Christ Church Sermon, Kickball: Playing Your Part on God’s Team, Unshakable Faith, August 23, 2026

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1 Corinthians

12:es 12- 27

Just as a body though one has many parts

but all its part many parts form one

body so it is with Christ

for we were all baptized by one spirit

so as to form one body whether Jews or

Gentiles slave or free and we were all

given the one spirit to drink.

Even so, the body is not made up of one

part but of many. Now, if the foot

should say because I am not a hand, I do

not belong to the body, it would not for

that reason stop being part of the body.

And if the ear should say because I am

not an I, I do not belong to the body.

It would not for that reason stop being

part of the body. If the whole body were

an eye, where would the sense of hearing

be? If the whole body were an ear, where

would the sense of smell be? But in

fact, God has placed the parts in the

body, every one of them, just as he

wanted them to be. If they were all one

part, where would the body be?

As it is, there are many parts, but one

body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I

don't need you." And the head cannot say

to the feet, "I don't need you." On the

contrary, those parts of the body that

seem to be weaker are indispensable.

And the parts that we think are less

honorable, we treat with special honor.

And the parts that are unpresentable are

treated with special modesty,

while our presentable parts need no

special treatment.

But God has put the body together,

giving greater honor to the parts that

lacked it, so that they should be no

division in the body, but that its parts

should have equal concern for each

other. If one part suffers, every part

suffers with it. If one part is honored,

every part rejoices with it. Now you are

the body of Christ, and each of you is a

part of it. Thanks be to God.

Well, good morning.

>> You know, there are some games in this

world that you could play by yourself.

You could play solitire by yourself. I

understand you could play video games by

yourself. You could play golf by

yourself. But there are just some games

that are impossible to play by yourself.

Kickball

is one of those games. I want you to

take a second and I want you to think

back to elementary school. You know when

they used to pick kickball teams during

recess? You remember there were two

captains and either the kid that could

kick the ball the furthest or the kid

that was the fastest always got picked

first and the other one got picked

second. And then they started picking

kids based on their ability to catch or

kick or run. And you know how it goes.

Some of you right now are starting to

shake because you have a little PTSD

from elementary school when it came to

kickball and picking teams. Cuz it

always would come down to those last

couple kids and those last couple kids

were always starting to shake and panic

cuz no one wants to be picked last,

right? I mean, that's just how it works.

I remember as a youth pastor, I

guaranteed that the worst players would

never get picked last because I made

them the captains.

God doesn't pick teams that way. God

doesn't pick teams by who's the best or

who's okay or who's not that good. God

puts everybody on his team. That's the

good news of the gospel. There isn't a

superstar. There isn't a benchwarmer.

There aren't people that God really,

really needs. And there are not people

that God's like, I could really kind of

do without them right now. That's not

how God operates. Paul actually tells

us, "Now you are the body of Christ and

each one of you is a part of it." That's

1 Corinthians 12:27. In other words, we

1 Corinthians 12:27

are all on the team. And not only are we

on the team, we all have a part to play

on that team. And that's what I want you

to think about today as we look into the

game of kickball and what kickball has

to show us about how we live our lives.

We've been spending this entire summer

looking at different games that people

play and how those games can give us

lessons that we can apply to our

everyday life. And kickball reminds us

of something that's unbelievably

important about the church. We were

never meant to follow Jesus alone.

God has put us on a team together. God

has given us different gifts. God has

given us different abilities. God has

given us different experiences. And when

every person plays their part, something

beautiful happens. The church becomes

what God designed the church to be. Paul

writes in verse 12, "Just as the body,

though one has many parts, but all of

its many parts form one body, so it is

with Christ." You see, Paul uses this

human body illustration to tell us how

important it is for us all to be

together. Because our eyes have a job,

our ears have a job, our hands have a

job, our feet have a job, our heart has

a job, our lungs has a job. And the

amazing thing is as all of those parts

are doing their own thing, they are also

working together for the same purpose.

And Paul tells us that that is exactly

what the church is supposed to do. I'm

going to let you in on a little secret.

