Pastor Matt:
Well, good morning church and a big happy Father's Day to all of the dads in the house. I wanna start the message time just a little bit differently today and I actually wanna start with a very targeted prayer time for fathers. Here's why, because we know a couple things. Number one, we know that it is a high calling to be a dad. There are so many responsibilities and we know ultimately, and we're gonna talk about this in a few minutes, we know that so goes the dad so goes the family. So before we jump into the word this week, I just wanna pause and I want us to pray a very specific prayer of blessing, of encouragement and of discernment for all fathers. We're gonna do it a little bit differently today. I'm gona invite in just a second a couple of just what I would call great dads that are just so, so, so inspiring.
I'm gonna invite Rod Smith in just a second, just a father that loves his family and disciples them well and a young father, Matt Godfrey, another one of our just dads that stands for the calls of Christ. But for you and the audience, dads, here's what I want you to do today. It's gonna put you out of your comfort zone a little bit, but suck it up buttercup. It's Father's Day, right? If you are a father in the room, I just want you to stand. Just stand where you're at with you real fast so that we can pray over you and now that I've got you standing and this is gonna, it's gonna be a little bit weird for some of you, okay? I want you to make your way to the closest aisle and I just want you to come cram down here onto the front of this room, all right?
I want you to come down and when you get down here, I just want you to put your hand on another shoulder of a father in the room. Now I know some of you are like, "I told you we shouldn't go. It's Father's Day." But hey, get over it. It's Father's Day, all right? 'Cause I want us to see just a picture of what it looks like for men to look at other men and to go, "We've got this. " And I just want us to pray together this morning to begin the message time. And listen, if you are a mom, if you're a daughter, if you're a son, whoever you are in the room, here's what I want you to do today. I want you to pray over whoever the dad in the room is for you, whoever the closest one is. And I just want you to pray for discernment.
I want you to pray for God's spirit to rule in them. I just want you to pray a blessing on their life. And I'm gonna invite these two guys just to voice prayer over all of us as fathers that we would stand in the gap of our families, okay? Let's put your hand on another shoulder of your dad around you and let's pray together. Matt, would you start us?

Matt G.:
Yeah. Oh, heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you that you are our perfect Father. Thank you so much that, uh, Jesus gives us the perfect example, uh, that takes the pressure off of us because none of us are perfect, Lord. And I just pray a blessing upon these men. I thank you for their roles and their family's life where they're a, a dad, a granddad, a great granddad, or, or just a son. And, uh, Lord, we thank you for men in the church and for them standing up. And I just pray that you would give them courage to stand up in the pressures of life, Lord, that they're the same men in person by themselves in church, at work, and whatever they do for their hobby, Lord, may it be the same person. I just pray a blessing upon them, Jesus. Bless their wife, bless their kids, bless them.
May they grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor of God and man all the days of their life and give them strength to follow you in all, uh, circumstances, Lord. And give thanks.

Rod S.:
Father, thank you. What a beautiful sight is to see all these men lined up. Fathers who are here, who are leading their families, bringing them to church. Father, I'm so thankful for their leadership. I, I wanna say thank you for my own dad and the way he made that proclamation before I was even born where he said our family will always be in church. Despite the culture, despite the, uh, other things when we would say, "Dad, we don't wanna go. " He always had us there. And Lord, the, the legacy is a four generations later we're still seeing the benefits. Lord, I just lift up these men. I pray for spiritual foundation for each of them. I pray for even the young men in the church who, who are not married yet are not fathers, but they're here and they're creating a foundation that they will use someday.
Lord, I thank you for our church, just the opportunity to honor these men today. We love you in Jesus' name. Amen.

