The Fight of Faith | Dr. Andy Brown

What if faith isn't a feeling that floats like a plastic bag in the wind, but rather a fierce and intentional fight? This powerful message challenges us to reimagine our understanding of faith through the lens of 2 Timothy 4, where Paul declares he has 'fought the good fight' and 'kept the faith.' The central revelation here is profound: the fight of faith isn't about how strong we are, but about how surrendered we are to Christ. We're invited to stop throwing up our dukes and instead bend our knees, ceasing our striving so God can be who He is in and through our lives. The message unpacks four essential truths for fighting this good fight: leaving nothing left by pouring ourselves out completely like a drink offering, facing the battles God reserves for the faithful rather than fleeing our circumstances, understanding the enemy's tactics across various battlegrounds from doctrinal distortion to community division, and keeping our eyes fixed on the prize of Christ's appearing. What resonates deeply is the reminder that we live in tension between a world passing away and a world coming, and in that friction lies spiritual warfare. Yet we're not alone—greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. This isn't a call to burnout or rust-out, but to holy urgency, living with the awareness that eternity awaits everyone we encounter and our time to share the good news is limited.

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Transcript

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What words would you use to describe faith? Some of you would say, well, faith is a feeling. Faith is something that is the opposite of science. Maybe you've heard that said, or maybe you've said something similar. Or maybe your idea of faith is like a friend that I once had who she described her faith or her belief. She posted a video, and in that video, you click on the link, and it takes you to a scene in a movie where there are these people watching this bag in this grocery store parking lot. So it's a plastic bag, just float as the wind carries it. And oftentimes, if we're on this, that's how many of us think about faith. It's something that's floaty. It's something that's a feeling. It's something that's ethereal. And if you don't think that way, then more than likely, then you know someone who does think that way. But I want to introduce to you a description that maybe you know, but maybe you don't. The Bible says that faith is a fight. Faith is a fight. Would you take your Bible, please, and join me in the book of 2 Timothy? It's all the way in the New Testament towards the end of the Bible. And in the book of 2 Timothy, chapter 4, you're going to see over there where Paul describes, the Apostle Paul describes faith as a fight. Now let me set a little bit of the scene as you're turning over there. This is the last recorded words of the Apostle Paul that we have. And remember what makes Paul so significant. Paul was once a persecutor of the church who met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. He was arrested by the and captivated by the overwhelming presence of the resurrected Lord. And then his whole life was shifted into a confession that said, Jesus Christ is Lord, and no one else is. Not Caesar, not a king, not even my own conscience. And here is he is giving his swan song. He's giving the last recorded words that he has. Listen to what he says in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 through 8. Now, as I'm reading and you're reading, you look and listen for the phrase that says faith is a fight. See if you can see it. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. So Paul's talking to Timothy, who he's leaving everything to. Who that Jesus Christ, who is the one to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom. Here's his charge. Look at verse 2. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching. Now let me stop right there. Some of you I know, when you hear that, you think, all right, this is the message from the preacher to preachers. And I want to challenge you. Because if you are a follower of Jesus Christ here today, then what that means is that your life is no longer your own. You've been bought with a price. And your whole life then is lived outward. Just as we watched in the waters of baptism just a moment ago. That's an outward expression of an inward faith. And so while I preach on a platform like this, your preaching occurs in a different place. Your preaching occurs in the marketplace. Your preaching occurs in the workplace. Your preaching occurs in your homes, with your family, with your friends. This charge that Paul has laid out to Timothy is for every one of us. Now let's continue reading. In verse 3, he says, For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching. But having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. They will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering. Do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry. And then Paul says at verse 6 for I am already being poured out as a drink offering. And the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. You see it? Paul says that he has fought the good fight. He has kept the faith. Put those two words together. The faith that we have is a fight. You see, here's what we know. Before Jesus Christ, you were one who drifted with the current of the times. That was what your