Get In The Game

Good Morning, Thank you so much for being with us this morning!! Please join me in prayer.

At this time I want to dismiss our children for children's church.

Welcome again and its finally here Super Bowl Sunday!! A time for us as a nation to celebrate the greatest achievement in the sport of Football. Now even though my Baltimore Ravens did not make it to the Super Bowl, I can admit that it takes skill to make it this far and to get to this achievement. Have you every wondered what it takes to get to this point?

A team in the NFL costs close to 1-2 billion dollars, then you have to have a stadium a ton of staff to keep up the facility, then there are sponsors. They have to make deep connections to create a a unique experience. They have to go through miles a of red tape and litigation and if they are approved then from there the owners then have to hire the teams staff. They have to have a GM, Head Coach, assistant coaches, trainers, medical staff, and so many others. After that they must pay for players and start to create a roster of 90 players that then must be cut to 53 to go into the preseason.

Once a team is made and full funded…they have 2 and a half months to practice and prepare these players to play as a team for the 21 game season ahead, the 4 pre season games and 17 regular season games. Long Weeks and Late nights of practices, workouts, studying, playing through injuries and personal issues to create the most effective and efficient team possible.

If they have played well enough then they can be lucky enough to be one of the 12 teams to reach the playoffs and depending on how well they finished the regular season they could get some play off advantages. A bye week for instance or home field advantage. Once they win those two or three games, they earn a spot to go to the Super Bowl… where they then have to play the largest game of of their lives. Even if they have done it before its a new team, in a new place at the end of what could be a grueling and gut wrenching season. They work this whole time for this moment, this one moment of glory…to hoist the trophy above their heads and proclaim that they are the champions.

Now if you are still with me you have to be asking what does this have to do with Jesus? Even though we might not be getting the paycheck that Patrick Mahomes is getting and its ever unlikely that anyone will by a jersey with my name written on it…we are all being groomed for our season ahead…Maybe you have been on a losing streak? Maybe your worried because you are facing your rivals soon? Maybe you can't seem to get your teammates to listen to you? Maybe the coach just keeps calling the same play and nothing seems to be working...

We see that we are playing a part on Gods Team…so I encourage as we spend the next few moments diving into Gods word and see what we can learn when we are in the holy huddle.

If you have your bibles open them to starting at verse 19, listen to the words written to us by the apostle Paul. Follow along with me in your bibles or on the screen.

215 days from training camp that leads to the pre season and from the preseason we see a full 17 games.

1 Corinthians 9:19-

1 Corinthians 9:19–27 ESV

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

POINT 1: THE BREAD AND BUTTER PLAY:

The First Super Bowl in the early 1960s featured the Green Bay Packers, led by the famous and legendary Vince Lombardi, they created a play that led them to victory over everyone that they went against and was considered a legendary and unstoppable formation if played correctly. It has been called the Lombardi Sweep now but back then Lombardi called it the Bread and Butter play.

Every team has what they call their bread and Butter Play. Its the play where a team leans on their strongest assets on a team to get the job done. That may mean a score or to run the clock. These past five weeks have been learning the bread and butter play for our team.

These past few weeks we have been completing this acronym

See God Clearly

When we are actively looking for God we can see Him and what His purpose is for us

Elevate God in Our Lives

If Elevate God that means we are putting Him first. Everything else is second.

Render Our Life to God

We must Render our life. Which means we must let God lead and give up the control that we so desperately crave.

Vision for where God wants Us

God wants us to see and trust His Vision

Embark on a journey

Its time to take these 4 parts and put them into action!!

This is acronym is our bread and butter play!! We need all of these pieces to be successful in changing the world for Jesus Christ.

and so you See we cant embark until we have done the first part of this acronym… We cant run this without having all the pieces in place and when we do we are unstoppable and can overcome everything that is thrown at us.

POINT 2: PUT IN THE WORK:

but more importantly we can

Now After we do this we have to understand what has been asked of us…look back at verses 19-23…

Paul tells us how We can reach so many around us by reaching them where they are…and we see this represented first in Christ…We have to stop putting up excuses for why we can’t move and help someone see Christ. They don’t stand up when faced against this scripture. We might lose some friends or get labeled, Paul was facing death…every single time.

My dad told me a story once of where he was preparing the state hickey finals in high school and he was telling me that this was the moment he had been waiting for 4 years. He put hours and hours on the ice learning and preparing for that game. and just like my dad we have to be ready to

Paul molded himself to meet those where they were. Now he never broke the law that Christ called him to live under. But still He sought as he says in verse 23. He was playing every position on the field he could to reach those around him. We have to do the same!! How do we learn all these positions? We Put in the work.

