Introduction:
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What is Spiritual Warfare? (Ephesians 6:11-12)
- Evil spiritual forces actively trying to intervene in our pursuit of a relationship with Jesus.
- Most often associated with Satan , who is clearly identified as the enemy of our Soul.
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How do I recognize I'm in a spiritual battle?
- Satan attacks us through Accusations
- Satan attacks us through
Temptation
- Desires of the Flesh
- Desires of the Eyes
- Pride of Life
- Satan attacks us through Deception
Three ways Satan attacks us:
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How do I fight a spiritual battle? (Eph 6:13-17)
- We are called to Stand not Fight .
- We must adorn the full Armor of God .
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How do I win a spiritual battle?
- Jesus won the battle for us!
Colossians 2:15 - He disarmed the rulers and the authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-00:26
Good morning everyone. How's everybody today? Good. If you could open your bibles to Ephesians chapter 6. I just have to tell you Marina and I we were married in 2013 and ever since then my father-in-law Nick has been asking me if I've been preaching in our church. I always laughed it off I really had no interest in preaching but fast forward to about a year ago and Pastor Jeff asked me that same question.
00:26-01:05
He asked if I would be interested in going through the preaching course here harvest and eventually being here and preaching. Now I can't imagine the look on my face because I hadn't been coming here that long, maybe eight months or so, right? And I was shocked, you know, I never had any desire to do it. And I had no intentions on telling him yes, but I humored him a little bit and told him I would think and pray about it, having every intention of turning him down sometime at a later date. Well, like I said, I had no intentions on preaching, but these things kept popping up, different verses or topics that piqued my interest as something I could preach on, if I ever decided to.
01:06-01:15
I couldn't really explain some of them besides the fact that God must be leading me somewhere, so I decided to pursue it just a bit and see where it led me. I wasn't gonna preach, so it couldn't hurt anything, right?
01:17-01:31
So the more I dug into the topics, studied the passages, the more the thought of preaching started to interest me, and the more I began being hit with these negative thoughts, thoughts of fear and self-doubt, incompetence, inadequacy.
01:32-02:13
Couldn't understand why Jeff would want me, of all people, to stand in front of our church and preach a message. I'm certainly not qualified enough, I don't have enough biblical knowledge to stand here and preach to guys like Rich and Jeff and Mark and all these experts who know the Bible front to back, but I'm not good enough to stand here and preach to a room full of believers. And even if I get past that and fumble my way through writing some sort of sermon, there is no way I could get up and deliver it without screwing it up. But above all that, the biggest question on my mind was, if God is calling me to do this, if this is something he wants, why am I having these thoughts? Why is it so difficult?
02:15-03:15
Well, a little while later, when Jeff and I discussed it again, I had every intention of of telling him no because of all these things I was feeling, but I just couldn't do it. Couldn't bring myself to tell him no. So against my better judgment, I agreed to go through the process. And at that point I had a general idea of the topic that I was gonna preach on, the verses I was gonna use, but again I was pulled in a different direction, which is good because it led me to an understanding of my preaching journey thus far. I realized that all the negative thoughts I was having weren't from God, they were from Satan and they were the result of spiritual warfare. Satan was working to pull me in the opposite direction God was and trying to prevent me from doing this, from standing here today. Now as you can see I'm here so it's probably pretty clear which side won and I guess I can give my father-in-law a different answer after nine years of asking me. So here you go Nick.
03:17-03:19
So, I know I'm not the only one.
03:20-03:21
Have any of you ever been there?
03:22-03:23
Ever felt that God was calling you to something?
03:24-03:25
A ministry position?
03:26-03:27
Volunteering for a need?
03:27-03:28
A church?
03:29-03:31
Even just preaching the gospel to a non-believer?
03:32-03:34
Maybe it wasn't even ministry related.
03:35-03:36
Maybe it was a move to a new area.
03:37-03:38
A job change.
