How to be confident

GRIT - perseverance and presence

Week 1 -Series Overview/How to be confident:

Group Message: Pastor Panel

JOEL: Start with a question. How many of you have felt like giving up in the last few years?

Let me see your hands. How many of you are still here? Still fighting? Still growing? Let me see your hand?

If your still here and fighting you have grit! You survived the pandemic! You have survived wars and rumors of wars. As believers we are not fighting for Victory we are fighting from Victory. Jesus has made a way!

If we look at the culture around us to define the health of the church things can look bleak because of sin. I would remind you this morning that the church is not defined by the culture. It is alive and well. We are still giving, praying, reaching, laying hands on the sick. We speak the truth, pursue the next generation. The only way the church would ever die is because we chose not to live out the gospel. I don’t believe that will ever be said of us! We can trust that God is good, and he is faithful to His word if we walk in obedience to Him.

We are the church. We are anointed and called by God for such a time as this. The church is not dead because we are not dead. We are not on life support. We are carriers of life through the power of the Holy Spirit. If we can keep our eyes fixed on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. We will find that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4).

This morning we are launching into a new series I have entitled Grit: A Guide to Perseverance and Presence. Grit defined is: courage and resolve, and strength of character. Today I believe if we will lock into the promises of God we will have strength to persevere no matter the situation or season we find ourselves in.

Chris read scripture:

Ephesians 2:19-22 NKJV

“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

Christ is our Firm foundation. (Jump in with thoughts-just be mindful of time)

Matthew 7:24–27

““Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.””

Testimony:

Josh - loss & moving

Vanessa - Marriage

Perception/Perspective

Marcus - **Graphic of a priority list of God first to a better representation of a mind map with Christ at the center and other things stem off that.

Christ must be central: It’s not about the punch list. It’s simply having him in every moment. It is an intentional awareness of His presence.

List is “I work on”, Mindmap is “I work through”

Philippians 1:6

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

It’s not about what I’ve done, It’s about who He is.

Lack of confidence:

Don’t serve, don’t engage, don’t parent, don’t commit, don’t try

Philippians 4

Ephesians 4