Get in the Game

That the challenge that it was to us as a church.

I thank you for that. I pray that you'd help us to

continue to go forward for you this morning and, and, and for

the rest of our lives. But this morning, God, I pray

that you would help us as we look into this passage and look

at some of these verses that maybe there are some people who

are still sitting on the sidelines, some people who

should be in the game, some people who should be involved in

the Christian life that are just not doing it.

God made this message be a challenge to us this morning to

help us to do as much as we can for as long as we can for

Christ. Thank you again for all that you

do for us. In Jesus name, Amen.

First thing I want you to see is this.

If you're going to get in the game, you got to get on the

team. You have to get on the team, all

right? The first and most important

part of getting into the game is getting onto the team.

If you're not on the team and you run out of the field, guess

what happens? You get tackled, you get drugged

back over to the sideline, you get drugged down to the jail,

and you probably sit there overnight and pay a fine, right?

If you're not on the team, you're not getting on the field.

Going to church is very important.

I wouldn't be a pastor if I didn't think that going to

church was important. But there there'll be a lot of

people that find themselves in hell one day who went to church

every single Sunday, right? Just because you show up at the

stadium to watch the game doesn't mean you're part of the

team, doesn't mean you're on the field, right?

Doesn't mean that you have any involvement other than sitting

there watching everything that's happening.

And I think that's what's going to happen with so many people.

They're going to they're going to stand before God and they're

going to say, but God, I went to church every week.

God, I, I gave money to the church.

God, I got baptized. God, I did this and I I did it

in your name. And he's going to say depart

from me. I never knew you because you

never got on the team. You were never part of the team.

It's like going to work and never getting paid.

It's like being a being a second string water boy.

You might, you might consider yourself to be part of the team,

but you're not really doing much right.

You're there, but you're not really on the team.

The way that Jesus described it to Nicodemus in John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

probably the most familiar verse of any verse in the Bible is

John 316. And if I ask you to quote it,

most of you could probably do it.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have

everlasting life. Most of you were saying that

along with me. It's a very familiar verse.

But do you know in John chapter 3, the context of that passage

John 3 · chapter mention

where Jesus is leading up to saying that?

And those are the words of Christ.

He's talking to Nicodemus. And Nicodemus was a very wealthy

man and he comes to Jesus and he says, what do I need to do to

inherit eternal life? And as part of what Jesus said,

he gave him those words in John chapter 3 and verse 16.

John 3 · chapter mention

But Jesus told Nicodemus, ye must be born again.

You must be born again now for us.

Doesn't sound that crazy because we've heard that phrase before,

probably many times, right? But could you imagine being

Nicodemus and hearing that for the first time?

You must be born again. And Nicodemus had that exact

same thought. What did he say?

He said, how do you be born again?

Do I get back in my mother's womb and be born?

He said, I mean, I've already done that once.

How do I get born again? And Jesus said, no, no, one of

those is a physical birth. Yes, you're born, you're born a

physical in a physical way, but you must be born again.

And your and your second birth is a spiritual birth and you

have to be born again. That's what Jesus is saying.

You have to accept Jesus Christ as your savior and become part

of his family. When you're when you're born

again, you become part of the body, the church.

And you might be singing, it's sitting here thinking, how do I

get born again? How do I get saved?

How can I know for sure that I can go to heaven when I die?

How do I know that I, that I'm on the team?

How do I know that I can be a part of that?

Well, I'm glad you asked because the Bible says in Romans chapter

Romans 3 · chapter mention

3 and verse 23. And by the way, the way to

heaven is very simple. So many religions have

complicated the gospel because they say you, you need the death

of Christ in the cross, plus this, this, this, this, this,

this and this. And if you're in good standing

with our church, when you die, you.

Can go to heaven. Right, That's a lot of that's a

lot of do's. Do this, do this, do this, do

this, do this. Jesus Christ says it's already

been done. What you need has already been

done. I'm just a man I'm nobody.

I can't forgive your sins. You can't come to me and ask me

to forgive all of your sins and I can say you're forgiven.

I can't do that. I'm just a man like you are

right? There's only one who can forgive

sins and that's Jesus Christ and He already did it.

Everything that you need to do has already been done, but you

have to come to Him because we are sinners.

And Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 says for all have sinned and

Romans 3 · chapter mention

come short of the glory of God because you have one sin on your

account. Even if it was only one, I'd be,

I'm highly suspect if you say it's only one.

But even if you only had one, it's enough to keep us out of

heaven, right? Because sin cannot enter heaven.

God is absolutely holy. He's absolutely just, and he

must judge sin. Even if the only sin that you

ever committed was to lie and say that you've never sinned,

that's sin. That's on your account.

And it's enough to keep us out of heaven because all have

sinned and come short of the glory of God, right?

Doesn't matter how hard you try, doesn't matter how good of a

person you are. It doesn't matter how bad of a

person you are. We're all the same in God's

eyes. One sin is the same as another.

