

That's like the leap of saying someone's a teacher, a rabbi, that's what they said.

Someone's a prophet, which means someone hears from God.

That's all a prophet is, is someone who hears from God and speaks on behalf of God.

You're God.

That's a big leap.

And Simon, he takes it.

And Jesus says, You are right.

And from now on, I'm going to give you a new name.

And it's Peter, which means rock.

And he says, Upon this rock I will build my church.

And Peter becomes like the leader of the disciples at that moment in time.

Because he he acted, he was ready to respond.

And I always think about that story and I wonder which of the other disciples almost said that.

Because you know at least one of them was like half raising their hand.

Remember back when you were in school and your teacher would ask a question and you knew the answer, but you like hesitated?

You're like, I uh uh and they don't you don't get called on when you this doesn't get your teacher to call on you, right?

You gotta be like, some of you are this kid, like, you know, some of you raised your hand, you didn't even know the answer.

You just raised it, and that was you.

But like, you know what I'm talking about.

If you hesitate, you don't get called on, you don't get credit.

There had to have been at least one of the other disciples who knew that.

It was like, I knew he was on, I just saw the man walk on water and heal people.

I saw that happen.

I saw him tell a storm to stop, and it stopped.

I know, I knew it.

There had to be at least one disciple that was like, I think he might be the oh, too late.

You know?

You hesitate, you lose sometimes.

I think about David, this amazing man in the scriptures, this man after God's own heart.

If you're ever, if you're ever reading a part of the Bible and you feel like you've sung what you're reading, like I feel like I know these words.

It's probably because you're reading Psalms, and David wrote all these songs, that's what a psalm is, and we still sing those today.

In fact, most of our worship songs are just taken directly from the Psalms.

He might be the most, the most sung songwriter in all of human history.

I'm pretty sure that's true.

He was a mighty warrior, he was a king, and he rose to prominence because he killed this giant dude named Goliath.

You're probably familiar with the story, but I love this story.

David had some brothers that were stationed in the military, and at the time they were they were facing off with the Philistines, their rivals.

And the Philistines were on one side of a valley and the Israelites on the other.

King Saul was the king of the Israelites, and every day, every day, for days on end, this Philistine warrior named Goliath would come out and he would mock the army of Israel, and he would mock God.

And he said horrific things about God and about them, and he said, Anyone have the courage, the guts, to come face me?

And he was huge, and no one would.

No one would.

Not Saul, not his generals, no one had the guts to fight Goliath.

And so for days the standoff is happening, and the men of Israel just look like cowards and fools.

And the Philistines are laughing.

Well, David shows up to deliver some supplies to his brothers, and he sees what's going on, and he's he's like incensed.

What?

Someone needs to take care of this guy.

Why hasn't anyone killed him?

And I know that that's really intense language, but it was a war, and it was 3,000 years ago, and if you were there, you know, you would have either fought or had your head chopped off.

So it's just that's the way that the world worked 3,000 years ago.

No one was like, hey, let's sit down and talk this out, you know.

They didn't, that wasn't a thing yet.

So they're there, Goliath's there, David hears what's going on.

He's like, What's what is going on?

Someone needs to do something.

He goes to Saul, he's like, I'll do it.

I'll do it.

Everyone laughs at him.

You're just a kid.

He's a mighty warrior, you're gonna die.

And David's like, No, I'm not.

I'm not afraid of him.

And Saul says, Okay, fine, go.

And I love this story.

Because David walks out and and and Goliath's offended.

He's like, Seriously?

This is who you send?

This is this is insulting.

And he basically looks at David and says, I'm gonna kill you.

And David says, No, no, no.

Here's what's gonna happen, Goliath.

I wanna I wanna let you know the near future.

You see these birds that are flying in the sky?

They're gonna feast on your dead flesh.

And they're gonna feast on the flesh of all those men behind you.

Because I'm gonna kill you.

Because the God of heaven's army.

Is with me, and then David took a stone and he threw it with a sling.

He hit Goliath right between the eyes.

