Letters: 1 Thessalonians 5

Fear is loud, persuasive, and weirdly familiar, especially when we’re trying to look brave. We start with three words that set the tone for everything that follows: aware, awake, anointed. Then we get honest about the kind of fear that doesn’t just make you nervous, but quietly drives your decisions, your relationships, and your view of God. If you grew up with rapture anxiety or end-times teaching that left you bracing for a “gotcha” moment, you’ll feel this shift: Jesus doesn’t scare you into following him, he draws you close.

We walk through 1 Thessalonians 5 and the warning that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. That’s not a cue to spiral, it’s a call to spiritual readiness. We connect it with Luke 17, Noah, and Lot, and we talk about how distraction, indulgence, and nonstop “peace and security” messaging can lull a culture to sleep. We also name the real-world weight of war and instability, pray for Venezuela, and remind ourselves that even in countries labeled “enemies,” we have brothers and sisters in faith.

The practical turn is simple and strong: live as children of light. Stay sober-minded, put on faith and love like armor, and hold the hope of salvation steady in your mind. We close with an invitation to embrace Jesus, a prayer you can pray right now, and clear next steps for your walk with God, including baptism and support for new believers.

If this helped you breathe again, share it with a friend who’s been living on edge. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what you’re choosing to replace fear with this week. What does “aware, awake, anointed” look like in your life today?

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Transcript

Aware Awake Anointed

Jason Brown 0:00

Today we're continuing our theme, letters. And in doing so, we want to start out with this concept of aware, awake, anointed. Say it with me. Aware, awake, anointed. Now, I can tell you, as I was somebody who, when I was young, I wanted to prove to people that I was not scared. I'm not scared. I would say it all the time. I don't know if you've ever said this statement out loud, but you're almost trying to convince yourself of something you obviously are, which is frightened in some way. And it's usually not about the thing you're trying to do, it's usually about what people will think about you. And as you're saying this over and over, you're really trying to motivate yourself, not about the thing that's in front of you. It's more about what will people say about me if I don't do this thing. Will they think that I'm afraid? Will they think that I'm scared? Will they think less of me? And in truth, what you really are is motivated by fear. And if you're motivated by fear, then you're either going to be trying to run away from this idea that you are afraid and showing people that you're not, or you're going to be someone that's running to other things because you are afraid, and it starts to shake who you are. Friends, neither of these is an option of what it means to follow Jesus. Because we're not going to be those that are motivated by fear to follow Jesus, because he doesn't call us to be afraid. So he's not going to try to scare you into following him. That won't work. Because if you're going to do that, then you'll be afraid of him as well. No, we're called to draw close to him so we can't operate in fear. Now, when I was growing up, we were also afraid of the rapture. And the reason we were afraid of the rapture is because all of the Christian movies that were ever made were all about how the one time you did something wrong, you were caught doing that thing, and everybody else got taken, and you were left here to face the consequences. Not just that, but now you also have to tell everybody around you that you got left. You're like, no, I mean, they're around here somewhere. I'm sure they are. You know. Man, as a pastor's kid, I was terrified of being left behind in the rapture. I was also simultaneously doing lots of things that would have got me left behind in the rapture and trying not to get caught doing those things. And so, man, it would be times we would watch these movies and freak each other out. And I remember some of you have heard this story, but my cousin Eric, he's he's more like a brother to us. Uh, him and his brother Phil, my brother Jeremy, we kind of hang out as a four-pack. We were running around as kids, and I remember he was staying at my house or something, and then he went home. And when we took him back to his spot, his parents, which was not normally their thing, they had they had got home, they decided to take a walk. Now, their cars were both in the driveway, they decided to walk, hold hands around the block, just enjoying the afternoon. He gets home and he's like, Okay, what's going on? Knocks on the door, didn't have his key, classic, didn't have our key, right? So he's looking, he's like, hey, what's going on? Has to go get the hidden key in the backyard, gets into the house, and he's inside, and his brother's not there, his mom and dad aren't there. I don't know what's going on with them, but he starts to panic. At first, he's like, I'm sure it's fine. And then fear. Fear starts to set in. And by this time, I'm home, you know, we're chilling, we're hanging out, whatever. And I get this call. Now, we get this call to my home line. You guys remember a landline? Anybody? Landline? Remember it's like carrier pigeons and then a phone connected to a wall? In this era. So we had a landline. Now I had to answer the phone a proper way. So my parents, whenever they called my house, anyone called my house, I'd have to be like, Brown residence, Jason speaking. If I ever picked up the phone, I was like, yo, what it is. All I would hear is Rich Brown's voice, JT. I'm like, oh God, the rapture, it's here. No, I was afraid of doing the wrong thing. I'd always answer the phone right. You know, Brown residence, Jason speaking. All I hear is Eric's panicked voice on the other line. He's like, Jay, Jay, dude, can you see your mom right now? Like, why? Dude, just can you see her? And I kind of lean, you know, we had the long, you guys remember the long, long, stretchy, you guys remember what I'm talking about. There was a cord. Anybody's under 25. There was a cord attached to a phone attached to a wall. And so we're w I'm I'm stretching to go around, and I'm like, yeah, she's right here. Oh, thank God. Okay, great, man. I thought it was the rapture, and I got left behind. I'm like, bro, what about me, man? What about me? I'm also here. He was not concerned that I picked up the phone. Which is not good for me.