Or we talk about the little white lies and these are small

sins and these are big sins, and we like to categorize all of

those things. But before God, all of our sins

are the same. Sin is a sin, and it's enough to

keep you out of heaven. And that's what I'm saying,

there's a lot of people who might be sitting in church all

the way all across this country and maybe even across the world

who are saying I've been faithful.

I've been sitting here for a long time.

I've been listening to every message.

I've been going out and doing things in Jesus name.

But they've never had their sins forgiven, and they're going to

find themselves in hell someday because you don't get to heaven

by being a good person. In fact, the Bible makes that

very clear. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

and 9 says for by grace are you saved through faith, and that

not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of

works, lest any man should boast.

So this church is over here telling you you have to do this.

And this church is over telling you, over here telling you, you

have to do this and this and this and this, and all of those

works combined should be enough to get you into heaven someday.

And by the way, you'll never know if you've you've made it

there until you get there and find out.

Oh, I was just a little bit short, right?

You'll never know because how do you know when your good works

have outweighed your bad works? How do you know when you've done

enough? How do you know if you truly are

in good standing with the church until you stand before God?

Then it's too late. You can't do anything about it

then, right? I'm thankful that the Bible says

in first John chapter 5 and verse 13 that ye may know that

1 John 5 · chapter mention

you have eternal life. I can know for sure that I'm on

my way to heaven. I can know for sure that Jesus

Christ is my Savior. I can know for sure that my sins

are forgiven. How is that?

Well, because the Bible says in Romans chapter 6 and verse 23

Romans 6 · chapter mention

for the wages of sin is death, right?

So all of that sin that we talked about the, the, the sin

that we've all committed, that is that has made us come short

of the glory of God. Well, if you're short of the

glory of God, the only other alternative in there.

Is to spend an eternity in hell. If you don't make it all the way

to heaven, to fall short is to spend an eternity in hell.

And that's not, that's not good news.

I hate to tell you that, but what kind of friend would I be

if I knew that you were on your way to hell without Jesus

Christ? If I knew that without your sins

being forgiven, you were going to spend an eternity in that

horrible place? And I didn't tell you that it's

bad news, but you need to know the bad news in order to realize

that there is good news. And the good news is that Jesus

Christ did die in the cross to pay for your sins.

He did make a bridge with the cross from here to heaven so

that you can walk across the bridge that he built.

And get there someday. All the rest of those are man

made bridges and they make it about halfway across and then

you drop off the edge, right? Because they can't get you

there. The wages of sin is death, but

the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

That's good news. That's wonderful news.

And so how do you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior?

Well, the Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy

mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart, that God

hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart men believeth unto righteousness, and with the

mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be

saved. That's somebody who is who who

fell overboard and they're drowning in the water.

And they cry out for help. Somebody save me, Somebody help

me. And they throw a life preserver

over the. Edge and they say grab on to

this and we'll pull you in. Well, that seems too easy.

Can't be that easy. I mean, surely you want me to do

something? Let me let me let me give you

some. Let me see if I have some money

in my pocket that I can give you before you before I grab on to

the life preserver. Or let me see if I can find

somebody else to see if I can drag somebody else along with me

and maybe see if I can help them.

Let me see if I can do some other good things.

And and actually, when you pull me in, I promise I'll do all of

those other things as long as you promise that you'll save me,

right? Not somebody who's drowning.

Guess what they're doing. Somebody help me save me.

Here, grab under this life preserver.

Yes, Sir. Pull me in.

Right. And that's what happens for

those of us who are drowning in our sin.

You don't have to do all these other things.

You don't have to to be in good standing with some church.

That's why I hate religion. Religion has nothing to do with

your relationship with Christ. Now I'm a Baptist because I

believe in the Baptist doctrine is the closest doctrine to the

word of God, but it doesn't have anything I'm not getting.

I'm not getting to heaven because I'm a Baptist.

I'm not getting to heaven because I'm doing what the

church is telling me I have to do.

I'm getting to heaven because I have a relationship with Jesus

Christ. It's not about religion, it's

about relationship. It's not about do, do, do, do,

do. I've already done what Christ

says I have to do. I've accepted Jesus Christ as my

savior. I was drowning in my sin and I

said somebody save me. And Jesus said I died on the

cross here. This is the gift of eternal life

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Just reach out and accept it.

It's a gift, right? If somebody if if, if I were to

offer to give this Bible to Jackson for for for.

For his birthday, let's say his birthday is coming up.

I said, Jackson, I got AI got a present for you.

Here you go. Give me a dollar first and then

I'll give you this gift. Guess what?

It's not. It's a gift.

He had to do something for it, right?

Even if I charged him a penny for it, it's still not a gift.

He had to do something in order to get it.

And if you have to do something to get it, it's not free.

Right? Which is always why it's funny

to me when you see something that says a free gift, right?

Free gift with purchase. Oh, you're going.

To are you going to give me a, you know, an expensive gift?

You know, are you going to charge me for it?

