Taking the stage for on Wednesday, Pastor Ben Stuart armed his listeners 鈥� Navy Seal-style 鈥� with strategies to defeat sin and deepen their relationships with Jesus.
Stuart reprised his role at Christival, 海角在线鈥檚 longstanding tradition of praise, worship and learning, having . More than 500 people attended his talk Wednesday morning. Christival continues with services 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 23 and 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday, March 24 at Family Church Downtown, 1101 S. Flagler Drive. Family Church Worship leads the worship through music.
Stuart, pastor of in Washington, D.C., opened with a story of watching Navy Seals conduct a hostage drill. He was struck by two things, he said: the chaos of the situation and the beauty of the strategy.
Turning his commentary to spirituality, 鈥渢here鈥檚 something about the modern world that鈥檚 not conducive to human flourishing鈥� and intimate pursuit of Jesus is difficult, Stuart said.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to give you a pump-up speech, or tell you to try harder,鈥� Stuart said. 鈥淚t feels like a battle because it is one.鈥�
Jesus sets His people free, in both a rescue mission and an ongoing operation, Stuart said. Jesus does for His people what David did for Israel when he killed Goliath: the Israelites were ready to fight after they watched someone else fight for them, Stuart said.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e been set free into a fight,鈥� Stuart said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e in a war, but now you have the ability to fight well.鈥�
Followers of Jesus need to be aware of their own weaknesses so that they can move away from ways of thinking and living that distance them from God and move toward God by thinking and living in ways that cultivate Godliness, Stuart said. In Matthew 26, Jesus commands his followers to 鈥淲atch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.鈥�
The enemy, the devil, preys on people鈥檚 minds and desires to lure them into sin, said Stuart, who preached on James 1:14-18 on Wednesday morning. The devil solicits thoughts to stir affections that lead people into sin, Stuart said.
鈥淲hat you think about is what you care about, and what you care about is what you will chase,鈥� Stuart said.
When a person gives in to temptation, it produces sin, which ultimately leads to death. The lie that gives birth to sin is 鈥渢he lie that God is not a good dad who loves you,鈥� Stuart said. Followers of Jesus can resist sin by 鈥渓ooking downstream,鈥� asking 鈥淲here will this lead?鈥� and looking up to God before they act, Stuart said.
James 1:17 reminds us 鈥淓very good gift and every perfect gift is from above,鈥� Stuart said.
Stuart鈥檚 messages are based on his , 鈥淩est and War: Rhythms of a Well-Fought Life.鈥�
