Elevate - Victory 2023

The speaker discusses the importance of finding joy and hope in difficult circumstances. They also share the vision of Authentic Life Church to save people, seek God, and serve others. They emphasize the need to focus on love and push away from evil. They acknowledge that bad things happen and believers are not immune to suffering, but they remind listeners that they have the truth and understanding through Jesus Christ to navigate through the challenges of life. My body is sick, but I have joy, because I know that one day I'll be healed for all of eternity. My finances might be lacking, but I have joy, because one day I'll be in eternity and enjoy the riches and splendor of the King, of all kings. I'm grieving the loss of a loved one, but I have joy, because one day every tear will be wiped from my eyes. You can have joy if your hope is anchored in the glory that is to come. That's real hope. Welcome to Elevate, from Authentic Life Church in Mobile, Alabama, with Pastor John DiQuatro. We hope it builds your faith and helps you to live a life of God that you've always wanted to live. We hope it inspires you to be a fully devoted, authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Enjoy the message, and welcome to Elevate. We are typically, you know, we've been in this sermon series, The Story. We're going to suspend that this week, and I've just got a special message for you for the new year. And then next week, we'll get back into The Story, and I believe we were on chapter 7, The Battle Begins. Pastor Amber preached the last message on that chapter, but I think we're going to stay in that chapter. It's called The Battle Begins, and preach one more message out of that, and then we'll move on. So make sure you have chapter 7, I believe. Yeah, make sure you have chapter 7 read for next week. But we started off in September when we changed the name of the church, and we started New Vision. And we said that the Authentic Life Church exists to build a community of fully devoted, authentic followers of Jesus Christ. And that's what we are endeavoring to do. And let me just tell you, this is the year for Authentic Life Church. Now, we're only three months into this New Vision. We're only three months in, and it's been kind of a soft launch because we all had to get on board together. We've been preaching vision, teaching what God has shared with us. But then we also had all of the hustle and the busyness of the holidays, and so we had all that going on. But this year, be ready to focus on this vision that we have for this year, which is this. Save people, seek God. Save people, serve people. And save people, save people. And we need to be operating in equal parts in each one of these areas, and just be ready to start seeing more people turn to Christ. To see more people baptized and getting busy about the kingdom. Be ready this year to be challenged, to be intentional about how we engage our community, and how we see new people come, and people get saved. And be ready to see God move like you've never seen Him before at our church. And so I believe that this year is going to be an awesome year for Authentic Life Church. Amen? But today, I want to encourage you, right? I don't want this just to be a good year for our church. I want this to be a good year for you. I want this to be a good year for your family. But a good year doesn't mean that everything will be easy, and that everything is going to go your way. That's not reality. But I hope that today that you're going to gain a perspective and an understanding about how we can stay victorious in all of our circumstances. And that's why I chose to name this Victory in 23. That we're going to walk in victory personally in our lives, and in our families, and then in our church. But it's going to come with an understanding, a perspective about how we stay victorious as the circumstances throughout the year change. Amen? So we're going to look at Romans chapter 12, verse 12. And it says this, Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. So this Scripture gives us a glimpse of the perspective that we need to have, and the key for us to live victorious. That we would remain joyful in hope. That we would remain patient in affliction or struggles. And that we would remain faithful in prayer. These are three very important aspects of Christian living that will inform our perspective as we go throughout our lives. But to understand this particular instruction in Romans 12, 12, we have to understand the context of the passage in which it was written. You see, this particular Scripture is seated on a foundation of Paul talking about love. So I'm going to back you up three verses, and let's read this together. Romans 12, beginning in verse 9, it says this, Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. So the first part of that says, love must be sincere, hate what is evil, cling to what is good. And there's a correlation between love and pushing evil out of our lives, and grasping and grabbing a hold of the good things that are in the Word of God. And how is that? Now listen, this is not the point of the message. I just want to kind of take a quick aside. Because when sin dominates your life, when you are grasping what is evil rather than what is good, when sin begins to dominate your life, you become focused on yourself, because sin is a very selfish thing. It's all about gratifying your flesh and what you want. You begin to focus on you and not others. You become self-seeking and inward focused. It's the nature of what sin does to each one