03:40-03:41
Ending an unhealthy relationship.
03:42-03:44
Or proposing to solidify a good one.
03:45-03:49
You thought that God was calling you to these things, but it felt harder than it should have been?
03:50-03:57
You had these negative thoughts, all this fear, all these things for something that you thought God was asking you to do?
03:58-04:02
Well, I'm here to tell you, those negative thoughts aren't from God.
04:03-04:05
They're from Satan, and they're the result of spiritual warfare.
04:07-04:08
And that's exactly what we're gonna talk about today.
04:10-04:12
So we're gonna pick up in Ephesians, verse 10.
04:15-04:17
"Finally, be strong in the Lord "and in the strength of his might.
04:18-04:22
"Put on the whole armor of God "that you may be able to stand "against the schemes of the devil.
04:23-04:35
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, "but against the rulers, against the authorities, "against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, "against the spiritual forces of evil "in the heavenly places." Stop there.
04:36-04:41
So that brings us to number one on our outlines, if we're keeping notes, which Pastor Jeff always encourages.
04:44-04:51
So point A, spiritual warfare is evil spiritual forces actively trying to intervene in our pursuit of a relationship with Jesus.
04:53-04:54
Now we're all in Pennsylvania, right?
04:55-04:58
We have any road construction around here that we have to deal with?
04:59-05:05
Think of all of that road construction interfering with your drive to work, like Satan's interference in your walk with Jesus.
05:07-05:11
It's true you might get there eventually, but it would have been a lot easier without the construction, right?
05:11-05:12
Gone a lot quicker.
05:12-05:13
(laughs)
05:15-05:17
So that brings us to point B on our outline.
05:19-05:26
We most often associate spiritual warfare with Satan, who is clearly identified as the enemy of our soul in 1 Peter 5, verse eight.
05:27-05:32
Now, just because we don't know or don't realize that we're under attack doesn't mean we're safe.
05:33-05:38
Think about the clueless antelope grazing in the field, doesn't know the lion is in the weeds waiting to pounce on him.
05:39-05:41
His ignorance doesn't change the fact that the lion is there, right?
05:42-05:44
and it also doesn't prevent the lion from attacking.
05:45-05:48
It's important to remember that Satan opposes God.
05:49-06:00
He knows he cannot prevent or take away your relationship with God through Jesus Christ, but he can hinder that relationship and effectively rob us of the blessings that God intended that relationship to include.
06:01-06:05
Satan wants to discredit all of the good work you've been doing for God's glory.
06:06-06:13
Earlier in Ephesians chapter one, Paul tells us that God wants us to know him and enjoy each and every blessing that comes from knowing him.
06:15-06:19
Now, just to be clear, not every blessing is something new and shiny that everyone else can admire.
06:20-06:23
My wife Marina blessed me with this nice shiny watch on our first anniversary.
06:25-06:28
Paying for it for the next year with 0% interest may not be a blessing though, right?
06:29-06:29
Right, Alex?
06:29-06:29
(audience laughing)
06:30-06:30
Okay, good.
06:32-06:36
What a blessing is, however, is a favor or gift bestowed onto you by God.
06:38-06:42
It's not necessarily social, financial, or material.
06:42-06:45
It can be those things, but it will not always be.
06:46-06:52
Peace, happiness, love, and stability are all examples of blessings that God can give us.
06:53-06:59
Just like my shiny watch that everyone can see, people notice when you're living a life filled with God's blessings.
07:00-07:03
So that brings us to number two on your outline.
07:05-07:08
So number two on our outline, How do I recognize I'm in a spiritual battle?
07:10-07:14
Well, Satan attacks us with the same tactics he has used throughout history.
07:15-07:16
Why do you think that is?
07:17-07:18
Because they work, right?
07:19-07:21
They've proven to work time and time again.
07:22-07:26
And as humans, every single one of us is inherently vulnerable to these tactics.
07:28-07:31
So we're gonna cover three examples of the ways Satan attacks us today.
