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Hey there, fellow church nerds. Welcome to another episode of Church Nerds United, the podcast where faith meets fandom and sermons are the new superhero stories. That's right. Today, we've got a sermon that's more epic than the battle of Helm's Deep and more inspiring than Captain America's pep talks. But before we dive into this week's divine download, don't forget to hit that like button, subscribe, and ring the bell so you never miss an episode.

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And, hey, if you love what we do and want to support the show, consider donating. Every little bit helps us keep the nerdy goodness coming your way. You can find the donation link in the show notes or head over to our website at greaterguild.org. Join the ranks of our Greater Guild Army and help us spread the geeky gospel far and wide. Now, without further ado, let's jump into this week's sermon.

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Grab your bibles, light up your lightsabers, and get ready to dive deep into the word of God.

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Hey, guild members. Today, we're continuing our dive into the series with healing potions and prayer, spiritual health for gamers.

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If you ever played an RPG, and I believe pretty much all of us have, and whether it's Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft, even Skyrim, you know the importance of healing. You're in the middle of a boss fight, and what's the one thing you're constantly watching during your battle besides the enemy? It's your health bar. Right? It drops too low, and boom, it's game over.

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Or need to start from the last restore point which would could be ours. You might have the best tank, or, you know, you may have the highest DPS on a weapon.

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You know, maybe in the group or for yourself, but without healing potions, a healer, or even a medic, you're pretty much done for. Well, just like in games, life has its own boss battles. You know, struggles we face with our health, our relationships, our mental well-being, and even our faith. And it's just in those games we need healing. But instead of potions and buffs, we have prayer.

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God, through his spirit in our community, is our ultimate healer. Whether we're dealing with an emotional pain, physical sickness, or spiritual exhaustion, God has given us the tools we need to find restoration. We find this need for restoration in James 5 16 where it says, therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Prayer is our lifeline.

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Call it a healing potion, or healing mist, or even healing injection. However you view it. Today we're going to explore how we can stay spiritually healthy in this world of constant battles. It comes to our first point, which is identifying spiritual wounds. So let's start with this.

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How do you know when you're wounded in the game? You know, you look at your health bar or the screen turns red. And if you're low on health, you heal. Simple. Right?

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But in life our spiritual and emotional health bars are not as easy to see because we don't have a HUD, or even an app on our phone to give us this information. Because of this lack of information too often we just push forward ignoring the pain, ignoring the stress, and the weaknesses that's building up. We try to keep fighting without stopping to heal, and eventually, we just collapse. You know, some turn to alcohol, some turn to drugs, and even some of us have contemplated self deletion. And this is where God can start to change all

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of this. And it says in Psalms 147 verse 3, he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Think about that.

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You know, God is like the ultimate healer, always ready to patch us up. But how often do we actually stop and let him? How often do we acknowledge that we've taken a hit? Whether it's a relationship that's gone sour, disappointment at work, or just the stress of everyday life, these are the wounds that pile up in our hearts and souls. He even invites us in Matthew chapter 11 verses 2829.

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Come to me all who labor and are heavily heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus starts by acknowledging that you have burdens, problems, stress, and tells you he will give you rest. Jesus continues with, take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Rest.

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Healing. That's all he's offering. And it's not just relief from the burden, but to share it. You need to continue to work through the issues, no doubt, but we need to stop and admit when our health bar is low. In this admission, because there is no shame in admitting you need help, you will find the people and the groups to work with you during your season of pain.

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And that brings me to my second point. Healing through confession and prayer. K? Another example would be imagine you're in a game like Overwatch, Destiny 2, you know, you know, really big team games, and you're low on health, and there's a healer on your team. But you don't say anything.

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You just keep fighting, hoping they'll notice and heal you. Of course, in some games they don't hear you either. So it's, kinda, you know, you know, weird. But but I but what if they could hear you? You know, your mic's open.

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You're saying, I need healing. I need healing. I need medic. You know, but if they can hear you but they don't do anything, you know, that sounds ridiculous. Right?

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Yeah. We know during a team match that communication is key.

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If you don't ask for help, you're gonna get knocked out or even worse sent back to the lobby. So in life we often do the same thing. We struggle in silence. We hide our pain, our sins, our worries, because we don't want to burden anyone,

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and or maybe we're just ashamed. But here's the thing. Confession is

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the first step towards healing. We confess, whether it's to God or to someone we trust. We open the door to healing. This is what mental therapy is all about. If you don't confess, the therapist can't help in your mental health.

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Period. End of story. The reason for true confession comes from 1st John chapter 1 verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful, and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Confession isn't just about sin.

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It's about bringing to light the struggles we've been hiding. It's about asking for help when we're low on health. James also says in James 5 14 and 15, is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church. Let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

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And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. Now, just like you wouldn't stay silent when you need healing in a team match, we shouldn't stay silent when we need spiritual, emotional, or even physical healing in life. We go to a doctor when we're feeling physically bad. We go to a therapist when we're emotional. But people think, okay, that's it.

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But your spiritual meter, as we have talked in the past, needs to

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be filled up too. You know?

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And it's not just for going to God, but we need to have that for our community. And, you know, that's why we have community. That's why we have each other. And with that, that brings me to my 3rd point which is spiritual buffs. You know, it is the power of faith filled prayer.

