Hey, who said church can’t be fun? Amen. Oh man, we have so much talent in our church. I’d never seen a kear do that before, but man, that was sick. Uh we’re are we are in week one of our summer playlist series and man we’re kicking off to a good start of the best summer ever here at Champion Center. So how does this work? You pick the song, we preach the message. So before you sit down, I just want to say good morning Belleview. Man, it’s good to good to good to hear you sing from all the way down here Belle. And I know that Yaka, you’re partying in your brand new building this morning. We love you. We’re excited for you. Maybe you’re joining us online. You had a big weekend. Happy 4th to everybody, right? You had a big weekend. Join us online. Hello online. Or maybe you’re right here, right now in Tacoma. Excited.

Yes. So, we’re going to take that song and we’re going to figure out what God says about beat it. So, how about you take a look at your neighbor, give a couple snaps like this, and say, “Beat it.” You can grab your seat.

Man. Oh, man. If I haven’t met you, my name is Roger Stanton Jr. Jr. cuz there’s a senior in the room. That’s right. I’m on team here at the Tacoma location where my beautiful wife Sarah. That’s right. Shout out to my girl. We met at this church. Get yourself to church, y’all. We met at this church. We got married right here, right where I’m standing. We got married. We dedicated all three of our girls right here at this altar. Three of them, all three of them were actually just now dancing. Yeah, imagine that to beat it at church. And we get to lead Celebrate Recovery here at this church as well. And y’all, I literally I can’t even tell you how big of an honor it is to be on this stage bringing the word. And I know that that does not happen without the best pastors in the entire world. That’s right. These pastors of ours, Pastor Kevin and Sheila, they’ve been answering the call for 40 years. 40 years of fresh vision. 40 years of giving their lives, their entire lives to this church. Have you ever wondered the number of people that have punched a ticket to heaven because of them? I mean, it’s got to be in the millions. 52 weeks a year times 40 years, thousands of people. I mean, they’re legacy changers for sure. So, can you give it up for our pastors, Pastor Kevin and Sheila? We love you. You ready? I know that makes one of us, but here we go.

All right, grab your Bibles and repeat after me if you would. This is my Bible. I love it. I am who it says I am. I can do what it says I can do. I can do what it says I can do. And I can fight good. I can fight because God and Michael Jackson Michael Jackson say I can. I can. All right, let me set this up for you. In the New Testament, Paul wrote a letter to a young church leader named Timothy who’s working to stabilize this super unhealthy church culture. His church was plagued with false teaching, immaturity, greed, and y’all, they had riots in the church. Like in the church. Yeah. In Acts, Paul calls some of the church members fierce wolves. Yeah, fierce wolves. It was bad, y’all. And knowing Timothy could get discouraged from the rough culture, he encouraged him. And he gave him this scripture. 1 Timothy 6 11-12. He says it like this. But you, oh man of God, reminds him who he is. You’re set apart, oh man of God. So, you’re going to flee from this culture and you’re going to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Yeah, what a great reminder. And then he hits him with this line. Fight the good fight of faith. As if there’s a bad fight of faith, right? And there is. So, everybody say, fight the good fight. Amen. And Paul was reminding Timothy that he was in the world but not of the world. That he had a different ethical standard than culture. His standard was godliness, not getting entangled in all the enemy’s distractions. Right? He’s challenging Timothy to fight the good fight. You know, much like Ephesus, the cultural climate in Gary, Indiana. Watch what I’m about to do with y’all. Tied to Michael Jackson, right? The cultural climate in Gary, Indiana in the 60s was rough. Racial tensions polarized the city. The area was overwhelmed with greed, political corruption, gang violence, and y’all, there were even riots. 1968 riot of Gary, Indiana. You can look it up. It was nasty. And a young Michael Jackson, he grew up in Gary, Indiana, and he went to elementary school in this environment and he went to hate the pressures that this culture was putting on him. So he said this in a quote about his hit song, Beat It. He said, “I thought about what I do in that situation, a confrontation with a gang. I wouldn’t do what these people do.” Look at him. He’s saying, “Culture ain’t for me.” He said, ‘The way I was raised, I would turn the other cheek without creating a war or being a coward. Love how he says that because some people think turning the other cheek is cowardice, but it’s not. You see, with the term beat it, MJ is playing on two different definitions. One, win at all costs. Beat it. The other one is to walk away. Get out, man. Beat it. Right? So, we wrestle with this in our lives, right? You wrestle with this. Am I supposed to stay and fight? Do I confront this situation? Do I hop online and tell them what I got to think? Especially when they’re talking about my church like that, I’m going to say some stuff, right? And you’re at that edge of like, do I fight or do I not fight? You see, every Christian is called to fight. But not every battle deserves our attention. Yeah.