07:32-07:34
First way Satan can attack us is through accusations.
07:35-07:40
In Revelations 12, Satan is referred to as the accuser of our brothers.
07:41-07:43
I know we've all had those Debbie Downer days, right?
07:43-07:46
Days where you just can't seem to get yourself into a good mood no matter what you do?
07:48-08:00
Thoughts like, "Man, I am such a failure," or "Why is everybody against me in this?" or "If only my wife loved me more." These thoughts often consume our minds during those days.
08:01-08:02
Have you ever gotten out of bed angry?
08:05-08:13
bickered with your spouse for no apparent reason? How about snapping at your kids when they're asking too many questions? That's what kids do, right?
08:15-08:26
Instead of realizing that these are spiritual attacks, we often succumb to them and relate them to things like not getting enough sleep, having a rough day at work, or not having enough coffee in my case.
08:28-09:07
The second way Satan can attack us is through temptation. 1st John chapter 2 verse 16 says, "For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world." So three temptations here. Desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes, and pride of life. So what are desires of the flesh? Think of good things that God created for us. Things like food, drinks, sex. Things that, again, God created for us that aren't inherently evil, but Satan uses them to create evil.
09:08-09:14
Like food, food addictions, alcoholism, unfaithfulness in marriage, and so on.
09:16-09:25
Second temptation, desires of the eyes. These are things that we see and that that we're attracted to and think it might be nice to have for ourselves.
09:26-09:29
Nice house, nice car, nice watch.
09:31-09:36
Things, again, that aren't necessarily bad on their own, nor are they bad to pursue if your heart is in the right place.
09:37-09:41
But Satan uses them against us to create things like covetousness and jealousy within our hearts.
09:43-09:45
Third temptation is pride of life.
09:47-09:53
These are personal achievements, things that you've worked hard for in your life, maybe a promotion at work, graduating college.
09:56-10:06
Things again that aren't inherently evil to pursue when your heart is in the right place, but Satan uses them against us to create things like pride and arrogance within our hearts.
10:08-10:10
Third way Satan attacks us is through deception.
10:12-10:14
Now, does anybody remember Satan's very first attack in the Bible?
10:15-10:16
Tell me.
10:18-10:18
Thanks Marina.
10:20-10:20
Good.
10:22-11:23
Yes, she's right, obviously. It was through deception when he convinced Eve to go against God in need of the only tree that she was commanded not to. Now when God came into the garden and asked Eve if she ate of the tree, she told him that she was deceived by the serpent, so she ate. Satan twists facts and uses partial truths to deceive us into questioning God. These are situations where we might justify a sin or convince ourselves that we're good our own and don't need God's help. My daughter Nora is an expert in the field of partial truths, especially when it comes to her dessert. She knows she doesn't get a sweet until she finishes her dinner, but it never fails that she sits down with her plate, takes one bite, and comes running to us and tells us she's done with her food and ready for dessert. Now obviously we ask to see her plate, right? At that point she either completely disappears or comes back with her plate in her hand, mouth gorged with as much food as she can fit, trying to convince us that she's done and ready for dessert. That doesn't work.
11:26-12:16
Now listen, you would be a fool to believe that Satan waits until you're expecting it or you're ready for him to attack. Just like the lion ready at any moment to pounce on the antelope, Satan is always at work, always waiting for us to give him even the slightest opportunity. And it can happen at any point in your walk with Jesus. It doesn't matter if you're newly saved or you've been a follower for 30 years, it can happen at any time. So now that we have an idea what spiritual warfare is and who we're fighting against, I bet you're wondering how you fight it, right? Well, unlike the antelope who has no protection from the lion, we as Christians are equipped by God to fight against our enemy. And that brings us to number three on our outline. How do I fight a spiritual battle? We're gonna pick up in verse 13 and find out.
12:18-12:26
Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm." Stop there.
