JV Football Team Devo

Good afternoon

As ______ already said, my name is Michael Breeding

I am the NextGEN Pastor over at Ebenezer Baptist Church

I’ve only lived here in Hillsborough for about a month, but man I am loving it!

Well, do me a favor and pull out your phone

The first thing that I am going to ask you to do is to go to Instagram and to search for EBC youth ministry and to follow us over there

We have a lot of exciting things going on that I would love for you to be a part of

And after you do that, go ahead and open the Bible app and go to Hebrews 12:1-2

When you think of what it takes to be a successful football player, what are some words that come to mind?

One word that sticks out for me is “endurance”

How would you define “endurance?”

Check out this definition from dictionary.com: “the ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina.”

Football is about all of those things, right?

And so is the Christian walk

This is something that the author of Hebrews talks about in Hebrews 12:1-2

Look at this passage together with me:

Hebrews 12:1–2 NLT

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

Let me tell you about three things that stick out to me about this verse

First, it says “since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses”

The witnesses here that he is referring to are Christians that came before the original audience

As a football player, you too are surrounded by a huge cloud of witnesses

There are so many players that come before you here at Orange high. You have people from last years JV team, coach’s that used to be students, and people from years and years and years way back

There is a huge legacy here, and now you get to be a part of that

Similarly, being a follower of Jesus is being a part of a legacy

It is joining with others who have been a part of our faith for thousands of yearfs

It is a great thing

Second, the verse talks about running with endurance the race that God has set before us

And how do you that? The first thing it says to do is to “lay off the sin that so easily trips us up.”

The original Hebrew word for “sin” was an archery term;; it meant “to miss the mark,” AKA “to miss the bullseye”

There are all sorts of ways you could transfer that into football language: a fumble might be one; or an incomplete pass or fieldgoal

In order to last, you have to try to let go of those things that hold you back

Does this mean being perfect? Well, of course not. No football player is perfect

The same could be said for being a follower of Jesus.

No person is perfect; every person sins from time to time

But there is a solution

This verse says to take off our sin, and to instead put our eyes on Jesus

You see, even though we are the ones who missed the mark, Jesus is the one who lost the game for us when He died on the cross

But he rose from the dead three days later, conquering over sin itself.

So then, Jesus is both our Savior and our example

We don’t have to be perfect because Jesus was perfect for us. But now we strive to grow in our walk with Him

The same could be said for being a football player. Just because you can never be perfect doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive for excellence.

God wants excellence from you. And that requires looking at Christ and letting go of our sin.

That’s what endurance is all about.

Let’s pray!