If you charge me for it, it's not a gift, right?

And that's what the Bible says. The gift of God is eternal life.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. If it comes through Him, it's

absolutely free. If it comes through religion or

a church or anything else, it's going to cost you a lot.

In fact, it's going to cost you so much that you can never

obtain it. You can't get salvation through

a church. You can't get salvation through

a man. You can't get salvation through

some book other than God's Word, but you can have it through

Christ. That's how you get in the game.

High Point University, you probably, if you're following

March Madness at all, they stunned everyone and the

tournament on Thursday night, they beat Wisconsin.

And did you know that 97% of people's brackets were busted

after the first game? Because only 3% of people

actually picked High Point to beat Wisconsin in the

tournament. Then they went and they played

last night. They almost beat Arkansas last

night. But one of the one of the

players on the team by the name of Chase Johnson, he wears the

number 99, which is pretty rare for a Basketball Jersey.

You know, you don't see numbers that high.

He's actually, he's a three-point specialist.

He shoots threes. He's a guard.

And I don't know how much he plays.

It's not like I followed High Point through their whole

season. I'd never even heard of him

until they got into the tournament and beat Wisconsin

right. But he made his first layup of

the season with 11 seconds left in the game against Wisconsin,

and that turned out to be the game-winning shot.

So his name got out there and everything else.

They were doing interviews with him and everything and somebody

said, why do you wear the number 99?

And he said, well, I wear the number 99 because every time I

put that jersey on, it reminds me that Christ left the 99 to

come after me. That's the gospel.

That's what Christ did for. Us he left the 90 and 9 to come

out and find you and maybe that's the exact reason why

you're here this morning somebody invited you or you

decided to come for whatever reason and you're here that is

Christ leaving the 99 and looking for you.

He would do whatever it takes to.

Find you and bring you back into the fold.

But I tell you this, if you want to win in life, and if you want

to win in the Christian life, you'll never do it until you get

in the game. You'll never win the prize.

You'll never see eternal life in heaven.

Your sins will never be forgiven.

You'll never get in the game if you don't get on the team.

So #1 to get in the game, you have to get on the team #2 get

on the field. Once you accept Christ as your

Savior, it's time to get involved.

Perhaps you've been saved? For just a short time.

Or maybe you've been saved for a little while.

Doesn't matter, it's time to get out on the field.

I don't know if I should admit this or not, but I'm a fan of

the Chicago Bears. And could you imagine what it

would look like if if all the members of the Chicago Bears got

all dressed up in their uniforms, They had their helmets

on, their jerseys, and they ran out onto the field and the ref

blew the whistle to start the game and they ran up into the

stands and sat down there to watch the game with everybody

else? Wouldn't be much of A game if

the players don't get on the field, is it?

That that would be, that would be ridiculous to see all of them

run up in the stands and sit down.

Players belong on the field, right?

And Christians belong on the field as well.

We were not designed to be spectators.

In fact, turn over to first Timothy chapter 6.

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

We were designed to be participants.

We were designed to be, if you're on the team, the goal is

to get in the game, right? I remember when I was young, I

was in 7th grade and the I played soccer growing up and I

remember being in 7th grade and, and a lot of these older guys

were out there playing and I wanted to be on the field,

right? You know what it did?

It made me work harder so I could get out there.

I don't want to, who wants to, who wants to go to every game

and sit on the bench? That's not why you get on the

team. You get on the team so you can

get out there and play so you can get out there and help the

team win, right? First Timothy chapter 6 and

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

verse #11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things and

follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love,

patience, meekness, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on

eternal life, where unto thou art also called and has

professed a good profession before many witnesses see we've

been, we've been thrust into a war, a spiritual battlefield.

We fight it every single day, and warriors belong on the

battlefield. We sing it as a kid and then

maybe doesn't even register with you.

I'm in the Lord's army. Yes, Sir.

I'm going to do what God wants me to do.

But I'm in the army and the army joins.

They join the army so they can fight, right?

Well, Johnny's a Marine. He didn't join the Marine so

that he can wear the uniform and walk around and look pretty,

although he does. He joined the Marines so he can

get out there and fight when he's called upon to fight.

That's why you join. You get on the team to get in

the game. You get in the army to get on

the battle. That's why you do it.

So how much sense does it make for us as Christians to get on

the team and then sit on the sidelines and do nothing?

If you want to get in the game, you've got to get on the field

first. Peter chapter 5 and verse #8 The

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

Bible says be sober, be vigilant, because your

adversary, the devil as a roaring lion, walketh about

seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith,

knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in

your brethren that are in the world.

We have an enemy that wants to destroy us.

If you're just sitting on the sideline, he's going to come

over there and he's going to destroy you.

You know, if you're in a battle, you can't say time out, time

out, time out. I'm taking a break for a minute.

I'm going to go sit over here on the sidelines.

You guys go ahead and fight. I'll be over here.

