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Defending the Title
Set:
Last year, the youth football team I coach won the championship in double overtime, and this Saturday, as the new season starts, we will begin the quest of defending our title. We have essentially the same players we had last year, only this year, we have the confidence behind us to believe that anything is possible if we do three things: think we are talented, athletic, smart and victorious; give 100 percent of our effort in everything we do; and believe in our hearts that God will be with us.
As we gear up to defend the title, I’m reminded that my job as a coach is not to be satisfied with producing a winning record, but with producing winning athletes. To accomplish that goal this season, I will be asking my players six questions:
The Watchfulness of God
Set:
Most of the time when I was involved in sports, I had very few people rooting for me in the stands. Yet, when my family could come to watch me, I was very keenly aware of where they were at in the stands. I remember one particular high school track meet near Cincinnati. My parents were there watching, my brother and sisters were present, and many of my classmates were there, so I wanted to do my very best.
In the Old Testament, we read that King David was involved in bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. As he was doing so, he became caught up in the moment. Before they had taken more than a half dozen steps, David halted the procession to offer a sacrifice to God. He literally rejoiced at every step.
The Unseen
Set:
In sports, it is so easy to focus on what is seen. Statistics and I have a love-hate relationship. I love to look at them when mine are good, but they invade my thoughts when they are bad. I try to keep from even glancing at them anymore, but most of the time curiosity kills the cat. The two statistics that haunt me are my batting average and my ERA. Neither has been up to my standards as of late.
The Priceless Gift of Serving!
Set:
Most people think that serving is the same as service, but I believe that there is a huge difference between the two. Service is something we pay for or something we might come to expect at a restaurant or at a gas station. But serving goes deeper. Serving deals with heart issues, involves sacrifice and meets real needs. We don’t pay for serving, though it can be costly.
Christ did not come to give good service. He came to serve. Athletes are not required to give good service to their teammates, but Christian athletes are called to serve. Coaches who follow the greatest servant who ever lived also have the privilege of serving their teams, not just providing a service to them.
Attacks from Within
Set:
What’s worse: getting beat by your opponent because they’re better than you or getting beat because of strife within your own team? The worst teams I’ve been part of as an athlete or coach were those with internal problems. Preparing for an opponent is tough enough, but trying to “right the ship” from within is a different animal. In the Old Testament, as Nehemiah and his crew rebuilt the wall, they were oppressed by outside forces. They struggled financially and started to fight, creating dissension. Finally Nehemiah had enough. He put his foot down and held an “all team” meeting. I’m sure he did most of the talking.
Who Will Stand?
Set:
It was August 1984, at Alamo Heights High School. I burst into the middle of the locker room and yelled, “Who are we going to beat this week?” The room erupted and players and coaches celebrated like we had just won the championship, before we had even played a game! During that excitement my life changed direction. Louie Reiniger, one of our players, got in my face and yelled, “Coach, will you come to FCA tonight?”
Banana Eating Contest
Choose four contestants and tell them that the object of the game is to eat as many bananas as they can in one minute. They will be competing against each other and the clock. But to add more of a challenge, blindfold each contestant. Once the contest begins, remove 3 of the blindfolds. This leaves one person still blindfolded eating bananas as fast as they can. Have everyone cheer this person on to victory!
FCA Campus Impact in Portland Oregon
Want to learn how to start FCA on your campus? Middle school, high school or college - learn more at FCACampus101.com
Derek Eisler
Veteran NHL coach and scout Derek Eisler discusses how God miraculously restored his marriage and changed the way he handles stress.
Fields of Faith 21.5 Days with God - Day 10
Pray
Begin by thanking God for the new day and then ask Him to help you learn from what you read. Prepare yourself by:
- Clearing your mind and being quiet before the Lord
- Asking God to settle your heart
- Maybe listening to worship music
- Asking God for a teachable heart
Read
Read the chapter below. You can either read below or read your physical Bible. Read it slowly, take it all in.
Examine
Ask yourself the following questions after reading your chapter for the day. Write your answers down in a journal or notebook you can use just for your time with God.
