Christ Church Sermon, Game On: Gaga Ball Guard Your Heart, June 28 2026

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Park, Pennsylvania. We're a United

Methodist congregation with the mission

of building inclusive community, sharing

Christ's transforming love. To learn

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Thank you for listening.

This morning's scripture reading is from

Proverbs 4:23.

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart for

everything you do flows from it. Hear

what the spirit is saying to the church.

Thanks be to God.

>> Thanks be to God.

>> Thanks, Susan. Well, good morning

everyone.

We are kicking off a new sermon series

for a pretty good portion of the rest of

the summer called Game On. Now, games

have a way of teaching us more than we

realize. How many of y'all like games?

How many of you hate games? Okay, we got

a little bit of both. Now, here's the

thing. Whether we're playing a board

game around the kitchen table, uh

competing on a field, gathering with

friends for a for a card game, watching

children play games in the backyard.

Those games can reveal some important

truths. They teach us about patience and

teamwork and focus and perseverance and

strategy and humility and character. And

if you hate games, anger, you learn them

all. Now, every game has rules. I've

learned that those rules go house to

house. That's how that works. Every game

requires choices. Every game has moments

of victory and moments of

disappointment. And in in a lot of ways,

life isn't all that different. The Bible

often uses everyday experiences to teach

us spiritual truths. Jesus taught using

all kinds of things. He used seeds and

fields and fishing nets and weddings and

vineyards. because Jesus took ordinary

moments of life and taught truths out of

that. And the same is true for the games

that we play. So this summer, we're

going to learn how God can use some

familiar games to reveal some timeless

spiritual truths. Each week, we're going

to connect a popular game to a biblical

truth that helps us grow in our faith,

strengthen our relationship with Christ,

and navigate the challenges of everyday

life. Now, I understand that life is not

a game. However, God can teach us a lot

through every move we make in life. Now,

we're kicking off this series with a

popular game, at least for a lot of

younger folks, called Gaga Ball. Anybody

know what Gaga Ball is? All the young

ones know what Gaga Ball is? All you

older folks, you remember Foursquare?

Same kind of idea. But since you're not

really sure what it is, I want to show

you this video from vacation Bible

school so you can learn how to play.

Heat. Heat.

Everybody know how to play gaga ball

So, here's the point of Gaga ball. The

goal is to stay in the pit. Now, you get

out of the pit if the ball hits you from

your knees down or if you hit the ball

out of the pit. And I'm sure if you want

to learn the intricacies of gaga ball,

just see Evan following worship, he'd be

glad to connect you at youth group and

let you play some Gaga Ball. But the

goal is to protect yourself and guard

yourself from hitting the ball. And as

followers of Jesus, it's our job to

guard our heart because everything flows

from our heart in how we live our life.

And after watching that game for just a

few seconds, you could see how quickly

things change. One moment the player is

going fine, the next moment they're out.

The ball comes in all kinds of

unexpected directions. It could come

from your blind spot. And if you stop

paying attention for one second, the

game takes over. Now, what makes Gaga

Ball interesting is the players cannot

afford to become careless. They're

constantly moving. They're constantly

watching. They're constantly adjusting.

They're constantly scanning the whole

pit. Who's near me? Where's the ball?

What's coming next? And the ones that

last the longest, here's the funny part

about this. They're generally not the

biggest, the strongest, the fastest, or

the most athletic. They're the ones that

pay the most attention. They understand

that awareness matters because the

moment they stop paying attention is the

moment they become vulnerable. And as I

watched that video and I watched the

kids play throughout the the week and

play at youth group and all that, I

couldn't help but think how much Gaga

Ball resembles everyday life because

life comes at us from every direction,

doesn't it? I mean, some days it feels

like we're standing in the middle of the

gaga ball pit. Responsibilities are

flying at us. Deadlines are flying at

us. Financial pressures, family

concerns, relationship struggles, health

challenges, disappointments,

temptations, anxieties, messages from

social media, opinions from culture,

breaking news stories, political

arguments, endless notifications, and

that's just as we're eating breakfast on

Monday morning, right? Every day there

is countless voices competing for our

attention,

trying to lead our thinking. And here's

the challenge. Many of our greatest

threats in our spiritual lives don't

come dramatically. They arrive

gradually. Most people don't wake up on

a given morning and say, "Oh, today I'm

going to just drift from God and focus

on this other thing." It happens little

by little. One compromise, one

distraction, one unhealthy influence,

one bitterness left unresolved, one

wound left untreated, one fear that we

allow to grow, one voice that we listen

to more than God's voice. And over time,

those things begin to shape what's

happening inside of us. That's why

Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else,

Proverbs 4:23

guard your heart, for everything you do

flows from it."

Notice the urgency of this scripture.

Above all else, not after everything

else, not when we have time, not one

priority among a bunch of priorities.

Above all else, we need to guard our

heart.

