Intro: Blame or Breakthrough?

Blame is easier than repentance. Pointing fingers is easier than plowing hearts.

I don’t like talking about current events. There is enough people in the world to do that. But every so often, there are events that grip our society—events so heavy—that to ignore them would be pastoral negligence. The recent assassination of Kirk is one of those moments.

• I was taken aback by it… Not because Charlie Kirk was perfect or I agreed with everything he said… I didn’t.
• I was taken back because this was a Christian man. A loving husband. A loving father.
• This is someone that people testified led them to Jesus. Led them to be fathers and mothers and really embrace God’s plan for their life.
• And now there is a real loss in a very violent way.
• Now—how we talk about it matters.
  • There will be a lot of sermons preached today from a lot of different pulpits.
  • Some will be preached with compassion.
  • Some will be preached with anger.
  • Some will be crazy. There are crazy churches out there.
  • Some will sound so much like a news channel pushing a political narrative that you won’t be able to tell if you’re in a worship service or watching cable news.
  • And that’s sad.
• Because the pulpit was never meant to be a platform for partisanship.
  • The pulpit was always meant to be a platform for the kingdom of God.
  • And let’s remember—Jesus Himself said: “My kingdom is not of this world.”
  • That means His kingdom doesn’t rise or fall with election cycles.
  • It doesn’t depend on who’s in office.
  • It’s not red or blue—it’s righteous.
• And here’s the thing: when the kingdom of God is declared—when it’s truly preached—Romans 14 tells us it brings righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
  • Now that doesn’t mean the word won’t sometimes cut us.
  • It doesn’t mean we won’t walk through conviction or discomfort.
  • It doesn’t mean we won’t wrestle with the text or what we heard. We will.
  • But if a message leaves you hopeless?
    • If it leaves you more angry at people than more in awe of God’s grace?
    • If it doesn’t invite you into transformation?
    • If it leaves you with nothing but an “us versus them” mentality…
    • If it leaves you with no hope of reconciliation, no plan of redemption… no vision of God’s grace breaking down dividing walls…
• Then it wasn’t a kingdom message.
• And we need the kingdom now more than ever.
• So today—yes, we’ll acknowledge the brokenness around us. But more importantly, we’ll confront the brokenness within us.
• Because that’s where awakening begins.

This week

I’m watching cable news hosts and politicians to try to just understand what happened, and what are they doing? Complaining about the “divisive rhetoric in this country.” And accusing… who? The other side. And my mouth just dropped.

• Because let’s be real: politicians and the media have made billions of dollars—have been elected into places of power—because by and large, they’re willing to blame the other side for everything.
• And here’s the irony: they accuse the other side of doing the same things they themselves are doing.
• Meanwhile—social media companies are making billions feeding you content to reinforce your biases. They’ve perfected it. They literally know which button to push to keep you scrolling angry.