This Saturday begins the college football season.
I am so looking forward to it. I love getting into that zone where the only
thing that matters is the ebb and flow of my Crimson Tide.
I’m passionate about my team. So much so that when my wife and I were
dating, each of my friends asked her not to make a final decision on me until
she had watched me watch an Alabama
football game. They told her that if she
could handle that, everything else was a piece of cake.
Why? Because I’m that
fan that will pace back and forth during a series, get on my hands and knees
for a long field-goal kick, and argue with referee calls that go against BAMA. When the girls were little, I sometimes
scared them so much with my antics that they started crying. I’m mellower now, but still passionate.
Watching a game is also an isometric exercise
adventure. What do I mean? Well, an isometric exercise is when you contract
your muscle and then let it relax.
Whether it’s offense, defense, or special teams, I am constantly tensing
and relaxing. It’s probably the most
exercise I get all week.
You may be the same
way. Here’s the rub for all of us
though. We’ll show that passion on
Saturday, then come in Sunday morning with the passion of a wet paper towel.
I’m not advocating showing up to the worship service with
John 3:16 painted on your chest, but we need to have that same dedication on
Sunday that we have on Saturday. It
might even look to others that we are enjoying ourselves during Big Church.
I’m not the guy to give a rah-rah speech like your
favorite coach does. But I will put my
passion into presenting our lesson to you with as much energy as God gives
me. From there, it’s up to you. My prayer every week is that you find some
nugget of understanding that you can take with you through your week.
Jeremiah spent his forty years of ministry saying just one
thing. And no one listened.
I can’t promise you that you will be
successful every time you witness to someone.
The Holy Spirit will do the heavy lifting; you just have to present the
gospel.
So here is your nugget for this week…
You want the entire New Testament summed up in four
words? Here it is: “Go show Jesus’ love”.
“Go” — Christianity is active.
It isn’t to be horded, but instead to be taken to others.
“Show” — Christians are called to model Christ’s actions.
“Jesus” — He was the perfect sacrifice for the world’s sins
and was raised by God on the third day.
“Love” — People want to be loved so much they’ll
do anything for it.
If you truly want to accomplish
something for Jesus, you have to be prepared.
That means studying scripture, praying for God’s guidance, fellowshipping
with other believers, and participating in worship. Look at every figure in the New Testament
and they did those four things. It’s the
only way to train for the Christian life.
Walking out the doors of our
classroom yesterday placed you in the mission field. You will be tempted, sorely tempted, to water
down the message that the only way to God is by grace alone through faith alone
in Christ alone. Don’t give in to that
temptation.
GO. SHOW.
JESUS’. LOVE.
Make it a great week!
Loyally yours,
Darren Bayne
“You have to find something that you love enough to be able
to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are
always going to be placed in front of you. If you don’t have that kind of
feeling for what it is you’re doing, you’ll stop at the first giant hurdle.”
—George Lucas
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