Hello, and thanks for being here with us on Destin for Victory, featuring Pastor Paul Shepard.

Before we get going with today's message, can't we all just get along?

I want to share a conversation I once had with Pastor Paul.

I spoke with him about Destin for Victory's longstanding objective to reach the world for Christ,

a mission he hoped would

continue long after his preaching days were over.

And here's what he had to say.

Well, you know, when I think of victorious, my mind goes back.

I'm a kid growing up watching TV in the 60s, so my mind goes back to the wide world of sports.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

There was an announcer named James McKay, Jim McKay, something like that.

He had this classic line where he talked about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

And I love just thinking about how thrilling it is to be victorious.

I love, in any game I'm playing, I want to be victorious.

I tell people I don't care whether it's monopoly or something really serious.

I want to win.

And in life, we can win in Christ, and that's what the Bible tells us that we are victorious

in him. And victorious means that we're following his lead,

that we're letting the Holy Spirit take us where he wants us to go in life. We're saved by his

grace, and then we're simply following his direction. And of course, the Word of God is so key

to following God's direction because the Word is a lamb to our feet and a light to our pathway.

And so those who tune in to broadcast like Destin for Victory are really supposed to be receiving guidance so that we can walk in and live in victory.

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