Friendly Fire

Intro

-Myself

-When the Fight Calls

-Last week we talked about how we could learn to charge in victory by allowing God to fight our battles

-We are closing out this two part series tonight by talking about us.

-Today we will be looking at Romans 12:9-18 and how that can serve as a blueprint for us to navigate the craziness our country is walking through.

Romans 12:9–18 NIV

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Pray

Friendly Fire

-Who here has ever played a game call of duty or fortnite?

-Explain the premise of a team battle royale

-Can we agree that it would be counter productive and foolish for you to shoot down and take out your team mates when playing that style of game?

-The action of taking shots at the people on your team is called “Friendly Fire”

-I don’t know about you all but sadly I am seeing WAY TOO MUCH friendly fire in our culture today, especially between Christians.

-When we take shots at one another we waste our energy fighting the wrong enemy.

-When we fight the wrong enemy our true enemy is able to sneak around and gain ground on us.

Tonight we are going to look at our passage with the intention of learning how we can best represent Christ during this election season and beyond.

“Be Informed”

-When it comes to voting the first thing you should work on is being informed.

-You never want to vote blindly or based on what you see others reposting on their stories. Do your research and make decisions for yourself.

Romans 12:9–12 NIV

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

-When can only abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good and have a fervent spirit to serve the Lord if we know the Lord.

-Before you inform yourself on the political decisions facing our country in the coming months, inform yourself on the heart of Father.

-As a Christian, you have an allegiance to God’s Kingdom, not a political party.

-If you are working to make Jesus look like your political party, you’ve got it twisted.

-You should actively be working on making yourself look more like Jesus and your world look like Heaven.

“Live Bipartisan”

-My least favorite part of our political structure is the fact that we operate in a two party system.

-It forces people to align one way or the other and causes automatic division in the country.

-You’re red or blue. You’re a donkey or an elephant. You’re left or right. You’re liberal or conservative.

-It is the exact opposite of what we have been called to as Christians.

-There is a term in politics, Bipartisan. It means “the agreement or cooperation of two political parties that usually oppose each other's policies”.

-Living bipartisan doesn’t mean leaving your morals and biblical worldview behind, it means coming together for the common good even if you disagree with someone.

Romans 12:13–16 NIV

13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

-Far too often we assume terrible things about our bothers and sisters in Christ simply based off of their political party identification.

- “Oh she supports Turmp, she’s gotta be racist.” “Geez, he’s voting for Biden, he must have strong morals.”

-You don’t get to judge others, you aren’t God. You don’t know everything, you aren’t God. You aren’t perfect, YOU ARE NOT GOD.

“Campaign Strong”

-Another frustration I have with our political climate is the disrespectful nature of most campaign strategies.

-Today, campaigns are often focused on discrediting your opponent.

-As Kingdom citizens, we are called to campaign with peace and honor. EVEN WHEN PEOPLE DISRESPECT US.

Romans 12:17–18 NIV

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

-When you allow yourself to fall into a battle of back and forth disrespect, you completely abandon the campaign you’ve been called to.

-I’m not going to tell you how who to vote for, but I will get in your face if I see you disrespecting others in the name of Jesus.

-You see how to the level we learn to disagree and still bless those that disrespect us, is the level others will see Jesus through us.

Close

-At the end of the day, you have decide who you are going to put your faith in.

-If you see our country and think that a man named anything other Jesus Christ can heal the hurt and mend the broken hearts, then you’re putting your hope in the wrong man.

-Our primary work as Christians is done on a ballot, it’s done around our tables, at our workplaces, in our living rooms and especially within our own hearts.

-The radical hope and healing of Jesus Christ was never meant to be confined to a presidential election.

-It was freely offered to us by a loving Father so that we could live in true ETERNAL FREEDOM. Don’t sell your freedom short by only associating it to the red, white and blue flag that will one day fade away with this life.

-Walk in the true Freedom of Christ and carry his hope and healing with you wherever you are.

Benediction

Philippians 4:8–9 NIV

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.