of us. The thing that has torn this country apart more than anything, that has caused it to descend into deeper and deeper levels of greed and selfishness and division and hatred and other evil behavior, is this idea that you are number one. That selfish idea that you are number one. That you've got to look out for yourself first. In today's world, we shut down anyone that says something offensive. Why do we do that? Because how I feel, and how you made me feel, and however, it's all about me. That's why abortion is so rampant. Forget about the couple of extreme situations. Abortion is rampant because we go, I want convenience in my life. I don't want this. What I want is to do what I want to do and not have to worry about it. That's number one. That's number one. Thinking about me, I'm the number one thing. And so when you look at the state of our world that preaches love at every turn, you'll see that there's more hatred and discord and violence than ever. And so that's all I'm going to say about that without getting into any more specific topics. But I want you to understand that if you're going to live your life in love, it can't be all about you. It can't be about gratifying your flesh. It can't be about getting everything. Because that's just sin, right? That's sin. That's just going after everything in the world. That's doing everything with yourself in mind, right? That robs us of our ability to love. And so in this verse, though, we read to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. And so as this follows that line of thought, that love must be sincere, that we must devote ourselves to one another and to honor others above ourselves. But this verse, verse 12, it's kind of an interesting thing. We could cherry pick this verse out of the context of this passage and say that Romans 12, 12 says that as long as you just hang in there, everything's going to work out. As long as you're just patient and you have hope and you pray, everything's going to work out in your life. But I'm sorry to say this, folks. Sin is in the world. Bad things happen. And we are not immune to what is happening. 1 John 5.19 says this, We know that we are the children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. So let me stop there a second. The whole world. We're in the world, right? We're subjected to evil and the sin of this fallen world. And if coming to Christ meant immunity from all that, let me tell you something. Our churches would be a lot more full than they are. I'm just being real. If everybody knew that saying yes to Jesus was a ticket to having an easy life, this place would be full right now. I hope that none of you have been sold a lie that believing in Christ will make your life perfect. Is God for us? Yes. Does He love us? Yes. Does He take care of us? Yes. Does He promise that He hears our prayers and He works on our behalf? Yes. But you know what? Believers still wreck their cars. They still lose loved ones and experience loss. They break bones. They endure sickness. And as we've seen this year, Alabama doesn't always make it into the playoffs. It doesn't matter how many believers are praying for Nick Saban and the crew. Right? Not everything works out the way you want. All right, Pastor John, it's January 1st and you've already depressed us. But let's read on. So he said that we know that the whole world is under control of the evil one, right? But we move on to verse 20. It says, We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true and we are in Him who is true by being in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. OK, so listen, there may be a bunch of garbage and bad things that happen all around us and things that even happen to us. But this particular Scripture says, Hey, but you know something the rest of the world doesn't know because you're in Christ. You have the secret sauce for how to get through this mess of a world that we're in. You have something the rest of the world doesn't have. Truth. Real truth. My son and I were talking on Friday about how statistics are manipulated to mean whatever the advertiser or the media outlet or the politician wants you to believe. Right. So we just got into this little discussion. We said you'll turn on the TV, watch a commercial and it says four out of five dentists recommend And so what you're supposed to believe is that 80 percent of all the dentists that were polled that were given a list of all the available toothpastes on the market, that 80 percent of them exclusively chose crest as their one top recommendation. That's what you're supposed to believe. Right. But the reality is those dentists probably recommended a whole bunch of different toothpastes. Each one of them did. And four of the five of them had crest on their list. Because you know what? Aquafresh says the same thing. Four to five dentists. Colgate says the same thing. Sensodyne says the same thing. Right. But it's manipulative. Right. So why am I giving you a lesson on manipulative marketing? Because truth is at a premium right now. It is at a peak. Listen, you can hardly believe anything that you hear today. There is so much information out there and it is so skewed and so biased and or just flat out fake that we don't know what to believe. If you're a Democrat, you want to believe everything your precious Democrats say. And if you're a Republican, oh, you want to believe everything those perfect grand old party Republicans believe. But the reality is you're being fed a line of garbage by both sides. I'm telling you. And the only thing that matters to most of those