That's not what the enemy says. Hey, that's an easy target,

right? It's like shooting fish in a

barrel. You're sitting on the sidelines,

right? The devil is out there doing the

same thing. You can't say time out, time

out. Don't attack me today.

Don't don't come after me. I'm not.

I'm not ready for the battle today.

I wasn't prepared. Time out.

No, the devil says easy target, right?

Who do the lions go after in Africa?

The lame, the young, the weak, the fat, right?

Because they're easy targets, right?

That's why they go after them. If you're not doing anything for

the Lord, and if you're not preparing yourself for the

battle, then who's he going to come after first?

You're an easy target. Why wouldn't he take you out,

right? We cannot take a passive

approach to our faith. We have to be alert.

We have to be determined. So you get involved in church

after you're saved by using the spiritual gifts that God gave

you will accelerate your spiritual growth immensely.

God gives everybody spiritual gifts.

Some He gives the ability to teach, some He gives the gifts

of helps. God gives a lot of different

gifts for people to be able to use.

Some people He gave the ability to sing.

Some people He gave the ability to play an instrument.

And it's our responsibility to develop those gifts and use them

for the best of our ability, for God's glory.

Who cares if you have a gift of being able to speak if you're

just doing it at public events? Who cares if we have the ability

to sing if all you're doing is going around and singing the

national anthem? Hey, use your ability for those

things. But God gave you the ability so

you can use them in His service. God designed us that way.

Don't head for the grandstands when you enter the Kingdom of

God. Head for the playing field.

Once you get it on the team, once you know Christ is your

savior, jump in and get involved.

You'll never find a a bored follower of Jesus Christ.

Bored church attenders, yes, but not a true follower of Jesus

Christ. That's where the excitement is.

That's where the action is. It's fun being saved.

Nobody ever won a game from the sidelines.

Get on the field and get in the action, Michael Jordan, and

don't argue with me. The greatest player of all time

on the basketball court said this.

I play to win and I will not let anything get in the way of me

and my competitive enthusiasm to win.

By the way, that, you know, there's, there's that argument

all the time about who's better, Michael Jordan.

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, right?

Those are kind of the three at the top.

Then maybe you can throw in Larry Bird and some of these

other guys in there too, you know, But I just happened to see

a video yesterday that somebody posted of, of Kobe, Michael

Jordan and LeBron all in different times, you know, and

Michael Jordan going for a layup and somebody hit him right in

the mouth with their elbow and his head.

I mean, his slow motion, you can see his head kind of knocked on

one side, but he makes the layup, he stops, he just kind of

grabs his jaw a little bit, rubs it, and he goes back to the free

throw line. You know, Kobe Bryant, he's

standing there defending somebody and this guy does this

with his elbow and actually hit him in the chin and they brought

his elbow back and hit him in the chin again.

And then he knocked the ball out of his hand.

LeBron James went up for a layup, slow motion, didn't even

get hit, and he fell down on the court and grabbed his face like

he was dying, rolling around on the floor.

The whole other team went to the other end and he was still

laying on the floor and the slow motion showed that he didn't

even get hit. That's the difference.

That's why Michael Jordan. 'S the best.

But anyway, Michael Jordan led his his team to six NBA

championships. And by the way, I was, I was

growing up during that time. I was, I was grade school, high

school during the times that Michael Jordan was winning all

of his championships, but he was named the MVP of the finals

every single year that he played in those championships.

And in 2001, a panel of sports experts named Michael Jordan the

greatest athlete of the 20th century.

But you know that Michael Jordan was cut from his high school

basketball team. He tried out for basketball in

high school, and he got cut from the team.

And then he didn't even start when he got into college.

But you know what? He determined that he was going

to be the best player that he could be.

Nothing was going to get in the way of his basketball dreams.

He went out and every single day, through all the rest of

high school and all the way through college, he shot at

least 300 shots a day. That's why Michael Jordan became

the best. And that's just basketball.

He did it to obtain a corruptible crown.

Guess what's going to happen with those trophies that Michael

Jordan won. Someday they're going to be

burned up. I'm sure he's got him in a

trophy. Case somewhere in his house and

he looks at him and he enjoys the memories, but that's all it

is. It's a memory, right?

And it's going to fade. What happens if Michael Jordan

gets old and gets dementia and can't even remember what those

trophies are? But even if he does it, and he

remembers those trophies on the day that he dies, guess what

happens on the day that he dies? You can't take it with you when

you go. They're corruptible crowds.

It takes discipline, it takes work.

It's not easy, but maybe that's why so few Christians actually

really make an attempt to get involved for the Lord.

Maybe that's why they really don't make that much of an

attempt to be at church when the doors are open.

Maybe that's why they really don't make an attempt to get

involved in the work of the ministries of the church, the

world. 'S going to hear a message, the

message of the gospel through the church, and the church only

functions through those who are willing to jump in with both

feet. Get in the game and get

involved. How do you think the world is

going to know about Christ? They're not just going to start

looking for answers and pull out the Bible and find it now.