And in his letter to Timothy, Paul encouraged us to do just as MJ is singing about. Don’t fight every fight, but fight the good fight. Right? Fight the good fight. Everyone has a fight. Every single one of us has a fight. What’s your fight this morning? Is it finances? Is it paying attention to me? All right. Okay. I can allow that. That’s fine. Right. Is it addiction? That was me. I wanted to be well so bad. So bad. But it took a Christ centered recovery program for me to actually start to get well. Right. That was my fight. It’s a long fight. Really long fight. Maybe some of you it’s mental health. Well, I’m just anxious all the time. I can’t stop the thoughts. Depression. Maybe you have a diagnosis and it’s something that you’re just up against, right? Pride, shame, loneliness, fear. What about social injustice? Can we talk about this for just a second? Michael Jackson says it like this. They’ll kick you and they’ll beat you. Then they’ll tell you it’s fair. Anybody ever worked in a culture like that where they’re like, you got to put in extra time and that’s fair. You’re like, “No, it’s not. It’s not fair at all. Right? And they’re going to tell you it’s fair. That’s a that’s an injustice. It doesn’t line up with how we know culture should line up. Others, you’re fighting for a raise. You’re fighting for love. You might be looking right now for love. Looking around the room. Hey. Hey, girl. You’re fighting. You’re fighting. I like it. You’re fighting for your marriage. You’re fighting for your children, for purity, for breakthrough. Maybe you’re fighting for healing this morning. Everybody has a fight. We all have one. We all have one. And though every single one of our fights look different, we all have a common enemy. We do. There is one enemy who is out to get us. He wants to steal, kill, and destroy. That’s what he wants to do. Ephesians 6:12 says it like this. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Y’all, we’re in a fight in heaven, too. Here and in heaven. We are fighting. We have an enemy. So, let me remind you, your spouse is not your enemy.