On a Mission
The economic struggles of the United States strike Albert Pujols differently than most. After all, when you've grown up amid conditions far worse than what the average American considers difficult, it puts things in perspective. While the economic crash of the U.S. is indeed serious, if not critical, the reality remains that many countries are filled with citizens who have been battling for years to find a single daily meal.
No, Pujols himself was never a starving child, but he wasn't wealthy. And the scenes he saw growing up in the Dominican Republic, where he lived before moving with his family to the U.S. at the age of 15, have fueled in him a passion for reaching those in need.
Lessons Learned
It’s hard to decide what Kara Lawson is most known for.
SEC fans remember her as the All-American from the University of Tennessee who led the Lady Vols to three Final Four appearances between 2000 and 2003. Followers of the WNBA know her as a key member of the 2005 league champion Sacramento Monarchs and now as the starting point guard for the Connecticut Sun. Still more recognize her as a member of the ESPN college basketball broadcasting team through which Lawson serves both as a studio analyst for the NCAA women’s tournament and a color commentator for men’s games. And fans of the Summer Olympics would most likely know her for the gold medal she won with Team USA in 2008.
Fishers of Men
Theme:
Humorous
Plot of Skit:
Two pairs of people are fishing. Two men are talking knowledgeably, and being very serious about their fishing. Two women are just chattering away and waving at the men, neither serious nor quiet. Then the men catch a fish (a small person who flops around toward the boat with hands flopping on the sides of his face). They throw the fish back because it’s too small. Then the women catch a big fish (big person, same scenario). They are very proud of their catch and keep it. The men are jealous. Then read Matthew 4:19. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
Number of Characters:
Six: four fishers, two fish
Home Stretch: Jason Avant
My story began in Brainerd Park on the south side of Chicago. My mother left when I was a baby, and my dad was in and out of jail, so it was up to my grandmother Lillie to raise me.
My grandmother was a very spiritual woman who loved Jesus and made us go to church on Sundays. I would always go with her, but that’s where it stopped. The other six days of the week, I was running with a gang. By sixth grade, I was selling drugs, and, by seventh grade, I was going to school drunk.
Leading Sport Oriented Bible Studies
This guide gives some simple instructions and suggestions for the leadership of Bible studies and discussions with athletes and coaches.
More Than a Sport
- Coach Coale talks about being a part of her program as more than just being a player in it. What was she referring to with that point?
- How can sport teach you more about life and the skills necessary to make it in the world today?
- Why does she feel responsible for passing on these life skills to her players?
- Read 1 Timothy 4:6-8. Athletic training is important to an athlete. Why is spiritual training more important?
- What do you think godliness means? How is godliness beneficial in every area of your life?
- Coach Coale believes it is important not only to prepare her players for what is next, but wants them to apply it themselves.
Unimaginable Pain, Just for You
Set:
THUD. One. The fierce bite of the whip sunk into Jesus' back.
THUD. Two. A 350-pound Roman guard, unleashing the power of every muscle in his body.
THUD. Three. A short pause, to let the blood ooze and the pain sink in. Forty times would surely kill Him, so they went one less. Then the nine tails. Nine ropes holding the sharpest things they could find. Rusty nails. Baked glass. Jagged razorblades. They all plunged into Jesus' back, mercilessly ripping Him apart and tearing His skin to shreds with force no NFL lineman could hope to muster. They found the roughest thornbush with thorns three inches long pointing in every direction, and they forced it onto His head and ground the thorns into his skull.
That was the easy part.
Ready
Set:
Ready. What does it take to be ready for your season to start? It takes physical training—a lot of it. But it also takes an extensive amount of mental training. What will you do when you step up to the line or into the box? The mental part seems trivial sometimes because we mostly like to trust what we can see and feel, which is the physical part of the game. But when it comes down to the wire and the game is on the line, it’s the battle 6 inches between our ears that either says, “I’m done; I can’t,”, or “I’m strong enough. Bring it on.”
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