The Burden Before the Breakthrough

Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare: Part 1 | 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 | Colossians 2:13-15 | Ephesians 6:12 This week at Take Hold Church we open a new topic within our ongoing series: spiritual warfare. Whether you know it or not, everyone is in a spiritual war — and this message is about waking up to that reality and learning how to actually win. Pastor Paul walks through 2 Corinthians 10, where Paul writes to the church in Corinth about the nature of spiritual weapons — not rhetoric, appearance, or argument, but prayer and God's Word. From there we move to Colossians 2, where Paul describes what Jesus accomplished on the cross in the language of warfare: he disarmed the enemy, made a public spectacle of the spiritual powers, and triumphed over them. The enemy is conquered — but he still hinders, distracts, and tries to dim the light in your life. This message covers strongholds (what they are, how we walk into them or are born into them), how the enemy works through distraction, doubt, and division, and why praying in the name of Jesus is not a sign-off — it's a legal authority and a declaration of victory. Connected passages: Ephesians 6:12, 2 Timothy 2:24-26, Romans 8, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Listen to the podcast and find us everywhere at linktr.ee/takeholdchurch Be Loved.

Intercessory Prayer

his message is a standalone talk on intercessory prayer, delivered between series as the church prepares for a new season. Drawing from Jesus' teaching in Luke 11 — the Lord's Prayer and the parable of the friend knocking at midnight — the message unpacks what it looks like to pray with shameless audacity: persistent, desperate, and deeply relational. The sermon explores three movements of prayer from Luke 11:9 — ask, seek, and knock — and what it means to bring your whole life into alignment with the will of God. Walter Wink's definition of intercession as "spiritual defiance of what is, in the name of what God has promised" frames the message from beginning to end. Andrew Murray and Leonard Ravenhill also speak into what it means to stand before God on behalf of others. The closing returns to the powerful refrain: history belongs to the intercessors. Romans 8:34 gives a striking reminder that Jesus himself is interceding for us at the right hand of the Father — not calmly passing our prayers along, but pleading our case. Listen to the podcast and find us everywhere at linktr.ee/takeholdchurch Be Loved.

Completing The Dream

Week 7 of Dream Builders | Nehemiah 6 | Acts 2 | Romans 5:17 We're wrapping up the Dream Builders series in Nehemiah 6 — the final stretch of building the wall, where the opposition is loudest and the temptation to step back is strongest. This message covers the mindset and the prayer that kept Nehemiah going in the last 10%, and what Pentecost Sunday has to do with the dream God has placed on your heart. A fitting close to seven weeks in the book of Nehemiah. Watch this message and find us everywhere at linktr.ee/takeholdchurch Be Loved.

Who Are You Becoming?

Nehemiah chapter five arrives at a surprising moment — the walls of Jerusalem are almost finished, and instead of a victory lap, everything nearly falls apart from the inside. Debt, exploitation, and injustice are tearing apart the very people doing the building. It turns out the dream was never really about the wall.This message from Nehemiah 5 asks a question every one of us needs to sit with: who are you becoming while you build the thing God has put in your heart? Through the lens of Nehemiah's radical, no-announcement generosity — buying back slaves, canceling debts, feeding 150 people from his own pocket — we're invited into a life where the goal isn't just to accomplish something great, but to be shaped by God in the process.

Wholehearted Commitment

Nehemiah chapter three opens with the Sheep Gate — and it's no accident. Before a single stone is laid, the people consecrate the one gate that points to sacrifice, to the cross, to the only thing that makes us right with God. From there, the wall goes up section by section, shoulder to shoulder, everyone using their gifts in their own lane.But in chapter four, the opposition arrives. And Nehemiah's response — prayer, positioning, and picking up both a hammer and a sword — gives us one of the most practical pictures in Scripture of what whole life commitment actually looks like.This message from the Dream Builders series looks at what it means to build something for God's glory while staying ready for the battle that always comes with it. One hand on the work. One hand on your weapons. And the Spirit of God with you every step of the way.Be Loved.