Look at them. They look good today, don’t they? Yeah. That’s not your enemy. They love you. They choose to come home to you. Your coworker, your coworker is not your enemy. That political party. See, they’re just out to get me. They’re going to raise taxes again. I knew it, right? That’s not your enemy. That’s not your enemy. We all have a common enemy. And just like MJ states, no one wants to be defeated. None of us. You don’t want to lose. I don’t want to lose, right? We all have a fight. Now, I don’t know about you, but feeling like I got a forever enemy is a little bit overwhelming sometimes. Like, what do I do with that? Well, I got good news. Cuz Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “I’ve told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you’re going to have trouble. You’re going to have some fights, but take heart because guess what? I already overcame the world.” Yeah, just lean on me, y’all. In the in the middle of our fights, we can have peace. Feels like that boat’s about to go down. You’d be sleeping. I don’t care cuz I got Jesus. He already overcame this problem of mine, right? We can lean on him. We can believe in him. And while some fights seem to just find us, oh man, yesterday, who goes 10 miles an hour under the speed limit? You’re just out to get me because I’m about to talk about fighting tomorrow, right? Some fights just find us. They do, right? But we don’t have to engage in every battle that presents itself. Some fights are wrong. And you know it. You know they’re wrong. And even when we win, it doesn’t feel good when we win the wrong fight. Why? Because winning the wrong fight is still a loss. It is. When we align our lives with God’s plan, we align our impulses to be transformed into how Christ would respond. Our impulses, that thing that just happens, right? It’s our amygdala. Yeah. Right. It is. It’s sending out these hormones. It’s just causing us to choose, right? We can align that with Christ. Now, was Christ going to make a whip in this situation, chase everybody out of the temple, or is he going to turn the other cheek? Which one’s he going to do? How are we going to know that? Well, since we’re talking about fighting, I’m going to tell you a story. You ready for this? Okay. I know it might look not look like it, but I have been in one fist fight in my entire life. One. Now, don’t judge me. I hear you, youth. Watch yourself. All right. Me and this person were both holding an object that the other believed was theirs. Now, I would imagine the heavens angels of heaven were like this. Ah, yeah. I don’t think he knows how to fight, right? We’re going to see how this works out, right? Tensions are high, right? But your boy was ready. The lion of Judah was coursing through my veins, right? The streets of Port Orchard were activating in my belly. I know. I know. Serious. Right. This time I wasn’t the flight guy. No. No. I was the fight guy. Lord equipped my hands cuz I was about to put these knuckles to work. Right. This is a true story. I’m not making this up. I promise you it’s true. My parents are on the front row. They’ll attest to this. So, I swung first. Yep. And when I hit this person, I knocked them out with one punch. I promise you. I told you. Watch yourself. You You plan on coming at me or my family, you better think twice. All right. Got some moves. Now, full disclosure, I was 12 and it was my sister Michelle. Now, listen. Hold on. I know some of y’all turning off right now. He hit a girl. It’s your sister. I was 12.

Look it. Look, she healed up just fine. And I’m pretty sure she raised from the dead and put a licking on me like she did, right? So y’all, I followed my flesh that day and I ended up losing by winning the wrong fight. Can you relate to this? Come on. remember that comment section. You get in there like, “Oh, I’m going to get him with this one. I’m actually going to look this word up and then I’m going to say it right. Hit them with a scripture that’ll work and you’re now in the comment section and you can’t win. You might win this fight, but you’re going to ultimately lose.” Our students, since you were laughing at me earlier, I’m going to come at you a little bit. You ever use chat GPT on an assignment? Be honest. You’re in church. Hey, you might get an A on the assignment, but you didn’t learn what the class was trying to teach you. You’re welcome, parents. Have fun at camp.

