1 Corinthians 16:13- 14 CSB – Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. 14 Do everything in love.
Matthew 5:13-14 CSB – “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.
There’s something wrong with the salt and the light. – Os Guinness
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 CSB – Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. 14 Do everything in love.
Be Confident: Be Alert
1 Thessalonians 5:6 CSB – Paul says, So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled.
1 Peter 5:8 CSB – Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
Be Alert: Understand the Times
Jeremiah 6:14-15 CSB –
They have treated my people’s brokenness superficially,
claiming, “Peace, peace,”
when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they acted so detestably?
They weren’t at all ashamed.
They can no longer feel humiliation.
Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.
When I punish them, they will collapse,
says the Lord.
1 Corinthians 16:13 CSB – Be alert, stand firm in the faith
Be Confident: Stand Firm in the Faith
Judges 16:10 CSB – Then she cried, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When he awoke from his sleep, he said, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
1 Corinthians 10:6 CSB – Now these things took place as examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did
Ephesians 4:14 CSB – [Children]. . . tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.
Stand Firm on God’s Word as Truth
Romans 10:17 CSB – So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ
There is always a philosophy for a lack of courage – Albert Camus
Matthew 7:26 CSB – everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
How Can You Stand Firm?
- Know the Bible. Be confident in the Bible
2 Timothy 2:15 CSB – Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
- Be Confident in Christ
2 Corinthians 3:4 CSB – Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God.
- Keep the BIG Picture Perspective
Revelation 2:10 CSB – Be faithful unto death, and you will receive the crown of life!
1 Corinthians 16:13 CSB – Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong
Be Confident: Be Courageous & Strong
Ephesians 6:10-11 CSB – be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.
Philippians 4:13 CSB – I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.
Be Confident: Find Strength in Discipleship Friends
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 CSB – Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. 10 For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. 11 Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm? 12 And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.
Courageous People are Connected People
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 CSB – Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. 14 Do everything in love
Be Confident: Do Everything in Love
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 CSB – If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boastbut do not have love, I gain nothing.
John 13:35 CSB – “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
