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Spiritual Olympics - Part One |
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This morning we begin a new series – Spiritual Olympics. It might surprise you to know that the Olympics are mentioned in the Bible. The Apostle Paul refers to the ancient Grecian games that were the mother of our modern games in the Books of Romans, First and Second Corinthians and in Second Timothy. It even appears that the Apostle had some favorite sports – boxing and the marathon. Here’s what he says in First Corinthians, “You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. So run to win! All those who compete in the games use self-control so they can win a crown. That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time, but our crown will never be destroyed.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25). Paul is referring to the marathon and the laurel leaf crown that the winner won at the end of the race. In Romans 14:10 Paul refers to the Bema or judgment seat where the judges sat to award the prizes at the end of the race. Paul tells us that in the same way, one day we will stand before God and be rewarded for the race that we have run here on earth! Life is not a game – it’s an eternal matter, however, there are many similarities between The Olympic Games and the race that God calls us to run. That’s where we’re going over the next four weeks. And we’re calling it our Spiritual Olympics. We start today by stating that you need to be a part of the team. Every athlete needs a team – every spiritual athlete needs a team. Basketball stars would not be stars without the help of their teammates. Baseball players can play every position. It takes at least eleven men to make up a football team. Even the so called solo sports need assistants, coaches and others support their efforts. It’s difficult to compete alone. Everyone needs a team. I believe that’s why God created the church – because everybody needs to be a part of a team. I’ve met believers who thought they could go it alone, but the truth is, in order to be an effective follower of Christ, you need a team!
This morning I
want to share with you three reasons you and I need a team. This was so important to Jesus Christ that he made sure it was mentioned in the Bible well over forty times in the New Testament. The phrase "one another" is mentioned over forty times in the New Testament. We need each other in the church. I need you and you need me. If all you do is a simply word search through the Bible looking for the phrase “one another” here is what you will come up with: we need each other; we need one another. There’s no escaping the truth that we need to be a part of the team. Why do I need to be an active part of my church team? The Team (the church) is where I can love and accept others and others can love and accept me. Just look at how many times this truth is found in the Bible… John 13:34(NLT) So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. John 15:12(NLT) I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you. 1 Thessalonians 4:9(NLT) God himself has taught you to love one another. 1 Peter 1:22(NLT) So see to it that you really do love each other intensely with all your hearts. 1 Peter 5:14(NLT) Greet each other in Christian love. 1 John 3:11(NLT) This is the message we have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 2 John 1:5(NLT) we should love one another. Romans 12:10(NLT) Love each other with genuine affection That’s just eight verses, there are many more. The point? The hallmark of being a genuine follower of Jesus Christ is that we love each other. Jesus started there because He understood what we know intrinsically – we need to be loved. Author Frank Clark says we are “born with a need to be loved and never outgrow it.” [i] I don’t buy into everything psychologist Abraham Maslow wrote, but I do believe he got it right when he researched that one of the basic needs of every human being is the need to be loved, accepted and belong.[ii] We all need to be loved and being a part of a church helps meet that need. Being a part of God’s team (the church) meets that need. I love the way Romans 13:8 says it, “Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God’s law.” We owe each other love. It’s a debt to be paid. So where can I really love others? I can love my family, I can attempt to show love to others. But it’s only in the context of a committed church that God’s love is genuinely reciprocal. We love each other. And we get to love in a way that only God can love. See the word “love” in that verse (debt of love), that’s the Greek word agapao – it speaks of a love that ultimately can only be generated from God Himself. When the Apostle Paul wrote the a little church in Northern Greece (Thessalonica) here’s what he said:
“But I don’t
need to write to you about the Christian love that should be shown among
God’s people. For God himself has taught you to love one
another. Indeed, your love is already strong toward all the Christians
in all of Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we beg you to
love them more and more.” Paul is commending the people in the church because they understood what it meant to love other believers. They understood that they owed love to other believers, but he was telling them that you can never love too much. As believers the church is where we get to love each other. I need the church because it’s the one place where I can love others and not feel threatened. It’s the one place where I know I will be loved by others. By the way, if you are a part of FamilyFellowship and having a hard time feeling genuinely loved and accepted – try reaching out to someone else with God’s love – it’s amazing how God blesses when we, by faith, take that first step. So don’t sit there waiting – commit to the Team. Not only that, but being a part of my church makes me feel accepted and I get to show acceptance of others. Romans 15:7 says, So accept each other just as Christ has accepted you. Being a part of my Church makes me feel accepted. We get to accept each other. Church is not a place where we set up huge criteria for how people are suppose to be in order to be accepted – we’re simply to accept people as God created them. That’s pretty freeing! We don’t have to get hung up on a list of eternal rules – we just love and accept people where they are knowing that God is not only working in us…He’s working in them! If you’re here this morning you’re accepted. That doesn’t mean that you’re not struggling with stuff (we all are!), it means that in spite of your hurts, struggles, personality, whatever – FamilyFellowship is a church where you are welcome, accepted. Jesus said, Matthew 