They could, but that doesn't happen very much because they

don't even know where to look unless somebody shows them.

And the only people that can show them are the people who

know where you can find it. It's the responsibility of the

church to share the gospel. You cannot take it with you when

you go. The only thing you can take to

heaven with you is other people. Everything that we give our

lives to is going to be left behind here someday.

The only thing that I can take to heaven with me is other

people, My wife, my kids. My wife was saved before I was.

But my kids, we've seen them accept Christ as their Savior,

one at a time. A lot of you, we've seen you

accept Christ as your Savior one at a time.

The people that you work with, the people who live next door to

you, your friends, your neighbors or your coworkers, the

people that you meet out on the street.

That's why we're giving out these cards with the gospel on

them, because how are they ever going to hear if Christians

don't get in, get in the game and tell people about Christ,

how got to get on the team? But you got to get in the game.

Turn over to Hebrews chapter 10. If you want to get in the game,

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

you got to have to going to have to get on the field.

But a coach just doesn't put just anyone that comes walking

out on the field. He's looking for somebody that's

in shape, all right? That's why if I went and tried

out for the Chicago Bears right now, they'd probably laugh at me

and say there's a league up the road for you, for the old men.

We have to have the right diet, feeding on the Word of God and

exercise. Prayer cannot neglect to get

together with the team for the training sessions, right?

I remember when I was growing up, you missed a practice.

You didn't start the next game. Doesn't matter how good you are,

you be at practice unless you were deathly ill or you had a

broken leg. You be at.

Practice or you don't start the next game right?

Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24. And let us consider one another

Hebrews 10:24

to provoke unto love into good works, not forsaking the

assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some

is, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as ye see

the day approaching. What's the day he's talking

about? It's the coming of Christ.

Christ is coming back, and it's probably going to be soon.

He says don't forsake the assembling of yourselves

together. In fact, do it more the closer

we get to the coming of Christ. Then you think about a team that

that is making their way toward a championship during the

playoffs. You think they said, oh great,

we made the playoffs. That means we must be pretty

good. We don't need to.

Practice, we'll just, we'll just see what happens because we've

been good all year, right? We got a game next week, but

that's all right. You guys just go ahead and take

some time, you know, if you want to go home and relax, get some

pizza, have some, have some Mountain Dew and you'll be good.

But just make sure you're here in time for the game, right?

No, they don't say that. They say, hey, this is when we

really need to focus. The big game is coming.

The day is going to be here. We're playing for the Super Bowl

championship. We need to be here every day.

All hands on deck, focus ready to go, right?

That's what they say. And yet Christians, the coming

of Christ, I mean, that's, that's like our Super Bowl,

right? It's bigger than the Super Bowl.

Jesus Christ is coming back. It's the greatest event in all

of history other than his coming the first time.

He's coming again and he says you better be ready for the day

that I come been. A.

Christian a long time. I've heard everything there is

to hear in church. I don't really need to do

anything else. I guess I'll just sit around and

wait for the day to come. No, that's not what he says.

He says, get together, exhort one another, prepare for the

coming of Christ, be there together, encourage one another

to keep living for the Lord. Don't forsake the assembling of

yourselves together. In fact, as the day gets closer,

do it more. Get together more, exhort each

other more, Be here when you have the opportunity to be here.

We have to remember that the ultimate goal is not to just get

out and play for the sake of playing.

The ultimate goal is to become more like Christ in every way.

Turn over to Ephesians chapter 4, and I don't mean this to

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

sound disrespectful in any way, but he's our head coach.

He understands the team. He knows what the team needs

more than anybody else does. He knows what the team needs to

be successful. He knows what is going to make

us better. And he uses his word as the

playbook. He tells us this is what you

need to do. Hebrews.

Sorry, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse #15 But speaking the truth

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

in love may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head.

Even Christ, from whom the whole body, fitly joined together and

compacted by that which every joint supplieth according to the

effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase

of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Jesus Christ is the head, but you're the body, You are what

makes it go right. Wouldn't work very well if it

was just the head, would it? You ever seen a head run around

on a football field? There's some problems, right?

You can have all the knowledge right here, but if you don't

have arms and legs and A and a body to get out there and do the

work, then it doesn't matter, right?

But we have arms and legs and torsos and everything else in

between that are saying I'm not that important anyway.

I don't really need to be there. No, you're part of the body.

If you know Christ is your Savior and you do need to be

there, we're counting on you to be a part of the body so that

you can get out there and play and be a part of the team.

We need you. The ultimate goal is for our

hearts to be In Sync with His heart.

The heartbeat of Christ is for souls to be saved.

And over and over and over we read in the Bible that His heart

was moved with compassion because they were like sheep

without a shepherd. Jesus had a heart for people to

come to know Christ as their Savior, and our heart and his

heart ought to be In Sync with one another.

Our heart ought to be the heart of Christ for the lost.

