Begins Sunday, January 15

I grew up with three brothers.  We had a speed bag, a heavy bag and boxing gloves as a part of our training equipment in the basement.   Sometimes we’d train with the bags alone and sometimes we’d spar with each other.  Sometimes the sparring would get emotions high.  Sometimes sparring turned into an all-out punching war.

I look back now and realize that my dad was purposeful in his purchases.  Not only were we wrestlers, but he must have thought that boys need to be able to fight back with their fists.  In those days, it was probably true.  So, we learned how to fight back.  As I think of it we did quite a lot of fighting back, especially among ourselves as brothers.

Sometimes, followers of Christ need to fight back.  We need to learn to fight back those things that get in the way of following Jesus.  We need to fight back those things that keep us from living as salt and light and building God’s kingdom.  Sometimes we need to fight back the things that are destroying our lives and relationships.

The apostle Paul writes about this:

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly;  I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. “  I Corinthians 9:25-27

This is a teaching series about fighting back.  We hope to give our congregation some specific tools/practices to take home which will help us battle against the spiritual inhibitors of guilt, anger, greed, jealousy, lust and pride.

Dave Bartlett