WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:07.360 Wednesday morning I had a Zoom chat with about 20 Marietta pastors and some different leaders in the community. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:18.079 A surgeon from Pennistone he came on and he spoke to us as a group of pastors about what it means and what it might look like for churches at their own pace to reopen up. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:19.280 What are those details? 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:20.800 What are those implications? 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:30.399 And so I learned a lot, lots of information there for us to take in and figure out how we're going to reopen, hopefully in the middle of June and what a phase one looks like. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:42.880 And then the head of Must Ministries he presented and he talked about how during this shelter in place there has been an increase, an increase in domestic abuse, an increase in hunger, an increase in substance abuse. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:53.600 And then different pastors shared and they went through when and how they're gonna reopen their churches and what it's gonna look like with social distance and mask and bathrooms and disinfecting. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:58.560 I mean, I never knew I would learn so much about uh disinfecting and foggers, right? 00:00:58.640 --> 00:00:59.759 I didn't learn that in seminary. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:01.600 Who knew I was gonna learn it now? 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:07.359 And by the end of the hour, by the end of the hour, I was incredibly, incredibly informed. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:10.400 And I was incredibly overwhelmed. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:14.000 I mean, everything inside of me was just tight. 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:17.120 My chest was just tight. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:19.200 And you you know what I'm talking about. 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:27.680 You have felt that on some level, this uncertainty of what and how it means to move forward and what decisions are good and what decisions are bad. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:30.000 And am I being too lax? 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:32.799 Or am I being too strict? 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:39.599 We're all discovering battles we didn't know that we would ever face in our lives. 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:47.599 And what do we do when we have a battle, when we have that obstacle, that emotion, that problem, that thing we need to work through? 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:48.879 What do we do? 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:52.079 Do we fight all those battles on our own? 00:01:52.560 --> 00:02:09.520 And this text today in Joshua 10, as crazy as this story reads to modern readers, this story tells us that we are not alone while we work through battles and that God is with us and he's for us. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:14.080 So we're back in this Joshua story, this epic Old Testament story. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:18.879 Israel is up in the mountains of Canaan, they've worked their way in, they've won some battles. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:29.439 I'm always tempted to re-preach about God and war every time we come into a battle scene in the book of Joshua, but I did that back in Joshua too, so you can go back and listen to that. 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:31.680 At this point, Israel has won several battles. 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:33.919 They're up in the mountains, they have a good position. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:37.199 They've partnered up with this other city-state named Gibeon. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:41.759 They are a powerful force, and the king of Jerusalem knows it. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:55.199 And so the king of Jerusalem, he goes to a bunch of other city-states, he goes to their kings, he says, Hey, we got to team up, we gotta form a team, we've got to form a big army so we can fight Israel and we can fight Gibeon that has come in partnership with Israel. 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:02.800 And this is the story we come into because the king of Jerusalem and all this big army he formed, they are going to take out Gibeon. 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:03.759 They're going after Gibeon. 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:07.280 So Gibeon goes to Joshua and says, Hey, Joshua, they're coming. 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:08.159 We partnered up. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:08.879 Will you come? 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:11.120 Will you come and help us fight? 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:16.159 And so the story here, we jump in, Joshua 10, verse 8. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:23.759 And the Lord said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:27.360 Not a man of them shall stand before you. 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:52.080 So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal, and the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by way of ascent of Bet-Horan, and struck them as far as Ezekiel and Makedah, and they fled before Israel while they were going down the ascent of Bet Haran. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:57.439 The Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Ezekiel, and they died. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:03.919 There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:13.360 So point number one is this we fight present-day battles with promises already given to us. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:19.759 So the battles that you're facing today, the obstacles, the emotions, the feelings, the problems. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:26.800 We fight them, we process through them, we journey through them with promises already given to us. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.519 God doesn't give Joshua a new promise here. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:34.639 Actually, throughout this entire story, Joshua, God keeps promising him the same thing over and over again. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:36.879 Joshua just needs to hear the same thing over and over again. 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:38.240 Don't be afraid. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:39.680 I'm with you. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.560 I've already won the victory for you. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:46.399 God repeats that same good old news. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:47.600 Don't fear. 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:49.040 Don't fear. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:52.879 I keep finding this true in parenting. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:54.720 I'm not the perfect parent. 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:55.920 Every once in a while I get a victory. 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:59.519 Usually, when I get a parenting victory, it comes off of something I've I've learned. 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:02.480 This week it came actually just straight out of this Joshua story. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:10.480 Because one night this week I climbed up into my one of my daughters, the bunk bed up high, and it was bedtime, tuck her in, and I get up in there. 