The War Against Your Soul (1 Peter 2) July-14-2024

·38 min·3 clips

A 21-year-old named Zach came to San Francisco dreaming of a better life, but his story ended in a cheap hotel room overdose.

The episode is a sermon delivered at Redemption Church San Francisco, focusing on 1 Peter 2:11-12. The speaker begins by sharing her background as an executive leadership coach and her past work with Youth With A Mission in the Tenderloin, where she met Zach, a young man who overdosed after coming to San Francisco with hopes for a better life. This story introduces the theme of conflicting desires, which the speaker connects to everyday experiences like parenting, health goals, and spiritual discipline. She explains that Peter wrote to persecuted Christians scattered across the world, grounding them in their identity as chosen, royal, and holy before addressing their struggles. The speaker defines the 'war against your soul' as a strategic military campaign against sinful desires, citing theologians like Dallas Willard and John Tyson. She uses the analogy of British football fans' passion to contrast with 'dull Christians,' urging listeners to ignite their desire for God. The sermon outlines three ways to transform desire: disrupt idols (using the story of Dagon from 1 Samuel), ignite passion for Jesus, and feed holy desires while starving sinful ones. A personal anecdote about feeding her dog Callie illustrates how small indulgences in sinful desire can grow. The speaker references Carl Lentz's podcast interview, where he admitted hiding his inappropriate relationship for years, emphasizing that 'what we feed survives and thrives.' She concludes with a call to repentance, community vulnerability, and letting the Holy Spirit reveal idols, ending in a prayer for the church to be set on fire for Jesus.

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