From Rapture Fear To Hope

Jason Brown 4:51

There has to be a shift. There has to be a shift in our idea about the rapture from one of fear into one of excitement. And it's it's not a thing, oh man, oh Jesus coming. I'm gonna get caught. No, no, no. Lord Jesus, please come. Lord Jesus, please return to your church. Lord Jesus, please come for your bride, your church. Lord Jesus, today, before the end of this service. I don't want to do second service. Let's do today, right now. Lord Jesus, come right now. And why? Because he is the ultimate judge. He will set everything right that's not right. All of this chaos and all of this calamity and all this news, fake or not, or whatever, all those things will be put into place because the rightful judge, the holy one, is going to be here and rule and reign. And so, friends, there's a shift that starts to happen where we're no longer living in fear, we're no longer walking in fear. Now we're actually embracing and excited about Jesus' return. We're excited about what he's saying to us. And I can tell you that that didn't happen overnight. It wasn't like a good pep talk from a youth pastor that gave me that shift in my mind. No, what really happened is I started to meditate and think about and focus on the scripture. And the more that the Bible got inside of me, then I was no longer motivated by fear. I started to be motivated by love. Started to be motivated by the love of God. I start to think about what it would be like to be in God's presence, what how there'd be no more pain, there's no more suffering, there's no more striving, there's no more anything that has to do with that. Instead, it would be something amazing. Motivated by love. And I could tell you that that shift starts to happen. It's no longer fear, it's now love. And so love starts to be that motivating factor. It's why we're doing what we're doing. It's why we want to see people thrive. It's why I don't have for you to be bad, for me to do well. We can both strive. I can celebrate your wins because why I'm motivated by love, not by fear. I'm not motivated by fear. Fear says, I have to do better than you for me to have value. No, love says, I'm excited that you're thriving. I want to thrive as well. And guess what? As we walk with Christ, we will thrive. And so there's a motivating factor in this as we talk about the letters that the church has been reading, about Paul writing to these church members, these new people of faith, how he's talking about not being focused on fear, but motivated by love.