See, the enemy distracts us into fights that don’t matter. How does he do this? He tempts our flesh, right? So, when we’re following our feelings, we pursue what’s comfortable. We try to get out of a jam. We miss out on the chance to follow God’s plan for our lives. Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh.” They’re in conflict with each other. So, you are not to do whatever you want. Well, hold on a second. I want to defend my church. I Well, I’m just saying the Bible’s telling us the flesh and the spirit. So, how do you know, right? Well, the flesh wants immediate relief. The spirit has an eye on eternal growth. The flesh asks, “How do I win?” And the spirit asks, “How can Christ be seen in this?” Remember the story of David and Basheba? Boy had an eye for that girl. He said, “I’m going to get me some Basheba.” Right? That’s what he thought. So, what’d he do? He sent her husband to the front lines to get killed. The worst part of the story is it worked. He won the fight, but as a consequence, God had to take one of his kids. So, he ends up losing the battle, this super expensive loss, because he wanted to win the fight. Man, Paul gave Timothy guidelines on knowing how to choose. Like, how do I follow not follow my impulse, but follow God’s plan for my life? When he said in verse 11, he said, “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.” See, your pursuit is what defines whether or not you’re going to pick the good fight. It’s in your pursuit. I’ll save y’all a bunch of money on couples counseling right now. I’m going to save you thousands of dollars cuz I tell you how many times in my office I’ve had to say these words. Pursue your spouse and die to self. Pursue your spouse, die to self. If you could do that, you’re going to have a happy marriage. The same properties are true with our faith. Like Paul tells Timothy, when we when we deny our flesh and pursue kingdom, we’re able to avoid winning the wrong fight. and instead fight the good fight. Everyone say, “Fight the good fight.” Now, say it again, but like with really accentuating the good. Fight the good fight there. You guys are good. I like that. Some of y’all, you’re all about to fight. You’re my fight club people, right? You love it. You hear this song and you’re like, “Oh, I’m going to beat it.” All right. Right. You’re just ready to fight all the time. So, can I see in this room and maybe wherever wherever you are, I want to see you raise your hand and give me one of these. You’re a fight club person. You ain’t afraid of fight. You ain’t going to back down. Bring it at me. Now, some of y’all, you ain’t even going to raise your hand cuz you’re nervous. Think he’s going to get me. No, I’m not. That’s a good one. I promise. So, if you’re a fight club person, do you know if you’re aligned with the word? Right. Well, David killed Goliath, so I could fight, too. Right. And and I’ll tell you this, Hezekiah prayed for protection and God sent an angel and killed 185,000 people. An angel of the Lord on God’s command killed 185,000 people. We fill this building all the way full. 90 of these buildings. That’s how many people he wiped out in one night. Tell me God’s not a fighter. He’s a fighter, right? He’s a fighter. So, if you are a fighter, I’m going to give you some backing for your position. So, hop, grab your phones, take a picture of the screen. Psalm 144:1, praise to the Lord, my God, my rock, who trains Roger’s hands for war and his fingers for battle. Right. Nehemiah 4:14, fight for your families, your sons, your daughters, your wives, your homes. If you want to hear more about this message and Nehemiah, go listen to PK’s builders and fighters series. It’s amazing. If you like to fight, it’s good. Joshua 10:40 says it like this. So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Ngev, the western foothills, the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all. Everybody say all. All who breathed. All of them. And listen to this last part. Just as the Lord, the God of Israel had commanded. The Bible says or the historians believe he killed about 300,000 people. Think of that. So, how do we fight good? What does it look like as Christians to fight good? It may look a little different than how culture teaches. Michael Jackson says it like this. Show them how funky and strong is your fight. It doesn’t matter who’s wrong. All right, just beat it. Right? Show them how funky strong is your fight. So as Christians, fighting the good fight doesn’t always look common. Might look like standing up for truth when no one else is. Fighting for your family, tearing down strongholds, right? Fighting with that that that that lion in you would raise up so you could praise God for all he’s done in your life. Fighting can look funky. It could look like going to the throne room with bold healing prayers for your family, for yourself. It can look different, right? culture would say, “What are you doing?” Right? It might seem funky to pick up garbage when you see it, but I got to do it. I don’t know why. It’s part of my fight. Setting boundaries with your family. Uh-oh. I know. It’s hard. It’s a fight. It’s not comfortable. Culture doesn’t want to do that. They don’t care, right? How about this one, guys? I apologize in advance. You’re at work. All the guys are cracking jokes, being nasty. What are you going to do?

It’s a fight. It’s funky. You’re going to tell all these guys, “Hey, we don’t talk like that.” Youth, you’re about to go to camp. You’re sitting in your tent and people start gossiping.