I had just graduated high school…and I wanted to get a job for the summer. It was my first real suit and tie interview and I was nervous…very…very nervous and I sat with my mom for what seemed like hours the night before the interview practicing questions introducing myself, working on my eye contact. It seems silly looking back at it now but the practice made me ready for that interview and all of the others that I have had. I am confident that I would not have gotten that job if I did not put in the work before hand. We need to be practicing the positions of our faith we need to be practicing…we cant run on the field without studying any game film, we cant change lives if we aren't preparing ourselves...

I’m not good at praying out loud…practice

I’m not good at talking to people about my story…practice

and in our faith we need to be practicing…we cant run on the field without studying any game film, we cant change lives if we aren't preparing ourselves... get connected into a connection group, serve in a local charity near you, simply ask someone out to coffee that you know needs prayers and pray for those that you want God to reach. You have to be willing to put in the work to get out on the field.

I’m not good at recalling verses…practice

I’m not good at invite others to church…practice

You have to be willing to put in the work to get out on the field.

POINT 3: “QUIET” UNCERTAINTY/GET OFF THE BENCH:

This is a special Sunday not just because its Super Bowl Sunday buy because its the

A team starts their journey

am A team starts their journey

The last point I have for you this morning is what I call the “quiet” uncertainty

Its that moment in a game or a sport where theres an injury that they do not get back up. Its that moment as a fan, coach or player you are worried and scared about what happens now...

The 1999 season the St Louis Rams where not favored by any means to make it to the Super Bowl…They had the offensive weapons sure, their defense was decent but the year before they had only 4 games. But they felt good, they felt like with enough hard work and dedication, they could make it. Its the 3rd game of the preseason and Green is hit… the “quiet” uncertainty begins and the game and potentially the season rests on the shoulders of a 28 year old back up named Kurt Warner. Warner and the Rams went on to have the greatest season in NFL history. In the 100 years of the sport there is no team that has ever won a Super Bowl and been under such difficult odds. In fact going into the season they had a 150-1 shot of making it all the way and winning.

In verses 24-27 Paul tells us that there is a race to run and a prize that we are seeking… prize is not a wreath that will wither and die but a wreath that will last forever its is the prize that we all are striving for in life…and that is peace and salvation in Jesus Christ. And you know why we do it? We do it for God and all of those who have never heard of Him. We do not do it to boast look at verse 27

Paul is saying that we need to remain humble and understand that its not about us!! Its about God, Its about Jesus and its about showing so many that there is a better way. But the only way to do that is to get off the bench. The starter is going to go down, at some point the vet is going to retire and you have to step out on the field and go toe to toe with the world, satan and the brokenness that has trapped so many and make a hole, set a block creating an opening and let Jesus handle the rest. Yes you will get hurt, yes you will lose friends, yes you will be labeled this or that and so you may be asking why, why do this…because someone did it for you. someone stood up and pushed the devil aside and made a way for Jesus for you.

Story of Rayden leaving...

the Bottom line is We SERVE. And while we serve we are running a race for God and when we do this we win the prize…not a trophy per say, nor a ring covered with diamonds…we win the ultimate prize…win one more soul for Jesus!!

When Kurt Warner hoisted that Trophy after Super Bowl 34 he said I want to thank Jesus…now I know it seems cliche because everybody when they win says Thank You Jesus…and as I watched him(Warner) get inducted into the pro football hall of fame, I was stunned with the way that he closed his acceptance speech. Because I think if we were to say this at the end of our race, remove the football terms, I think it still remains true.

“I'm going to conclude with one last moment and one last thank you to the one whom, without a doubt, has left the deepest mark and has become the cornerstone of my life. In the early stage of my career, I had a chance to stand at a podium, similar to this, in front of millions of people after Super Bowl XXXIV. In that moment, I made sure the first thing I did was say thank you to this person for what they had done for me.

Now, many felt I was thanking him for orchestrating a Super Bowl win or making my passes fly straighter or causing my opponents to make more mistakes. But those people had it all wrong. The gesture was my way of acknowledging how fortunate I considered myself for the moments he had given me. Thanking him for the trials which prepared me for this platform, for showing me that with him the impossible becomes possible, and for choosing me for the lead in this once in a lifetime role.

Now, love it or hate it, that opening scene captured the imagination of the sports world, and the words became the heart of my story. The rest, as they say, is history. Bringing us to this, the famous last words and the only place this extraordinary journey can end.

His final moment was for me. Mine is for Him. Thank you, Jesus!”

Like the teams in the NFL we are running a race to receive a prize. and for most of us we are Like the ‘99 Rams we are running a race to obtain a prize and nobody has faith in us...

and the game and potentially the season rests on the shoulders of a 28 year old back up named Kurt Warner

“Thank you, Jesus!”

But the journey that you and I are on does not include a trophy, theres no ring, theres no applause, sometimes the win does not even feel like winning.

Lets Pray