people is money and power. So while we clamor and fight over what we think is true because our precious candidate said it, those guys are laughing all the way to the bank. We should have all of their tax returns released to the public, right? Listen, don't get caught up in it. Don't put so much stock in it. The father of lies is out there. And what he's doing is he's got control of the world and he's peddling sin and lies and evil. And that's the end of the story. And you're being fed all that stuff. It's not truth. But we just read. We know that the son of God has come and has given us understanding that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. You know truth if you are in Christ, because truth is Jesus Christ. Amen. Truth is not a political stance. Truth is not a governmental style. Truth is not American ideologies. Truth is Jesus Christ. End of story, period. Mic drop. So Romans 12, 12, we go back to that and it says, be joyful in hope, be patient in affliction, be faithful in prayer. Well, we already talked about how the scriptures couched in love. The main theme of this section is love. So as we get to this verse, love is ringing in our ears. How do we love? How do we live in love? How do we receive love from God? And the scripture helps us do that. So let's break down this scripture and I'll try to do it as quickly as possible. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. What does it mean to be joyful in hope? The idea of being joyful in hope implies that our joy is 100% rooted in hope. Our joy is rooted in hope. Your joy cannot be rooted in your circumstance, in your family, in your church, in your job, or anything else that is tangible and temporary and fleeting. And this kind of joy that is rooted in hope is the joy that remains as the turbulence of life crashes down all around you. We have a joy that is not able to be understood by the world because it's rooted in our hope. So let's talk about what this hope is. We'll go to Romans 5, beginning in verse 1. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That peace just means we are in right relationship with Him. Right? That's what that means. Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. So where is the hope? Where is our hope? In the glory of God. And here is sometimes where we get it wrong. If my hope is, oh, I hope I'll find a new job. Oh, I hope I'll get out of this hospital. Oh, I hope that I'll find a spouse. Or I hope that I'll win the lottery. Listen, that is hope that is based on your desired outcome. That's where you're placing your hope. If that's your confession, I hope this. I hope I win the lottery. I hope I get better. I hope that I get this new car. I hope that I get my new job. Right? Your hope is in your desired outcome. And I've lived long enough. Not as long as some of you. But longer than others of you. I've lived long enough that I know that I don't always get my desired outcome. And if my hope is rooted in those things, if my hope is rooted in the outcome that I'm hoping to receive, then it will rob me and zap me of my joy. Because what happens is I'll turn inward. I'll become miserable. I'll start complaining and lose my ability to be an expression of God's love. You know what I'm saying is true. But our hope is in the glory of God. The hope of glory. Christ in me. The hope of glory. Listen, the average life expectancy in the United States is 77.28 years. That's what we get, right? Give or take for some. But when those years are up, you get to go on for eternity in the glory of God with a glorified body in perfection the way God intended it from the beginning. That is the hope that we have. That is how your joy can be rooted in hope. Because if your joy is trying to be rooted in the hope of my outcome that I want to see, then that might not happen. And then your joy is gone. But if your joy is rooted in the hope of the glory of God, the hope that I'm going to be with Him for eternity, then it doesn't matter because that doesn't change. That's immovable. These circumstances, they're all over the place. But if you anchor to that hope that one day this will all be over, and I'm with Him, then you can say, I'm struggling right now, but I have joy because I know that I will spend eternity with Jesus where there is no more sorrow. My body is sick, but I have joy because I know that one day I'll be healed for all of eternity. My finances might be lacking, but I have joy because one day I'll be in eternity and enjoy the riches and splendor of the King, of all kings. My house isn't big enough, but I have joy because I know I'll live forever in a mansion in glory. I'm grieving the loss of a loved one, but I have joy because one day every tear will be wiped from my eye. You can have joy if your hope is anchored in the glory that is to come. That's real hope. Hope that is rooted in the promise of God through the blood of Jesus. And it gives us the ability to have joy. I might not get my desired earthly outcome. I may never have all I want. My days may be full of struggle and toil, but deep down I can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Be joyful in hope. Be joyful in the right hope. Amen? But then it tells us to be patient in affliction. And our patience, when we struggle, our patience is rooted in our joy, and our joy is rooted in our hope, the hope of glory, not the hope of our desired outcomes. But I want to talk about what it means by patient in affliction. It's very similar to your joy being rooted in your hope. But Romans 8, beginning in verse 18 says, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. That's