Preaching the Thursday midweek service, the first season at the new building, Pastor Devon Ortiz continued through Deuteronomy with chapter 3, the account of Israel's victory over Og, king of Bashan. He set the scene from chapter 2: Israel had passed peaceably through the lands of their distant cousins (the descendants of Lot and Esau), because God had told them not to meddle there. Then God's tone changed at Sihon, king of the Amorites, from "pass through peaceably" to "rise up and prepare for war." Pastor Ortiz drew the first lesson from that shift: there are seasons God calls us to walk peaceably, and seasons He calls us to battle, and a believer needs to discern which is which.

The enemy will always contend with you, so stay ready. Israel did not go looking for Bashan; Og came out against them. Pastor Ortiz observed that the enemy never waits for us to start the fight. Satan, as a roaring lion, seeks whom he may devour; he is not asking permission, he is already on the attack. The danger is that we are not as vigilant as we should be, not wearing the armor of God as we ought, and so we get taken down. God's word to Israel was "Fear him not, for I will deliver him into your hand."

When you do God's will, God gives the victory, and the obstacles only grow. Og was a giant, a remnant of the Anakim; Moses even records the size of his iron bedstead (about thirteen to fourteen feet) to show how formidable he was, and his cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars. Pastor Ortiz traced the progression: no conflict through Edom and Moab, then victory over Sihon, then a greater victory over the more fortified Og. God was training His children, and the giants did not shrink with time. He applied it plainly: in marriage, in a career, in the spiritual life, the giants only get bigger as you go, but God does not put us in situations we can manage on our own, because then we would take the credit. He puts us in situations beyond our strength so that He gets the victory.

With God the victory is total, never partial. "And the Lord our God delivered into our hands Og." Pastor Ortiz pressed that when you do it God's way you do not get partial victory: there is no half salvation, no half surrender. You are bought with a price and are not your own; God is all in on you, so the believer is called to be all in on Him. He illustrated it with a man considering ministry "on the side" while chasing a career, and warned against a divided focus: a true calling is a one thing, not a dual life.

Celebrate when God blesses others, and come alongside them when they hurt. Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh received their inheritance, the land of the giants, before the rest of Israel even entered the promised land. Pastor Ortiz said there is nothing to feel guilty about when God blesses you, and nothing to hide; do not boast, but do not bury it either. The other tribes were meant to rejoice with them. He rebuked the instinct to grow jealous or critical when someone else is blessed ("Why do they get that?"), and the gossiping instinct when someone is struggling, urging the church instead to be people who say, "Let me see if I can help with that."

The assignment continues after the blessing; we keep fighting until everyone has their rest. Moses told the two and a half tribes that their fighting men could not simply settle; they had to cross over armed ahead of their brethren until the rest of Israel possessed the land too. Pastor Ortiz applied it to church and family: just because you have received what you needed does not mean you stop, because someone else still needs to receive theirs. We keep parenting teenagers, we keep serving newcomers, we keep building, because the people who are "building" must seek out the ones who are "beginning" and fight alongside them. He also noted the spoils: God gave the tribes much cattle from the very battles He set before them, a reminder that hard, God-appointed obstacles often carry blessing with them.

Rest is shared, not solo, and the promise still holds. Pastor Ortiz closed on the idea that rest is the fulfillment of heaven, where the curse of toil is lifted, and that here on earth we press toward the mark and do not settle. He said he would not rest until his family, his church, and even his city find rest, and pointed to Christ's invitation, "Come unto me all ye that are weary, and I will give you rest." Verse 20 carries the assurance that those who had to leave what they loved would return to their possession; the promise does not expire.

He summarized the message in five movements: victory escalates as we follow God; blessing arrives before the mission ends; the assignment continues after the blessing; rest is shared, not solo; and the promise still holds. The sermon closed as a setup for the next message, "finishing strong even when you do not get everything you wanted," and a call to apply God's word, since a Christian who does not apply Scripture is either backslidden or not truly converted.