life was characterized by. Now, whether or not you realized it or not, that's what was true of you. You didn't have any thought of God. Maybe you had an idea of who God was, and maybe you live with some kind of form of this God in your mind. But the Bible says that without Jesus Christ, you were hostile. You had set yourself against God and his plans and purposes. And you say, I didn't do that. Yes, you did. And that's the truth for every person that is without Jesus Christ. Whether or not they know it or not, they are living in a way that is hostile to God and his plan and his purpose. But then all of a sudden, and prayerfully you've experienced this today. Prayerfully, you can say, This was my testimony. Here's the way that I once lived, but then I met Jesus Christ. Then Jesus Christ came to me. Maybe it was in a service like this. Maybe if you're like me, you had a teacher who held up a picture. And that picture you realized for me the first time I realized that that man in that picture was Jesus, who the Bible talks about. And he died on that cross, not just for anybody, but for me. And my mother led me to Jesus Christ at the foot of her bed one afternoon. Maybe that's when you met Jesus Christ, somewhere similar like that. But at one point you met Jesus Christ, and then all of a sudden your life began to go the opposite way. All of a sudden, your life, now Jesus Christ, just as we watched in the waters of baptism, you were underneath the weight of sin, and Jesus Christ pulls you up to walk in newness of life, and now you have set yourself in the opposite direction. And as you set yourself in the opposite direction, between a world that's passing away with all of its systems and a world that's now coming, you live in this tension now between a world that's coming and a world that's passing away. And the friction therein is called spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare. Because now you're going the opposite way. And now the Bible says faith is a fight. But I want you to write down this sentence to describe what kind of fight we're talking about. Because the fight of faith is not about how strong you are, it's about how surrendered you are. Now let me say this clearly. You see the opposite way that the Lord is calling us to? It's not about how strong I am, how mighty I am, how much faith I have, but how much I am surrendered to the one who has every bit of faith that I need. Just as I told those in the waters of baptism earlier, it's the most significant one who was baptized was Jesus Christ. And because he was baptized, his baptism matters most. Now we're just simply following after him. Now we're simply following after him in the pattern that he's given us. And that's what this Christian life is all about, following after the pattern that Jesus Christ has given us. And so as you're thinking about fighting, listen, let's make sure that we're understanding the proper terms. It's not about putting up your dukes, it's about bending your knees. It's about you coming to the point of the end of yourself so that Christ can live his life in and through you. This is why Paul said, I have fought the good fight. What's he talking about? Well, yes, he's talking about the scars that he has. Yes, he's talking about all of those experiences, but more than anything else, all of those scars, all of those experiences flowed from a heart that was fully surrendered to Jesus Christ. And the fight of faith, listen, write it down. It's not about how strong we are, but it's about how surrendered we are to letting God have his way in and through us. Letting Christ lead us, letting Christ strengthen us, letting him shape us, and then what's he do? He fills us with hope. We have this glorious expectation. Listen to me. Whatever your circumstances are today, you as a Christian, you have the right that's been secured for you through the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. You don't have to say anymore it is what it is. By God's grace, you can now say whatever it is is not how it's going to be. And Jesus Christ makes the difference. And so it's about not your strength, but it's about surrender. Surrender to what? Letting Christ have all of you. Letting Him have all of you as he fills you with this hope until the day when one day you will see Him face to face. And I don't know, oftentimes we think about seeing Jesus Christ face to face at the last moment of our lives. But my prayer for you as we go through this message is that you will be part of those that Paul says, There's a crown waiting for me, and not only for me, but also for all who have loved the appearing of Jesus Christ. And so you're called to fight the fight of faith. Now here's the question: How is it that we fight the fight of faith? There are three things from this passage, really four things from this passage, that I want to point out for us that's going to give us clues on how it is we can look at the Apostle Paul and we can learn to fight the fight of faith. And remember again, fighting the fight of faith is not about throwing up your dukes, it's about bending your knees. It's not about how strong you are, but it's about how surrendered you are to letting Christ have his way in and through you. Here's what I'm telling you this morning. As you want to fight the fight of faith, I'm telling you to give up. I'm telling you to cease striving, I'm telling you to surrender and let God be who he is in for and through