Goliath fell down.

David went up to Goliath, picked up Goliath's own sword, chopped his head off, held up his severed head, and the army of Israel shouted and yelled, and all the Philistines were killed and massacred.

I know that's really intense.

In this scenario, I'm holding a gigantic head.

Okay?

It's right here.

You gotta admit, it's that's stinking cool.

Like, come on.

And here's what's really crazy: after the battle, the Philistines are just decimated.

1 Samuel 18, 6 through 7 says, When the victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed the Philistine, women from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul.

And they sang and danced for joy with tambourines and cymbals.

Their song was, Saul has killed his thousands and David his ten thousands.

And from that moment on, Saul is filled, filled with jealousy and rage toward David.

And it ends up being his undoing as king.

But here's the thing Saul could have he could have done that.

Saul had day after day after day to step up and do what the king should have done, and fought on behalf of his people and had faith in the God who had promised to bless him.

David, David had faith.

He fought with faith because he knew God was with him.

And Saul had every opportunity to do that.

And if he had done that, the people would have shouted for joy, and Saul would have been their hero, and who knows what would have happened.

His kingdom may have been solidified, everything would have been good, but no, no, no.

He hesitated because he doubted God.

And David was ready.

He was ready, he acted, and his whole life changed.

Please understand.

I'm not asking you to cut any heads off.

None.

Zero.

But what I'm saying is that real change, real results.

It happens when people take appropriate action.

You want to see things change in your life, you want to see things change in this world?

Great.

Are you ready to act?

Are you ready to do what God has called you to do?

In your life today, do you believe that God has something for you to do?

Do you believe that there's a person that God wants you to talk to, wants you to share his truth and his love with?

Is there someone in your life that you know?

You know that they don't know Jesus and they need to.

They don't understand the love that God has for him.

They don't understand the power of God and how it could be theirs.

It could be active in their life.

Like Irene spoke during Lord's Supper, do you understand that God wants to free you?

He wants to free you from whatever has you wrapped up and bound, whether that's an addiction or just some way of thinking that's keeping you from experiencing all that God has for you.

God wants you to know that you're free from that.

He has freed you from that.

That said, are you ready to act in that freedom?

Are you ready to do what needs done?

Are you ready?

Are you wearing your shoes?

That's a question that you have to answer.

I can't answer that for you.

God is not going to do it for you, He's going to do it through you.

But you gotta have your shoes on.

You've got to be ready.

I mean, shoes are loud.

What's up, Scott?

That's Scott Lingerfeld with the squeaky shoes.

It feels like we planted that to be like a great segue, but it wasn't.

That's just a total, total awesome thing.

That's a God thing.

Love you, Scott.

Um share one thing.

Worship team, you guys can make your way out.

1 Peter 3.15.

If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.

Really practically, are you ready to tell people who Jesus is and why you follow him?

That's by the way, that's like that's why the church has continued and grown for 2,000 years.

It's not because there have been a small number of gifted communicating pastors who are just really good at getting people to come to their church.

It's not that at all.

It's because all of us are ready to tell people who Jesus is and what he's done in our lives.

I have not always lived up to that readiness.

I remember years ago when I was a youth pastor, there was this girl in our youth group, and she was very difficult.

Very difficult.

Like pushed every boundary you could push, just really did not like me and was very okay talking about that around and to me.

She didn't like anyone who had authority.

She was just tough.

And when you're a youth pastor, sometimes kids graduate and you're like, no, can you please fail a test and have like one more year?

And sometimes kids graduate and you're like, Good luck.

I'm joking, sort of.

She was just really tough.

But I knew her family and I knew that they were going through some things, and it was really hard.

And I understood that at her age, the reason she was acting out the way that she was, it made sense.

That there was just a lot of crazy stuff happening at home.

And one night we had a uh we had a worship night.

And during worship, I look over and there she is, and she was with these other two kids, and they were always like, they're we always knew where they were because they were always trying to escape, like just escape.

So we're like, watch him.