The Bible As God’s Love Letter

Jason Brown 7:23

Today we're going to continue in that series letters, and in doing so, we look to the Word of God. We've been talking about how the Word of God is so powerful. Do you have your Bible with you today? Do you have your Bible with you? The reason I want you to have your Bible with you is not that we don't like a digital Bible, love a digital Bible, but there's something about having your Bible, opening your Bible, thumbing through the pages, knowing where the books are, what order they're in. I'll give you a gold star if you can recite them. You'd be surprised how much gold stars go, friends. You could do a lot for a gold star. But really, it's about the idea that you understand that this is a love letter from God. It's him talking to us, giving us creation in his own image, talking about the relationship he has with us, talking about despite the fact that we keep pushing it back in his face and keep breaking his heart, he keeps loving us and forgiving us and giving us another chance because he's gracious. But he's also holy and he's also righteous. And so, friends, this isn't a thing that you get out of hell free card. No, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about living for a loving God and having relationship with him. It's a manual for life. That's what your Bible ends up being a manual for life. If we haven't met, my name is Jay, and it's a blessing to be with you here today at Cornerstone. We very much see ourselves as people in need of a savior. None of us is perfect, far from it. All of us are in need of a savior. So we talk about what it means to be more like Jesus. And we talk about that because we're walking with him where he's leading us to go. So we use this imagery of Christ with his disciples because that's how we see ourselves, is we see ourselves as walking after Jesus. Our ambition is to love God and make disciples and reach the world. And we can't do that by ourselves. We do it collectively. It's why we give to kingdom builders, it's why we pray for our missionaries like we had last week in the house, and it's why we go out and serve our community through things like Mercy House, things like OCJ Kids, things like Convoy of Hope and reaching out to people in need.

Praying For Venezuela

Jason Brown 9:29

In fact, it broke my heart this week as we thought about what's happening in Venezuela. And we've had friends and all sorts of missions that we've done down in Latin America and in Venezuela with people from Venezuela. I think it'd be appropriate if we just take a moment and pray for the country, for the people, and what they're going through. Can we join our hearts together and do that? Lord, we thank you so much. Lord, that you have given us the opportunity to pray. Lord, we just pray for Venezuela today. Lord, we pray, Lord, for all of the chaos and all of the things that people are walking through because of these earthquakes. Lord, we just ask, Lord, for your hand to be upon your people, Lord, and we pray, Lord, that that they would know comfort, they would know peace. Lord, we pray for the miraculous for people to be found even in this hour. Lord, we ask for that. Lord, we ask, Lord, for healing in families, Lord, and we pray, Lord, that you would bring them to yourself. We pray, Lord, that they would know help, Lord, and that the hands that are there to help them, like convoy and others, Lord, that they would have that help in this time of need. Lord, we know that you know what they need more than anything we can pray, but we join our hearts with you, saying, Lord, we pray your kingdom come, your will be done. Lord, and we pray that you would help the people of Venezuela today. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Paul’s Story And Thessalonica