Show them how funky strong is your fight. Doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right. Right. That’s what we got. We’re called to fight funky. You’re in Home Depot. Somebody’s not well in Home Depot. Would you lay hands on them and pray for them in the aisle at Home Depot? Show them how funky strong is your fight. We are fighters. We are called to be fighters. And it might seem funky to everyone else, but that’s what God calls us to do because Christ’s guidelines are for a good fight. It’s a good fight because it highlights heaven, right? We should look more like Christ in his fights. So if someone cuts you off, I’m preaching to myself. Bless them with all fingers aggressively. Bless them in Jesus’ name. Teach them how to drive. Father, right? Show them, right? Bless them because that’s what Jesus would do. Sometimes loving God and loving others requires fighting good. Amen. And sometimes loving God and loving others requires walking away. It does. We got to beat it. We got to get out, right? Pride says, “I fight no matter what. I’m fighting.” That’s what pride says. I’m never going to lose. Not ever. Good fighters know when to walk away. Good fighters know when to walk away. If you’re a good fighter, you know exactly when the fight’s not for you. You’re you’re led by the Holy Spirit. You’re like, “Nah, then that we’re ain’t fighting this one, right? This ain’t a good fight. Don’t align with how Christ says to live.” Wisdom tells us that regardless of our emotions or the feelings that we feel and the reasons that I want to fight, my character, my influence, and my integrity is worth way more than this fight. I’m not fighting this fight. I’m walking away.

MJ highlights this point when he said, “You better run. You better do what you can. Don’t want to see no blood. Don’t be a a macho man.” What does that mean? Somebody led by pride. He could have said macho woman, too, just so you know. All right. Not just a man problem. Okay. How many times does our pride get us into sticky situations? Remember, we’re talking about fighting the good fight. Not being good at every fight, but fighting the good fight. 1st Samuel 25, David was already a national hero. He’s a legend. Remember, he killed Goliath already. like he’s already anointed king. He had these mighty warriors that no that he ne they never lost. And he earned a reputation as someone you don’t want to mess with. And don’t step to David. And at one point, David and his men spent weeks protecting this rich guy’s employees. Nabal was his name. And he just did it because they were there and they’re like, “Hey, we could protect these people.” So then later on in the story, David was in the wilderness with his mighty men and he went to Nabal and he said, “Nabel, can we or he didn’t go to Nabal, he sent word to Nabal. He said, ‘C can we have some of your food? And instead of responding with gratitude for what David had done for his employees, he insulted him and he disrespected him. Bad idea, right? David was a man after God’s own heart. So he did what we would do. He snapped. He’s like, “Uh uh uh, watch this.” He’s like, “Mount up 400 mighty men. We’re not only going to kill Nabal. We’re going to kill every man in his household.”

