Battle Ready - As Christ Loves the Church by Gary Powell

Lightly edited for readability while preserving the speaker’s meaning and substantive statements.

1. 0:00:05

   I'm really at a disadvantage here because Pastor Troy, I love you. Pastor D, I love you. You shot up all my ammunition. And so, I've been reloading ever since they started. And God gave me something to say. So, I want to shoot the same bullets. I hope you all don't mind. Can I just say something? That's agreement and confirmation. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. I was going to stop and pick up and it's not that they're stealing it. It's that God is confirming. And well, I haven't been with the other teach. But I look at it this way. When you're out hunting, sometimes the animal gets spooked just as you shoot and you have to shoot again. So you shot once, Pastor D shot now in your Nancy. So taking four shots to take this guy down. Uh Most of you probably know uh that my wife and I gave our testimony about five months ago. Anybody that wasn't here at Skyfall last time? Okay. So, all of you familiar with what you weren't, but you know uh Susan was sick for quite a long time and the Lord healed her on multiple occasions and uh last uh October we got to share her testimony which for her vantage point it was about her healing but from my vantage point it was about me learning to love her as Christ loved the church. And I have come to discover that I was doing a pretty poor job loving her. But uh I I feel this was not in my original plan. Uh but I feel compelled to share something with you that I hope doesn't sound too bizarre. Uh I've shared this with somebody while we were eating and they confirmed that this is what I need to do. But I want to I was going to share this at Susan's memorial service back in January. And uh I didn't because Pastor Nancy found scars and had no scars in heaven song. And that just I I talked about that. And but this is a letter I wrote to Susan um a month after she went to be with the Lord. And u I struggle with this, but I feel like I brought the notebook cuz I thought, well, maybe maybe I should. and someone kind of gave me a confirmation, but this was written January 10th, 2025. Uh, she passed away December 11th. Uh, I know I'm not going to get through this without a lot of water work and just bear with me. It's not that long, but and this was not a part of my initial presentation, but I I just feel maybe the maybe somebody needs to hear this. Sweetheart, my precious Susan Tomorrow will be one month since our Lord Jesus took you home to be with

2. 0:03:06

   him. I cannot begin to imagine what you are experiencing in heaven, to see Jesus face to face, to experience the boundless love he has for you, and to be finally free from the lies and attacks of the adversary. You are forever and completely free of pain. Do you remember the dream you had when you felt you had no pain at all? Now it's your eternal reality. Your eyesight is 2020. Your hearing is 100%. You can run and not be weary. You can walk and not faint. And for all I know, you may be flying around on eagle's rings right now. I wondered what beautiful sights you are seeing. I tried to think of who met you when you arrived in heaven. Timothy, Roy, maybe our parents. I hope your grandmother was there to meet you. I know how much she impacted you as a child. I have missed you more than I ever could have imagined. Do you remember me telling you how I would look at your seat in the car when you were in the hospital and how I missed you sitting next to me? Back then, I had the hope that one day you'd be back in the car with me. Now, I looked over at your new at your empty seat and I know you won't be back. So, yes, it hurts so much, but the happiness and joy I feel is so much greater than the sadness I feel because I know you're home. I know you have never been happier, more loved than you are right now. Jesus is helping me through this. I've learned to put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. I need to make a adjustment to that. I'm learning cuz I'm I've dropped the ball too many times on that in the last 5 months. I watched the video of our testimony at Skyfall almost every day. I am so thankful that I can watch that and see the smiles on our faces. Jesus truly transformed us and our marriage. I am thankful that he gave us the two years after he appeared to you. Thank you for the photo albums you left. I know you spent many hours working on them. I found the letter you wrote Maddie and Katie on their 13th birthday. You were a magnificent grandmother. I also found a verse in your Bible you wrote on a sticky note. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, workketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