your life. Number one. How do we fight the fight of faith? Number one, we leave nothing left. Notice what Paul says. He says in verse 6, I am already being poured out as a drink offering. Now notice that language that he uses. He says, I am already being. Do you hear the way the ESV is capturing the grammar that's underneath? It says, not fixing to happen. This is not about to happen. He says, I am already being poured out as a drink offering. Now it's a funny thing that he uses here. He uses an Old Testament image of a drink offering. Not any other image. It's not like there's this image of a slow fade. No, it's this drink that's being poured out for God's purposes. And what he's using by saying this example and why he's pointing back to this Old Testament sacrifice is he's saying, my sacrifice to God is how surrendered I am to him. And Paul is able to say at the end of his life, it's not that there's some things that he wished would have been different, or it's not that there's some things that he wished that he would have done different, but he's able to confidently say, by the grace of God, I am what I am. By the grace of God, I did it my best. By the grace of God, here I am. Paul has that type of mentality that he says, I am leaving nothing left. I have poured every bit of it out for God and his purpose through me. And you think about, for example, when you go to lunch in just a few moments, when that server comes and serves you that glass of sweet tea or water or whatever it is that you choose, that server's gonna come to you, and she or he is gonna pour out that wonderful beverage, whatever it is, and it's gonna be right in your cup. And listen, you get free refills, or at least, you know, you pay for them. You get the refills, and as much as you want, you can have. And whatever is in the first drop is there to the last drop. And Paul's saying, no, my life doesn't have this slow fade into nothing. He said, No, my life is being poured out completely for him. And Paul is able to say that as far as I know, I have left nothing. But I have given my whole life completely to him. And I want to ask you, is that the way you're living your life? Are you living your life completely sold out for God's purpose in and through you? Are you living your life forward to the day when you stand before your King and you hear him say those words to you? Well done. Good and faithful servant. And listen, my prayer for every one of you here is that that's a long time away. My prayer for me is that's a long time away. But here's the truth. I really don't know how big my cup is. I really don't know how much is in my cup. I'm not in control of those things. I may live to be 45, I may live to be forty and a half, I may live to be 95, I may die in just a moment. But whatever is said of me, I want people to look at Andy Brown's life when it's over, and I want them to be able to look at Andy Brown and say, Andy Brown didn't leave anything left. He gave it all for Jesus Christ and his glory. There's a sense of urgency that I have. There's a sense of desire that I have to tell as many people as possible about Christ and his love. Because listen, I don't know how many minutes I have left. I don't know how many minutes you have left, but I know eternity is awaiting every man, woman, boy, and girl. And eternity has a long time. And as much time as we have, I want us to live with this holy sense of urgency. Not again like a battery that slowly fades into nothing where it works one minute and doesn't work the next, and it's unreliable. No, I want to completely pour out whatever I have for Christ and his glory. We're not talking about you operating in out of your strength. We're not talking about you not not operating in the strength that he provides. We're talking about you being completely yielded to him that has this kind of attitude that says, Here is my life, Lord, would you take it and use it for your purpose? I'll never forget one of the most impactful stories in my life was hearing about Adrian Rogers when he accepted the call to ministry. He was a football player and he went to his high school and uh and God was calling him into ministry. He went to the 50-yard line and he got down on his knees and he said, Lord, use me. And he didn't think he was low enough, and so he tells the story. He says he dug a little hole right there on the 50-yard line, just big enough for him to stick his nose in. And he stuck his nose in the hole and he said, Lord, would you use me? You know, oftentimes we talk about burnout, and I know you've heard that word a hundred times burnout, burnout, burnout. But I'll tell you there's another danger for us as Christians to be aware of. It's not called burnout, it's called rustout. It's called us sitting around doing nothing, waiting on someone else to do it. I don't know about you, but I would much rather burn out for Jesus than ever rust out for him. And I think about our context in particular. We have a small window to reach people because of the wonderful institution that's Mississippi State University. You know what? This reputation of this world-class institution, it brings people to us. It brings people to us. And we're not just talking about students. We're talking about coaches, we're talking about professors, we're talking about these individuals who are professionals. We get to have these students here for one year, maybe, two years, maybe, eight years, some of you. Oh, we get to