There are seasons when life seems determined to test what we really believe.
Pressure comes through our families, finances, health, work or circumstances we never saw coming. In those moments, it’s easy to feel as though victory belongs to people who are stronger, more disciplined or somehow more spiritual than we are.
But that wasn’t Ps Larry’s message on Sunday.
He reminded our 3C South Coast church family that the overcoming life isn’t built on our own strength. We overcome because of what Jesus has already accomplished and because God gives us the power to walk in His will.
1 John 5:4-5 — “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
Our confidence, then, isn’t in our ability to control everything around us. It’s in Christ.
Standing Strong Starts With Remembering Who Is For You
Ps Larry took us into Romans 8, one of those passages we can return to when circumstances start speaking louder than our faith.
Romans 8:31 asks, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
That doesn’t mean difficult things won’t happen. The same chapter speaks about tribulation, distress, persecution and danger. Christianity has never been a promise of a trouble-free life. What Scripture does promise is that trouble cannot separate us from the love and victory we have in Christ.
Romans 8:37 — “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
That little phrase, “in all these things,” is worth holding onto. God doesn’t wait for everything to settle down before He meets us. His grace, strength and presence are available right in the middle of what we’re facing.
That’s what standing strong begins to look like.
God Wants to Be Part of Your Everyday Life
One of the beautiful reminders from Sunday was that God wants to be personally involved in our lives.
Ps Larry wasn’t talking only about church, prayer meetings or the moments we consider especially spiritual. He was talking about Monday morning, family decisions, work pressures, money, relationships and all the ordinary parts of life.
Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
God has purpose for us, but walking in that purpose usually happens one obedient decision at a time.
Ps Larry said it so simply: our small daily choices have big eternal impact.
Sometimes obedience looks dramatic. More often, it looks like forgiving someone, changing the way we speak, praying when the Holy Spirit prompts us, helping someone quietly, or sharing Jesus when an unexpected opportunity opens.
Those decisions make a difference.
The Overcoming Life Is Spirit-Led
Pastor Larry touched on something most of us face: spiritual inconsistency. One week we feel grounded, and the next, a single difficult conversation or surprise bill completely knocks us sideways.
The key to breaking that cycle is learning to walk steadily under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:14 reminds us that those led by the Spirit are the children of God. As that relationship deepens, a steady calm replaces the exhaustion of feeling like everything rests on our shoulders. We learn to recognize His voice and trust Him — even without all the answers.
And on the days we don’t even know what to pray, Romans 8:26 steps in with incredible comfort: “The Spirit Himself makes intercession for us.” You were never meant to carry every battle alone.
By building ourselves up through prayer, Scripture, and community — just as Jude 1:20 urges: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit” — our faith stops being a panic reaction to the week’s latest crisis and becomes a daily, confident walk with God.
Our recent message on bold, audacious prayer carries that same heartbeat. Prayer isn’t simply something we turn to when everything else has failed. It’s part of learning to walk closely with God every day.
Be Careful What You Allow to Live in Your Mind
Pastor Larry made a point recently that really stuck with me: so many of our biggest battles are won or lost right between our ears.
Think about how easily our minds hijack us. Fear invents entire futures that will probably never happen. Bitterness plays one painful conversation on repeat for weeks. Condemnation keeps dragging yesterday’s mistakes right into today. When we feed those thoughts, they stop being temporary feelings and start running the show—shaping how we speak, act, and live.
That’s exactly why holding onto truth is so vital. Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Real freedom happens when we align our thoughts with what God says and let His truth pull up the lies we’ve quietly accepted by the roots.
- When fear whispers, “You’re entirely on your own,” God promises He will never leave you.
- If failure insists, “Nothing will ever change,” grace reminds you that God isn’t finished yet.
- When circumstances shout, “It’s impossible,” faith simply remembers who God is.
Be careful what you let set up camp in your mind. The thoughts you feed are the ones that will grow.
Faith Has to Become Something We Live
Towards the end of the message, Ps Larry gave us a wonderfully practical way of thinking about faith:
Hear it. Say it. Do it. Receive it. Tell it.
It begins with hearing God’s Word and allowing it to shape what we believe. Our words then begin to agree with His truth, and that belief finds expression in the way we live.
Faith isn’t passive.
Mark 11:22-24 begins with Jesus saying, “Have faith in God,” before teaching His disciples to speak, believe and receive when they pray. And once we’ve seen God move, we shouldn’t keep the testimony to ourselves. Telling someone what God has done can strengthen their faith while reminding us of His faithfulness too.
Ps Larry’s challenge was refreshingly straightforward: practising Christians “get up and do something.”
We don’t only hear the Word. We respond to it.
That includes sharing the Gospel. The life Jesus has given us was never meant to stop with us. Someone we meet this week may need the hope we already carry.
Taking Sunday Into the Week
Here’s a simple way to carry the message with us:
| When… | Remember… | Scripture |
| Pressure feels overwhelming | God is for you | Romans 8:31 |
| You feel spiritually weak | The Holy Spirit helps you | Romans 8:26 |
| Your thoughts turn negative | Return to God’s truth | John 8:32 |
| God speaks to your heart | Obey and act on His Word | Ephesians 2:10 |
| God answers or brings breakthrough | Tell someone what He has done | Mark 11:22-24 |
Church, we don’t know everything this week will bring, but we do know who walks into it with us.
We can pray if we feel weak, return to the Word when our thoughts wander, and obey when God prompts us. Then, when the enemy pushes against what God is doing in our lives, we can resist him and continue walking in faith.
James 4:7 reminds us: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
We aren’t trying to manufacture victory through our own strength. Jesus has already done the work. Our part is to trust Him, follow Him and keep standing.
That is the overcoming life.
If you’re carrying something heavy and would value someone standing with you in prayer, please contact our 3C South Coast family. You can also learn more about Ps Bert Pretorius and the heart of the ministry.
A Prayer for the Week
Father, help us to stand strong, follow Your Spirit and live from the victory Jesus has already won. Guard our hearts and minds, give us courage to obey You, and let our lives point others to Christ. Amen.