Jason Brown 10:45

Amen. Well, whereas we continue in this theme of letters, we do so with this idea of Paul. Now, Paul is an apostle, and by this time he's come from his story, which changed him from someone who is persecuting the church to having this encounter with Jesus on the way to Damascus, and he has this pivotal shift in his life. And he goes blind for multiple days. There's a whole story about him having to go seek out and get prayer from someone specific, and then that person has to have the boldness to go pray for the enemy of the church to regain their sight. And in that whole story, God changes the heart of the number one persecutor of the church to the number one church planter of the church. And so it's this amazing thing that starts to happen. And he goes on these missionary journeys. So it says that he spent time with the Holy Spirit, and then he sent out alongside uh Silas and others, Lord, that that go and plant the church. You can see what it looks like here on this map of his missionary journeys. And as they go from place to place in this next image, you guys have that one? It goes from these different places where they sent out from Jerusalem through Antioch, which is where we're first called Christians, your Christ followers, little Christs. And we go out into what is the known world in that day, which is the Mediterranean. So they're going through these different places. We find ourselves in Thessalonica, which is up here inside of what would be modern day Greece. And as he's writing to this church, that's what it's called now. Now it's today, it's called Thessaloniki, a beautiful city. We've had missionary friends we supported there, church planting that's happened there, amazing things. Even today, God is working in this place, which is powerful. So as he's writing this letter to Thessalonica, it starts to pick up and starts to talk about what is happening. Now, as we said, as we started this idea of letters, it starts to address all sorts of different parts of our life. So, as we talked about this a few weeks ago, we had Angie, we had Serena, which was sharing about these very things, focusing on what God wanted to talk to us about and the narratives that are there. And so it's something powerful because we see how God is saying, Listen, I want you to be aware that I go to make a place for you. That you, when you're gone from this earth, you will be with me. And Paul is writing this to the church, encouraging them to live for God. That this is just the beginning. Our eternity is with God. It's not here in this brokenness. And so because of it, we need to live differently. Now I can tell you, you know, it's hard as we start to think about it in our context today, these thousands of years later, as we start to read these letters, we understand it in a different way. But the the threats are the same. We think about how we hear at all times war. We hear about war and chaos and pain and suffering. And it's on everything we read, it's everywhere. And it starts to build that very thing we talked about at the beginning. It starts to build fear inside of us. And if we're not careful, then we need we start to shrink back because we start to be afraid to go do anything, and we want to cocoon ourselves in and not deal with the world around us. But that's not who Christ has called us to be. We're not called to be people of fear, we're called to be people of faith. And since we're called to be people of faith, we better act like it, which means that we're gonna be those that are bold, not in ourselves, but in the power of the Holy Spirit, and that we walk with that mentality, seeing things with the eyes of faith, not of fear. If you're motivated by fear, you're gonna run from everything that could possibly happen, any calamity at every time. And you God can never use you to reach out to someone because you're so concerned that they too might be your enemy. I'm gonna stand here until you agree with me. We are not called to have fear that everyone is our enemy. Even people that our government is enemies with, we have brothers and sisters in faith inside those countries, and we pray for them today. We value them today. Even those who are competitors us across the world, we have brothers and sisters in faith that belong to us. We are the kingdom of God. We are called to be his children. They are children like we are his children. So we value them and we have a faith that motivates us differently. And we're so thankful for that.

The Day Of The Lord

Jason Brown 15:06

If you have your Bible, your tablet, your phone, we're looking today to 1 Thessalonians 5, and we're gonna be taking a dive through part of this chapter today. Picks up here and starts in verse 2. It says, For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. A thief in the night. Now, I don't know about you, but I am someone who I already deal with uh not sleeping well. And I'm a light sleeper generally speaking until I get completely tuckered out, and then I just kind of pass out. But um, most of the time I can hear any kind of bump, and I'm immediately all the endorphins are jumped into my body, and I jump up like I'm gonna fight all of the crime that's ever existed. Anyone else operate like this? You know, it's like a doof. I'm like, let's go get them. You know what I mean? It's like, it was nothing, it was the dog. I'm like, oh, you know, and then you're geared up on all the adrenaline for like half an hour and you're trying to come down. And I think part of this becomes because I we have experienced people breaking in and stealing stuff. We've had that happen to us in different places. We had it happen to us here at the church. People come in and steal stuff, and you're like, man, that's crazy. You know, it's like if you don't have your eyes on it in Arizona, it's like, hey, would you like this thing for free? It's not bolted down completely. Do you want to come steal it from me? It feels like that. You know, I think it's kind of terrifying when you think about someone rummaging through your stuff, like maybe this next image of someone coming in in the middle of the night, coming in, taking, you know, the MacBook that has all my sermons on it, you know, stealing all the things away from your house that you spent your time and your energy for. And it starts to feel violating. And more than just the violation of your stuff, then they start thinking about what if they're not just a thief, what if this is someone who's intended to do me harm? And it starts to be like this next gentleman who you're they're coming and looking a little bit more specifically, and they're starting to look into your situation. And I could tell you, friends, that this was the motivating factor that it kept me from wanting to say yes to God for a long, long time. And the reason it did is because I I wanted to stay on that awareness piece. I want to always be aware, and we're called to be aware. It says so in the scripture. Be aware of what's going on. But the problem is that if we're so geared on always just that part of it, we stay stuck there, then what happens is that we see everything as a threat, and we'll never gear into what God wants to do in reaching out to change a heart. If we were to look at Paul through the eyes of a Christ follower in that day, if they were motivated by only this, then they would look at him and they would say, I would never get within 10 miles of that guy. That guy's a traitor. Meanwhile, God saw him and changed his heart and was using him for great things. And so it's a change in our heart, it's a challenge, it's a tension that we walk with awareness, we don't let go of it, it calls us to do that. But we also understand what God wants to do in and through our story.

