There is a very real war going on in our world. There is a huge cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil, God and Satan, and the turf up for grabs is the human heart. The Apostle Paul tells us, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against… the spiritual forces in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
God wants to bless us unimaginably with His love and grace through Jesus and the gospel, but our great enemy Satan will do anything and everything possible to distract us and rob us of the joy of life with Jesus. All too often, we forget the war, where it’s fought, and how it’s fought. And when we forget the war, we unwittingly fall prey to the enemy’s tactics. The 4-week THIS IS WAR series will help us to see the reality of spiritual warfare, the enemies we’re up against, the ultimate victory of Jesus Christ, and the weapons we’re given to fight the good fight. Here’s the battle plan for the next 4 weeks:
October 9 – The War
October 16 – The Enemy
October 23 – The Victor
October 30 – The Weapons
Join us each Sunday in October. Your life, your relationships, our world, and God’s kingdom depend upon it!
To listen to the messages, go HERE.
I’m looking forward to it.
I will be praying also.
I’m very excited about this series. My family and I have just been talking about the spriritual warfare and how it affects each of us.
I can testify to the truth that the battle is all around us. I work at a local craft store, and several of the employees there are practicing wickens. Sometimes you can almost physically feel the battle going on around the store. I pray continually and would also like to suggest it as a good place to prayer walk if anyone is in the Redmond area.
I agree with Paula, in that Wickens and other even worse groups are out in force, and are actively involved in trying to break apart our families, homes, marriages, etc. We ARE at war and we really have no idea how it has stepped up hugely lately. We need this series.
I look forward to getting tools, etc.
What do you think of this idea I heard ~20 years ago:
one of Satan’s prime warfare methods against Christians in certain areas, including Seattle, is to lull and anesthetize us into thinking there’s no war, thus we can relax and sit it out. More effective than open war?
k-y, the illusion of “no war” is a huge tactic of the war… think c.s. lewis’ Screwtape Letters. i think that’s the enemy’s favorite strategy for western christians.
Looking forward to hearing part two. Last week was amazing and I have seen the war all around me. Thank you for the perfect timing and you talent in delivering the message in a way that makes us (my husband and I) count down the days until the following Sunday!
Pastor – great series! I was wondering if you could post a copy of the story you read about the missionaries and the snake in their house? I would love to show that to my kids.
brittany, here’s the link to the sermon manuscript (it also has the link to the full story from Christianity Today): http://blogs.nsb.org/jonathanalexander/2011/10/spiritual-warfare-the-enemy/
Jonathan,
This series is so informative especially with the scriptures shared with your teachings. This series is so RIGHT for our World’s condition and situation at the present. Thanks for leading us in “This Is The War.”
john, thanks for the encouragement. it has been a very timely series for all of our lives and for our church. thanks for being engaged in the war!
Hi Jonathan,
Thank you for your diligence and perseverence in preparing this message, which was timely and well done! Thank you for being transparent with your own struggles. I appreciate your honesty. Thank you for posting the transcripts on your blog. This helps me when reviewing, to recall and remember what was taught.
Appreciatively,
Debbie
thanks debbie… the THIS IS WAR series was amazing for me as well. it sharpened my focus on the invisible world and supernatural, spiritual battlefield. thanks for your encouragement. I’m praying that you would fight the good fight from teh victory of Jesus!