Solomon doesn't say we need to guard our

reputation, guard our image, guard our

bank account, guard our accomplishments,

guard our social status. Those things

may be important, but none of them

matter as much as guarding our heart

because of according to scripture, the

heart is the control center of our life.

And and in the Bible, the heart is not

simply about emotions. The heart is the

deepest part of who we are. It's where

our desires live. It's where our values

and our priorities and our thoughts and

our motivations and our character and

our relationship with God all live. And

Solomon is telling us in Proverbs,

everything we do comes from there. So

when you stop and think about it, that

means our words come from our heart. Our

attitudes flow from our heart. Our

decisions flow from our heart. Our

relationships flow from our heart. Our

generosity flows from our heart. Our

faith flows from our heart.

And the bottom line is the direction of

our life is ultimately determined by the

condition of our heart. Jesus echoed the

same truth. Jesus said, "For where your

treasure is, there your heart will be."

Also, he also says, "Out of the overflow

of your heart, the mouth speaks." In

other words, what is inside eventually

comes out. Meaning, a bitter heart

produces bitter words. A fearful heart

produces fearful living. A selfish heart

produces selfish choices.

But a heart centered on Christ, that

kind of heart produces love and joy and

peace and patience and kindness and

goodness and gentleness and

self-control.

That's why what we put into our heart

matters so much because every day

something is shaping us. The question is

not whether our heart is being

influenced. The question is what is our

heart being influenced by?

Now, just like the players on the Gaga

Ball court that we watched in that

video, followers of Jesus can't afford

to become spiritually unaware because

what enters our hearts today is what we

become tomorrow. So, we have to guard

our heart. But we also got to remember

that guarding our heart is is not the

same as a closed heart. It's a heart

that is centered on Christ. Sometimes

people hear the phrase guard your heart

and they misunderstand Solomon saying

build walls, build barriers, become

emotionally detached, become unwilling

to trust.

They think that means guarding their

heart. And maybe you know some people

that are like that. Maybe you've been in

a point in your life where you were a

person like that or are a person like

that. There was certainly a season in my

life where I could have become that

person permanently. Thankfully, I only

became that person temporarily.

You know, many of you know the story of

our son Cooper and his battle with

cancer. And after Cooper died, it would

have really been easy to close my heart.

I did for a little while. It would have

been easy to become angry, easy to

become bitter, easy to stop trusting,

easy to build walls around my heart and

decide that caring about somebody is

just too hard. I'm not going to do that

anymore. I'm going to protect myself by

shutting down. And some of you may know

exactly what I'm talking about. You've

been hurt by a relationship. You've been

disappointed by a friend. You've been

betrayed by somebody who you trusted.

you faced a diagnosis or are facing a

diagnosis that you never expected. You

walk through a loss that you you never

saw coming and you're saying to

yourself, "I'm not going to let anyone

that close again. I'm not going to risk

getting hurt. I'm going to build a

wall."

But over time, I discovered something

important. A closed heart may feel safe,

but it also keeps out the things that

God wants to bring into that heart. A

closed heart keeps out healing. It keeps

out community. It keeps out compassion.

It keeps out growth. And sometimes it

even keeps out what God wants to show

us.

What I learned from God pretty slowly in

that season was that guarding my heart

does not mean closing my heart. It means

anchoring it. It means bringing my grief

to Jesus, bringing my questions to

Jesus, bringing my anger to Jesus,

bringing my pain to Jesus. And I will

tell you, I did not bring those things

to Jesus in a very pastoral kind of way.

I told Jesus exactly what I thought. And

thankfully,

he listened and met me there.

See, it's not about building walls about

around your heart. It's about allowing

Christ to stand at the center of it.

As a church, there is a big difference

between a heart that is protected by

walls and a heart that is protected by

Jesus. Because walls isolate us. Jesus

heals us. Walls keep people out. Jesus

helps us love people again. Walls are

built out of fear. Jesus builds faith.

And after enough disappointment and

betrayal and hurt and loss, man, it is

tempting to to build some walls, to

close ourselves off from everyone else,

to stop trusting, to stop caring, to

stop risking, to build walls so high

that nothing can get in because if

nothing gets in, nothing can hurt us.

But that is not what scripture teaches

us. A guarded heart is not a hardened

heart. A guarded heart is not a bitter

heart. It is not a fearful heart. It is

not a closed heart. In fact, some of the

most guarded hearts I know are some of

the most loving hearts I know because

they've learned the difference between

protecting their heart and imprisoning

their heart. Jesus demonstrates this

beautifully throughout his ministry. I

mean, think about it. Jesus loved

deeply. He welcomed people. He showed

compassion. He forgave. He served. He

wept. He opened his life to others. And

at the same time, Jesus didn't allow all

those outside voices

to to influence what he was doing. I

mean, people praised him, people

criticized him, they misunderstood him,

they abandoned him, but through it all,

he remained anchored to God's love. His

heart was guarded because it was

centered on God. That's the kind of

heart that Solomon is describing in

Proverbs. A heart that remains open to

God, open to love, open to compassion,

open to growth, open to grace, open to

serving others, open to be used by God.