Our heart ought to be the heart of Christ for souls who need

Him. I saw a picture of a husband and

wife standing together with with with tears in their eyes.

It was an older white couple, and the wife was actually had

her ear up to the chest of a younger black man.

And it turns out that what happened was this white couple's

son had died in a car accident and they got him to the

hospital. Obviously he was already dead,

but they were able to use his heart and they gave his heart to

this young man and he had the successful surgery and he was

doing well. And the two of them met

together. And so this lady put here her

ear up to the chest of that young man, and she could hear

her son's heartbeat in his chest.

Isn't that the way that it ought to be?

I went when I saw that picture a few weeks ago.

I thought, wouldn't it be great if God could put his ear on my

chest and hear the heartbeat of His son?

Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?

But that's the way it ought to be.

His heartbeat is for the lost. He has a desire to see them come

to know Christ as their Savior. What is your heartbeat?

Is it for money or things, stuff that's not going to last?

Or is your heartbeat the same as the heartbeat of Jesus Christ?

That's how it's supposed to be. Hey, get on the team, but then

get in the game first. Peter chapter 4 and verse 10

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

says as every man hath received the gift.

Even so, minister the same one to another as good stewards of

the manifold grace of God. Manifold means many and varying.

Your gift is different than mine.

A-Team needs more than a quarterback.

All you had was a quarterback. There wouldn't be very many

touchdowns that were scored with their.

You need a running back and a cornerback and somebody who's

really good at defense and somebody who's really good at

offense and somebody who's really good at catching the ball

and somebody who's really good at throwing the ball and a coach

on the sidelines telling everybody else what to do and

calling the play. You need everybody on the team

to make the team function the way that it should.

We all have different gifts and but when we put them together,

we have a strong team. What if the quarterback just

decided he wasn't going to show up that day or the coaches like

you guys got this? I'm just going to sit out and at

home and watch the game on TV, right?

It doesn't function the way that it should function if everybody

that's on the team is not involved.

In the game. So get on the team, but get on

the field #3 and we'll move quickly because I want you to

see this number three. Get in the zone.

Turn over to Romans chapter 12. Get on the team, get in the

Romans 12 · chapter mention

game, but get in the zone. An athlete that's at the top of

his game is, is, is an athlete that has eliminated all the

distractions. You go to their coverage.

I can guarantee you you're not going to find Twinkies and

Oreos, right? You're not going to go to the

fridge and find Coke and Mountain Dew or Pilk.

Trey brought this in the other day.

He said you got to try this. It's a combination of Pepsi and

milk. Call it Pilk, nastiest thing

you've ever had in your life. Don't try it.

But you won't find that in an athlete's refrigerator.

I can promise you that. They learned to train their

minds to say no to the things that are going to keep them from

being in the best shape possible for that game.

You have to train and discipline your mind as well.

In fact, the Bible says this in Romans chapter 12 and verse

Romans 12 · chapter mention

number one. I beseech you, brethren, beseech

you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present

your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which

is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you

may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of

God. That word renew comes from the

Greek word that means to renovate or to tear something

down in order to raise something up.

What needs to come down in your life?

Oh, there's a lot of things that need to be torn down in order

for us to build those things up in a way that's pleasing to

Christ, right? A lot of these high school

athletes get into college and the coaches are saying, man, all

right, we've got to, we've got to break down all the old things

so we can build you up into the way that we need you to be for

this team, right? The military is the same way.

Everything that you thought you knew, erase it all out of your

mind. We're going to break you down.

We're going to tear you down to nothing and then build you up

into something that's strong that we can use for the

military, right? And God has to do the same

things to us. Tear down the walls, build up,

construct, renew your mind in the spirit of the Lord with a

heart of a champion. And I don't think that in

opposing most Christians, the devil's game plan is to plainly

tell them not to do things for Christ, right?

The devil doesn't come out and say, all right, new plan, don't

do anything for God because you're going to say, no, I want

to do something for God, right? I don't think he'd defeat a

whole lot of Christians that way.

I think his main game plan is to keep us distracted.

How many Christians get distracted by things that don't

really matter? Not unimportant.

You got to make money. You got to live right.

It's not unimportant. Got to have a job.

Not unimportant hobbies. Not unimportant other things

that we involve our lives in. Not necessarily unimportant

things, but things that keep us distracted, things that keep us

from doing exactly what God wants us to do.

And you know what, An athlete that's distracted might still

get out there and play, but he's not going to play to the best of

his ability. He might still make a decent

play every now and then, but he's not going to make the the

game-winning shots. He's not going to be there in

the clutch when it really matters because he's distracted,

right? You could always tell when

somebody had something going on, some of these good players, and

they just have a bad game. And then you find out later,

yeah, this happened in my life and, you know, blah, blah, blah,

they were distracted. There's an old Peanuts cartoon,

and you've seen those mostly. But Lucy comes to Linus, and she

says, go change the channel on the TV.

And he said, who are you to come in here and tell me you can walk

right in here and take over. She said.

