This Is A Football
Dismiss Grove KIDZ
MGCC - welcome to day 8 of the year 2023!
178 hours down... 8,582 hours still to go.
10,680 minutes down... 514,920 minutes still to go.
My point... the new year has only just begun!
YEAH – there are so many blank pages of life just waiting for you and I to fill up.
NOW TODAY – the 8th day and 2nd Sunday of the new year, I felt led to have a conversation called...
QUESTION...
• Do you want 2023 to MGCC’s best year ever?
• Do this body of believers to travel further down the road to becoming who God created us to be, than we have ever traveled before?
UNDERSTAND – like with us individually, MGCC having a great, full-filling, meaningful, God-honoring 2023 is not simply going to happen.
Instead, it will require that we: develop a plan, set some goals and then execute those plans and goals.
YEAH – that’s what I want to talk about today.
HOWEVER – before we dive in...
Let’s take two and then I will pray us into our time of study...
Prayer
Vince Lombardi is remembered as one of the greatest NFL football coaches of all time.
In fact, the Super Bowl trophy is named after him.
You know the one that the winners hold up after climbing the mountain and achieving that victory.
NOW - Lombardi was also known as a great motivator. His speech “What it Takes to be Number One” is still used in sports and in business today. In that speech he said...
"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing…”
Lombardi was also known for his toughness. In fact, rookies and veterans alike were known to fear him.
WELL - in July 1961, the Packers gathered for the first day of training camp that year. And listen these guys were really ready to get at it.
YOU SEE - their prior season had ended in a heartbreaking loss to the Philadelphia Eagles after blowing a lead in the 4th quarter of the NFL Championship Game.
NOW - when the players came in to start training camp that year, they expected to immediately begin where they left off
AND SO - they thought that on one day that their coach would start working on ways to advance their game...
You know, learn some creative new plays and concepts that would take them over the hump and win them the championship in the new season.
HOWVER - Coach Lombardi had a different idea.
OKAY – picture the scene...
His entire team is gathered in the meeting room.
• Men (1/2 his age and early twice his size)
• Men who have been playing this game for most of their lives.
• Men who were just a fumble in the 4th qtr away from winning the championship.
I MEAN – these guys both loved and knew the game.
AND – they all were leaning in, anxiously waiting to hear about the new schemes and systems, he had worked on in the off season, to get them ready to win it all.
AND SO – with a Football in his hand, the great coach walked to the front of the room, took several seconds to look over those assembled in silence, held out the pigskin in front of him, and said, “Gentlemen, this is a football.”
NOW AFTER - holding up the football as though they had never seen one, and describing its importance...
HE THEN - had everyone open up their playbooks and start on page one, where they began to learn the fundamentals – blocking, tackling, throwing, catching, etc.
AFTER THAT – he took the team out onto the field.
He pointed out the out-of-bounds lines and the end zones.
Lombardi reminded the players that the objective was to move the football across the end zone line of their opponent, while preventing them from moving the ball across their goal line.
“Gentlemen, this is a football.”
AND UNDERSTAND - this hyper-focus on fundamentals allowed them to win the NFL Championship that season 37-0 against the New York Giants.
Lombardi would go on to give that same speech every year at the start of training for the next seven years until he retired from coaching...
THE RESULT - He never coached a team with a losing season, he never lost another playoff game again and his teams went on to win five NFL Championships in seven years.
AGAIN – the first practice of every year Lombardi would remind his team, and stress the importance of the fundamentals of the game.
WHY?... BECAUSE...
• fundamentals matter
• fundamentals can be forgotten, ignored and overlooked
• fundamentals are not always sexy
• if you both remember and execute them, your chances of victory greatly improve. On the other hand if you neglect them, the outcome will more than likely not be the one you were hoping for...
AND SO MGCC – this morning January 8th, 2023, I want to give my church version of ‘This Is A Football.’
YES MGCC – today I want to talk to you about some of the key fundamentals (you know the: blocking, tackling, passing and catching) of our faith.
UNDERSTAND B/S – knowing and practicing these fundamentals not only matters, but they are essential to us have a winning season for Him.
Get It?
