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God is at work among us, and we see only a small part of what He is doing. As we gather for Aspire’s Annual Members’ Meeting, we’ll celebrate His faithfulness and return to the mission Jesus gave His Church: to make disciples of all nations. Through Matthew 28:16–20 and stories from our church family, we’ll consider how each of us can participate in that mission — in San Marco, throughout Jacksonville, and around the world.

You can’t stand firm in a battle you don’t know you’re fighting. In Ephesians 2, Paul identifies three enemies working together against us: the world around us, the flesh within us, and the devil against us. Their influence is so powerful that Paul does not describe us as spiritually weak but spiritually dead. Yet the most important words in the passage are “But God.” Because of his great love and mercy, God has made us alive with Christ. In this opening message of Battle Lines, we will learn to recognize our enemies without becoming afraid of them and discover how to stand in the victory Jesus has already secured.

After Jacob dies, Joseph’s brothers fear that his forgiveness was only temporary and that revenge has merely been postponed. But Joseph refuses to perpetuate his family’s destructive patterns. In the conclusion of But God, we will discover that God’s providence enables us to tell the truth about the past without being defined by it, to break destructive cycles in the present, and to trust God with the future we may not live to see. The cross ultimately assures us that evil is real, but it will never have the final word.

When Joseph’s brothers arrive in Egypt, circumstances recreate the defining test of their past: another favored son is in danger, and they can protect themselves by abandoning him. Years earlier, Judah proposed selling Joseph into slavery. Now he offers to become a slave in Benjamin’s place. What changed? In Part 5 of But God…, we’ll trace Judah’s journey from self-preservation to self-sacrifice and discover what genuine repentance looks like. We cannot undo our past, but God’s grace can change how we respond when the old test returns. The clearest evidence that we have changed is not how deeply we regret our former choices, but whether we are willing to choose differently today.

After thirteen years of slavery, false accusation, imprisonment, and waiting, Joseph’s circumstances change almost instantly. But promotion does not mean that his testing has ended. In Part 4 of But God... we will discover that success is faithfulness rather than status, that changed circumstances do not automatically heal old wounds, and that success tests what suffering has forged within us.

Joseph spends years faithfully serving while his circumstances remain unchanged. Forgotten by the cupbearer and confined in prison, he cannot see that God is preparing him for the opportunity ahead. Join us for part three of But God…, where we will see that Joseph’s waiting was not wasted and that God uses obscurity, disappointment, and delay to shape him into someone capable of carrying the calling he received years earlier.

Joseph was young, unmarried, far from home, and repeatedly pursued by a powerful woman. His culture, circumstances, and even his family history gave him reasons to compromise — but Joseph chose differently. He trusted that the God who created his sexuality knew how it was meant to flourish. In Part 2 of But God…, we’ll discover why sexual integrity means more than avoiding immorality, how God’s design challenges our culture’s approach to premarital sex and pornography, and why faithfulness is still worthwhile even when obedience makes life harder.

Joseph receives a dream from God, but his journey toward that dream begins with betrayal, slavery, and seemingly accidental circumstances. Although God seems absent from Genesis 37, He is quietly directing the story. Join us for part one of But God, where we will learn that when we cannot see what God is doing, we can trust that He is still at work.

The Rich Young Ruler was young, but youth did not guarantee that he would respond to Jesus later. His decisive moment came when Jesus said, “Come, follow me.” Join us for the conclusion of Rich! as we consider how to give God not only our money and abilities, but our attention, availability, relationships, service, and days.

Jesus told a story about a successful man whose land produced an abundant harvest. His business had done so well that he decided to build larger barns, store everything for himself, retire early, and enjoy the good life. But his plans ended suddenly when his life was required of him. The tragedy of the Rich Fool was not merely that he died unexpectedly. It was that he spent his life accumulating possessions but never became rich toward God. Join us for part three of Rich! as we discover that God gives us extra not merely to increase our standard of living, but to increase our standard of giving.

The Rich Young Ruler was not only wealthy; he was a ruler. He possessed leadership ability, influence, responsibility, and opportunity. Yet none of those gifts were fully surrendered to Jesus. Join us for part two of Rich! as we discover that God does not measure us by what He entrusted to someone else, but by what we do with what He has entrusted to us.

A young ruler came to Jesus asking what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. By every visible measure, he was successful. He was moral, influential, financially secure, and still young enough to believe his best years were ahead of him. But Jesus saw the one thing standing between the man and the life he desired. When Jesus invited him to release his possessions and follow, the man walked away sorrowful. The Rich Young Ruler wanted eternal life as an addition to the life he had already built. Jesus invited him to surrender that life and receive something better. Join us for part one of Rich! as we consider the question: What do you possess that you cannot imagine placing in Jesus’ hands?

Some songs can only be sung by people who remember what it felt like to weep. Psalm 126 looks back on a season when God restored His people’s fortunes and filled their mouths with laughter. But it also looks forward with longing, asking God to do it again. This is the song of people who have tasted restoration but still carry tears. Join us for the final track of Summer Psalms Mixtape Vol. 5, where we will learn that biblical hope is not wishful thinking. It is faith that keeps us sowing, praying, and trusting, because the God who restored His people in the past can be trusted with what remains undone.

The road ahead can be beautiful, but it can also be dangerous. Psalm 121 was a song for pilgrims making their way toward Jerusalem, lifting their eyes to the hills and asking where their help would come from. The answer was not found in the hills themselves, but in the Maker of heaven and earth. Join us for Track 3 of Summer Psalms Mixtape Vol. 5, where we will learn that God does not promise a trouble-free journey, but He does promise to keep His people every step of the way.

Every heart is thirsty for something. We chase satisfaction through success, comfort, approval, pleasure, and control, only to find that none of them can satisfy the soul’s deepest thirst. Psalm 63 was written in the wilderness, yet David’s greatest longing was not for water, safety, or escape. His soul thirsted for God. Join us for Track 2 of Summer Psalms Mixtape Vol. 5, where we will discover that the life we seek is not found in getting more from God, but in wanting more of God.