12:27-12:31
After hearing that, it's probably pretty clear that this is a different kind of battle, right?
12:33-12:37
So that brings us to point A. We are called to stand, not to fight.
12:38-12:41
Paul didn't tell us to fight, but rather to stand firm.
12:42-13:39
As a matter of fact, Paul uses the term "stand" four times in these eight verses that we're covering today. Now I looked up the idiom for "stand firm" online just to get an idea how it was identified and described and the best one I could find for this situation is "to remain determined, stalwart, and unyielding as in one's position." Which brings us to point B on our outline. To stand firm according to Paul, you must adorn the full armor of God. It's important to note the word full here. Every piece of the armor works together in a specific way and none are as effective individually as they are when used together. Do you think a soldier would go into battle without taking every available resource at his disposal? In the same manner, it makes sense for us to prepare ourselves for battle with every resource God provides us. So what exactly are those resources?
13:40-13:43
we are going to pick up in verse 14 and find out.
13:45-14:41
"Stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness." Stop there. So Mike if you could put the armor. A couple disclaimers here. So first, on the screens is a picture of the armor that was commonly worn by a Roman soldier at this time and this is the type of armor that Paul was describing when he was writing this. And second, each of these items could be a sermon of their own. So this is just going to be a brief overview of each one and kind of an idea of how they're used. So in verse 14, Paul talks about two things, the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. So what are they? Well, the belt of truth, a Roman soldier's belt, when it was worn properly, secured the rest of his armor and held scabbards for his weapons in addition to providing support for his breastplate. Now, contrary to Satan being referred to as the father of lies, God is referred to as the truth.
14:43-14:51
Understanding and trusting in the gospel provides us that same type of support as the armor of God, as a Roman soldier's belt for his other items.
14:53-14:54
How many guys in here wear a belt every day?
14:56-14:59
Yeah, me too. (laughs) You know that uncomfortable feeling when you forget it?
15:00-15:03
You're always tugging at your pants, feeling like they're falling down, even if they're not.
15:04-15:07
But you know when your belt is on and it's fastened tightly, your pants aren't going anywhere.
15:09-15:09
True, right?
15:10-15:11
(laughs)
15:13-15:18
In the same way, when your belt of truth is on, and it's fastened tightly, your face is secured.
15:19-15:22
And without the belt of truth, wouldn't the rest of the armor be ineffective?
15:23-15:27
Without accepting God's word as true, wouldn't everything else be pointless?
15:28-15:29
That's the first step, right?
15:31-15:34
The second thing Paul talks about here is the breastplate of righteousness.
15:36-15:42
So the breastplate, if you look at the screen, is the part that covers the largest target on the soldier, his torso.
15:43-15:47
And we know there's many vital organs in there, the liver, lungs, and most notably, the heart, right?
15:49-15:55
Do you think a soldier, if given the choice, would wear a cardboard box or a Kevlar vest going into battle?
15:57-15:58
What do you think?
15:59-16:01
Yeah, obviously the vest, right?
16:03-16:13
Wearing a cardboard box is exactly what we would be doing to use our own righteousness. Paul tells us that none is righteous, no, not one.
16:14-16:31
Soldier would obviously choose the Keblar, right? That gives him his best chance of protection. When Jesus died on the cross, he took on our sin. He gave us his righteousness. He took our cardboard and gave us his Keblar. Isn't that great?
16:33-16:34
Let's continue in verse 15.
16:36-16:42
"And as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace." We'll stop there.
16:43-16:51
So an interesting thing I learned in studying this is that Roman soldiers would often drive spikes or nails through the soles of their shoes to help them stand firm during battle.
16:53-16:56
Now we all know our mission as followers of Jesus is to spread the good news of the gospel.
16:56-17:09
And these shoes, the shoes of the gospel of peace, give us the readiness to proclaim it anywhere God may lead us. Now Paul told the Romans that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us.