And uh and I felt very strongly that God was talking to me, and he told me to tell her that he wanted her to know that she's wanted by him.

And I'm like, I don't want to say that.

That was weird.

Don't want to do it.

She's not gonna receive that.

She hates me.

If I get within five feet of her, she will look at me, and it's like, I know that look.

Every girl in high school looked at me that way.

I get it.

It's like, go away.

Like, I'm very familiar with that look.

But God, I very much understood, like in the moment, God wanted me to tell her that he wants her, that she feels unwanted, that she feels discarded, that she feels like she's not noticed, she's not cared about, her family is so busy dealing with all the things that they're dealing with that she is off to the side and they couldn't care less.

She needs to know that I desire to know her.

I felt the Lord tell me that so strongly, and I didn't tell her.

I just didn't.

I made excuses, and she left that night, and then she just stopped going to our youth group.

She stopped coming.

And for years, like I would think about that.

And I was just so mad at myself for not saying that.

And I found out how her life was going and it wasn't going well.

There was rehab, there was a pregnancy at a really young age.

And I just remember for years like so much frustration with myself.

Knowing that I'm forgiven, God's good.

Because I didn't tell her what God told me to tell her.

I wasn't ready.

And then about six, seven months ago, after a service, I was talking with someone down in this area, and I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn around and it's her.

And I was like, oh my goodness! Like I was very intense.

And she's like, ah.

And I just, I was like, hey, hey, before you say anything, I need you to understand something.

Seven years ago, God told me to tell you that he wants you, that you are deeply desired by him, that he wants you to know that no matter what you felt from your family, that you are wanted.

And she broke down in tears.

And I was so grateful to the Lord for redeeming that moment.

But that doesn't change the fact that I was supposed to say that seven years, like seven years before.

And I don't know what could have happened in her life had I just done what God told me to do.

There's great power in just doing what God tells you to do.

Don't need to add to it or take away from it, just do it.

But that day I wasn't ready.

But I'm ready today.

And I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone else.

Be ready.

I'm telling you, be ready.

God wants to use you.

He loves you, he has something for you.

Our God is a God of adventure.

Our God does things.

In fact, I'm gonna shut up because we have four people about to get baptized, so I need to.

And and he's the one doing that, he's the one bringing people to him.

But do you understand that God has you here for a reason?

If you didn't have a reason to be here, you wouldn't be here.

But are you ready?

Are you ready to act?

Are you ready to surrender your life to him?

If you haven't done that, that's where it starts.

Are you ready to give your life to him?

Are you ready to step out in faith?

Are you ready to talk to that person?

You know you're supposed to talk to you.

Are you ready to do that generosity that you know you're supposed to do?

Are you ready to serve in the way that he's called you to serve, but you've been making excuses for years about how you know it's not a good time for me because right now my family, and it's just when it's when it's more convenient, yeah, no?

God does not ask people to do big things at convenient times.

He is very inconsiderate.

Are you ready?

That is a question that only you can answer.

That is between you and God.

And my challenge to you this week is every time you put your shoes on, every time you lace them up, every time you tie them, every time you walk out the door, have a little conversation with God and answer that question.

Between you and Him.

Am I ready?

Am I ready?

Pray with me.

Jesus, thank you so much for today.

Thank you so much for this church.

This is a family.

And Lord, I do believe right now that as a group that we want to we want to let you know that our shoes are on, that we are ready for whatever you have for us.

We don't want to miss it, God.

We don't want to hesitate, we don't want to pull back when we're supposed to go forward.

We want to take every step that you lay out for us with boldness, with faith.

Lord, right now, these four people are essentially doing exactly what we've been talking about.

They're letting all of us know that they're ready, that they've given their life to you, that they're gonna serve you, they're gonna follow you, that they've surrendered everything to you, that they're gonna live obedient to you, Jesus.

And we're gonna come alongside them as a church and help them.

But Lord help us, help us follow their example.

Help us surrender and say to you that we're ready for whatever you tell us to do.

We love you, it's in your name we pray.

Amen.