Ready:
"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
Set:
Successful teamwork is a key to winning in almost any sport, no matter how many athletes are playing. Let's think about baseball specifically. You start with a game of four-on-four. In that situation, you must work hand-in-hand with your teammates in order to prevent your four opponents from scoring runs, and then you must find a way to score runs yourself. Usually, in order to become effective teammates, you have to play a few games together in order to figure it out. And the more you play together, the better your team becomes.
The same would be true if you added more players to the game. However, the more players on your team, the more practice it takes in order to become good. It takes more time to have nine players figure out what's required of them than four, because there's a more combined effort to play together as a unit.
Did you know that the same can be said of the Body of Christ, a.k.a. "God's Team"? I don't have to tell you that we're dealing with more than nine players on the ballfield. There are millions of followers of Jesus worldwide. And the same things that make you a good teammate on your team are some of the same things that make you a good teammate in God's Kingdom.
On a baseball team, the goal is to score more runs than your opponent. God's Kingdom is so much more important than that, because the effort to be a good teammate has eternal consequences. We must represent the God of the universe and His awesome plan for salvation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Yes, there are many people in God's Kingdom, which makes it tough to be a good teammate. As we said, we're talking about millions of fellow believers. But, you just focus on doing your part to think on the things of God in order to encourage unity and strengthen the friendships on your eternity team!
Go:
1. How can you be a better teammate on your team? On God's team?
2. How can you encourage unity and strengthen friendships within church or FCA activities?
3. How can you encourage unity and strengthen friendships outside of church or FCA activities?
Workout:
Ephesians 4:1-16