have this opportunity for people to come to us. And I can think about with me, with a 14-year-old girl. I'm already thinking about college. She already is too. She says she wants to go to the University of Southern California. I'm thinking, why on earth do you want to go so far away? We're thinking about these things. Wherever she goes, and if she stays here, bless the Lord. I pray that she finds a church that has a sense of holy urgency about themselves. So that her life, so that the life of these students and this faculty and this community that's always turning over. What a dynamic that we have here in Sartville, Mississippi. We are a Power 5 SEC school that has world-class athletics, world-class research, world-class leadership, world-class faculty. But we're also a place that is a certified retirement community. Now, I really don't know what a certified retirement community is, but listen, that's what Sartville, Mississippi is. So think about those two dynamics. Do you see where we are in between? We have to live. One would say, hey, we're gonna rust out. No, we can't rust out. The other says we're gonna burn out. No, we can't burn out. But here's what we must do. We must have this type of attitude and disposition that says, I am going to live my life completely for Jesus Christ. I'm gonna live my life with a holy sense of urgency that leaves nothing left. And here's what I know. The moment that you surrender, the moment when you make up your mind, the moment when you make up your mind to say, all to Jesus I surrender, all to him I freely give, that moment is when the enemy puts you on his radar. That moment is the moment where when you surrender to God, then you will encounter more spiritual warfare than you ever thought was possible. The second truth for us to write down how do we fight the good fight? And this is the tough one. If we're gonna fight the good fight, then we have to face the fight that God reserves for the faithful. Notice what Paul says. Notice all of these definite articles that are here, the these. He said, I have fought the good fight. All of these are in the original, all of these are being brought out by the ESV to tell us something. There is the fight. It's not just any fight, it's the uh good fight. It's finishing the race, it's keeping the faith. There is a battle for us to fight, and when we surrender to God, God entrust us with more. Oftentimes, we would rather flee from the fight that God has called us to and face the fight with the strength that He provides. And this is challenging. Because some of you, you play this game and say, you know, I don't like my circumstances. God has called you to face those circumstances. Not because he wants to punish you, listen carefully. Not because he wants to punish you, but because he wants to platform your faith. He wants to set your faith on a pedestal that displays his glory so all the rest of the world can look and see, that's my servant. For example, could you just imagine if Job ran away from the fight? You remember what God said of Job? Some of you are like, Can we not talk about Job this morning? Can you think about what Job said? God said, Have you considered my servant? Job. Think about Joseph, for example, in Genesis. Here is Joseph. You think that he would have chosen to be thrown in a well? You think he would have chosen to be forgotten in a prison? You think that he would have chosen those circumstances? Or think about King David, for example. You think that if he would have chosen the kingship, you think that he would have chosen to fight Goliath unless he had to? Here he was. You think the Apostle Paul? And the Apostle Paul tells us the Apostle Paul, his story is hey, I wanted to go east. But the Holy Spirit said, No, Paul. Instead, you're gonna go west. 2 Corinthians 12, there's a story where Paul says, I have asked God three times to remove this thorn from my flesh, and he responds back to me the same way. My grace is sufficient for you. Some of you have received a diagnosis. Some of you are in the middle of difficult circumstances. Some of you have faced death of a loved one. And some of you, if you had it your way, you wouldn't have chosen those circumstances. Paul wouldn't have chosen these circumstances either. But in the midst of those circumstances, he trusts in God, his Savior. And my challenge for you, that regardless of your circumstances, you wouldn't have this idea of, man, if I can just get out of this situation, things will be better. See what God has provided for you, because there's some lessons that you and I can't learn except through difficult, except through difficulty. And listen, I wish it was different. I wish that I could tell you the lie of the prosperity gospel. You know the prosperity gospel? That whole idea that here's where the prosperity gospel comes. Share you a quick story. My cousin, when I was about six years old, or oh my goodness, I almost said it. Six or seven, sorry. When I was six or seven years old, college students get it. Those with parents of middle schoolers, amen, you get it. We're sick of it. All right, let's move on. When I was about six or seven years old, my cousin died horrendously in a car accident. While we were in the hospital, and my lasted about three or four days, my cousin, he was ejected from the car, and the car actually rolled over on top of him. It was a tremendous, tremendous time, terrible, traumatic time in the life of our family. Someone