We are all different people. We have

different personalities. We have

different backgrounds. We have different

experiences. We have different

generations. We we have different

abilities. We have different

perspectives.

But we all belong to one body. And that

means every one of us has a role. I

mean, think again about the kickball

team. Everybody can't be the pitcher.

Everybody can't cover first base.

Everybody can't play shortstop.

Everybody can't play in the outfield.

Because if everybody tried to do the

exact same same thing on every play, it

would be total chaos. That is what it is

like watching first graders play

kickball compared to fifth graders play

kickball. Everybody's got to know this

is my position. This is my

responsibility. This is how I can help

the team. And the same is true with the

church. I think one of the mistakes we

have made in the church is that over the

years we think that ministry primarily

happens upfront. The pastor preaches,

the musicians sing, the liturgist lead

liturgy, the staff leads, the ushers

ush. That's a real word. You can look it

up.

And everyone else watches. But that's

not Paul's picture of the church. The

church is not meant to be a stadium

where everybody sits in the stands and a

few people perform while everybody else

watches. The whole church is the team.

Ministry happens when everyone

participates.

Some of us teach children. Some of us

lead teenagers. Some people sing. Some

people play instruments. Some people

greet people when they walk through the

doors. Some people, you may have seen

this, make social media promos for the

sermon without the senior pastor's

permission. If you haven't seen it, I

recommend you look that one up.

Some people visit people who are

hurting. Some serve meals. Some fix

things around the building. Some lead

small groups. Some pray faithfully for

others. Some work behind the scenes and

nobody sees what they do. Some go on

mission. Some give generously so mission

can happen. Some have the ability to sit

beside people who are hurting and just

listen to what they are going through.

And some people are incredibly good at

noticing people that other people tend

to overlook.

Different roles, same team. Now, here's

what I hope you hear today. You have a

role. You don't have to be able to

preach. You don't have to be able to

sing. You don't have to know everything

about the Bible. You don't even have to

have a title. If you're interested in

those things, see me. We can make that

happen. But you simply have to be

willing to ask, "God, how can you use

me?" Because if God has placed you in

the body of Christ, then God has also

given you a place in the body of Christ.

Now Paul takes this illustration a

little bit further. He says, "Now if the

foot should say because I'm not a hand,

I do not belong to the body." it would

not for that reason stop being part of

the body. Now I never really understood

that completely I don't think as I was

growing up but now I really love that

verse because it lets us know that Paul

understands human nature. We love to

compare ourselves. I mean we look at

somebody else's abilities and then we

think to ourselves, man, I wish I could

do that. I wish I could could pray like

them. I wish I could sing like them. I

wish I could teach like them. I wish I

could lead like them. And comparison

convinces us that because we can't do

what somebody else does, what we do

doesn't matter. And worse yet, it makes

us think that what we even can do isn't

important and doesn't matter. And Paul

says that that is absolutely ridiculous.