Pastor Matt:
Amen. Amen. All goods people said. Amen. Amen. Would you just give all the fathers in a house a hand as they head back to their seats? They're never coming again. I'll tell you that, but they're here today. Hey, let me tell you as they are getting settled, uh, let me just tell you what we're going to do and actually what I'm going to do today. What I'm going to do today is, ladies, I am going to specifically speak to the men of the house today, all right? I'm going to specifically speak to the men of the house and I can do that, ladies, because, here's why I can. Because unlike us men, I don't have to put things on the bottom shelf for you, all right? When I speak to the men, ladies, you have enough brain power to contextualize it. You know how to apply it.
Unlike if I did this on Mother's Day, just for the ladies to the dudes, I would have to put it on the bottom shelf. All right? So ladies, as I am speaking to the men today, I promise you that this also applies to you, all right? You can do it. You can connect the dots. But men, I'm going to need you to buckle, buckle up buttercup, all right? Because today it is going to punch us right in the mouth, all right? It is really gonna do that. And here's what I'm gonna do today. I'm gonna give us some thoughts. I'm gonna give us some warnings and then we're gonna roll into what I would just kinda call some of the biggest tactics that Satan uses to destroy men and destroy families. All right. If you got a copy of scripture today, I want you to turn with me to one Peter chapter five, all right?
First Peter chapter five is where we're gonna land for the majority of the morning and allow Peter to give us some encouragement and warnings. But as you're finding one Peter chapter five, I wanna give you some context by allowing the apostle Paul at the end of his letter to the Corinthians. In one Corinthians 16, there are two verses there, men, that can actually give us a rally cry. They can give us our marching orders and they can give us a reshaping of how we live, how we treat others and what should motivate us. All righ? So one Corinthians chapter 16, Paul is at the end of this message to the Corinthians. He's reminding him them of everything that he has already said. He's given the final challenge and then listen to this rally cry and then we'll get to one Peter chapter five. First Corinthians 16 says this starting in verse 13.
Paul says this, men. He says, "Be watchful." In other words, get your head out of the sand, right? That's what he's saying. Look around. You're here for a reason. That's what he's saying. Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. He's saying, "Hey, not as a wishy-washy here in there believer." He's looking at us saying, "You're here for a reason. Here's the charge to us. He's saying that Jesus should be our true north, that he should be what we pursue no matter what. " Says, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith." Watch what he says here. Man not ever seen it. Act like men and be strong. Act like men and be strong. In other words, there is a high calling of mahood and there is a difference. There's a strength given. There's a purpose given. There's a role given. Now, before you think we're on some toxic masculinity message, stay tuned.
Just watch this. Stay with me. Verse 14. Watch the end of it. He says, "And let all that you do, men. Let all that you do be done in love. Be done in love." In other words, love is the motivator. Love is the arms that wraps its way around this. All right? There's two things about this verse that really got to me, all right, really got to me. The first one is men that we need to act like men. We need to act like men. Now what culture says men should be not some skewed image of what some men should be, but we need to act like men. And then the rest of the descriptors that are in this passage actually give us some ways that we can act like men. Now, the first thing that Paul brings up in acting like a men is the idea that we need to, what did he say?
We need to be watchful. We need to be watchful. We need to watch out. We need to be on watch. Now we can kind of get the gist of what that means. It's kind of, like I said earlier, to get our head out of the sand, to put our head on a swivel, to watch out for what's going on. But actually this term watch out or be watchful is a military term. It's not just an easy common term. It's a term that gives us purpose, that gives us a way to live and it actually gives us a calling. It's a military term, meaning men to be a man is to be watchful. It's to be watchful. It's to be protective. It's part of our calling. But why? Have you ever thought about why this is the first thing on Paul's lifts? Here's why, and we forget this sometimes.
We need to be watchful people because the reality is we're at war. We're at war. Now, when I say we're at war, I'm not talking about whatever your, your image on the other side of the globe is right now. What I mean by that is this. The Bible says that we are at war. It says that there is an enemy that is out there, that there is a thief that is out there and all the thief and the enemy wants to do is to steal, to kill and to destroy you. And, and here's the deal, what the point that Paul is making is that if you don't know that you're in a fight and if you don't know that you're in a war and if you're not watching out for it, you will get sucker punched. That's what it means. You know what a sucker punch is?
