VIDEO: KING AND COUNTRY “FIGHT ON FIGHTER”
VIDEO: BOXING INTRO
SCRIPTURE SLIDE:
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
MAIN SLIDE: FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
Friends - We all have four opponents, and over these 4 weeks we will find out how to deal with each one as God wants.
So we must learn to fight, but not as the world fights,
we fight with faith and with God's guidance and power.
In this way there will be a glorious outcome!
Are you ready to learn to FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT?
We need to learn to fight not so we will win.
What a small and petty reason to fight.
We need a new definition of what it means to win:
________NOT A ME WIN, BUT A GOD WIN____________
WHAT DOES THAT WIN LOOK LIKE
We need to learn to fight with faith
With God’s power, his purposes, and in his way
so Gods will can be advanced and accomplished.
so God’s is glorified in the outcome
so God’s kingdom comes
We need to learn to fight with faith
The price you pay
To have a God win may surprise you
There must be preparation
Fighting the good fight may cost you everything
Your standing, your reputation, your pride
To fight in faith may mean taking some hits
It may mean learning when to walk away
and when to lean in
When you face your 4 opponents with God’s armor
With faith, with hope, with love, with fire, with the power of the Holy Spirit, walls come down, chains are broken, darkness flees, the oppressed are set free. And the impossible becomes possible.
As with all fights there are two disciplines, and both are vital and cannot be ignored. One is not more important and neither alone can win the fight.
Fighting the good fight of faith requires that we learn both OFFENSE AND DEFENSE
You cannot overcome your opponent without a good defense – learning to block, coverup, how to move to avoid getting hit, how to avoid traps and how to use the clock to your advantage. You can’t win without a good defense.
You also cannot overcome your opponent without a good offense – learning to punch, jab, cross, uppercut, counterpunch, how to pace yourself, knowing the weaknesses of your opponent, having a plan. You can’t win without a good offence.
DURING THESE 4 WEEKS we will deal with one opponent a week – and each week the opponent gets harder – today we face the easiest round – dealing with people, next week it get’s harder and the same for the third. The last week we face an opponent we cannot win against – but we can still get a God win anyway.
BEFORE WE ENTER THE RING AGAINST OUR FIRST, AND EASIEST OPPONENT – LET’S HEAR ABOUT FIGHTING WITH FAITH BY A REAL PRO.
Everybody knows boxing legend George Forman – Olympic gold medalist, two-time world heavy weight champion, entrepreneur worth 300 million dollars.
Here are 5 facts about George people may not know.
1.He had a near death experience during a boxing match that led him to Christ.
2. Even though he could regain the world title again, he retired at 28 to serve the Lord and become a preacher.
3. Even though he was a famous world champion he started out preaching on the street and on street corners.
4. He preaches 4 times a week at Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Houston Texas.
5. Before he found God he was an angry person and wanted to hire people to kill his enemies. When he found Jesus he found forgiveness and peace.
VIDEO: George Foreman Testimony
MAIN SLIDE: FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
LEARN FROM GEORGE: When your opponent is other people, and you fight with anger, hatred and revenge in your heart – no one wins. Everyone gets hurt. No good thing is advanced.
But you don’t need to fight as the world fight, you can FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT you have God given tools to get a God win in any human bout.
There are some pretty serious tactics to put dissention, confusion, miscommunication, gossip on the ground.
You can KO not the opponent but the opponent really isn’t the person, it’s the problem, the controversy, the conflict.
You can get a GOD WIN by following a few quick moves in the ring.
Let’s use the word PUNCH as an acrostic.
P – BE AT PEACE IF POSSIBLE – try to end a fight before it starts. Walk away, give in (preference).
- AS MUCHAS IT IS POSSIBLE Romans 12:18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
- Blessed are the peacemakers Matthew 5:9 God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
U – UNLEASH THE POWER OF LOVE (don’t take revenge or be motivated by anger or respond in kind.)
- Burning coals Proverbs 25:21-22 If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink. You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will reward you.
- Go the second mile Luke 6:25-36 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30 Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. 31 Do to others as you would like them to do to you. 32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return. 35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
N – NEGOTIATE – hard in a sound byte world to have long conversations, hard conversations, give and take conversations, figure it out conversations
- Come now let us reason together
Isaiah 1:18 18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
- Quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger
James 1:19 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
- Look at your own speck before picking on others
Matthew 7:3-5 3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
C - CONFRONT them with truth (speak the truth in love) and then leave the results to God. Speak truth, not feelings. Big difference. This is not an attack but it is a clear yes and no conversation. Do not ask me to live outside of these boundaries or it will affect the quality and depth of our relationship
- Ephesians 4:14-15 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever, they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
H – HIT THEM WITH LOVING REJECTION this is a last step and a real knock out punch. There is rarely any coming back from this, but at times it is necessary to faith the good fight of faith in this way. Radical.
-1 Corinthians 5:5 – 5 Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.
Matthew 18:17 - 17 If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.
MAIN SLIDE
Even this is to get a God win. The idea is if someone is no longer supported they will come back to a right path. That if someone is not rescued from the consequences of their choices but allowed to face them, they will come back to a right path.
SO YOU SEE THE PUNCH IDEA STARTS SMALL AND GROWS IN INTENSITY – YOUR OPPONANT “People” and their “Situations” are overcome by some footwork, then some jabs and finally a real knock out punch.
Fighting the Good Fight in Faith
Definition of WIN – is not a YOU WIN BUT A GOD WIN
Opponent #1 People and their Situations
REMEMBER GOD’S WILL AND MOVING OTHERS CLOSER TO GOD
PRAYER OF FAITH - “Heavenly Father, I know that I’m a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe that Jesus’ death on the cross is payment for my sins. Lord Jesus I humbly ask for your forgiveness. Come into my life and make me into the person you want me to be. I choose to follow you.”