Noah Lot And A Culture Asleep

Jason Brown 18:04

And so it picks up here in scripture, it starts to talk about it in a different place in Luke 17. It says, They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, as it was in the days of Lot, where they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day when Lot went out of Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. See what we know is that there really is a day of judgment that's coming. Just like the days of Noah, people will be busy, they'll be buying this, you know, the stock X IPO, they'll be selling the stock X IPO. They'll be doing these things, they'll be doing that thing. They'll be busy about their own plans, and then he'll come. And that's what I'm talking about is that it's not that we're not aware of what's going on, we don't have our head buried in the sand, but the idea is that we don't live in a way that's fearful as to be caught off guard. See, the problem with all those in that day was that they were focused on what they were doing, not on what God had called them to do. God had called Noah to go and prepare and to make his heart right and to prepare a way going forward. They too had that opportunity, but then they ignored it and instead mocked them. In the same way in the days of Lot, they went after their own indulgences, their own things that they wanted to do. They wanted to live for themselves and for the moment. And so God said, Fine, I will take my hand off of this place and bring judgment against it. And when I read those stories of Noah, when I read that story of Lot and I compare it to our own culture in our own country, friends, I don't see much of a difference except for the church of God. And what I see is that God has us here for a reason that no person will be left without a witness, that no person would not have the opportunity to respond to his love, that every single person would know of Christ's love and have the opportunity to change their heart and embrace Jesus. That is my heart, and that's the Lord's heart too. That's what Paul is writing to the church in Thessaloniki, like themselves, have everything that's climbing for their attention in their day. This is the height of Greece's power and the and the waning of what is going on with the Romans. And so everything is built off of this history and all of these things, and every God and goddess, and every kind of pleasure is available. And he's saying, stay the way of God. Stay the way of the Lord. Don't get drawn into this, don't get drawn into that, because when you live for those things, then everything is futile because none of those things are eternal. And it's not that they're bad. It's that they're just not as good as living for God. And so what we're called to be is those that enjoy all those things, but we do so as we live for God. And as we put him first, what does it say? Seek first his righteousness, and all these things are added to you. But it's because you seek first his righteousness that everything is added. And so that's where it continues here in the scripture.