NOW – this is not the first time that I talked about the things I will share today... BUT LISTEN – reminding God’s people of things that they already know is very biblical.
So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.
I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
– 2 Peter 1:12-15
Another Prayer
I. This Is The Bible
UNDERSTAND THIS BOOK - contains words that were literally breathed by God.
All Scripture is God-breathed… - 2 Timothy 3:16
Theopneustos (theh ah new stos)… from – Theo (God) and pneo (neh o) wind, breathe.
OKAY - think about that…
The same God who - created the heavens and the earth, breathes out stars, holds oceans in the palm of His hands, who was-is-and always will be, who changes times and seasons and removes kings and establishes kingdoms breathed the words in this book
MGCC THIS BOOK...
• is alive and it is active it is sharper than a double edge sword
• cuts, dividing between (joint and marrow) (soul and spirit) and it judges the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts.
• is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in in righteousness so that the people of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
• is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.
AND MGCC
THIS BOOK – is a book like no other in all of human history…
• Historically accurate; Fulfilled prophecies
• Pre-scientific knowledge;
• Most translated; Most printed; Most manuscripts (thousands more) than any other ancient text
• Most influential (it has set more pens and bushes in motion than any other book);
• And this book despite the fact that it was written over a period of 1500 years by 40+ different writers, In 3 languages by men living on 3 different continents, has incredible, powerful, supernatural unity.
AND LISTEN - for 2000 years, billions of people…
• young and old, rich and poor,
• educated and uneducated, male and female,
• kings and peasants, slave and free…
PEOPLE – from all over the world… different places, different cultures, have read this book… and have had their lives, their destinies, and their forever’s radically changed by it!
MGCC - this is the bible, this is God’s word
It’s: powerful, true, accurate, trustworthy, and...
It must be ‘the’ authority for His church and for the lives of His people…
AMEN?!
AND LISTEN – in keeping with our ‘this is a football theme, this book is the playbook for us as Jesus followers…
• A play book that enables us to build our lives on a foundation that can and will, withstand all of the winds and waves that this world throws at us
• A playbook that we must not leave in the stands or on the sidelines... but instead carry with us... so that we can rely on and refer to often throughout the game of our lives
B/S – here’s the deal...
To play the game well and get the victory we must...
read, know, treasure, value and live by this book!
LIKE – why won’t we right...
I MEAN – it is written by the one who formed and created us.
As you know encouraging people to read this book, is something I do all of the time.
FCFH (Romans 10:17)
In our first FCFH of the new year we have been doing a plan on youversion... that is taking through Proverbs...
NOW - in one of the devotions they compared living by God’s Wisdom to wearing a scarf in the winter...
Lake Michigan
My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:-16
This is The Bible, and...
II. This is The Gospel
In the beginning God (the One who is, and was and is to come) created EVERYTHING… HE created;
• Galaxies – billions of them
• Stars – trillions
• HE created the planet that we now live on, and He is even now holding earth its orbit as it revolves around the sun at ~ 67,000 mph and as it spins 1,000 mph on its axis.
• And God filled the earth with breath-taking beauty… sunrises, sunsets, oceans, mountains, rivers, streams, forests…
B/S - what an incredibly beautiful planet we get to call home. AMEN?!
AND LISTEN – not only did God fill this planet with breath-taking beauty, but He also filled it with LIFE…
I MEAN – everywhere we look there is life… plants, insects, animals, birds, fish…
UNDERSTAND – if we put a shovel to the ground and put the dirt under a microscope it would be just teeming with life.
AND – on day six God created man and woman (the crown of His creation… the VERY REASON why everything came into existence in the first place)…
AND HE - created them in His own image and likeness… PLACING THEM - in a garden paradise, where they had an up close – personal - intimate relationship with Him…
YEAH - as crazy as it sounds, GOD would literally take walks with them in the cool of the morning.
I MEAN – just imagine what it must have been like… living in a world like that… a world untainted by sin, decay and corruption.
IMAGINE - experiencing intimacy with God like that
UNDERSTAND – things were good, VERY good.