It means you're the sunker and you just got punched and you didn't know it was coming, right? That's what it means. So what Paul is leaning into here is he's saying, men, we have to be people that are watching. We have to be people that are awar- a- aware. We have to be people that know that there is an enemy that wants to take you out and we have to be people that realize that God has put us on a wall. He has put us there as the propa- as the protector, as the provider, as the priest, as the servant, as the king, and as the voice of God for our families. And here's what the enemy wants to do. The enemy wants to take you, man, out as the defender of your family, because if he can take the defender out by definition, it has left the family defenseless.
That's why Paul is leaning into this so strongly. I'm not by any means saying that, "Ladies don't have words. I'm not doing that at all. But what I am saying is this, man, get your head out of the sand and protect your family and walk in the name of Jesus." That's what Paul is saying. That's why I can say, so goes the dad so goes the family. So men and really everybody else that, that has listened to this, listening to this, listen, listen, we forget that we're in a fight sometimes. So Paul says, "Watch out. " But not only does it say watch out in scripture in one Peter chapter five, what Peter does is he actually digs into it a little bit stronger. He uses that same watch out later on in the text. But in one Peter chapter five, what Peter does is he gives us some things that we should watch out for.
He gives us some things that we should live out watch out for because he knows Peter who knows what some of the largest methods or methodeas are in Satan's arsenal and he knows that the same things of Peter's day are the same things in our day. And he knows that the enemy wants to take us out. So one Peters chapter five, Peter is speaking to the men. He's speaking to the elders of the church and he's looking into them and he's saying, "Hey, listen, these are ways that Satan wants to get a foothold into your life, therefore get a foothold into your family's life. So here's what you can do about it. " Let me read you the text of how we can defeat Satan. One Peter five, verse six, starting all the way to 11. It says this. Peter says, "Humble yourselves. Therefore, under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up and do time." He says, "Cast your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
" Look at verse eight. Watch what he says. Be alert. In other words, watch out. It's the same phrase in the Greek. Be alert and of sober mind, your enemy that devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour, resist him standing firm in the faith because you know that the family of believers throughout the whole world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. Verse 10, "And the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered for a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong firm and steadfast. And to him, be the power forever and ever amen." So listen, in this one little group of verses right here, in this one little text, we see some of the mis- most historic war tactics of Satan in Peter's day and in our day.
Church, remember this, remember, remember, remember, this is the same demons. It's just a different day, right? It's the same tactics. It's just a different time. Remember this about the Bible. The Bible is not just a powerful old book. It's a powerful revel- relevant book. The Bible is not just a book that tells us what has happened. It tells us what always happens. So when we look at what Peter is mentioning here, what you're about to see is the same tactics of Satan that he used then are the same ones today. So what I wanna do today is I just wanna walk us through four of the most common tactics from this text. Now there are way many more that we as men that we as believers need to understand because there is a war for our soul. Now let me give you a little disclaimer right here.
About a month ago, I read this book, Stand Firm and act like a man. All right. Stand firm and act like a man. Man, it rocked my world. And a lot of what I'm saying today comes right out of this book from Joby Martin. So listen, dudes, read this book. Mamas, don't do this. Don't go on Amazon right now and buy for your man. Make him stand up and act like a man and buy it for himself. I just saw the Amazon cards illuminated, all right? So this is what I wanna do, okay? This is what I wanna do. I wanna walk you through four from this text of the tactics of Satan that take us out. Here's number one, and you'll see what I'm saying. Number one, Satan uses pride. He uses pride. This is where it all started. In verse five, watch, he not only gives us this idea that pride takes us down, but he gives us the warning with an antidote look at verse six.