Peace And Security Can Collapse

Jason Brown 21:14

It says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 3, while people were saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. You know, we we talk a little bit on uh the Cornerstone Collective podcast. We talk about some of these things that we normally wouldn't address here from the pulpit because they're more to do with culture. But so much of what's being offered to us is about peace and security as all these new things are being rolled out. And I'm a big fan of peace. I want people to be at peace. We pray for the peace in Jerusalem often, if not every day. We pray for the peace of God to be upon you, upon your family. We want you to know and feel security. We make a And we make that be a focus for us here in our gatherings for our children. We want people to know peace and security. But friends, I can tell you that every version of what we think peace and security is, is not in comparison to what will come like a thief in the night when we're not ready if we don't live for Jesus. And these things will come because it's going to be what we think is safe, what we think is secure, and suddenly it won't be. And I can tell you, as people who've lived across the world in different places, when we were in Paris, and even after that, we were actually asked to go and pastor in Kiev in Ukraine. And we were asked to pastor a really great church there in the capital as our friends were transitioning to another phase of their life. And as we thought about it and prayed about it, we didn't have peace to say yes. We thought it was a great opportunity, a great community of faith. But in those same places today, it's devastation. It might look like this if you were walking down the street. It's one of those things that everything was peace and security, and that it wasn't. And what we know is that this is what's going on in other places around the world as well. I think about our time in Sudan. I think about leaving right before the war popped off. I think about what happened as the Syrians flooded over the border towards us in Alexandrian Egypt as the war kicked off there. And friends and all these different people and all these different stories about all these things that happened like a thief in the night. Friends, so many of them were not ready. So many of them were not ready. And what's going to happen is that when the Lord, the day of the Lord comes, it's not going to be an isolated event, it's not going to be a location-based event, it's going to be for everybody that everything kicks off. And friends, so you can't like, I'm going to hurry up and get ready. That's it's too late for that. So what we have to do is be those that live as unto God and stay not full of fear, but full of faith in who Jesus is. And so we look to him and what he says to us. We continue in the scripture here in

Children Of Light Stay Ready

Jason Brown 24:02

verse 4. It says, But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief, for you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. Friends, that's who you are. You are a children of light. You are called Christ's, you're called to be co-heirs with Christ, to be the children of God. And so, as we are children of the light, then we don't live in the things that are the darkness. And I can tell you the darkness will try to pull us into it. We even might want to keep our toe stuck in the darkness. And God is saying, have none of that. Be children of the light. And as we live as children of the light, then guess what? We don't have to worry because it's not going to come on us like calamity in the same way because our hope is in Jesus. And if we pass through this life, that's good because I'm looking forward to seeing him anyway. Come, Lord Jesus, return for your church. And if he just returns for me, that's okay because I'm going to go see him. So, friends, we stay ready. We stay prepared just by living for Jesus every day. And because we live for him every day, because we get up and spend that time with God, because you're saying goodnight to the Lord and you're abiding in his presence all day, then we don't have to live in fear of what calamity may strike. No, instead we live full of faith in God and understand whose we are and who we belong to. We know where we're going. So whenever we go through that door called death, we are not afraid because we're excited to see Jesus. We wouldn't be calling our cousin to see if our aunt is there on the phone. If I didn't pick up, maybe he would have been excited for me. You never know.