Imagine a foot saying to to the rest of

the body, "I'm tired of being the foot

because the hand gets all the

attention." or imagine an I

saying,"Well, I don't want to be the eye

because the ear is much more uh

responsible and important." We laugh at

those kinds of things because we know

that doesn't make sense. All of those

things are important in the body. Well,

Paul says the same is true about the

church. Every gift matters. Some

[snorts] gifts are visible, others

aren't. Some receive applause, others

happen quietly. Some happen on Sunday

morning. Others happen in the middle of

the week when no one else is around. But

visibility does not determine value. I

mean, think about kickball again. Maybe

you aren't the person who kicks a home

run. Instead, maybe you're the one that

makes the routine catch. Maybe you're

the person that gets the ball back into

the infield really quick. Maybe you're

the person that just moves the runner

over. Maybe you're the person that

encourages people while you're sitting

on the sideline. And none of those

things make the highlights. The only

highlight is the one that kicks the ball

over everybody else's head. But all of

those things are important for the team

to win. And the same is true in the

church. There are people whose names

will never appear on the screen. They

don't want them to. There are people who

will never stand on this platform. There

are people whose ministry may never

receive public recognition. But week

after week, they faithfully serve Jesus

with the gifts that they have been

given. And because of that, someone

encounters the love of Christ, maybe for

the first time. A child learns that God

loves them. A teenager learns that there

are actually adults who care for them. A

grieving family receives a meal. A

firsttime guest finds somebody who

welcomes them. Someone who's lonely

receives a phone call. Someone who's

struggling gets prayed for. Someone who

is hungry gets fed. Someone who is

halfway around the world gets their

needs met because somebody here was

willing to give. Every gift matters.

And that's important because sometimes

we underestimate what God has given us.

We think, "Ah, it's not that much."

Well, here's the thing. God has never

asked us to offer what somebody else

has. God asks us to use what has been

placed inside of us. Our compassion, our

generosity, our leadership, our

creativity, our ability to teach, our

ability to organize, our ability to

encourage, our time, our story, our

presence, our prayers.

Don't dismiss what God has placed in

your hands simply because it doesn't

look like what God has placed in someone

else's. The question should never be, do

I have the most impressive gift. The

question should always be, am I

faithfully using the gift or gifts that

God has given to me? And that brings us

to the heart of Paul's message. Paul is

not just simply celebrating

individuality.

He is celebrating interdependence.

>> [snorts]

>> He writes, "The eye cannot say to the

hand, I don't need you." And the head

cannot say to the feet, "I don't need

you." And that's important because our

culture, man, our culture celebrates

that that independence. We admire the

self-made person, the one that says, "I

can handle it. I'll figure it out. I

don't need anybody else." But that's not

how the Christian life works.

Christianity is deeply relational. We

need God and we need one another.

In kickball, you might be the greatest

kicker in the entire world, but you

still need other teammates. You need

somebody to pitch. You need somebody to

catch. You need somebody to cover the

bases. You need somebody to play in the

outfield. One great player cannot be a

kickball team. And how kickball is

played reminds us that one person cannot

be the church. That's why God gives

different gifts and different abilities

to different people. God intentionally

designed us so that we need one another.

Look to the person to your left and

right and say, "I need you."

Here's the thing. Your strength may

cover their weakness.

My experience may help you through

something that you've never experienced.

Your encouragement may carry me through

a time when I'm really struggling.

Someone else's wisdom may help us make a

decision. Together we can do things that

we could never accomplish alone. And I

think that is an important message for

this world. I think it's an extremely

important message for Christ Church. I

mean, think about what God has called us

to do as a church. We have been called

to to build inclusive community. We've

been called to share Christ's

transforming love. We have been called

to reach children, to invest in

teenagers, to care for people who are

hurting. We've been called to worship

together, to serve our community, to

feed people, to help people outside of

our walls, to welcome new families, to

disciple people, to reach the next

generation. If we sit back and think

about it for a second, all the things

that we've been called to do as a

church, hopefully you all realize there

is no pastor who can accomplish all of

those things alone.

There's no staff that can accomplish all

of those things alone. There's no

committee that can accomplish all of

those things alone. It takes the whole

church. It takes every single one of us

to fulfill God's calling for Christ

Church. I mean, just imagine what would

happen if every person in our church

began asking, "What's my part?"

Not, "Why isn't somebody taking care of

that?" But could God be asking me to do

something about that? Not I hope

somebody volunteers but maybe hm I'm the

somebody or not this church should but

instead say we are the church so what

can we do? That's when the church begins

functioning like the body of Christ. Now

there's one more thing I love about the

team image when it comes to kickball. In

kickball your situation tends to change.

In one inning, you might be in the

outfield. Later, you might be playing

first base. You might come up to kick.

Different seasons requires different

options. The same is true in the church.

Maybe there was a season in your life

where you could volunteer three nights a

week at the church. Maybe that's not the

season right now. Maybe there is a

season where you could lead something,

but now God is asking you to encourage

someone else to lead. Maybe you have

spent years sitting on the sidelines

waiting for a captain to pick you and

God is nudging you saying, "Get in the

game." Maybe you've served in the same

ministry for 20 or 30 or 40 years and

God is providing you with a new

opportunity to do something different.