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Now, let's talk about buffs. Seriously. You know, games League of Legends, World of Warcraft, you know, any really good sci fi, fantasy, RPG, you know, certain characters and certain items can give you and your team buffs that will make you stronger, faster, more resilient. You know, a well timed buff can change the course of a battle. Seen it happen, and probably you have too.

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In our spiritual lives, faith filled prayer is like a buff. It brings God's supernatural power into our situations. Prayer is like a spell scroll if you either yell it out or say it silently when you're alone. Now there may be a delay, or maybe you have an epiphany, or even an it it's an instant effect,

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but the status stays the same. The buff will hit no matter what. And Matthew

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says in chapter 21 verse 22, whatever you ask in prayer you will receive if you have faith. You know, prayer isn't just about asking God for stuff. Okay? You know, that's

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a little selfish, and we've talked about that too in our Almost Truce series. But what it

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is it's about aligning ourselves with his will, and trusting him. And that's 2 parts. His will, and trusting him. You know, this is why some things really don't happen immediately. God may hold back the buff until you've gained in your intelligence or wisdom stat.

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That could be a probability. You know, it sucks, I know. But prayer is being answered on God's timing. That's what it is. When we pray with faith, we're essentially saying, God, I believe in you that you have the power to change the situation.

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Now understand we need faith in God. Now people will blindly say or type in social media, and you've probably seen it. Thoughts and prayers to

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You know. And you look at it,

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and it's like, well, is there faith behind it? Because here's the thing. A lot of them probably don't have faith. They're just typing it out as as an ad nauseam. Without but the this is the key.

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Without having faith, they're just empty prayers.

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You know, it's no wonder many mock

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the idea of prayer, but with faith, just like a buff in a game, it gives us the spiritual strength. We need to face whatever battle is ahead or we're in. There's also the spiritual shield buff that many overlook when we pray. And Philippians gives us an idea of this in chapter 4 verses 6 and 7. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.

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And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Really, think about that peace as a shield, another spiritual buff that protects you in battle. It's not that the struggle disappears, I mean, you still see it, you know, the fireball is still coming, but you have peace of mind knowing that shield is taken care of because you prayed for it. You worked for it. But God's peace always guards your heart so you can stand strong.

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That peace gives strength to your heart. That's get strength gives peace to your inner spirit. Right? I mean, try rolling, you know, try rolling

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the net twenty when you're trying to, you know, you know, in a battle. It can work you know, it's hard. It can be done. Prayer and I

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was like, hey. I hope I get that Nat tronning. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but that's the odds of the game because God doesn't play with dice. But peace of mind knowing that no matter what happens, you're set up to for success in that particular instance, and that's not all that we need to do. And here comes our 4th point.

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It's about continuous healing. It it's about maintaining our spiritual health, and we see it in games like Skyrim and Dark Souls. You don't heal once and think, you know, you're good for the rest of the game. This is especially true in the Dark Souls. Believe me.

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I've watched it. I don't play it. I've watched. Enough watching has made me go, maybe not wanna play that. And it also, you know, souls games are really not my cup of tea.

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That's no offense to anybody who plays them. Love you guys. You're all great. I you just have more strength in that area than I do. But as you know, healing is a continuous process.

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You're constantly watching your health. You're using your potions. You're casting healing spells as you need them. You're using scrolls, s's flags, whatever. The same goes for our spiritual lives.

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Healing isn't a one time event. It's something we have to seek continuously and maintain. Now this is why we need to be vigilant when it comes to times of hope and hardship. Romans really says it perfectly in in 12/12. Rejoice in hope.

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Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. We we can't just go to God once, and then we're and, you know, once we're in a crisis, and then forget about him the rest of the time. That just really doesn't work. Our spiritual health requires ongoing attention.

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We need to stay connected to God through regular prayer,

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through worship, through community. In many games, we need to repair our equipment. Right? Now this is

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what Romans is really hinting at. Every triumph and every trial in our life must be reinforced with prayer. Pray for thanks in good times. Pray for help in dark times. It's also imperative to pray at all times in between.

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No matter what, prayer is a game of patience in some, including myself.

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You know, we need to be reminded that of that. And this

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is where our passage in I passage in our in in Isaiah really points to, because Isaiah 4031 reminds us, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Waiting on the Lord, seeking him regularly, this is how we maintain our spiritual health.

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You know, just like you wouldn't ignore your health bar in a game, we shouldn't ignore our need for God's healing in our daily lives.

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You may not need healing now, but always be praying for healing and uplift daily. You know, this

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is the maintenance we need for our spirit and mental health. So just as in gaming, where healing is essential to survival in our spiritual lives, prayer and community are essential for healing and restoration. Don't try to fight your battles alone. Even in a single player game, many of those games have partners to work with. You're not in that battle alone.

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God has given us the tools we need prayer, confession, faith, and community. Now if you're wounded today, whether emotionally, physically, or spiritually, don't keep fighting them on your own. Let's turn really to the ultimate healer, Jesus. Let's bring our struggles, our pain, and our worries to him in prayer. And let us pray for each other just as the Bible says.

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Through prayer and faith, we can experience the healing power of God's spirit in our lives.

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Wow. That was powerful. Pastor Brandon never fails to deliver a sermon that's both thought provoking and nerd tastic. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and donate if you want to keep the sermons and geeky discussions coming.