Awake Sober And Armored

Jason Brown 25:53

Verse 6 says, So let us keep, let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, but those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober. Having put on the breastplate and faith and love and a helmet, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. I love this. Be awake. Be awake. You know, it's this idea you read in other parts. It says, Arise, O sleeper. Do not stay as a slugger. Do not stay idly by, you know, be awake and aware what God wants to do in your story. And I think there's something powerful about this. I remember, man, if you've ever been so tired and needed to wake up, I've been someone who's been a coffee person, and and I like the cafe culture and that type of stuff, but uh, you know, really about that stuff. And there was a story that I had where we were in France, we were spending some time as a family across the city. And at the end of the night, it was really late. We have young kids. Celeste is completely tuckered out of trying to, you know, mom, mom, mom, mom. It's never happened to you, but it happened to her. And so, tired. I needed to drive across the city. It's gonna be like three and a half hours, all the freeways are shut down. It's gonna be crazy. And so I'm like, all right, I'm gonna go in. I gotta get some coffee. I gotta get some coffee. What do I want? What do I want? There's a long line. It's cold, it's at night, it's in winter in France, and I we find this Starbucks that's open, and I go in, and it's a brand new Starbucks. There's a massive line. And behind the counter, there are some Americans that are there in France teaching them how to be baristas, which is hilarious in concept, but that's what was happening. So think about that. Um, so they're there and they're teaching people how to make the drinks. And I'm like, what do I want? What do I want? I know what I need. I need five espresso shots in one cup. That's what I need. I need a I need a five-shot espresso. You guys don't drink five-shot espressos? Be very awake. It's in the Lord says. So as they're grinding it up and all my stuff, and I'm waiting, I'm like, oh man, I just need this coffee, need this coffee. This guy sees this order and he is pumped up. He's like, oh, there's five shots in one cup. I mean, I had to navigate my terrible French or the person to order, but this person is fulfilling the drinks. And he sees it and says my name, Jason, and he goes, Jason? Like this, and I'm like, there's a crowd of people. And I go, yeah. And he goes, be very awake. And I was like, I will, I will be awake. And I take it, it's like nine o'clock at night, and I'm drinking my drink. My family, we get to the car, they get put in the car immediately asleep, immediately asleep. But now I'm wired to the gills, driving slowly through French traffic, like, be very awake, you know, like. But spiritually speaking, friends, be very awake. Be very awake. Be very aware that the enemy is around you, trying to confuse you, trying to drive you into fear, trying to make you worried about stuff that has no bearing on your life, trying to make you worried about what kind of aliens there are. If there are aliens, it's like none of that stuff. We know we have a devil that is against our soul. We know there are spiritual beings. We know Jesus, who is greater than all that stuff. So we don't have to worry about that. Be very awake of what God wants to do in your story. We continue here in the scripture. It continues that same piece of scripture. The back half of it says, for those, it says, but since we belong to the day, we're people of the light. Let us be sober, having put on the blessed the breastplate of faith and love, and for the helmet, the hope of salvation. Friends, this is a big marker for us, is to be those who are sober-minded. And that means that we're not tied off to every any other kind of thing. We're not tied off to where that is our life and we can't do without it. No, be broken the chains off of that in the name of Jesus Christ, be liberated from that. That we would have a sobriety to our understanding, that we wouldn't get lulled into it. And beyond that, not just in the an idea of taking something and ingesting something, I mean even mentalities, things that would drive you away from God into something else and getting caught up in it. Be sober-minded for what he wants to do. And I love how it ties it directly to putting on the armor of God. Because that's who we're called to be, is to put on the armor of God. And each piece of that armor, as you guys can see a depiction of it here, it protects us in a different way uniquely. And it guards our heart, it guards our feet, it guards our peace as we walk, right? It guards those things in the attack of the enemy against us. It guards our mind that we would have the mind of Christ, that we would be those that are sober-minded, and that we would live after the ways of God.

Hope Of Salvation Over Wrath

Jason Brown 30:43

In verse 9, it continues for God is not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. He is our salvation. He is our salvation. And whether we are awake in this life or we are already gone and asleep, as it says, He is coming for us. And I love what it's talking about here. It says that we would be those that are ready for what is happening in a very real way that we are anointed for what he has set us apart to do. Friends, that we would be those that are anointed and hold on to what he wants to do in our story. We embrace the power of the Holy Spirit to live for God and not be filled with fear, but instead in faith. That we would be motivated by love and not driven by fear. Friends, that we would be those that are aware that we are awake and that we are anointed to do the things that God has called us to do. And in no other way should we be living in fear of anything that's gonna come and try to come against us because we know who we belong to, because we are children of light. We belong to the most high God. Someone say amen to that.