Watch what he says. One Peter five: six. Peter says this, "Humble yourselves therefore." In other words, hey, you're at war, but humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up and do time. Can, can I tell you the biggest, the biggest problem with pride? The biggest problem with pride is that we rarely see it in ourselves. Can I get an amen there? We are very good at seeing it in other people though, right? I've, I've, I, I don't know if I've ever met a man that said, "Hey, can I just tell you my biggest struggles pride?" <laugh> No. I've never met anybody to say that, but I've met a lot of people that went, "That's a prideful man right there, right?" The biggest problem with pride is we see it in others, but when we look in the mirror, we never see it in ourselves.
In fact, some of you right now are like, "Man, I need to send this message to my brother-in-law." You're the problem, right? That's prideful. Pride is simply thinking too highly of ourselves. Pride is simply looking too highly at ourselves. And there's warnings about it all over the Bible. Evidently, the Apostle Paul had something about it because he talks about it all the time. The most clear verse about it comes from Romans chapter 12, verse three, where Paul literally says, "Don't think of yourself more highly than you ought." In other words, "Hey, listen, you can think about it yourself all the while you want to, but you need to see yourself through the lens of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done in you. Pride is quite literally this. When we compare ourselves to other people and not the creator, eternal provider of the universe.
Pride is when we compare ourselves to other people that we walk with instead of the one that has created us, sustained us and saved us. Pride is thinking that the world is all about me. Pride is thinking, you'll never say this out loud, but this whole world is a movie about me starring me and you're just supporting me. And pride is when I take a light off of the creator, God of the universe and I shine it on myself. Let me bring it down to the bottom shelf. Pride is looking at a group photo and only caring what you look like.
That one's wild. Uh, that's bad, man. Don't, don't step in my business right there, right? But that's pride. Pride is seeing everything through the lens of me. You see, the real struggle is, is that it just removes my gaze off the one that has given me life and it puts it on the on that is, that is not eternal. Let me ask you a couple questions that maybe can help you see if maybe this is a struggle for you. Do you always seek the credit? L- let me ask it like this. Do you always have to be right? Are you always looking for a thank you in the mix? Do other, do, do, do you hope others are looking at you? It might be a struggle for you and it's bigger problem than you think. But what does the Bible say to do when you're prideful?
It's, it's quite simple. It's the first words, right? Humble yourself. Humble yourself. Can, can I tell you something, man? Humility is not a personality type or a spiritual gift. It's a discipline in your life. You can't look at other people and go, "Well, they were just born more humble than me. " No, it is a spiritual problem in our lives. And here's the key with humility and humbling ourselves. The reality is, is that one day we are all going to bow at the feet of God and be humbled. So here's what I propose to you. Why don't we do it now where God can be the sustainer of our salvation and lift us up versus being one day he is the sustainer of only judgment and it's too late. You see, we're gonna be humbled one day. You, you do realize that Jesus wins, right?
You do, you do realize that no matter how highly you think of yourself, it is not the truth and that he is the most powerful thing of the universe. Jesus may have come as a little baby on that first time in a manger and a Christmas time and had a cool little song sang about him. But listen to me, the next time he comes, we're all gonna bow down to him no matter where we're at because he's gonna come riding on a horse with a sword with fiery eyes and he's gonna come in justice with judgment and he's gonna come in a white robe. And you know the only person that wears white to a fight is somebody that's gonna win and do it quick, right? That's how he's coming. So what, what I'm saying is why don't we, why don't we humble ourselves now so that he can lift us up on the day that he returns rather than lift ourselves up now to where we bow and it's too late in judgment.
So humble yourselves. But, but how do we do that? Scripture's pretty clear. It says that we humble ourselves by worshiping the one that has made us. Why? Because worship is literally giving him the worth that he desires. It's, it, uh, worship is literally us saying that, God, you are worthy and I'm not. You win and I'm your son. I'm your daughter. You are the answer and the world is not. You are the ones that's the master and I am your worship tears down pride in our life because it removes the spotlight off of us and it puts the spotlight on him. Do, you do realize that's why we do like 28 minutes every week of worship, right? It's not like some Christian karaoke that the TED Talk's coming later. No. It's a moment in our life where we can take the focus off of me and put it on he.
