The Armour Of God (All-Age / Family Service) Series

All-age service The Armour of God

Can anyone tell me who or what this is?

In Bible times soldiers would wear very heavy armour.

If you know the story of when David fought against the giant Goliath you may remember that David was so small he could not wear the armour given to him because it was too heavy.

The Bible teaches us that Christians are meant to wear armour everyday.

Christians have a very special armour - it’s special because it’s invisible yet it can still protect us.

Our armour is The Armour of God.

Even though we can’t see it we still need to put it on and wear it everyday.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:10-18 NLT

10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

I think it’s clear that we are living in “the time of evil” that the apostle Paul wrote about in verse 13.

As Christian’s we need to stand against evil.

As Dynamic Disciples we need to stand firm in our faith.

We need to be willing and equipped to be stand against the deceptions and temptations of the devil.

Thankfully God has provided us with the means to stand firm for our Lord.

We face a real battle in this world today.

So many people oppose the truth of the Word of God, so many are swayed by popular opinion.

The “rights” of the individual are deemed more important than the will and commandments of God.

The devil attacks in so many different ways, temptation to cheat, sexual deviation,

humanistic teaching and he can even cause people to have internal battles with depression or self-esteem.

The battle is real, BUT our King has already defeated the Enemy.

We can rely on God’s strength to fight against evil, to fight against the devil’s deceptions.

This passage from Ephesians helps us to understand the how God equips us daily for the battle we are in.

When we put on the Armour of God, we can be strong, we can stand firm, we can do what is right in God’s sight.

The Armour of God can help us to fight against Sin, against the bad things in the world.

---

Lets look at a picture of the Armour of God.

There are 7 pieces of Armour that we need to wear can you tell me what they are?

Belt of Truth / Breastplate of Righteousness /

Shoes of Peace / Shield of Faith /

The Helmet of Salvation / the Sword of the Spirit

Prayer

Let’s examine what each piece of the Armour is for.

-----

The Belt of Truth is the first thing we need to put on.

In bible times, the belt helped to secure soldier’s armour in place.

Our spiritual “belt of truth” refers to who we are and what we believe — it is what binds together our beliefs and influences our decisions.

The world is full of evil or deceptive teachings and beliefs.

Atheism. Materialism. Consumerism. Evolution. Humanism and so many other things that drag people away from the truth.

The truth that God exists and He created everything we see in this universe.

The truth that God is real, that we are by our very nature sinful and that we need a Saviour.

The truth that Jesus was really born or a virgin,

lived a perfect life, taught people about how they could be in a real relationship with God the Father, then willingly went to the cross and bore the punishment for sin that we deserve.

The truth that Jesus rose from the grave and that He conquered the power of sin and death so that we can be forgiven.