came up to my mother and they said to her, they said, if your family would have had a little more faith than your cousin, your loved one, would still be here. You see, the Bible doesn't run from difficult circumstances. The Bible instead lets us face those difficult circumstances with a Savior who will never lead us anywhere that he himself has not already been. A Savior who leads us even if we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Listen to the Psalms. Even if we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil. Why is that? Because we have a good shepherd who will never leave us nor forsake us, nor will he ever lead us anywhere that he himself has not already been. Oh dear Christian, you're in a fight. And maybe if you could have it your way, you would change your circumstances. But faith says, not have it my way. But faith says, have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will. While I am yielded, waited, and still. There's an opportunity for you. An opportunity that God has reserved for the faithful, reserved for the surrendered to face the fight. And remember, how does we face that fight? It doesn't look like strength, because if you rest in your own strength, as Martin Luther taught us to sing in a mighty fortress, if we in our own strength confide, we would forever be losing. We're not the right man on our side, the one of God's own choosing. You ask who that may be. Christ Jesus, it is He. He is the Lord of armies, the Lord Sabaoth his name, and age to age the same. And listen to this: He must win the battle. And there are some of you right now that are walking through difficult circumstances. You can testify, if we were to line you up on this platform out here, you would testify those moments when I could not go on. My Savior picked me up and he carried me. And he will never leave you. He will never forsake you. Cease striving and fall into his arms of amazing grace. If you're going to fight the fight of faith, number three, you also have to understand the fight. Understand the fight. There are certain tactics that the enemy uses. There are certain tactics that he will throw your way. Remember, it's not just any fight, it's the fight. It's the cosmic fight of the ages. You think about it, and I love Spurgeon. He used to say this. Spurgeon used to say, just how, just imagine how valuable the soul must be if Christ and the devil both are fighting for them. Oh, I wish that you knew how much God loved you. I wish that you believe that He's never going to leave you. I wish that you believe He'll never forsake you. Faith tells you that no matter what, He loves you. There are certain places, there are certain experiences, there are battlegrounds of the Christian life. And so what I want to do is I want to give you just a couple of those. And I want you to write them down. You're not going to have an opportunity to turn to all these passages, but these are certain places where the enemy comes. And this is the point where he attacks. For example, he attacks to suppress the truth. Romans 1.18, it says this by their unrighteousness, that is, those that reject God, they suppress the truth. And so here's the tension. Listen to the tension phrase. Listen to the enemy but God. Listen, the enemy, he comes to blind the minds, but the Spirit comes to reveal Christ. Another battleground is idol making. And idols, listen, don't think in your mind, idols are just these little things that you set in a cabinet somewhere. Idols can be anything, from affections to sports, to anything. It can be anything that we set up that takes the place of God and his purpose for us. Romans 1 23, it says that they exchanged the glory of the immortal God, and that's what idolatry is. And so what's the enemy? The battleground is the enemy, he comes to redirect worship. He says, hey, since all of you are going to worship something you're made to worship, what I'll come and I'll do is I'll just redirect that worship. I'll let you give your affections away to lesser loves. But the Holy Spirit, he comes and he restores Christ to the sinner. Another battleground is the corruption of the conscience. In 1 Timothy 4, 1 through 2, the Bible's specific. It says here that their consciousness, their consciousness are seared, seared. And the enemy, what's he do? He comes to deaden conviction. But the Spirit comes to awaken holiness. One of the tactics of the enemy is he comes to divide the community. You imagine the enemy would desire for a church like First Baptist to be fighting on the inside and thank God we're not. But his desire would be to all, and this is something that's always intention, something that always has to be shepherded, something that always has to be guarded, something that always has to be guided, because the enemy, as we try to advance outward, and this is going to come. I know it's going to come. I've been here five years now, and I know we're fixing to enter into a phase of our life where urgency is going to take, urgency is going to captivate all of our hearts. And the enemy is going to come in us, and he's going to try to divide us as a people of God. Why is that? Because he wants us to fight inwardly as opposed to fighting the battle out there. And that's where the battle is. The battle is always. We want to see more baptisms. We want to see more people worshiping. We want to see more people give their life to Jesus Christ. Because we're not here to be comfortable as