It’s Time to Rise Up – Pastor Cheryl Dixon Colburn

Rise Up Overview

In this powerful message, Pastor Cheryl Dixon Colburn delivers a bold and personal call to spiritual awakening rooted in Scripture and lived experience. Drawing from Ephesians 6:12, 1 Peter 5:8-9, and the dramatic Old Testament showdown between Moses, Aaron, and Pharaoh’s magicians, she exposes the enemy’s primary tactic: to attack believers in the space between miracles, planting doubt, confusion, and fear in order to erode their faith. Pastor Cheryl illustrates how God consistently wins each round in this spiritual battle, even when the enemy appears to match His power. Through deeply personal testimonies, including standing in faith against her late husband’s cancer diagnosis, surviving open-heart surgery, and trusting God through her new husband’s massive heart attack, she demonstrates what it looks like to resist the devil at the onset and refuse to let fear take hold. Anchored in Colossians 2:9-10, Romans 13:11, and Ephesians 5:14, this sermon is a passionate exhortation to awaken from spiritual slumber, take a seat of authority in Christ, pray in the Holy Spirit, and declare God’s Word with confidence, knowing the enemy is already defeated and placed under your feet.

Rise Up Outline

• 00:00 – Opening Prayer and Introduction: Pastor Cheryl opens with a heartfelt prayer asking God to anoint ears to hear and hearts to receive, sharing briefly about stepping into senior pastoral ministry after the loss of her husband Pastor Gary.
• 04:30 – The Real Enemy: Flesh Is Not Your Foe: Using Ephesians 6:12 and 1 Peter 5:8-9, Pastor Cheryl establishes that believers wrestle not against people but against spiritual forces of wickedness, and that the enemy operates through oppression, anxiety, and confusion.
• 11:00 – The Great Showdown: Moses, Aaron, and Pharaoh: An in-depth look at the plagues of Exodus reveals the enemy’s strategy of mimicking God’s power to breed doubt and discouragement between miracles, causing believers to question whether God truly cares.
• 20:00 – Personal Testimony: Fighting Cancer With Faith: Pastor Cheryl recounts the night her husband Gary was diagnosed with a serious cancer threat, and how she fought fear through prayer, worship, and communion until faith arose and the cancer could not be found.
• 29:00 – Awaken From Spiritual Slumber: Drawing on Romans 13:11 and Ephesians 5:14, Pastor Cheryl calls believers to turn from spiritual deadness to vibrant life, sharing a remarkable testimony from a minister who prayed in the Holy Ghost when threatened at gunpoint.
• 36:00 – All of God Lives in You: Rooted in Colossians 2:9-10, this section declares that every believer carries the fullness of God through union with Christ, and that power, wisdom, and healing are already present within and must be accessed by faith.
• 41:30 – Personal Testimony: Open-Heart Surgery and Standing Firm: Pastor Cheryl shares the gripping story of her own heart attack and four-bypass surgery, describing how she maintained faith while sitting in a recliner unable to breathe, resisting the enemy’s voice that said she would not survive.
• 47:00 – Rise Up and Take Your Seat of Authority: A compelling closing exhortation urges listeners to declare daily that the enemy is under their feet, to fight the good fight of faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, and live fully surrendered to God who loves them with an intense, sacrificial love.

Scripture References

Ephesians 6:12, 1 Peter 5:8-9, Ephesians 1:21-22, Colossians 2:9-10, Romans 13:11, Ephesians 5:14, Exodus 7:10-12, Exodus 7:20-22, Exodus 8:16-19, Psalms 119:165, Psalms 46:10, Revelation 12:11, Revelation 20, 1 Timothy 6:12, John 10:10

Key Takeaways

• The enemy’s primary tactic is to attack you between miracles, making you believe God is not working when He is working all along.
• You cannot be in faith and fear at the same time; fear feeds the enemy while faith feeds your spirit and activates God’s power on your behalf.
• Because Christ is in you, all of God is in you, including His power, wisdom, and healing, and you must access that fullness through faith and the Word.
• The fight of faith is not against the devil, who is already defeated, but rather the fight is to stay in faith, keep your words aligned, and refuse to undo your prayers with doubt.
• Praying in the Holy Spirit activates the spiritual resources God has provided; angels are set into motion when believers pray, but stand idle when they do not.
• Spiritual awakening means turning from a dead, passive state to a vibrant, active life in Christ, declaring your seat of authority daily and resisting the enemy at the very onset of his attack.
• God prepares you for every battle you face; His mercy, His Word, and His Spirit are sufficient to bring you through every storm into greater glory.

Rise Up Notes

Enemy Attacks Between the Miracles

One of the most revealing insights in this message is the observation that the devil does not primarily attack during obvious defeat but in the lull between victories. Using the Exodus narrative as a lens, Pastor Cheryl shows how Pharaoh’s magicians consistently attempted to replicate God’s miracles, creating confusion and eroding confidence. This is the enemy’s blueprint for modern believers: when God moves powerfully, the enemy works to make that miracle seem cancelled out, planting the thought that nothing is truly getting better. Recognizing this tactic is the first step to standing firm.

Faith and Fear Cannot Coexist

A central conviction woven throughout this sermon is that faith and fear are mutually exclusive. Pastor Cheryl describes the night her husband’s cancer diagnosis threatened to overwhelm her, and how she deliberately got on her knees, prayed in the Holy Spirit, and worshiped until fear literally lifted. She did not simply suppress fear with positive thinking; she spiritually displaced it with the presence of God and the declarations of His Word, including healing scriptures and communion. This model of active, persevering resistance is both biblical and intensely practical for anyone facing a health crisis or prolonged trial.

The Fullness of Christ Within Every Believer

Drawing from Colossians 2:9-10 in the Living Bible, Pastor Cheryl makes a bold and liberating declaration: all of God dwells in Christ, and every believer is filled with God through union with Christ. This means that power, wisdom, discernment, healing, and every answer a believer needs is already present within. The exhortation is not to seek something external but to access what has already been deposited. This theological truth reframes prayer and faith from desperate requests to confident activation of what God has already provided to His children.

Praying in the Holy Spirit Releases Angels

One of the most striking testimonies in this message comes from a minister who observed at a large prayer gathering that angels stood behind every believer who prayed in the Holy Spirit, actively wielding swords, while those who sat passively had angels standing idle with nothing to do. Pastor Cheryl uses this vivid picture to press believers toward consistent, fervent prayer in the Spirit, emphasizing that spiritual resources are mobilized by active participation, not passive attendance. The Holy Spirit is a partner, a teacher, and a helper who responds when we engage.

Guarding Your Confession During the Storm

A practical and often overlooked aspect of spiritual warfare this sermon addresses is the destructive power of contradictory speech. Pastor Cheryl warns that a believer can pray a powerful prayer of faith and immediately undo it by speaking words of doubt and unbelief. Referencing the truth that life and death are in the power of the tongue, she urges listeners to align their daily confession with the Word of God, refusing to let the enemy capitalize on unguarded moments. Watching what comes out of our mouths during waiting seasons is as important as the prayers we pray.

Daily Declaration of Seated Authority in Christ

Pastor Cheryl closes her message with a personal morning prayer discipline she practices consistently, declaring that because Jesus was raised and seated, she too is raised and seated with Him in heavenly places, placing the enemy under her feet. This is not arrogance but the practical application of Ephesians chapters one through three, which she encourages every believer to meditate on and pray daily. The call to rise up is ultimately a call to live from a position of victory already secured by Christ, not to fight for victory from a place of defeat.

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