Terra Firma 4 - Don't Look Down! - Climbing the mountain of God | Andy Bullock | 9th August 2026

We can find strength in the struggle when we surrender ourselves to God. All of us face mountains of different kinds in our lives - situations where it feels like everything is going against us. This is where we need to find strength. When his 600 men lost their wives and children and their safespace was destroyed, David - who also had his two wives taken - was facing being stoned by his own men. But he found strength in the Lord, the Bible tells us. Yes, this may have been through prayer and worship. but reading on, we also see him enquiring of the Lord on what to do next, and then obey the instructions he received. We seeing him having 'weight' taken off of him, while keeping hold of the compassion despite the crisis he was in. That compassion then led to his breakthrough, finding the enemy, having everything restored and then sharing the grace and mercy of God with those around him. When we face mountains and decide to find our strength in the Lord, we gain a greater understanding of Jesus while also shining his light more to others. Getting closer to Jesus we receive revelation and radiance. The Great Commission was shared in front of a mountain. Jesus was giving the eleven disciples a heads' up of what a life of discipleship making will look like. We need to get a grip! Sometimes conditions are really against us; cold, slippery, brittle - just like the North Face of a mountain. But God himself is described as the 'Holy NorthFace' - a place that should be inaccessible. But through the saving grace of Jesus Christ, our hearts have been made pure and hands clean and now we can climb.But if our hearts are pure and hands are clean, why does it feel like we are slipping sometimes? It's the feet that can lose their grip. This can be due to wearing the wrong footwear or because of the kind of surfaces we have contact with in this world. Closing the four part Terra Firma series, this message concludes that this is why Jesus needs to wash our feet regularly. FC Southsea are hearing clearly from the Lord. A word was shared weeks ago on us being like a 'limpet' in how it clings to the rock, to hang on in stormy times or low tides when they're exposed to the elements. We're encouraged to let Jesus wash our feet, and for us to wash each others' feet too, so our feet can grow muscular and we don't lose our grip. Don't look down. As we stand on solid ground in difficult situations - we can look up! Terra Firma.