first Baptists. We're not called to just live. We're called to live sent. We're called to rescue the perishing. To care for the dying. Because eternity is a long time. And the good news is only good news if it gets to your waitress, if it gets to your waiter, if it gets to your roommate, if it gets to your professor, if it gets to your mama, if it gets to your daddy, if it gets to all of these people that we're going to encounter in time. James 3 says, if you have bitter jealousy, selfish ambition in your hearts, don't boast and be false to the truth. And then listen to what James says. That is not wisdom that comes down from above. And listen how specific James gets. It is earthly, it is unspiritual, and it is demonic. You see the enemy, one of his tactics, one of the fights that we have to fight is the enemy will come and try to divide, whereas the spirit comes and says, hey, you unite. Not unite around nothing, but unite around the purpose that I have for you. The enemy divides, but the spirit unites. Another battleground is doctrinal distortion. Doctrinal distortion, where Paul comes to the Galatians and he says, I can't believe that you've rejected the gospel. He says, not that there's any, not that there's truly a different gospel. There's only one gospel that's saved, but the enemy will present to you a different gospel. You see, the enemy, he comes and twists the gospel, twists the gospel. But the Spirit glorifies Christ. Another battleground is resisting God's work in us. Oh, and this is such a big battleground. But thankfully, James says that you have the Holy Spirit of the living God who is inside of you. And the Bible says, He, the Father, yearns jealously over the Spirit that He has made to dwell in us. And all through your life, the enemy is going to try to pull you away while the Spirit is forming Christ in us. And let me go ahead and say this greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Your enemy, our enemy, he's going to come to accuse us. He's going to come and condemn us. Revelation calls him the accuser of the brethren. But that accuser, you remember this. That accuser has been thrown down. He has been thrown down. You see, there's fear, there's doubt, there's despair that the enemy tries to use against us. There's fear, there's doubt, and there's despair. Hebrews 2.15 says, deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Here's the truth. The enemy, one of the battlegrounds that he uses, he comes to destabilize. But the Spirit of God comes to strengthen our hope. Now, which way do you want to go? You want to continue on the losing side? Or do you want to continue on the winning side? Let me say something to you. Here's my confidence. He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. You know what that means? He's the starter and he's the finisher. He's not going to give up in you midway through. He doesn't have regrets about saving you. Instead, he's committed to finishing what he started. Fourth and finally, how do we fight? We fight by keeping our eye on the prize. I want you to see this. Paul's focus is not on the fight around him, but the victory that awaits him. And I asked you a question earlier. And I want to simply ask you this. The Bible says the righteous judge will award this crown of righteousness. The one who wears the crowns of thorn now wears the crown of righteousness. And he shares that crown of righteousness with you. And then he says this. How do you fight the good fight? You keep your eye on the prize. You let that be your motivating factor. Are you this morning fighting the good fight? You see, faith is a fight. I wonder, do you feel it? Jesus has already won the victory. Have you received him as your Lord? Have you let his victory be your victory? And listen, there is a reward for all of those who love him. I want to ask a question. Do you want the reward that he provides? You say, how do I have the reward that he provides? Are you ready for it? It's not by your strength, but it's by you coming to Jesus and saying, All to Jesus, I surrender. Jesus, have all of me. I want to live my life completely and fully for you. You don't have any strength to offer him that he needs. But you know what he wants? He wants you to surrender to him. And for some of you today, it's going to be the first time that you're going to do that. For some of you today, you know you're not a Christian. You've been fighting in your own strength. That's why you keep losing. There's an invitation for you to confess Jesus Christ is Lord. And to say, Lord, I believe that you died on the cross for my sins. I believe, Lord God, that you rose again the third day. I believe, Lord God, that you'll save any who come to you. And in this moment, I'm coming to you to ask you to save me. And let me say this here's the confidence that we have. You come to Him, the Bible says, any who come to Him, He'll by no means cast out. Instead, you know what He does? He's ready to receive you just as you are. All of your baggage, all of your hurt, all of your shame, all of your weakness, Jesus says, You give it all to me. All to Jesus. Surrender to him. Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the way that He loves us. Thank you for the truth of this fighting the good fight. It's not about our strength, it's about our surrender. So, Father, may all of us here today have this attitude that says, Here I am, Jesus. I surrender. In Jesus' name. And everybody said, Amen.