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:11.519 She had already been up in there. 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:16.079 I get up in there and I get next to her and I see she has glitter all over her face. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:18.160 So, you know, she took a really productive bath. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:20.480 That was good to see that we were monitoring that well. 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:22.639 And so she has glitter all over her face. 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:25.920 And I say, Oh, you you look so beautiful. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:27.040 Look at all that glitter. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:28.079 Oh, you look so lovely. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:30.560 And she starts to cry, you know, great, I think, great. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:31.839 You know, I'm doing a good job, Dad. 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:33.199 This is a great moment here at bedtime. 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:34.720 I thought I was gonna have this great moment. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:42.480 She starts to cry and she says, Oh, oh, Dad, you know, I I got it's from the makeup kit, it's from my makeup kit, and I took my makeup kit. 00:05:42.560 --> 00:06:01.920 I came in the house, I got the makeup kit, and I went outside to do makeup on sisters and neighbors, and I went to do the makeup, and I got out there, and the big sisters they just took the makeup kit and they started to do all the makeup, and I wanted to do the makeup, but I got my makeup done, but I want to do the makeup on sisters, I want to do the makeup on the neighbors, and it's this big, you know, they were crying, big moment, right? 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:06.000 This is devastating, devastating, devastating stuff. 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:08.480 But real, all right, like real. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:12.319 Because she feels like she's been taken advantage of. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:17.279 She feels like she wasn't heard by the people and her friends that mean the most to her. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:20.560 Here's where this story actually helped me this week. 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:24.639 Because it would have been easy for me to go, like, oh, I'll get those sisters. 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:26.800 Like, you just wait, I'm gonna get them tomorrow. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:28.800 And you know, that's how we're gonna solve this problem. 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:33.040 And I sort of just resisted, I just I resisted that and I just repeated, right? 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:37.519 And I go, oh, think about Joshua, think about how God's communicating with Joshua. 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:39.920 Just repeat the same old promise. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:41.519 It's amazing how effective it is. 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:45.360 And you wouldn't think it would be such an effective way to parent, but it is. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:49.680 And I just said, Oh, that sounds that sounds really sad, babe. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:51.759 I'm sorry. 00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:54.319 But I I I love you. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:59.040 You know, mom and I we're we're for you and we are we are with you. 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:05.360 I mean, the problem the problem doesn't go away, you know, like the sisters are probably gonna like to steal that makeup kid tomorrow. 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:10.639 I mean, she's gonna have to deal with it with being one of the younger ones. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:16.879 Just knowing that there is a secure love for you. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:20.959 Changes everything. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:24.319 Settled her down. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:26.879 That's the thing we need to hear. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:28.639 John 14, 26. 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:40.959 But the helper, the comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring you to remembrance all that I have said to you. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:48.800 So the Holy Spirit's role is to teach us and remind us of that which has already been said and promised to us. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:53.120 This is how Jesus is describing the Spirit of God that lives inside of us. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:08:02.800 That Spirit of God that lives inside of you is there to teach you, remind you of the promises that Jesus has already promised to you. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:07.040 The word remembrance in that verse 26. 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:17.279 That word is from the Greek word hypomesco, which means to remind and regather, right? 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:24.000 So you're reminding, you're regathering old truths, or to awaken the mind. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:30.399 So the Spirit is awakening in you what is true about you. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:37.440 Your identity in Jesus, your forgiveness, your absolution, your righteousness, your worth. 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:40.480 That the cross really is enough. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:48.480 You don't have to keep performing, you don't have to escape, that God welcomes you and lavishes you with delight and love and acceptance. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:51.440 Those are the promises we need to hear over and over again. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:53.759 That's the life-changing stuff. 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:59.440 Back in this Joshua story in verse 11, it says that the God threw down those large stones. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:01.759 In case you're wondering, I was wondering, I Googled it. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:03.360 I was like, is that possible? 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:06.240 Like, are people dying of hail storms? 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.399 And so actually, yes, they do. 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:15.679 In the U.S., since the year 2000, so mind you, 20 years, four people have died in hailstones from hail. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:17.360 And so that does happen. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:19.200 I was curious, so now you know that. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:20.000 That's that's there. 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:25.519 And then God hears Joshua's prayer in verse 12 for the sun to stand still. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:31.919 Because Joshua wants to attack in the darkness, but he's traveling, he's traveling during the night, and so he's running out of daylight. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:36.720 I mean, running out of nighttime, and daylight's gonna come, but he wants to attack there, and so morning is coming. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:40.320 He needs more darkness, and so he prays for the sun to stand still. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:43.679 Verse 13, the text says the sun stopped. 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:45.919 Now, that could be a natural miracle. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:55.279 Very possible, not saying it's not, but the word stop is from the word damam, which means it can mean to be silent from shining. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:11.279 And so some commentators say, yeah, it could be a natural miracle, but it could also mean that God miraculously, also still miraculously, mind you, that somebody prayed in a storm, cloud storms come in that are so thick that it keeps darkness. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:14.000 And the Israelites could attack. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:20.559 And Joshua's army goes on to demolish all of this southern region of Canaan. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:27.519 And all the victories, just victory after victory, he goes through this Joshua tensions, just battle after battle, victory after victory. 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:29.919 They are all attributed to God. 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:46.639 And then we get to the key verse, verse 42, and Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time because, because the Lord, God of Israel, fought for Israel. 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:53.200 Point number two is this God is committed to be with us and to fight for us. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.879 God is committed to be with us and to fight for us. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:03.679 18 years ago, I was in seminary, and on Fridays I would I would go work out and then do all my seminary work all day. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:07.039 And so I was up at the gym early that morning. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:12.000 I know it doesn't look like it, but I actually did have some a little bit of muscles back then. 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:16.080 And I was on the bench press and I had 45-pound dumbbells. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:18.080 Can you believe I had 45-pound dumbbells, right? 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:20.080 I mean, I couldn't even pick that up now, but I actually did. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:26.399 I had 45-pound dumbbells, and I leaned back and I was pumping out my my, you know, doing my chest, getting my chest real big. 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:34.639 And before I kind of like lean up and kind of drop them, I look over and I see 110-pound dumbbells next to me, whoever this guy was. 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:36.480 110-pound dumbbells. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:37.679 That's all I see at first. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:42.480 I lean up, drop my little weenie 45-pound dumbbells, and I look over. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:44.000 There is this man. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:48.480 And he has perfect, his skin is perfect, first thing I notice. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:52.159 I mean, and I notice he's about the size of like, there's like four of me. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:56.960 Okay, so if you just take me and then like four, maybe six, maybe six, that's very possible. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.120 And then I look, his biceps were the size of my head. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:05.679 He's like the biggest man I've ever seen. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:15.120 And then I notice he had he has on a tank top, and and he has this tattoo that's like over his chest and wraps up over his shoulder. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:19.200 And I'm I'm like, you know, God, that's a depressive. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:20.159 I'm a little scared. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:21.679 We're right next to each other. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:27.840 I look at his face, I kind of recognize the guy. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:31.679 Not like I'm friends with him, but I'm like, I think I like I know him. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:34.080 I can't place them though, like, but I kind of recognize him. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:37.440 I'm thinking about, thinking about, you know, I leave, I drive home on my way home. 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:39.120 This is, mind you, it's 18 years ago. 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:41.600 I'm thinking about it, so I didn't just like pull it up on my phone. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:43.200 I got to get home to Google it. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:50.960 So finally I get home, you know, dial up the internet, and then I Google it and I try to figure out like big guy tattooed, like it takes me a little bit. 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:53.200 It was The Rock, is who it was. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.159 I mean, this is my big, this is my big brush with fame. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:58.480 I mean, like now he's a Hollywood action hero. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:02.879 Back then he was a like a top wrestler, and he was there to wrestle. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:04.399 And so we worked out together. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:05.200 I like to say that. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:10.320 That's the point of the story is that I worked out with The Rock, you know, 45 pounds and 110 pounds. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:13.200 But here's the real point of the story, the greater point. 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:22.080 Is the entire time I was in the gym that morning, I felt more secure than any other ordinary morning. 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:27.440 Meaning this, if anything's going down in that gym, it's gonna be fine. 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:30.639 All I gotta do is fall right in behind the rock. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:33.120 If anybody comes into that gym, they're gonna cause problems. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:36.240 If there's a little ruckus, if anything's gonna happen, it's fine. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:37.279 He is there. 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:38.639 I'm gonna be fine. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:48.159 All I gotta do is just kind of be friendly with him and know if anything goes down, I'm tucking right in behind him and I will be fine because something changes. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:53.519 Something changes when you know you have a fighting force with you. 00:13:54.159 --> 00:14:01.039 Even if things are hard, just to know you have, just to know you have a fighting force for you. 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:05.519 So maybe you battle condemnation. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:10.879 Maybe you battle self-righteousness or the judgment of like, oh, uh you know, oh, that they wear masks. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:14.000 They're a they're a person who wears masks when they go to you know public. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:17.600 So they don't wear masks, so I'll judge them or I'll judge other person. 