That's what it is. That's why I never give credence on somebody that's like, "I just don't like that song. I just want to say to do another song. Listen, it ain't about you. It's about him and giving him the glory. Pride is this about me. Worship is this about him. So what do we do when we prideful? We humble ourselves. That's the number one. Maybe that's not you. All right, we got three more. Here they are. Number two is this, tactic of Satan is what I would just kind of call worry and anxiety. If number one is pride and God tells us to humble ourselves to, to not give Satan our foothold. Number two is worry and anxiety. And oh boy, this is a tactic of Satan. Now, we don't like to admit it as dudes, but it is, right? Let, let, actually, let, let's do this, little exercise.
Let me be, let me be honest with you. How many of you, how many of you would be honest today? How many of you would just raise your hand and go, Hey, listen, Matt, I struggle with worry. How many of you are now? I mean, let's just do it straight ahead. Sit here like, uh, man, I'm a little worried about raising my hand. Right? That's how it is. <laugh> You're like, "What am I gona do? You gonna make me come to the front and pray over me? No, right? I'm not gonna do that. " But, but, but listen, it's a struggle. It's a struggle. Look at verse seven. Watch what he says about it. Here's the antidote to worry. He says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. He cares for you. " Do you see that? If pride is to humble ourselves before God, what does he say?
If w- if it's worry and anxiety that's getting the foothold, what does he say? He says, cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. He, here's the deal about worry. I don't know if you know this, but Satan is really good at his job. I mean, he's been doing it since the beginning, right? He's really, really good. And here's what he does, guys. Here's what he does. He, he twists things and he turns things and he, and he twists God's promises in our minds to make us think, are those really even true? And, and here's the deal. God has given us men. He's given all of us. And so some massive responsibilities that we're going to be accountable for one day. But here's what Satan does. He makes his way into our minds and then what happens in our minds is what really matters begins to shift and then we really, who is control in control really begins to shift.
And then before you know it, here's where worry comes from. It comes from this idea that we take the idea of God being in control and I put myself into the spot of me being in control. And listen, when I'm in control, I should be worried. But when I can realize that God has the whole world in his hands, you see, my worry can become worship and my worry can become being set free and my worry can become God. You have done it always and you will do it again and my worry can be moved out of my life. How did the Bible say that this happens? What does it say? This is we need to cast our worry. We need to throw our worry. We need to give our worry. We need to abandon our worry. How do we do it? By realizing who God is and in faith with prayer asking God to move in our life.
Why? Because worry ... Do you ever talk, have you ever thought about this? Worry is really like anti-prayer.
I've heard it said like this. You can't worry and pray at the same time because one says it's all about me and my control and one says, God, you've done it and you're going to do it again and you are in control. You see, you can't do it. If you do, they're, they're going to cancel each other out and nothing is going to move in your life. You can't worry and pray. I love how the apostle Paul talks about this in Philippians chapter four. Listen to what he says. He says this. Philippians four: five, he says, "The Lord is near." Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. So in your mind, fit your, fit your God is, is, is, is standing at a counseling session right here. And, and Paul is saying, listen, listen, when you're, when you're worried, when you're anxious, when it begins to rise up, when that lump gets in your throat, what do you do?
He said it four times. We pray. He uses four different words for prayer. He doesn't just use pray once. Four different words. Why? Because when we pray, we connect our hearts to God's heart. When our heart's connected with God's heart, God has the ability to do something about the situation. Actually, look at the promise in verse seven. He says this. When we do that, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. You, you see what happens, right? When you place your worry and anxiety onto praying to the God of the universe that can do something, when you cast it to him, I'm not talking about like, "Hey, I'm casting for the fish and bringing it back in. " I'm talking about you're taking it and throwing it and leaving it. God puts up the defense.
