You Are Here > Alphabetical / Alphabetical
Have you ever had to play a game being down a player? Maybe not enough people showed up. Maybe someone got a red card or a player was serving penalty time. Regardless of the situation, it can be intimidating. All of a sudden, what was once a level playing field becomes a lopsided match. We look at our opponents and think, “Wow. This doesn’t seem fair. They have such a big advantage, now.”
After defeating Sonny Liston to win his first title in 1964, Muhammad Ali proclaimed to the press, “I am the greatest!” The sports world has given Wayne Gretzky the nickname, “The Great One.” But what exactly does it mean to be great? Is it determined by winning percentage? Championships? Fame? In the passage above, Jesus explained that greatness is being a servant. Today, I’d like to focus on three ways to serve your teammates:
Wendy Ward doesn’t know how it happened. All that matters is that she knows it did. She didn’t see her golf ball move, but when she realized that her putt no longer lined up, it was clear that the ball had rotated a mere “dimple or two.” Ward had already grounded her putter, and she immediately knew that the sometimes unforgiving rules of the game were about to cost her a stroke.
But this wasn’t just another average day at an average LPGA tournament. Ward was in the final group playing in the fourth and final round of the 2000 McDonald’s LPGA Championship at the DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware. She had entered the day in a tie for the lead with legendary golfer Juli Inkster.
View the Soul Surfer video from the Game Changer FCA Resources DVD and walk through the questions below.
Key Verse: We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. – Romans 8:28
As a kid, Allison Lambert used to hang out near the fields where her dad served as chaplain to the University of Texas football team. She observed how hard work and passion led to fulfilled dreams. But it was during her own climb to Division I volleyball that she experienced for herself the reward of perseverance.
Allison, a 6-1 senior from Austin, Texas, plays right side for the University of North Carolina-Asheville.
If you had to guess, what would you say is the hardest thing to do in sports? Win a national championship? Go undefeated for a season? Maybe just winning your conference if the competition is tough. Or, you could say it is an individual action like sinking a hole-in-one or hitting a 90-mph fastball. To be honest, though, I would have to say that none of these is the hardest thing to do in sports. I personally think the toughest thing we can do is to play and coach like Jesus.
Now, hopefully we all understand that competing for and like Christ doesn’t involve being a doormat. The Bible I read doesn’t tell me to be a pushover for the competition. If we look at the verses from Philippians 2:1-4, we see a description of how we are to compete for His glory.
The day before last year’s Kansas City marathon, I was meeting with Chris Anderson, our National Director of FCA’s Endurance Ministry. I was fired up for the race but a bit anxious about trying to run a PR. As I was reflecting back on my training leading up to the race, I mentioned to him that I wished I’d done more long runs, more speed work, more conditioning, more everything. I was feeling the pressure. He smiled real big, leaned across the table and said, “Dan, at this point, the hay is in the barn. The race is tomorrow.
In many cases, the University of Texas (and they wouldn’t mind us mentioning this) is larger than life. After all, isn’t everything bigger in Texas?
And really, it’s tough to disagree. The Greater Austin metro area has a population of 1.6 million people. UT’s 350-acre main campus employs 21,000 faculty and staff while serving as the educational grounds for nearly 50,000 students, many of whom are members of one or more of the 900 registered student organizations.
Impacting the campus and community for Christ sounds like a great vision, but where do you begin?
Ministry
Sport
Book of the Bible
FCA Bible Topic