So the goal is not about building walls

around our heart. The goal is about

putting Jesus at the center of our

heart. Because when Christ is at the

center, everything else finds its proper

place. When Christ is at the center,

success doesn't define us. Failure

doesn't destroy us. Criticism doesn't

control us. Fear doesn't consume us. And

temptation doesn't own us. We face all

of those things, but we're able to

filter them through our relationship

with Christ. So, they don't have

influence in our life.

every opinion, every opportunity, every

disappointment, every temptation, every

fear, every relationship, every

decision, we filter through the lens of

Christ. So instead of asking what do I

want, we ask, "What does Christ want?"

Instead of saying, "What does the

culture say?" We begin by saying, "What

does Christ say?" Instead of asking,

"What feels right in this moment?" We

begin asking, "What honors God?"

That's what it means to guard our heart.

Not keeping everyone else out, but

keeping Christ at the center. Because

whatever is at the center of our heart

ultimately shapes the rest of our life.

And if we're being honest, something is

always trying to sit at the center of

our heart. Success wants to sit there.

Fear wants to sit there. Patience wants

to sit there. Politics wants to sit

there. Money wants to sit there.

Approval wants to sit there.

All kinds of stuff wants to sit there.

But only Jesus can sit at the center of

our heart and carry the weight that

comes at us. Everything else will

eventually disappoint. Everything else

will eventually shift. Everything else

will eventually change. But Christ

remains faithful. And when our hearts

are centered on him, we discover stab

stability that circumstances can't take

away. So this week, I want to challenge

you to do something simple but

important. I want you to take a few

moments and I want you to honestly

evaluate what is influencing your heart.

Not your schedule, not your calendar,

not your bank account,

your heart. Ask yourself, what voices am

I listening to the most? Who is carrying

the most influence in my life right now?

Is it God's voice? Is it the voice of

friends? Is it social media? Is it news

outlets? Is it my own fears? Ask

yourself, what is feeding my mind every

single day? What am I consuming? What am

I allowing to shape my thoughts and my

attitudes? Back in high school when I

played football, I'm a music guy and I

would listen to music that got me angry

before I played a game because it gave

me the mentality I needed to go do what

I needed to do on the football field. I

don't listen to that kind of music when

I drive a car. Things would go bad

unless I'm having a bad day and then

sometimes I do. But I try to listen to

something that keeps me calm. I

recognize that about myself. So, am I

spending more time in God's truth or am

I spending more time with the noise from

the world? What attitudes do I allow to

take root in my life? Is there

bitterness growing? Is there resentment

or jealousy or fear or negativity? Or am

I cultivating things like gratitude and

faith and hope and love? And perhaps the

most important question we can ask

ourselves every day is my heart becoming

more like Jesus or is my heart becoming

more like the world around me?

Because hearts are never standing still.

They're always moving in one direction

or another. We're either becoming more

like Christ or we're becoming more like

something else. And if God reveals to

you something that doesn't belong there,

don't ignore it. Ask God for help with

it.

Ask God to strengthen what draws you

closer to him. Ask God to remove what

pulls you away. Ask God to replace fear

with faith, bitterness with forgiveness,

anxiety with trust, distraction with

devotion. Here's the thing. God's not

interested in condemning our heart. God

wants to transform it.

As we watched that Gaga Ball video, one

thing became really clear. The players

who thrive are the players that stay

aware. They pay attention. They remain

alert. They protect themselves from what

could take them out of the game. And the

same is true spiritually. The Christian

life requires intentional attention. Not

paranoia, not fear, but awareness.

Because everyday influences are

competing for our hearts. And whatever

captures our hearts eventually shapes

our lives. That's why Solomon said,

"Above all else, guard your heart, for

everything else flows from it."

Above all else, not after everything

else, not when it's convenient, not as

one thing of many things, but above all

else. Because what the condition of our

heart is will determine what the

direction of our life is. So I want to

encourage you to guard it well, keep

open to God, keep it centered on Christ,

and trust God to shape you into the

person who God wants you to be. And the

last thing I want to say as I close is

game on.

Let's pray. Lord, we are so grateful

that you meet us where we are

and that you will help us guard our

heart because no matter how attentive we

are on our own, we can't see everything

that comes our way. But if we invite you

in, you see things that we may never

notice.

So help us to welcome you into our life.

Welcome you into our heart and feed our

heart the things that help us draw

closer to you. So we can keep those

voices and noise that we have all around

us

from taking your place.

Knowing that if we keep you at the

center everything else will fall into

place. Thank you for loving us and

meeting us where we are. And thank you

for giving us what it takes to guard our

heart every single day. We ask all of

this in your son's name. And everyone

said, "Amen.