17:11-17:17
Resting in the peace of knowing that we are recipients of the promises of the gospel, it's kind of like the nails in the soldier's shoes, right?
17:19-17:25
Gives us a stability to stand firm in our faith and endure the trials of life without fear.
17:27-17:28
Let's continue in verse 16.
17:30-17:48
"In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one." So I also learned when studying this that the shield was often regarded as the most important part of a Roman soldier's armor, as it protected them from arrows launched by their enemies.
17:49-18:27
Flaming darts used during this period were intended to ignite a fire and destroy whatever they hit. Things like fortifications and barricades, stuff that was often made from wood. Obviously Satan doesn't launch actual flaming darts at us, right? That would be wild. But he does barrage us with things like lies and impulses that can ignite and spread through our mind and spirit, damaging the foundation of our relationship with God. By shielding ourselves in our faith in God and in his promises we protect ourselves from those flaming darts shot by Satan.
18:28-18:41
Let's continue in verse 17. "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God." So two things in verse 17, helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.
18:42-19:01
I bet if we took a survey in this room most people would probably agree that the head is the most vulnerable part of a soldier's body, right? One blow could be fatal. Now unlike a Roman soldier who as you can see wore a metal helmet, as Christians our heads are protected by what's inside of them.
19:02-19:48
The security of our salvation through Jesus Christ. We know that our minds are what Satan attacks, right? But as followers of Christ we are comforted by the knowledge that Satan can never take your salvation away. He also talked about the sword of the Spirit here. Now a skilled soldier is deadly with his weapon, right? Why do you think that is? Think they just wake up one day and have that skill? No, they train and practice constantly. Do you think Chuck Norris just woke up one day with the ability to roundhouse kick people in the face? Maybe weapon in our arsenal, it's probably pretty important that we keep it sharp and stay proficient with it, right?
19:51-20:21
Hebrews 4.12 says, "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." The only way to keep your sword sharp and be proficient with it is by constantly staying in God's word, which is how we gain wisdom and understanding and the ability to discern good versus bad. In other words, what does Pastor Jeff always tell us to do with these?
20:24-22:00
So now that we know what kind of battle we're fighting, who we're fighting against, and what resources we have available to fight it, the next question is probably, "How do you win?" That brings us to point four on our outline. How do I win a spiritual battle? So imagine for a second a soldier going into battle knowing that it's already been won. Knowing they're not even fighting but standing from a position of victory and not defeat. Don't you think their confidence and their mentality would be a little different than going in without that knowledge? Absolutely, right? And that's the beautiful thing about all of this. The battle has already been won by Jesus. According to Colossians 2 15, he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. Remember who Paul identified as our enemy earlier in verse 12? The rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over the present darkness and spiritual forces in the evil and heavenly places? According to this verse, Jesus disarmed all of them and put them to open shame by triumphing over them and God. Jesus won the battle for us guys. Paul said our mission is to stand, to resist the attacks, and to remain faithful to God. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." I think of this situation like playing basketball with my kids, and they ask me to pick them up so they can make a basket.
22:01-22:06
It's true, they may sink the basket and score the points, but who really did the work to get them there?
22:07-22:08
Right?
22:08-22:10
I have another illustration for this.
22:11-22:14
It's pretty clear Eliza is mowing the grass, right?
22:14-22:18
She's doing the work, and I can guarantee you Marina is going to take the credit for it.
22:19-22:28
And we're not going to talk about why I'm sitting on the porch taking pictures while my wife and daughter - Sorry, babe.
22:32-22:33
But guys, you have to listen to me on this.
22:33-22:38
All kidding aside, even though the battle is won, we still have to show up.
22:38-22:39
We have to stand firm.
22:40-22:43
We don't get a free pass just because Jesus did the work for us.
22:45-22:47
Kid still has to carry the ball and sink it through the hoop, right?
22:49-22:51
Marina still has to start the mower and strap Eliza on so she can mow.
22:53-22:54
We don't get a free pass.