God puts up the guard. God moves and God gives us what we need in the moment. You might not even understand we just read, right? How he's doing it. You ever met that person that is walking through what I would just kind of call that valley of the shadow of death moment, but they still have joy, they still have hope and they still have trust. You ever seen that and you're like, "What in the world? Where does that come from?" It comes from the fact that they've learned this right here. They've learned how to cast and not just bring it back in. They've learned how to realize that God is in control and they are not. So listen, pride wants to take us down. So Peter says, "Humble yourselves and realize who God is. " He says, "Worry and anxiety wants to take us down, but God says, Give it to me.
I can move. And if neither one of those are you, here's number three. Here's a tactic of Satan that he absolutely uses in men's life laziness.
Laziness. Or, or, or let me call it this because it'll sound more spiritual idleness, right? Doesn't that sound much better? Idleness. Or you can say it like this, not just idleness. How about this? Just giving away the responsibilities that God has given me and hoping somebody else does it. Listen, men, we are called to work, to provide and to defend for our families. We are called to do that. And, and let me just bottom shelf it right here. A lazy man spiritually or physically is a dangerous man. It's a dangerous man to all the ladies in the house just said amen. They didn't want to say it because they didn't get in trouble. It's dangerous. Why? Because Satan uses it. Do you, have you ever realized it's hard to get in trouble when you're working, moving, providing and serving? People used to get on me all the time when I was a student pastor like, "Man, you're running these kids on the ground.
You got them up at five in the morning. They're up till midnight every single night. Why are you doing it? " Because of this right here. It's hard to get in trouble when you're working.
Isn't it in the idol moments that Satan begins to knock on the heart? Isn't it in the darkness and not in the light when nobody else is around when Satan begins to come in and put the thoughts in? Isn't it in the endless scrolling of laziness that Satan begins to go, "Well, what if I ended up over there? Or is the grass really greener there? Peter says it like this. Watch all these action words, man. Ladies, watch these action words. One Peter five: eight, he says this. Be alert. Be of sober mind. You know what that is? Just a clear mind. The enemy of the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. We'll get to that in a minute, but look at these action words in verse nine. He says this, resist him standing firm in the fate. You see all of this.
Listen, when we are fighting for our calling, when we are serving, when we are moving forward, it is so much harder for Satan to get a foothold in our lives. Remember King David? Probably the best example of this in the whole scriptures. A man after God's on heart? Do you remember the one phrase that took everything in David's life south? It is this, when it was in the springtime, when the kings were off to war, then he was on his couch and lazy and ended up sleeping with Basheba and killing her husband. Why? Because he was advocating his responsibilities and not walking in the faith. Jesus says it like this. Just follow me. It's an act of oriented faith. Men, are you Are you spiritually lazy or are you pursuing the faith? Are you walking in the faith with everything, with all grit that you have?
Mark 12, the great commitment in verse 30 just says this, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and what? With all your strength." Do you see that it's almost like it's all I can do to hold on to what I'm doing. Look, Satan cares less if you know Jesus and you're lazy. He care less. He's got you right where he wants you. Satan cares less if you know Jesus, man, and you are advocating your responsibility to lead your home because he's got you right where he wants you. Satan uses idleness. Here's the fourth one, just in case none of those have put you in the mouth so far. Number four is this. Satan uses, number four, isolation. He uses isolation. I, I got news for you, ladies. Look at me right here. Your man, your man is an expert isolationist.
Expert. He has perfected how to do it and actually he would rather do it. I, I think it's for two reasons. Number one is, is small reason, but number two is the real reason. The first reason men are, are, have perfected isolationism is number one is that, is that really most men just could care less what other people think of them, right? So they're not out there trying to impress anybody. They just don't care. But here's the second one. Here's the real reason most men are isolationist because most men think, and I quote, "I got this. I got this. " And most men think, "Hey, I can do this on my own." And, and let me, let me tell you from pastor men, you ain't got it in you and you can't do it on your own. You, you, you just can't. You can't. Listen, listen, listen, let me lean in here.