3. 0:06:06

   How amazing that that is your reality right now. Although I loved you dearly while you were here with me, I'm starting to realize what a strong, godly woman you were. I'm so thankful God blessed me with you. I can't wait to see you in heaven. I can't wait to get to heaven and have you show me around. You finally got your gray and white kitten that you dreamed about back in the hospital one day. There's so much I want to say to you, but I guess it will have to wait until I write another letter or when I see you again. I love you, sweetie. You know, I've sat here and I've heard all of these wonderful messages about marriage. Pastor D, Pastor Troy, you guys blew me out of the water. The things that you shared. Uh almost makes me want to start going to uh next level in the church. You guys are amazing. Um I've heard y'all speak before, but what you shared is anointed. Uh, Pastor Nancy, what she shared was grand. I'm sure Pastor Dean, if he gets a chance to talk, he may not. But, uh, I I have a confession to make. When was your last conference? Was that 2021? Yes. Uh, Susan and I talked about that and we we decided we don't need to go to a marriage conference. Oh, were we so wrong. uh everything we're talking about does not specifically apply to me today in the context of marriage. It applies about everything else in life because you can't you can't carve marriage out of the word of God and set it aside. I mean it's it's all in it's all intertwined. But just just what I've heard so far right now, uh I feel encouraged, but then again, I've realized how far short I've fallen in my 32 years with Susan. I wish she could have been here with me today or I wish we'd have gone that four years ago. My my assignment is as Christ loved the church and uh although I appreciated what all three of you that spoke before me have said, I'm not really very happy with you because you've stolen all of my I'm supposed to be the one talking about love. Okay? As Christ loved the church. You all, what's wrong with you? I mean, you can't read the rules, but like I said, I'm going to shoot the bullets that that God's given me. And like Pastor Nancy said, it's

4. 0:09:06

   just um what does it say? Uh two or three witnesses. Well, here we go. And um but I want to begin and and I guess they're not able to put the scripture up on the the board like uh they had said they would. So, I I've got a lot of scripture to read and uh I'm not going to get it all in, I'm sure. And uh I'm going to try to watch the clock, but um try to try to follow along with me as much as you can u in your Bibles. I don't I've got this the the references down, but I haven't written them out, so I'm going to have to look them up as I go along. So, uh that'll give you time to catch up. And uh but I want you to turn to Colossians chapter 2 verse 8 with me to begin. And and while you're turning just let me just say a quick prayer. Lord Jesus, you know how inadequate I feel to share this this morning or this afternoon because all I can share Lord is is out of my lack my failures. But I know that what's going to impact people today is not what I have, good, bad, or indifferent. It's what your word says. So I I ask that you would send forth your word. Make it powerful. Speak to our hearts. You've already spoken to my heart so much already. So I I just give this time that I have to share uh to you. Speak through me. Help me to be an open vessel that you can use. I pray in your name. Amen. Okay. Colossians chapter 2. You probably already found it. that happens. But the first word is a lovely word for a marriage conference. Beware. Uh it reminds me of what happened uh coming back from Myrtle Beach. I was traveling with Doug and Angie and Doug had run off and uh left Angie and I standing there waiting for him to come back and a couple of young gals come up with a video camera and they were wanting to uh they approached uh Angie first. you know, uh, we have a friend that's getting married. You know, this is for something and, uh, would you share your thoughts about marriage? And and Angie just didn't. She was like deer in the headlight, you know, just you what's going on? And so she asked questions, found out that one of them had converted to Catholicism to marry uh, I think it was the woman converted, didn't she? Yes. And uh and when I heard that, I just, you know, and and so I said to the lady, I said, "Well, while she's thinking, can I say something?" "Oh, yeah." So, she turns the camera on me and all that stuff, and I just said, "Don't do it." Because I was thinking, "You're starting off wrong, you know, and of course, they didn't understand that, you know, and I was just as surprised as as they were about what I said because it was very spontaneous." But so many of us start off very wrong

The complete timestamped transcript is published as a crawlable reading page so every sermon topic remains searchable without making this video page unnecessarily heavy.