where our patience lies. We are waiting, eagerly expecting the glory of God and the children of God to be revealed, right? So how can we be patient? Because we know that we'll eventually be glorified and revealed as God's children. We wait patiently for the liberation from this bondage to decay and death and chaos and sin. And just like our joy, our patience comes not when we have our solution to our immediate problem, not simply waiting for things to magically get better in our life, right? Remember, the Scripture is giving us a solution in how to love while we're in this earth. And impatience absolutely robs us of the ability to love. I'll be telling you. How does that happen? Because we'll see everything that happens to somebody else. Oh, they got their new job. Oh, they found their spouse. Right? They got their financial windfall. And then we're sitting there going, It'll never work out for me. Poor me, I'll always be stuck here. Right? Because we're waiting patiently for our solution to our problem. But the patience that we're to have, according to the Word of God, is to wait until the day when we are glorified, when God's glory is revealed in us and we are shown to the whole world to be the children of God. But listen, we can't live like that. We can't live with this, I'll never get anything. Why do all bad things always happen to me? That is no way for the children of God to live. It's an eternal perspective that we need. Listen, when did we stop looking up with eager expectation of Christ's return? When did that happen? When did we start focusing so much on the here and now? Because Paul constantly told people, Just look up. He's coming back. They lived with a constant urgency that Christ was about to return. You want to have your best, most peaceful, most victorious, joy-filled 2023? Start looking up. Start resting your hope and your joy in the glory of God rather than the desired outcome for how things are panning out in your life. Now listen, I don't want you to think that I'm preaching that nothing's ever going to work out for you and you're just stuck in constant misery. Think I'll go eat worms. Right? Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. That's not what I'm preaching. The Bible gives us many promises about God's intervention in the life of a believer. I'm going to read a few to you. John 14.14 You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it. Philippians 4.19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ. James 5.14 If anyone among you is sick, let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. Matthew 5.4 Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. John 10.10 The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, and I've come that they may have life and have it to the full. Now listen, I know I'm teaching you and the Bible is telling us not to rest our joy and hope on everything getting better in your life or seeing the solution to your problem, but you still serve the all-powerful Creator of the universe. And He is able. He's able to bless you, to keep you, to help you, to provide for you. And that's where this third part of our verse comes in. Be joyful in hope, be patient in affliction, but be faithful in prayer. If there's one thing that we are always called to do as believers, it is to pray. It is hard to be a victorious Christian if you don't have a prayer life. If you're not praying, you don't know what God's saying. Hey, that rhymes. Prayer is your lifeline. Prayer. Prayed in faith. That's how we invite God into our circumstance. That's how we invite Him to move on our behalf. James 4.2 says this, You do not have because you do not ask God. That's prayer. Asking God. Coming before God and saying, Alright, this is what I'm dealing with, God. This is what I'm struggling with. Now, I'm not going to root my hope in the fact that that's going to be all fixed. That's not where my hope lies. My hope is in Christ. He's the truth. He's the life. My hope is in the fact that I will have a glorified body and live in eternity without any of these problems anymore. Right? However, I need to talk to God when I have a need and not just when I have a need. Because it says be faithful in prayer. That means get up every single day and pray. Practice by getting before the Lord every day and praying every one of these things each day. Don't pray each one each day. Pray one on day one. Pray another on day two. Right? But this is how we learn to be faithful because we've got to learn to talk to God. We have to learn to hear His voice so that we can listen and obey. We have to learn to be in His presence and receive His comfort and receive His peace in the midst of our trials. We have to learn to turn our focus off of ourselves and on to Christ and we only do that by being faithful in prayer. And let me tell you, if you are faithful in prayer, it will absolutely change your attitude, your perspective, and your ability to be an expression of God's love in this earth. Thank you for listening to Elevate. We hope this message encouraged, inspired, and challenged you. Authentic Life Church is located at 3750 Michael Boulevard in Mobile, Alabama. Visit our website, AuthenticLife.tv, for more information about Authentic Life Church, to find out what we have going on, or to make a donation. You can also find us on Facebook. We'd love for you to join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. for our weekend service. We have excellent children's, nursery, and youth programs, so bring the family. Thanks again for listening to Elevate. God bless you.