Let's Get Ready to Rumble
A call for the Church to rise, fight the good fight of faith, and be unleashed for maximum impact because of souls.
Service: GIFT Worship
Second Sunday Worship
Date: December 14, 2025
Theme for Today: “The Real Reason for the Season”
Theme for 2026: “The Church Unleashed for Maximum Impact; Because of Souls”
Let’s Get Ready to Rumble: The Church Unleashed for Maximum Impact
Text: 1 Timothy 6:12-16 / 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (KJV)
GIFT family, before this year 2025 ends and as we begin moving toward 2026, we need to be reminded of one clear truth: we are in a spiritual warfare.
Faith is a fight.
The armor was given for a reason.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (KJV)
These weapons are not trophies to display. They are instruments meant to be used. The fight of faith is real, and the Church is called to engage it.
With the UPCPI potential theme for 2026, “Maximum Impact; Because of Souls,” GIFT Church must be unleashed.
In the spirit of Michael Buffer: “Ladies and gentlemen, young people and warriors of all ages, are you ready?”
We Are at War Whether We Understand It or Not
Whether we like it or not, whether we fully understand it or not, whether we feel ready or not, we are at war. That is not rhetoric. It is the reality of living as a Spirit-filled believer in this generation.
An understanding of spiritual warfare is not optional for anyone serious about defeating the giants of our age. We must not be satisfied with a comfortable, status quo Christian life. Spiritual warriors are people who are sold out for the cause of Christ. They do not just attend church. They carry the battle into their homes, their workplaces, and their communities.
Our prayer is that those who understand what is at stake will step out into the battlefields of their generation.
The Illustration from St. Felix of Nola
During the third century, when St. Felix of Nola was being pursued by his enemies, he hid in a cave. A spider wove a web across the entrance of the cave, making it appear untouched and long undisturbed. His pursuers passed right by without entering.
Felix later declared: “Where God is, a spider’s web is a wall. And where God is not, a wall is a spider’s web.”
“If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 (KJV)
That is a word worth holding onto.
What Spiritual Opposition Tells You
Tony Evans described it this way:
“You know, I’m awesome when I play basketball by myself, because there is no competition. Put someone in front of me waving his hand in my face, though, and it becomes a different ball game. The proof of how good you are is when you are opposed.”
God allows opposition so that we might prove that the One who is in us is greater than the one in the world (1 John 4:4).
If you are under spiritual attack, it is often because God plans to use you. The enemy does not waste resources attacking those who pose no threat. One of his most effective weapons is discouragement, designed to steal joy and weaken the resolve of people who were born for more.
“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” 2 Corinthians 2:11 (KJV)
Do not be ignorant of his devices. Know the war you are in.
I. Prepare for War: Let’s Get Ready to Rumble
“Prepare war, wake up the mighty men… Beat your plowshares into swords… let the weak say, I am strong.” Joel 3:9-11
The call to arms in Ephesians 6:10-12 is not figurative:
“Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might… For we wrestle not against flesh and blood…”
Our wrestling is not against human opponents. It is against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places. The battle is real. The armor is real. The need to use it is real.
As K. Fuller (USAF, Ret.) said: “The greatest defense is offense.”
II. Fight for the Faith
Jude 3 is one of the most direct commands in the New Testament:
“Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (KJV)
“Fight strenuously for the defense of the faith.” (AMP)
The faith was delivered once. It does not need to be reinvented. It needs to be defended, lived, and proclaimed by people who actually believe it.
III. Fighting the Good Fight
1 Timothy 6 walks through the landscape of what this fight looks like in practical terms:
- The relationship between master and servant (v.1-2)
- The corrupting influence of unwholesome teaching (v.4-5)
- Godliness with contentment as great gain (v.6-9)
- The love of money as the root of all evil (v.10)
- What we are called to pursue and follow (v.11)
- The actual fight of faith (v.12)
- The charge given to every believer (v.13-14)
- The coming revelation of the King (v.15-16)
And the goal of all of it is captured in Paul’s own testimony:
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (KJV)
That is the aim: to finish well.
IV. Fight for the Basic Functions of the Church
The battle is not only fought in spiritual realms. It is fought in the ordinary, daily functioning of the local church. We must fight to:
- Grow in relationship with God through worship and magnification
- Grow in relationship with one another through fellowship and community
- Serve others inside and outside the church through ministry
- Develop believers to maturity and leadership through discipleship
- Share Christ intentionally with friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors through missions and evangelism
These are not programs. They are the basic expressions of a living, Spirit-filled church. And they require effort to protect and sustain.
V. It Is Time to Rise for a RIOT
The world is showing clear signs of decline. Political tension, disasters, disease, and falling away are increasing. We are closer than ever to the Rapture and Tribulation. We do not live in normal times.
RIOT is defined as a violent public disturbance.
But for the Church in this hour, RIOT means something else entirely:
Revival In Our Times
It is time for a riot. Let the redeemed rise. Let the blood-bought, Spirit-filled, Apostolic Pentecostal Church rise.
Rise in the church. Rise in the home. Rise in the community.
What We Must Do
Nine responses belong to this moment:
- Look Up (Luke 21:28)
- Let God Be God (Psalm 68:1-4)
- Be Strong in the Lord (Isaiah 35:4; Ephesians 6:10-13)
- Unite, Be Humble, Pray, Seek His Face (2 Chronicles 7:14)
- Rejoice in the Lord (Philippians 4:4-5)
- Think Positively (Philippians 4:8-9)
- Be Filled with the Spirit (Luke 4:18-19)
- Worship in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23)
- Be Revived (Isaiah 57:15; Psalm 85:6-7)
Closing
As the Church of Jesus Christ in these last days, we must look up. Our redemption draws near.
Expect greater things. Anticipate God’s move.
“Put on the whole armour of God… and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:10-13 (KJV)
With the UPCPI theme for 2026, “Maximum Impact; All Because of Souls,” the Church must be unleashed.
Let’s get ready to rumble.