He said, what makes you think that you can tell me what to do?

And she said, these five fingers right here, she said,

individually they're nothing. But when I curl them together

like this in a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible

to behold. And Linus said, what channel do

you want me to turn it to? And as he was walking away, he

looked at his fingers and he said, why can't you guys get

organized like that? My point is this, what did God

that his church would get organized into a powerful group

of believers who know the power that they have through Jesus

Christ? What to God that we have a

church full of people who would have set aside the world's

entertainment, the world's mindset, the world's movies, the

world's distractions, the world's music, and all of those

things and, and come together. Boy, the, the church could be

such a powerful force in this world today, but the church is

largely asleep because we're distracted.

That's I think that's one of the devil's biggest successes.

Could you imagine if everybody in this church and in all the

churches in this area and in all the churches in the country

actually got serious about living for the Lord, There would

be nothing that could stop the church.

But all throughout the country, whole churches full of people

are distracted by everything that the devil introduces.

And they bite onto it hook, line and sinker.

And the devil just jerks them around wherever he wants them to

go. And they follow because they're

distracted and they have no power.

And the world doesn't take the church seriously.

Herm Edwards, maybe you recognize that name.

He played and he coached in the NFL.

He coached for The Jets. He coached for the the Chiefs.

And then he actually coached in college for a while with Arizona

State. When it came to his thoughts on

teamwork, somebody asked him about that one time and he said

this. The players that play on this

football team will play for the name on the side of the helmet

and not in the back of the jersey.

See, so many, so many Christians today are playing for the name

on the back of the jersey instead of the name on the side

of the helmet. What kind of kind of accolades

can I have who can recognize me? Well, I'll do some things for

Christ. As long as I get recognition for

it, As long as I can serve in a position where everybody sees me

serving, then I'll do it. That's not what God's looking

for. Whose team are you on?

Because we're A-Team. No one person has ever gone out

and won a football game by themselves.

You need everybody, everybody working together, everybody

plowing forward together. I want to give you this last

like turn over to Romans chapter.

Sorry to first Peter chapter one.

I'll read you Romans chapter 1. Get on the team that's the most

Romans 1 · chapter mention

important part get in the game get in the zone Leslie get

excited. Have you ever seen somebody that

was embarrassed to support their favorite team?

Not not a true fan anyway, right?

They could be O in 10 and a true fan is still going to get out

there, paint his face up, wear the jersey, put the little

finger on and. Right, because that's what

that's what true fans do. They act like fanatics and

that's that's what it's all about.

It's amazing how you can get 70,000 people into a stadium

right in the middle of a snowstorm where you're so high

up you can't even see the field. If there wasn't a snowstorm and

they're still shouting and, and and and going crazy for their

team and their team is O and 10 right?

They have no problem because they're, they're truly a fan.

But then you try to get God's people excited about the things

of God, and you can barely get a.

Grunt out of them. Right.

Isn't that amazing? I've seen it happen so many.

I mean, every single time. Now, obviously we don't have

cameras in here that are panning the crowd, right?

But every single time when when there's a basketball game going

on, I mean, just just pay a little bit of attention to it

during March Madness, the camera gets on somebody and what do

they do? Like everything they can do to

to look really, really stupid for the five seconds that

they're on camera, right? I want everybody to know that

I'm a fan of this team, right? And then?

You hear preaching from the word of God, and if the camera pans,

everybody's like this. Good thing we don't have cameras

on the crowd, right? In most places, that's the way

that it is. Why can you get so excited about

a football game that you're going to forget about,

especially if they lose? And yeah, it's something that we

have the, the, the most reason to get excited.

We can barely get people to get up out of bed and get to church

and get to get to the outreach and, and do something for

Christ. Why is that?

I'll tell you why. It's because most people are not

on the team. You're not even on the team.

It's hard to get excited about a game if you're not on the team.

Hard to get excited if you know you're not going to get on the

field, right? It's hard to get excited if

you're not disciplined and not not doing what it takes to

really, truly live for the Lord. To get excited you got to be

doing those other things. What are we going to do about

getting excited about the things of God?

What we're doing here is the most exciting thing in the world

if you truly know Jesus Christ. Romans chapter one verse 16 says

for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the

power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.

First Peter chapter one. I'm going to end with these

verses. First Peter chapter 1 and verse

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

#3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which

according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a

lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

If this doesn't, pastor. Andy said if this doesn't get

you if, let me try again. If this doesn't get you excited.

Your wood is wet. To an inheritance, verse 4

incorruptible and undefiled. That faith is not a way You see

how excited I am about it. Can't you get the words out?

Reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God

through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last

time, wherein you greatly rejoice.

Though now for a season, if need be, you're in heaviness through

manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much

more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried

with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at

the appearing of Jesus Christ, Whom having not seen you love,

and in whom, though now you see I'm not yet believing you, shall

you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

The day is coming when we're going to see Jesus Christ, and

most people are going to be so discouraged to see Him.