Men, actually ladies too, you were created in the image of God and God said, "It is not good for you to be alone." Do you realize that even God is in a triune relationship with himself? Do you realize that Jesus at the moment when he was taken on the sin of the world, he wasn't doing it by himself. He brought three of his friends with him to be with him, to pray with him, to walk with him. And listen, if the creator of the universe, Jesus, needs other men in his life, men, who are you to think you can do it on your own? You can't. You don't got this and you will never got this. You say, Matt, where is that in the scripture? Look at verse eight. Watch what he says. It says, "Be alert and have sober mind," watch what he says.
"Your enemy, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. "Now look, you've seen the animal planet, right? You've seen it every single time a lion eats something on the animal planet. It is always the slow, isolated one in the back that is by themself. It's never the one in the pack. It's never the one that's surrounded by other people. Why? There's too many horns. There's too many things to kick this line. There's too many people around, too many animals around. The herd exists to protect the pack, especially when one is weak, when one is struggling, when one is isolated. Men, you need other men in your corner. You need them. And this is an amazing picture of what the church should be in your life and how the church should be around you in your life and how the church should be walking with you in your life with other men that know exactly what is going on in your life and what it's doing for you.
In fact, look at verse nine. Watch what it says. It says," Resist him standing firm in the faith because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. This is biblical community, is it not? As we get together, we understand we're all struggling together. We're moving together. We're walking together. They're all present. We're all relate. Men, do you have this in your life? I'm not talking about the Facebook friend that you met in 1986. I'm talking about you got some brothers in your life that know you, that walk with you, that have full permission to call you out, they have full permission to punch you in the mouth when you deserve it to keep you from going off the cliff. Man, I love, I love Mark chapter two where that paralyzed man was just taken up by those four guys on all four corners of that mat.
He couldn't get himself there, but those four brothers brought him to the feet of Jesus. Men?
That's what I'm talking about. We need each other. We need each other. How does that happen? That happens in a life group. That happens in, in, in men's mentoring. We'll talk about it in just a minute. And I promise you, when you jump into those groups, man, I promise you, you're gonna see that all the other men are just as messed up as you are. And they need people to walk with them. So Satan uses pride. He uses worry and anxiety. He uses laziness. He uses isolation. But what happens if we lay down our pride? What happens if we pray and trust God? What happens if we get moving in our faith and we move out of that isolationist and we get some other men around us? Watch what Peter says. Watch how he closes this thing out. He says, "Yeah, you know what, you're in a fight.
You're in a fight. There's gonna be some bruising. There's gonna be some times where you get punched. The enemy's coming." But watch this in verse 10. Watch what he says when we correct it. He says, "In the God of all grace." In other words, God knows that we're gonna struggle. He knows that we need his grace in second chance and the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ. That's what he's called you to, not just today. He's called you to eternity. Watch this. And after you have suffered for a little while, he will himself, oh, watch what God wants to do to you. Restore you and make you strong, firm, instead fast. Listen to me, man. It's not too late and you're not too far gone. God can get you out. God can make you strong again. God can give you the power that you have never had.
God can do in you what you never thought you could do. In fact, look at verse 11. He reminds us to him be the power forever and ever amen.
Look at me no matter what your past is. No matter how many of these that you have fallen to over and over and over. Here's what God wants to do. It was in verse 10. He wants to restore you. He wants to strengthen you. He wants to firm you up and he wants to make you unwavering. But man, here's what he's waiting on. He's waking on uh, waiting on us to take a step of faith in his direction. So here's the invitation today. It's quite simple. Number one, for some of you, you need to finally surrender and allow the wall of your heart to be broken down and allow Jesus to radically save you. You need to do that. For some of you, you know Jesus, but if you were straight honest, Satan has a foothold right now and you need God to radically move in your life and set you free to make you strong, to restore you, to firm you up.
And here's the great part about it. God wants to do it. And he just simply invites us to fall at his feet and say, "Here I am, Lord Jesus.