3.6.26
Hey, Calvary Fremont –
The devil wants to destroy your faith, divide your family, define your weakness, defy your convictions, dilute your love, damage your witness, and fill your thoughts with doubletalk, drivel, and hogwash. The weekly sermon is intended to strengthen you in all these areas. The weekly sermon is meant to be the means whereby God wraps His protective presence around your life and seeks to counteract all these schemes of the devil. The weekly sermon brings before the eyes of your soul the grace of God, the love of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
One of the pastoral practices of Jesus was to guard His followers from the devil – John 17:12. Those who follow Jesus still need protection against the schemes of Satan. The devil wants to trip you up, push you down, and stomp on your face. He tempts you to click the link to the porn page on your laptop, to hate the person who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with you politically and justify that long-held grudge against your brother-in-law. The devil instills fear, engenders doubt, invades your thoughts, and interrupts your prayers. Yes, the devil is real. Yes, there is supernatural evil. Irrational hatred, crushing oppression, and mind-numbing greed all testify to the fact that Satan is alive and well on planet Earth. Even those who don’t believe in the devil are snared by his schemes and trapped in his webs. Yes, we need protection against the schemes of Satan.
I saw a Facebook reel featuring an American battleship defending itself from an aerial assault. As enemy planes flew towards it to bomb and sink it, the ship fired off thousands of rounds of ammo. This blanket of bullets on steroids protected the battleship from the planes as they flew into the path of the ammo and were shredded. So, the Lord desires to surround you with His protection and thus shred the schemes of Satan in your life.
Each week, your pastor’s sermon is meant to function like that battleship, firing off a cluster of Satan-shredding, devil-destroying, demon-defeating barrages. Each week, you are reminded that Jesus is Lord who commands your obedience; Jesus is Savior who forgives all your sins; Jesus is the Good Shepherd who leads you in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake; Jesus is your Refuge in whom you find shelter; Jesus is the Way to God; Jesus is the Truth of God; Jesus is the Life of God. Each week, in one way or another, you are brought face-to-face God’s wisdom that unmasks the schemes of the devil meant to bomb and sink you.
May you have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
Be blessed and stay healthy and follow Jesus – Pastor Tim
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