11:28(TMNT) “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Church is the one place where we get to be loved and accepted – unconditionally – because that’s how God loves us! Why should I be a part of “The Team”? Why do I need church? Because church is where I find help and where I can help others. Galatians 6:2 tells us we should, “Share each other’s troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” Ephesians 4:2 says, “Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” I’m making the assumption you are just like me – and I can’t do this alone. I need help. We’ll talk more about this one in the third message in this series, but for now we need to be thankful that we can find help in the Team – in the Church. I need somewhere to go to be encouraged. First Thessalonians tells us to, “comfort and encourage each other” (1 Thessalonians 4:18). There are a lot of times I simply need to be comforted and encouraged. I get that from others in the church. There are times, honestly, when I’m having a rough day – rough week – and then I’ll get a phone call from someone in the church – the only reason they’re calling is to see how I’m doing and encourage me. Sometimes they share a verse or something that God is doing in their life. Sometimes they call to share a need. But whatever the case – I’m encouraged. I’m encouraged that I’m not alone. I’m encouraged that there are others going through my struggles with me. Praying for me. Caring about me. The Team is where I find help. God never intended for us to go it alone. He meant for us to help each other, to share each other’s troubles and problems. But it’s more than just needing help. Each of us needs to understand that we need to help as much as we need help. There is something powerful about using our spiritual gifts to help others in the church. When we’re helping others – it helps us. Here’s a good example. Ever struggle with depression? Do you know the easiest cure for depression? Go help someone else? It’s nearly impossible to feel bad about yourself when you are helping someone else. It’s difficult to focus on your troubles and problems when you are helping someone else through theirs. The old saying is misery loves company. The truth is, misery goes away when we focus on the company instead of ourselves! God created His team because it’s a place where we can find help. It’s amazing that you will always find someone in church who has been through something similar to what you’re going through. That’s why it’s OK to be honest and open with your struggles. Genuine followers of Jesus are not going to judge you – they’re going to share with you that they’ve been there too and by God’s grace He’s helped them through it! The Team is where I can give God’s love and get His love from others. The Team is where I can find help for the struggles I face each day. And the Team is where I can be challenged to be everything God wants me to be – and in turn challenge others to be what God wants them to be! One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Hebrews 10:24. Hebrews 10:24 says, “Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds” The King James Version uses the word provoke, “let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” Being a part of the Team puts me around people who can encourage me to do the things God wants me to do. It’s hard to live like a believer without other believers around to encourage me. Part of the reason we gather for worship each week is to encourage each other. We are to challenge each other to go on for God. The next verse in Hebrews goes on to say… “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25) I’ve heard that verse used for years to teach that we need to go to church. We need to meet together as a church. And that is true – but we also need to meet together as a Team – even when “church” is not in session. Anytime we gather as a group of believers we get to be “church”, we get to be The Team. Notice first that the write warns us don’t neglect meeting as some people do. It’s easy to get so wrapped up in the stuff of day-to-day life that we forget we need each other. Being a part of The Team, the church, means making time for the teammates. Making time for each other. We can’t neglect meeting together. That’s why getting actively involved in a small group each week is so vital to your spiritual growth. It takes time to be challenged. Second, when we do meet we need to always do two things (1) encourage and (2) warn. We need to be each other’s cheering section – that’s always first. But we also need to look out for each other. Church is where I know there are people looking out for me. They accept me, but they are also honest with me. Sometimes being a part of the Team means saying the hard things in love to warn the other person. Sometimes it means being willing to accept the warnings of others when they see stuff in our lives we’re not willing to admit. But when I am a part of the team – when I am giving and receiving Christ’s love and acceptance through other believers, when I am using my gifts, my shape to help others and am receiving help from them, when I am encouraged to keep going and not give up – when I’m a part of God’s Team get things happen in my life and in the lives of those God touches through me. We all need to be a part of the team. So where do we take this point? So what? Three action steps this morning. 1. Commit to the Team. Once you have committed your life to Jesus Christ you need to commit to His Church. The book of Acts in the New Testament tells us that “Those who believed… were baptized and added to the church—about three thousand in all. They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer.” They accepted Jesus, followed that commitment by being baptized – then they got involved in the Team – the church. The end of the verse tells what they did – they joined with other believers, were taught, fellowshipped together, prayed together. I like the way the Message Paraphrase puts it, “That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves…” Commit to the Team. 2. Start attending practices. In other words get involved in a ministry and a small group. Do something. Get involved with some of the team. 3. Get off the bench and into the game. God’s Team is not meant for bystanders. Far too many believers are like the benchwarmers on a ball team. Watching the game, wearing the uniform, but doing little to see that the team wins. Get involved in the game. It’s no mistake that Jesus’ last words to His followers before He went to heaven were…”You, GO!” (Matthew 28:19)
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(c) Paul Newell 2004 FamilyFellowship Church P.O. Box 465, Beaumont, CA 92223 |
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