I want to be excited to see Him because I've been fighting for

Him. I've been disciplined in my

Christian life. I've been moving forward the way

that He wants me to move forward.

I've been training and I've been practicing and I've been showing

up at the practices and I've been showing up and getting in

the games. That's why I want to be excited

when he comes back. I want to live my life that way.

I love my God, I love Jesus Christ, I love this church.

I love being on this team. Why would I not want to be

involved in it? It's not something that I do.

This is who I am. Identity is not in politics or

music or movies or in anything else in the world.

That's in Jesus Christ. I've made-up my mind that I'm

unashamed. That's, that's how we all need

to be. It's time to get excited about

the things of God. Oral Hershiser, maybe you

recognize that name from the past, but when he was in his

first season as a pitcher for the Dodgers, he had great

talent, but he hadn't been able to translate that talent into

success in the field. And so early in the 1984 season,

he was struggling with his control.

And finally the the manager of the Dodgers at that time was

Tommy Lasorda. And he called this young

pitcher, Oral Hersheiser, into his office.

And he had what what Oral Hersheiser Lehrer called a a

verbal confrontation. And it was pretty much 1 sided.

And actually he called it later on the sermon on the mound.

But Tommy Lasorda told Oral Hershiser that he was capable of

so much more than what he was actually producing.

His numbers were OK, but he knew that he could be a dominant

pitcher, but he just wasn't dominating as a pitcher.

And so instead of getting upset and leaving the team and going

to find another team who'll pay him more money, he decided that

he was going to get serious about what this coach had told

him. So he started working and he

worked and he worked and he worked and he worked very hard.

And he took that rebuke to heart.

And he approached the game with a with a very new attitude.

And just three seasons later in 1988, which is the 8788 season,

he won the Cy Young Award as a pitcher.

And he led the Dodgers to a World Series title in 1988.

See, if if if he had not responded properly to his

manager's rebuke, it no doubt would have probably never heard

of his name, never would have won a Cy Young Award, probably

never would have led the Dodgers to the World Series in that

year. See, I don't want you to think

that I'm yelling at you this morning, but I want you to

understand that most Christians have so much more potential than

what they're actually accomplishing for Christ right

now. Is that you?

Do you have a lot of potential for Christ, but you're just not

living up to that potential because you've been distracted.

You've let yourself get sidelined.

You've put yourself on the sideline.

Can we count on you to get in the game?

Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior?

Because if you don't know Christ as your Savior, you're not even

on the team and you can't get on the in the game and get

involved. You can't make a difference if

you're not even on the team. You need to know Jesus Christ as

your Savior first and foremost. But once you're on the team,

it's time to get on the field. It's time to sweat.

It's time to get dirty. Warriors belong on the

battlefield. Athletes belong in the game.

That's why you get involved in the 1st place.

Get in the zone. Set aside the weights as the

Bible talks about in Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

Set aside the weights that are slowing you down.

You know an athlete will train with weights, but when he gets

out there to play the game, he takes all those weights off.

He is as light as he can possibly be to the point where a

lot of these swimmers shave their heads and their legs and

everything else. I mean, you think a piece of

hair is going to slow you down? They think it does.

They get rid of everything that's going to keep them from

being the best that they can be, right?

And yet we as Christians, we get out there and we're like, I got

a lot of baggage, but that's all right.

God can still use me with my baggage, and he can.

But he expects you to get rid of it.

He expects to be working toward lightening that load so that you

can be as effective as you can. And he says that laying aside

every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us, let us

run with patience the race that is set before us.

Get excited. We serve a risen Savior.

We serve the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.

What a. Privilege.

That is, you're not just playing for the United States of

America. You're not just representing

this country at the Olympics. You are representing the King of

Kings and the Lord of Lords. What is?

What is there to not get? Excited about or the greatest

team ever assembled with the greatest leader we could ever

want. We should be accomplishing a lot

for the cause of Christ. Once you get in the game, once

you get in the game, get on the team.

But. Then get involved, get excited,

get busy. Serving the Lord, that's what

he's given us to do. Are you in the game or if you

let yourself be on the sidelines?

It's a question for you this morning.

That's a decision that you're going to have to make.

Let's pray. Father, again, we thank you so

much for your goodness. Thank you for the opportunity we

have to be here together this morning.

I thank you for the privilege of being able to preach your word.

But now God, your word has gone forth and I trust that the Holy

Spirit has done the work in the hearts of the people that are

here. For those that are not saved, I

trust that the Holy Spirit has convicted them of their need for

you. And if you are God, I pray that

they would respond. I pray that they would, that

they would come and let us show them how they can be saved.

For those who are saved, the Holy Spirit no doubt has

convicted some hearts about the need to get involved and about

the need to do everything that we can for you.

With the time that we have left, that should help them to

respond. God, may we all respond to the

message this morning and may we all have a greater desire to

please you, a greater desire to live for you.

May you help us this morning. Thank you again for all you do

for us in Jesus name, Amen.