BUT – unfortunately they did not stay VERY good, for VERY long… YOU SEE – even before Adam and Eve made it out of the 3rd chapter of God’s 1,189 chapter story…
THEY - screw up everything (not only for themselves, but for us as well)…
THEY – disobey God…
THEY – take that bite…
AND – because of their choice sin, death and separation invaded and corrupted God’s perfect world.
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
– Romans 5:12
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. – Romans 3:23
For the wages of sin is death, - Romans 6:23
BUT LISTEN – that is only part of The Story
FOR YOU SEE - long before the first couple sunk their teeth into that forbidden fruit… GOD – already had
A PLAN - to set things right…
A PLAN - to remove the distance…
A PLAN - to give sin and separation - a crushing, lethal once all for all time, defeating death blow.
A PLAN – to unleash His amazing Grace
There is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.
– Romans 5:15
MGCC - this is the Gospel…
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
Yeah, I know you have heard those words before, but really think about what they actually mean...
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
MGCC - This is the Gospel.
A Gospel that we see Peter preaching for the very first time on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2…
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
LIKE – they just interrupted Peter in the middle of His Sermon.
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. - Acts 2:36-41
MGCC - This is the Gospel. A Gospel that Paul says in Ephesians 2 unleashes the grace of God, saving us from His wrath.
Moving us from death to life.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient.
We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.
Raise your hand if you want to be a child under God’s wrath?
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!
- Ephesians 2:1-5
MGCC – this is the Gospel. A gospel that everyone one needs to hear and accept, because if not the consequences are severe.
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. - 2 Thessalonians 1:8,9
UNDERSTAND MGCC…
Everyone has the same problem, ‘sin.’ And everyone has the same, and only solution, ‘the Grace of God,’ which is unleashed through our faith in and surrender to Jesus.
YES B/S – this is the Gospel...
The Good News of...
• redemption and restoration.
• Hope and deliverance
• Freedom and reconciliation
This is the Bible
This is the Gospel,
and…
III. This Is Our Mission
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
- Matthew 28:18-20
QUESTION – what is our mission... to make disciples.
TO:
• Show people Christ (through how we live out our lives)
• Bring them ‘to’ Christ (for salvation, ‘baptizing them...’)
• Build them up ‘in’ Christ (‘teaching them to obey...’)
• Send them out in the world to make a difference ‘for’ Christ (by being the salt of the earth and the light of the world)
UNDERSTAND – as Jesus-followers, we have one job.
AND YES – I could not resist looking at a few ‘you had one job photos.’ People who had one job and completely failed.
MGCC – we have ‘one job’ to make disciples.
IMAGINE...
That you bought into a franchise that sold hamburgers.
AND... after your first 90 days the regional director comes to pay you a visit... AND – show him the store.
(tables, restrooms, play area)
“How many burgers have you sold?”
“Well, we haven’t sold any yet?”
QUESTION
How long do you think you would keep that franchise?
AGAIN – we have one job, one mission...
TO:
• Show people Christ
• Bring them ‘to’ Christ
• Build them up ‘in’ Christ
• Send them out in the world to make a difference ‘for’ Christ.
AND SERIOUSLY... can you think of any mission more important than, bringing...
• Salvation to the lost
• Freedom to the captives
• Hope to the hopeless
• Belonging to the lonely
• Purpose to the drifting
• Peace to the anxious
• Healing to the hurting
•
This is the bible; This is the Gospel; This is our mission, and...
This Is The Church
QUESTION...
• What are the fundamentals for being a member of His church?
• What does it mean for us to... block, tackle, catch, pass and to run plays?
• Where are our out of bounds lines, and end zones?
LIKE – if Jesus our great head coach came into our gathering this morning...
AND SAID – “Maple Grove, ‘This is the church’ and then He told us to turn to page one of our playbook...
What kind of things do you think we would find on that page?
NOW – there is a really great summary of the key fundamentals for a Jesus follower, for a church member... in Acts chapter 2.
Remember in Acts 2 Peter preaches the very first Gospel message, 3000 accepted the message and were baptized, and the church was born. A big deal btw!
AND – in the very next verse we read the following...
They
Who is the ‘they?’ everyone who had joined the church on the day of Pentecost.