Responding To Jesus At The Altar

Jason Brown 32:00

Today, as we come to this altar, we have this opportunity to respond to Him. And I'm gonna have this opportunity for all of us to come to this altar and just seek more of the Lord, seek more of his presence, that we're not called to be those living in fear, we're called to be those who live full of love. But as we do, we need to answer that question for each and every one of us. Every person needs to answer the question of have you embraced Jesus? See, for us, the symbol of the cross is one of power, it's one of transformation, because it's a symbol of what Christ has done on our behalf. He, though he didn't sin at all, he took all of our sin and all of our mistakes and all of our brokenness, he took it upon himself. And as he does so, he pays for all those things, though he didn't do them. He pays with them with his life. He pays for them with his life. And as he went to the cross and he gave his life for us upon the cross, the cross becomes a symbol not of fear and death and agony, though he did all those things for us there, but it becomes actually about how he completed all those things and it is finished. And because he has paid for all of that sin and all of that brokenness and all of that shame, when we accept his gift, his work on the cross for us, then what it happens is that we are made into a new creation, that he is the one that wipes away our sin, he is the one that has done the work for us. We can't earn it, we can't buy our way into it. No, it's just what Christ has done for us. And in doing so, we can embrace his love for us. We can say, Jesus, I believe you are who you say you are. Lord, I place my faith and trust in you. I I invite you into my life, not just to be the savor, but but to be the Lord of my life. I want to walk with you where you're leading me to go. The Apostle Paul, he writes later to the church in Rome, he says, This, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Friends, today is your opportunity. It's your invitation to say yes to Jesus. I'm gonna ask everyone here in the room if you to stand to your feet right where you're at, bow your heads as Christians are praying. Friends, wherever you are online, take a moment for what God wants to do in and through your story today. Maybe you're here and you've never made a decision to follow Jesus. Today is your opportunity to do so. If that's you and you'd say, Pastor, I just want to be included in that prayer today. I want to make a commitment to Jesus Christ to invite him into my heart and life. If that's you, as no one's looking around. If you just raise your hand right where you're at, I just want to indicate that I'm I'm acknowledging you today. I see this hand, the hand that's there, hand that's there, hand that's there. Others that are making commitment to God today. Thank you, Jesus. Other people making commitment to God today. We see the hands that are there as well. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. I'm gonna ask all of us to pray this prayer out loud after me. Lord, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. Amen. Friends, we rejoice with you that made a decision to follow Jesus today. Several people raised their hands this morning. Praise God. Hey, if that was you, take a moment for what God wants to do in your story. Take a snap of this QR code and follow it. We want to put some resources into your hands so that you can live for Jesus. Today, as we come to the altar during this song, what we're asking the Lord for is more of his power, more of his anointing, that we would be those that are full of his love and not fear, that we're not motivated by anything that's fearful, but instead we stand awake and aware, but also anointed to do what God has called us to do. I would encourage every person to come and make an altar with God so that we are those that are walking in step where he's leading us to go. Lord, we thank you so much, Lord, as we pray over this altar, Lord, and we open it to you. Lord, we just pray, Lord, that you would pour your spirit out upon us. Lord, that we would know your presence, Lord, that your presence brings the absence of fear because you are with us. And so, Lord, we uh we would be motivated by love and we would be those people of faith, not of fear. Lord, that you would empower us, Lord, and anoint us for what you've called us to do. Lord, that we would walk boldly, awake to everything and all the plot of the enemy, and instead not fearful, but walking in pace with you. We come to this altar asking for empowerment by your spirit. We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayer For Kids And Baptism Step

Celeste Brown 37:16

Please be praying for our kids. They are headed off in like literally less than an hour. They're going up to the mountain and pray for our leaders. Um, it takes a lot of energy to be with kids, and so we are praying for them. Uh, I know you like, well, I'm glad it's not me, but pray for them. Um, really, really, in our our um kids' camps in the state of Arizona, they say that most of the kids that get called into missions get called at a kids' camp. And I'm telling you, God has something great in store for our kids. They are the church, and so we want to keep them in prayer. So every morning when you wake up, just pray over those kids that God would speak life into them and anoint them to be amazing warriors for the kingdom of God.

Jason Brown 37:57

Let me challenge you in this. If you have not been baptized, let me challenge you that you would get baptized next service. And Ginea of all, we have towels for you, and so go ahead and take that step after God. Amen? Before we go, pray this blessing over us.

Blessing And Sending

Jason Brown 38:14

The Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Lord, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. Lord, you empower us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. Pray all this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Know this. We love you very much here at Cornerstone. God bless you and have a great week.