Our role can change. Our capacity can

change. Our season can change. But you

know what never changes? We are always

part of the body of Christ. There is

always a way for us to participate in

what God is doing.

Sometimes the faithful question is not

what have I always been doing. It's God,

what are you asking me to do now?

So, how do we respond? Well, I want to

leave you with three questions to think

about. First, what has God given you?

For example, what are you good at? What

brings you joy? What what needs do you

naturally notice? What do people

regularly ask you to help with? Those

are all clues about the gifts that God

has given to you. Also ask yourself

where there where is there a need?

Sometimes we spend so much time trying

to figure out our perfect spiritual gift

that we miss what's standing right in

front of us. Sometimes God simply says,

"Hey, there's someone who needs

encouragement. Hey, there's a child who

needs a caring adult in Christ's kids.

Hey, there's a ministry need that

ministry in our church that needs a

volunteer. Hey, there's somebody who's

sitting alone. Why don't you go sit with

them? There's a family that needs help.

There's a table that needs cleared.

There's something that needs picked up

off of the ground. Whatever it is, we

just see it and we say, "I'll do it."

And then third, are we willing to get in

the game? Because eventually discovering

your gift has to move into using your

gift. Knowing isn't enough. Good

intentions are not enough. At some

point, we got to step onto the field.

You know, at the end of a kickball game,

when you look up at the scoreboard, it

doesn't read pitcher eight, shortstop

six, outfield four. It gives one score

for the entire team because everybody

contributed

to the conclusion of that game. And

that's the picture that God is giving to

the church. We are one body, one church,

one team, following one savior, sharing

one mission, building inclusive

community, sharing Christ transforming

love. And every person matters. Now,

maybe you've spent too much time

comparing your gift to somebody else's.

Maybe you've convinced yourself that

your gift isn't that important, so you

don't really feel the need or want to

share it. Maybe you've been standing on

the sideline waiting for somebody to

pick you. Or maybe you've been serving

faithfully for a long time and you're

just tired.

Hear Paul's words again. Now, you are

the body of Christ and each one of you

is a part of it.

You belong.

You matter. Your gifts matter. Your

contribution matters. But there's also a

challenge in those words because pe

being part of the body means we are not

simply consumers of the church. We get

to participate in the mission of the

church. The church is not something we

just attend. The church is a people that

we belong to. And ministry is not

something that we watch. ministry is

something that we get to do together.

So, I want to encourage you to ask

yourself,

what is my part? Maybe your next step is

joining a ministry. Maybe it's

volunteering in kids or youth. Maybe

it's joining a mission opportunity.

Maybe it's caring for someone. Maybe

it's leading. Maybe it's giving. Maybe

it's praying.

Maybe it's finally using a gift that you

have been holding on to and not sure how

to use for a long time. Whatever it is,

please don't underestimate your part

because no one person can do everything,

but every person can do something. And

when each of us brings what God has

given us, when each of us takes our

place in the field, when each of us

stops watching from the sidelines and

gets into the game, the church becomes

stronger. People experience Christ's

love. Lives are changed. The community

is impacted and God's kingdom moves

forward. So, Christ Church, it's game

on. I want to encourage you to get on

the field, play your part, encourage

your teammates, use the gift that God

has given you, and let's see what God

can do when the whole church gets into

the game because we are the body of

Christ. We are all on God's team, and

every single one of us has an important

role to play. Let's pray. Lord, we are

so grateful for who you are. We are so

grateful that you have put us on the

team and we don't have to wonder if

we're going to get picked. And we are so

grateful that you have given us all

gifts. Help us to figure out what those

are. Help us to not be afraid to get in

the game. And help us to become part of

a team that is doing amazing things to

share your transforming love with this

world. We ask all of this in your son's

name. And everyone said, "Amen.

As we consider