FALL FESTIVAL – SUNDAY – 5:00 – 8:00 PM
NOVEMBER THEME — Worship Is Your Most Powerful Weapon
SUNDAY’S SERMON SUMMARY
Last week’s message reminded us that worship wins wars—when praise leads, God fights. Worship, as King Jehoshaphat showed us, is not the warm-up before the battle but the very weapon that turns the battle in our favor. Yet before worship can win the wars around us, it must first conquer the war within us. In Gethsemane, Jesus demonstrated that the purest act of worship was not in melody or motion but in surrender—“Not my will, but Thine be done.” That sacred moment of yielding revealed where victory truly begins: on our knees before the Father. God’s plan for each life is precise and purposeful, using even delays, disappointments, and detours as tools of divine design. When we release control and choose His way over ours, we discover that every wound can become a window of grace and every broken moment a platform for His glory. True worship begins where self ends and surrender begins.
This week’s focus, Not My Will, But Thine: The Freedom of Surrender, invites us into the peace that comes from letting go and trusting God completely. Surrender is not a mark of weakness but the doorway to freedom, where obedience replaces striving and peace replaces anxiety. Like Jesus in Gethsemane, we learn that victory is not found in resistance but in yielding to the Father’s perfect will. Each time we lay down our own plans, heaven releases strength, and our tears become the very soil where faith takes root. The highest form of worship is not applause but abandonment—a yielded will whispering, “Lord, I trust You even here.” When pride is dethroned and self bows low, God stands tall in our circumstances. Surrender doesn’t end in loss—it rises in resurrection power, where our worship becomes warfare and our obedience becomes the anthem of victory.
GO TO www.belmontbaptistchurch.com/sermons and listen to Sunday’s message.
Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart
When Praise Leads, God Fights
“And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir… and they were smitten.” — 2 Chronicles 20:22
Praise Before the Breakthrough
Worship does more than warm the room—it changes the battlefield. Jehoshaphat’s story reminds me that God moves at the sound of surrendered praise, not at the sound of my strategies. I often wait for relief before I worship, but Scripture flips that order: worship first, victory follows. Praise is not denial; it is agreement with a higher reality—that God is present, wise, and working. When I lift my voice in the tension, I am placing my confidence in the Lord who fights for me. I can either narrate my fears or narrate His faithfulness; only one of those opens the door for heaven’s ambushes. The enemy wants me noisy with complaint and quiet in worship; God invites me into the reverse. Every hallelujah becomes a hammer against hell’s conclusions about my future. If I feel chained, perhaps it is time to sing at midnight like Paul and Silas. Worship may not immediately move my circumstances, but it always moves me—from panic to trust, from control to surrender. In that shift, God sets ambushments I cannot see and could never arrange on my own.
The Sound That Shifts the Atmosphere
There is something supernatural about the sound of genuine praise. It doesn’t depend on the pitch of my voice, but on the posture of my heart. Praise invites God’s presence, and His presence changes everything. When I begin to thank Him, worry loses its grip. When I declare His greatness, fear starts to shrink. The same God who shook prison walls for Paul and Silas still shakes the walls of anxiety, shame, and despair today. Praise doesn’t just fill a room with melody—it fills the heart with confidence. The enemy can’t stand where worship stands because God inhabits the praises of His people. When I worship through tears, it confuses the devil; when I worship through weakness, it glorifies God’s strength. Worship is warfare dressed in gratitude. When praise leads, the atmosphere of my heart becomes a battleground where victory begins to form long before I see it.
When Praise Becomes a Weapon
True praise isn’t just emotional expression—it’s spiritual resistance. Every time I choose to thank God instead of complain, I’m firing a shot of faith into the enemy’s camp. When Judah sang, “Praise the Lord; for His mercy endureth forever,” heaven responded with strategy and strength that no human hand could produce. My battle may not involve armies, but it involves strongholds—fear, bitterness, shame, unbelief—and God has given me a weapon called worship. Praise realigns my perspective, reminding me that the God who delivered yesterday still reigns today. It silences the lies that tell me I’m alone. Worship is not just what I do after the victory—it’s what invites the victory. When I praise in the waiting, I am declaring: “God, You’re already worthy, and You’re already working.” And that kind of faith never goes unnoticed in heaven.
Heart Check:
- When do I most often wait for relief before I worship?
- What fear has been narrating my week more loudly than God’s faithfulness?
- Where might a song of trust become my first response, not my last resort?
Prayer: Lord, teach my heart to praise first. Set Your ambushments against the enemies of fear, despair, and unbelief. Let my worship agree with Your wisdom and welcome Your warfare. When my voice trembles, steady it with faith; when my heart falters, strengthen it with joy. I trust that as I praise, You are fighting for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Challenge: Today, pause three times—morning, midday, and evening—to speak or sing one verse of praise aloud before you check your phone, inbox, or news. Let praise lead your day—and watch God fight for your peace.
MONDAY’S PRAYER REQUESTS
Debbie Foskey – Surgery November 24th
George & Linda Alexander
Jessica Headrick
Amanda Elliott
Brando Echarte
Danny Jarrard
Betty Hammock
Cheryl Knight’s Brother
Don Franklin’s Daughter, Darlene
Jean Partee’s Sister
Kathryn Rains
Kay Woodson
Deon Lotter
Doris Loyd
Mike Bryan
Mike Hollinhead
Nancy Brown – Rehab
Amy Garner’s Dad
Annette Ford
Andrea Nix– Friend of the Shelnutt’s
Angela Bryan’s Sister
Ann Stanley
Carol Lawhead – Park Place Rehab in Monroe
Darlene Wiggins
Doris Loyd
Dr. and Mrs. Davis
Eric Magnusson’s Mother
Eric Ward
Friend of Linda Hodge
Gayle Sparks
James Burnette
John McClain’s Mother
June Cronan’s Sister
June Davis
Kailey Bateman
Kathryn Raines
Kim McClain’s Mother
Kim’s Sisters – Ann & Brenda
Lee Cronan
Lillianna Magnusson’s Mom
Linda Breedlove’s Sister – Sarah
Linda Mays
Lonzo Christian
Lori Blount’s Mother
Mary Williams
Mary Williamson – Dana Jackson’s Mom
Mrs. Franklin
Nora Allison
Ron And Johnnie Barry – Friends Of Ashton & Glenda Bateman
Rose Fuller – Pruitt-Monroe Nursing Home, Forsyth GA
Scott Lanier
Scotty Nix
Sheila Simmons
Stephanie Seivers – Friend of the Shellnutts
Steve Michaels
Tom Witcher