22:56-22:58
And nothing in here said it's going to be easy.
23:00-23:03
So we've all heard the phrase, don't bring a knife to a gunfight, right?
23:04-23:04
Pretty common.
23:06-23:26
Well, if you're sitting in here, and you're struggling, maybe with an addiction that you can't seem to get away from, you've tried the books, AA, patch, pill, gum, seemingly any other resource available, but you keep falling off the wagon, Maybe it's a porn addiction that you're struggling with.
23:27-23:29
You tried internet blockers and counseling.
23:30-23:31
But everybody knows how the internet works.
23:32-23:34
Just a couple clicks, you're right back down in the rabbit hole.
23:36-23:38
What about gossiping?
23:40-23:40
Trash-talking?
23:42-23:45
Are you always looking for opportunities to slander your brothers and sisters?
23:47-23:50
Are you always the one to share something you may have heard about a "friend"?
23:52-23:57
Now, I might have outshot Taylor Howland on May 13th, but I don't spread it around the whole church, do I?
24:00-24:01
Never. I would never do that.
24:03-24:05
What about an addiction to your cell phone?
24:06-24:06
Social media.
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Feel like you can't go more than five minutes without checking it?
24:11-24:14
You've been sitting in here for an hour now. Is it uncomfortable that you haven't looked at it?
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I'm here to tell you that every single one of these things are spiritual battles and you are never going to conquer them until you acknowledge the fact that they are spiritual battles and you've been trying to fight them with worldly resources. They're spiritual issues and God gives us the tools to overcome them. Isn't it a testament to God's love for us that he would give us all the tools we need to fight a battle that we started back in Genesis 3? The battle that he already sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to fight on our behalf, die in our place, and ultimately win for us?
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Can you imagine the kind of love that he has for us to do that? Win it for us and then give us the tools we need to stand?
25:06-25:42
So finally, in verse 18, Paul tells us to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert, and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. So the most important takeaway from this verse is obviously to keep praying all kinds of prayers. In this context to reload during the ceasefire. Be alert for incoming attacks. Just as soldiers do in battle, they take any opportunity they can to regroup, check their armor, and ready themselves for the next wave. We should do the same thing, right?
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Because we know it's coming.
25:45-25:48
Satan isn't going anywhere, and he's not gonna stop attacking us.
25:50-25:59
We also have to be sure that we're checking on the armor of our brothers and sisters, and those in our circles, and making sure that each and every one of them is ready to stand firm with us.
26:01-26:03
And that's exactly what we're gonna do together right now.
26:04-26:09
So if I could have everyone stand, if the worship team could come back up, and the elders could get to their positions, please.
26:12-26:21
So maybe something I said today hit a nerve with you and you realized that you've been trying to fight a spiritual battle with worldly resources and you've been unsuccessful.
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Maybe you know somebody who's struggling with something and you would like to stand in their place.
26:29-26:30
Guys, I know I'm not the only one.
26:30-26:35
This entire process of writing this sermon has been one big spiritual attack for me.
26:36-26:41
And I can tell you, Googling verses, Googling stuff, worldly resources, didn't help me get through it.
26:42-26:42
You know what helped?
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It's this.
26:44-26:44
And praying.
26:46-26:49
So if you look around the sanctuary right now, we have elders at all four corners.
26:51-26:52
And they are ready to pray with you.
26:53-27:03
So if anything, like I said, struck a nerve with you, and you feel that you have been unsuccessfully trying to battle a spiritual war with worldly resources, I would encourage you to go talk to one of the elders.
27:04-27:05
They would be happy to pray with you.
27:05-27:09
Now you can share as much about your struggle or as little as you're comfortable with.
27:09-27:11
Just know that they are there and they are ready.
27:12-27:16
And they're ready to help you take the first step to stand against the attacks by Satan.
Small Group Discussion
Read Ephesians 6:10-18
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Breakout
Pray for one another.