๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข Who is the most competitive person you know? Recall an instance explaining this.
โข Tell us about a time when your sports team or group lost. How did you respond?
โข What is the biggest contest or activity you have been involved in? What did it entail, and what was your part in it?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
โ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต. ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด; ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด; ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ . . .โ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ฎ:๐ฎ๐ฌโ๐ฎ๐ญ
What would you do if and when the candidate you support loses the elections?
That is a fair question. By having democratic elections, we already know that part of the whole election process is the winning of one and the losing of others. This means that when the official election results come out a few days after the polls, many of us will be disappointed.
Nobody likes to lose. But if we ever want to maintain our democratic way of life, we all need to learn to be good losers. And Christians of all people should be the ones to model how to lose well. Our faith, after all, began with what looked like a big loss for Jesusโ followers. Crucifixion is not a typical way to start a new religion.
Because our ultimate allegiance belongs to King Jesus, Christians can be heavily involved in the elections and still not be shattered when their candidate loses. When Daniel saw and understood the dream of king Nebuchadnezzar, he praised God because he finally understood that the shuffling of kings and kingdoms are all guided by the providential hand of God. He may not have liked the politics of his day, but he knew that Godโs purposes would remain.
This is the Christian posture we need to develop when we participate in elections. We pray for wisdom, we try to know the candidatesโ platforms and track records, we campaign for our advocacies, we cast our vote with a clear conscience, and we leave the results to the sovereign will of God. When our candidate wins, we celebrate and get on with our lives. When our candidate loses, we feel the pain and move on as well. Today, letโs look at how we can do this.
๐ญ. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐น๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐.
โ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต. 1๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด; ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด; ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ . . .โ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ฎ:๐ฎ๐ฌโ๐ฎ๐ญ
One good thing about the elections is that we have the privilege to be involved in something that God sovereignly does in our nation. While we participate by casting our votes, it is God who determines the final outcome, according to His designs and purposes. This is what Daniel understood when the Lord revealed to him Nebuchadnezzarโs dream.
Behind the human actions and political power plays is the God who sovereignly works His plans and purposes for our nation. This means that no election result is random. No one gets seated in a position of power by chance. God has a hand in the placement of people in the executive and legislative branches of our government. Even if we donโt exactly understand how the plan of God will play out, we can be sure that His plan is good and benevolent for all. As believers, why should we look to and trust God, not people? Why can we respond to events in our nation with assurance and peace?
๐ฎ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐.
๐๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ฆ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ . . . ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐ฎ:๐ญโ๐ฏ
Regardless of the election results, whether our candidates win or lose, the Bible still calls Christians to make all kinds of prayers for kings and other lesser rulers (1 Timothy 2:1โ4). This admonition is shocking if you remember that Paul wrote this letter when Nero was the emperor of Rome. Though Nero was tyrannical, immoral, and a persecutor of the church, Paul still called Christians to pray for him and other rulers like him.
Our obligation to pray is not based on whether we like the president of our nation, but on the eternal word of God. What is your commitment to prayer for our national leaders? How do you pray for them?
๐ฏ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐.
๐๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ. ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ช๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด.โ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ญ๐ฏ:๐ฏ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐ฎ
If your candidate loses in the elections, it is tempting to be so frustrated, quit your civic involvement, and not care about politics anymore. But, our calling to be salt and light to the world is not dependent on politics. The Christian call to bear witness to Christ and the gospel has nothing to do with whoever is in power. History shows over and over again that the church continued to flourish even in evil regimes where the preaching of the gospel has been officially banned. While elections are important, how do the years between these elections matter? As followers of Christ, what do you think our involvement should be in nation building?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข How will you respond if things donโt go your way in your community and nation? What do you think will enable you to trust Godโs sovereignty?
โข What is your commitment in praying for our national leaders and building a good society?
โข Think of a few friends who may need to hear this message. How can you encourage them to trust God this week?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His sovereignty, that He is in control no matter what happens and no matter who leads your nation. Declare your trust in Him.
โข Pray for wisdom, righteous leadership, and humility for your national leaders. Pray that they would know God and make Him known.
โข Pray that the citizens of your nation will work towards building a good society, representing Christ, and making disciples.
Winning and Losing: The Morning After the Elections
Week 4
Share
Facebook
Twitter
Link
https://victorygroups.subspla.sh/757vq6m
Copy
Copy this text
Embed code
<div style="position:relative;width:100%;height:0;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe src="https://subsplash.com/+yh3k/embed/mi/+757vq6m?info&embeddable&shareable&logo_watermark" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></div>
Copy
Copy this text
Related