A man after God’s own heart. Nabal, he had a wife. Oh man, if you got a wife, you got the Holy Spirit in your ear, right? He had a wife. And the Bible calls Abigail his wife. incredibly intelligent and incredibly beautiful. The Bible says that beautiful and intelligent. So she that she hears that David and his mighty men are coming. So she grabs a bunch of food and she rides out to meet him. She finds David and she steps between an angry warrior and his bad decisions. She immediately reminds David that this is God’s fight, not your fight. And he fights for you. And in verse 31, 1st Samuel 25:31, she says this, “You will not have on your conscience because you’re going to walk away. You’re not going to have on your conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or having avenged yourself.” Y’all, she’s raising his eyes and saying, “You’re not this guy, David. You’re not this guy. You don’t fight this fight. You don’t let pride decide for you. And because of Abigail, David changed his mind and moonwalked away, y’all. He left. He said, “Nuh-uh. I ain’t doing this. Thank you, Abigail.” Right. That’s right. So, the story ends. Abigail goes back to her husband and says, “Hey, David was coming to get you, but I saved the day.” Dude had a heart attack immediately and he died 10 days later. I’m not kidding you. Read your Bible. It’s true. And then David swooped in and snatched up Abigail. Made her his wife. He did. He scored. He won. How did he win? He walked away. He trusted God in this fight. I don’t have to fight this battle. God’s going to fight this battle. And I wonder how many times how many times have we been in that situation. I’m disrespected. How could you cut me off car? Like they know you, right? Like they decided to cut you off today, right? How could you cut you disrespected me, right? You don’t talk to me like that. And that thing comes out of our mouth and instead of walking away, we lose our fight. Now, you might not have an Abigail, but you do have an Holy Spirit. You got a Holy Spirit. I got both. I got the Holy Spirit and a Sarah. Hello. Double coverage. For some of you, walking away is your default position. So, whichever room you’re in, I got as equal opportunity. I got to know who my walk away people are. I want to hear from my flight club people. Can I see a show of hands? Who is in the flight club? And if you’ve already said you’re in fight club, please don’t raise your hand. All right. You could be in both. It’s fine. So on the screen, I’m going to throw up some scriptures real quick to remind us that flying away, walking away is still a win. Proverbs 16:32. Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. Romans 12:18, if it is possible, I love that. If it’s possible, sometimes it ain’t possible. Let’s be honest, right? If is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Matthew 5:39, “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” It’s not about being weak. It’s about being very strong and fighting the good fight, not just being good at every fight. Amen. Michael Jackson, he tells us to just beat it, right? Michael Jackson tells us to just beat it. Paul teaches us, “Fight the good fight.” The Holy Spirit prompts us on which one to choose. And the life of Christ illustrates what it looks like when we choose kingdom over self. Sometimes in faith, we stand our ground. We fight for our family. Even if it’s funky, especially when it’s funky, we fight for our family. Sometimes in faith, we ask God for strength. Please, God, help me walk away. I’m about to light someone up right now. Help me walk away, God. Either way, our response must align with God’s word. So, think again about those fights you’re in. Ask yourself, what am I pursuing? Am I pursuing to get even, to get respect, to win at all costs? To never have to fight and always live in comfort, my head buried in the sand? Is that is that what you’re after? Is that what is that what you’re pursuing? Is this about God’s glory or your ego? We got to ask ourselves this. And I’ll remind you of our title scripture. First, 1 Timothy 6 11-12. But you, oh man or woman of God, everybody say me. That’s right. Flee from these things. Flee from the way culture would do it. And pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Say it with me. Fight the good fight of the faith. Champion Center. With Christ at the center, we move life forward toward God’s best relationally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. With Christ at the center, we gain the power to fight the good fight of faith. But I know with an audience the size of this one, not everybody’s put Jesus at the center of their life. And some might think, man, I’m I’m just that’s good for some people, but I’m far too gone. I can’t gain the ability to fight funky again. I don’t want to. Well, I’ll just remind you in our own ability, in my own ability, holding on to my old self, I’m limited on how well I could ever fight. I can’t fight good when it’s just me. But Jesus, he already beat it. He conquered Ephesus. He conquered Gary, Indiana, and he fights all your fights today. Right now, he already won. And we get to choose if we want. That’s right. Today, every single one of us have a choice. I could keep fighting my fight by myself, or I could accept the work that Jesus did on the cross thousands of years ago when he won this fight for me. We all have that choice today. Every one of us. So today, you could step into God’s plan for your life and choose to allow his help in knowing how to fight the good fight. So, I want to offer you a prayer. It’s a prayer of new beginnings. It’s a prayer to say, I’m going to put Jesus at the center of my life. And if you haven’t done that before, man, I’m so excited for you. And maybe you’ve already done this. You just need a refresher. I want to know because I know that I’m good. So with every head bowed and every eye closed, just we do this out of respect for each other. That’s why we do it. I’m going to ask if that’s you, just toss a hand up in the air and say, “I got to put Jesus at the middle. I’m fighting by myself and I’m exhausted.” And you know for a fact you got to put Jesus at the center of your life. If that’s you, I’m going to ask you raise your hand high so I can see it. I want to see what God’s doing in this room. Thank you for your hand. Thank you for your hand. I see hands. I see hands all around the room, online, wherever you’re seated, raise that hand up. Let Jesus know. I’m serious. I want a fresh start. And then if you would, everybody in the room, if you would repeat this prayer after me. Lord Jesus, welcome to my world. I invite you. Come into my life. Come into my heart. Forgive me of all my sins and make me a new person. I receive you now as the leader and the Lord of my life. I boldly declare I’ll never be the same again. I’m going to beat it in Jesus name. Amen. How about we give it up for everybody who made that choice this morning?