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:21.919 You know, so maybe, maybe that's the new challenge of the day, is that judgment. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:25.679 Perhaps shame is on a track inside of you, just replays. 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:30.639 Uncertainty and anxiety are certainly, it's certainly going to be new battles for us. 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:33.440 And the battles don't go away. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:42.879 I'm not saying any of these battles will go away, but what I am saying, what the text is saying, is it's saying that God is for you and with you in the battle. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:46.720 He doesn't leave us. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:48.559 He isn't disappointed in you. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:52.080 He welcomes your weakness as to give you strength. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:54.480 And some of the battles are already taken care of. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:15:06.639 Meaning, none of those anxieties, none of those fears, none of that sin, none of that shame actually defines the core of who you are because you are a child of God and the work of Christ Jesus. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:09.600 Now, there are some gospel implications for this for our lives. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:10.480 I think there's three. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:13.200 Perhaps these fit into your life in some way. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:18.799 Number one is this quiet your heart to hear the promises of God's love and presence to you. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:20.159 Maybe you need to do that a little bit. 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:25.360 Maybe you're just rushing into the day, maybe you're just rushing from one thing to the next, one anxiety to the next. 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:34.159 You just need to quiet down, slow down to hear the promises what's already been promised to you of God's love and God's presence. 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:36.000 I wonder what you would hear. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:42.159 Number two, you can move more confidently because the Holy Spirit of God lives in you. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:44.799 You can begin to live more confidently. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:49.919 Number three, you can repent quicker because you are secure. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:56.399 You can repent quicker and love more deeply as faith expresses itself in love. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:04.159 You can quiet your heart, you can move confidently, you can repent quicker, and you can love more deeply. 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:10.000 All week I kept returning to that word remember in John 14. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:12.720 What promises do I need to remember? 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:15.600 What am I need to awaken to? 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:24.240 And I was led to Romans 8, 14 and 15, because the promise that God was giving to Joshua is, don't fear, don't fear, do not fear, do not fear. 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:25.440 I'm with you, do not fear. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:27.200 Romans 8, 14 and 15. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:45.440 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters, sons and daughters of God, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, for you have received the spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by whom we cry, Abba Father. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:48.000 Now it's not that we won't be afraid. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:49.840 Don't hear that. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:52.240 We will still be afraid at times. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:17:15.119 It's just that that fear doesn't have to define us or bind us because we are at the core children of God, followers of Jesus, and God has promised, and we have it in the Holy Spirit to promise inside of us that He's with us and He's for us. 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:17.359 All of us woke up this morning. 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:24.000 And when you woke up, you you know you opened your eyes, and maybe you wake up quick, like my wife Christy does, or I wake up slow, takes me a while. 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:26.160 I'm a processor, any process to wake up. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:31.039 And eventually I you know I wake up, I look around, and I have to remember. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:34.319 When I wake up, I have to remember that this is the house I live in. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:36.160 It's like I come out of a different world. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:37.359 Oh, this is the house I live in. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:38.079 You know, look over. 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:40.160 Hopefully, you're happy about the person you're next to. 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:42.319 I hope that for you, you remember where your phone is. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.960 You remember you have three kids or two kids or no kids. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.119 You remember your job or what you need to do that day. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:51.119 You remember all, you awaken and you have to remember all these things. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:53.680 We awaken over and over and over again. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:57.839 We have to be reminded of what is real and what is true. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:00.640 And the Spirit of God is in you. 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:07.519 Even now, the Spirit of God is in you, reminding you that you do not have to be a slave to fear. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:09.920 You are a child of God. 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:12.880 So, my brothers and sisters, awaken. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:14.480 Awaken. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.359 God is with you and God is for you. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:18.319 Let's pray together. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:26.720 God, thank you for your grace and mercy to us that we have victory in Jesus, which means that our sin is taken care of. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:30.480 There's no voice of condemnation from you to us. 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:36.319 That the enemies of condemnation and sin are taken care of and we are forever yours. 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:57.039 And while we will walk through this world with battles, battles of shame, battles of condemnation, battles of sin, battles of obstacles and feelings and emotions, none of that has to define us or enslave us, but we process through it with you as you are for us and you are with us. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:08.000 Thank you for the promise of the Spirit that is in us, that we are your children, and that we get to call you Abba Father. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:11.599 That you are faithful to us. 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:13.200 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:13.839 Amen.