I don't know about you, but I grew up with the 90s plastic set of armor that had each piece labeled with the "Armor of God" label. I would put on our breastplate of righteousness before heading out to play. I can't remember who, but I do have this memory of someone getting their head stuck in the helmet of salvation. Sometimes, when we've gamified a part of the Bible like that, it can be easy to blow over what it's telling us and lose a bit of the awe at what is being promised. I felt like that a few years ago when I started studying Luke. Maybe I shouldn't admit this publicly, but I was sure it was going to be boring because I knew the stories. However, I was BLOWN away and moved to tears by so many nuggets during my time there. So together, let's take a look at the Armor of God with pastor and Bible teacher Kyle Worley.
Kyle is the host of the podcast Knowing Faith, which just hit 12 million downloads. The vibe there is theologically rich but I always laugh at least once while I listen, and he brought that same vibe here last time we talked, so I think you're about to learn something good and maybe laugh!
I just finished studying and delivering a talk on 2 Timothy. In that passage, there are so many cool illustrations: warrior, farmer, runner... so why have you become so interested in the Armor of God? Why does this illustration in Ephesians stand out to you more than others?
Culturally, we don't like to talk about the devil. Or if we do, we make him red with a pointy tail. What role do you think standing against the schemes of the devil has in the life of a believer?
Do you think we think about spiritual warfare too much or not enough... do you think the devil is involved in things like the stop lights being the wrong color, or me spilling my open carry coffee down the front of my shirt?
I love that the verse makes it clear that we don't gather the armor for ourselves or build it from scratch. It's a gift. Why is that distinction important?
How does it change the way it looks to live that out? (What does it look like if we think we have to make our own armor, vs we trust that God's already given it to us as believers?)
Okay, so in light of that... it does say we have to put it on? Why do we have to put it on? Why aren't we just supernaturally strapped in? Does that matter?
As Christians, can we live holding our armor and not be equipped with it? Why do our kids need THIS lesson?
You can find Kyle Worley's book "The Dragon Slayer and His Super Special Suit" or his Instagram for more!
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Original Music written and recorded by Jonathan Camenisch
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