And understand Jesus has not given anyone in His church, on His team, permission to simply sit in the stands or hang out on the sidelines
devoted
the word means... to adhere to with strength, to give constant attention to something...
understand their commitment was not just some casual, loose commitment. Instead it was a powerful and determined one.
(the word is also in the ‘present tense’ – so, it was an ongoing continuous action, not a one-time thing in the past.
They devoted themselves
yeah, you cannot devote anyone but yourself...
so everyone in the church was constantly devoting themselves and giving their constant attention to certain things.
And what things...
to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.
They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:42-47
OKAY – here’s the deal...
IF WE – want 2023 to The Grove’s best year ever.
IF WE – want to see us move further down the road to the church He intends for us to be than we have ever gone before.
THEN WE – continually be devoting ourselves to several key,
non-negotiable fundamentals.
We must continually be devoting ourselves to the apostles teaching to the word of God.
A) Devotion To God’s Word
QUESTION...
• Can someone be devoted to the Word if they do not read or study it?
• Or if they do not strive to live by it, aligning their lives to its values and teachings?
UNDERSTAND – early church was devoted to the Word of God.
AND – that devotion had dramatic results.
HEY CHECK OUT – these powerful words about Scripture from a really smart guy named NT Wright.
They are from his book, ‘Simply Christian…’
“The Bible isn’t simply a repository of true information about God, Jesus and the hope of the world.
It is, rather, part of the means by which, in the power of the Spirit, the living God rescues His people and His world and takes them forward on the journey toward His new creation, and makes us agents of that new creation even as we travel. Picking it up, you need to remind yourself that you hold in your hands not only the most famous book in the world, but one which has extraordinary power to change lives, to change the world. It’s done it before. It can do it again...
We must continually be devoting ourselves to prayer.
B) Devotion To Prayer
QUESTION...
Can we be devoted to prayer, if we do not regularly pray?
If we do not pray in faith?
NOW – the early church was devoted to prayer...
Because they were convinced that...
Prayer brought them into the throne room of God and connected them to the power of God.
QUESTION – what can prayer do?
Anything God can do? And what can God do anything?
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. – James 5:16-18
We must continually be devoting ourselves to the breaking of bread...
C) Devotion To The Breaking of the bread
AND – what Luke is talking about is that they were devoted to celebrating the Lord’s Supper.
YOU KNOW – As I reflected on this… they were devoted to the breaking of the bread… I was like… “Alright I so get the importance of adhering with strength – to the apostles teaching, to prayer and to the fellowship...
Those seem pretty obvious and essential.
Sure communion is important but is it – that important?
Why is it such a big deal?
Was it a big deal to Jesus?
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. – Luke 22:19,20
IN communion Jesus is saying…..
• Don’t forget your Worth
• Don’t forget My Love for you.
• Don’t forget the Cross
• Don’t forget what Saves you
• Don’t forget where you Were
• Don’t forget your Future
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. - 1 Cor 11:26
We must continually be devoting ourselves to the fellowship..
D) Devotion To The Fellowship
AND UNDERSTAND – there are 4 basic fundamentals that demonstrate our devotion to the fellowship (to each other)
1) Attend Regularly
Let us not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. – Hebrews 10:25
2) Serve Passionately
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. – Matthew 20:28
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. – Ephesians 4:16
3) Give Generously
Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, - 1 Corinthians 16:1,2
Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. – Proverbs 3:9,10
Acts 2...
Giving statements coming out soon...
QUESTION
Will you be getting one?
And if you do, would you like your income in 2023 to be 10 times that amount?
4) Live Togetherly
This is...
about doing life together.
about being involved of the lives of others so that you can practice all of those awesome one anothers.
We must continually be devoting ourselves to:
The Word, to prayer, to the breaking of bread,
to the fellowship, and to our mission.
Devotion To The Mission
TO: make disciples
Show – Bring - Build – Send
Early church sure was...
And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.
But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.
Pray For One...
NOW – I think most everyone knows that I am a New England Patriot Fan…
NOW – even if you do not like them, I think you would agree with their 3 word motto…
This is a football
This is the bible
This is the gospel
This is our mission
This is the church, and
V) This Is Our God
He is the Maker of heaven and earth
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. – Ephesians 3:20,21
