"Wait, Payton is about to throw the Ball!"

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. -Revelation 1:4 (NRSV)

I love to watch Colts football. I am not sure why, because I have never been too much of a sports fan. I was always in the band. We would have more fun anyway. So, here I am, ministering in Indiana and a Colts fan. It is fun to watch even when we loose. (Which seems too often this season...) So, I wonder, "Why?" What is the attraction to this rough game.

I think for me it was Tony Dungy that started it off. I admired his faith and willingness to stand firm for what he believed. That continues with most of the players such as Payton Manning and for Coach Cauldwell. I also see a great deal of community that is united in a team that belongs to our home. That is also good.

I also see a great deal of waste and deep passion without much gain. There are so many Christians that give everything to following the Colts, yet when it comes to church attendance, sacrificial giving, or even supporting of one's neighbors, there is to be no competition with their die hard support to the Colts. Which makes me wonder, "If Jesus returned while Payton was throwing the ball for a touchdown, how many Christians would say, 'wait, he is about to throw the ball'!"

The Colt's players are good guys. I have a tendency to think most people are good people that have strayed from the God that loves them. Yet, not a person on this planet is eternal like Jesus. We forget to whom a Christ-Followers loyalties should rest. As our scriptures states, "He was, He is, and He always will be."

F. Richard Garland writes:

In the greeting above lies a reminder that God is eternal. In this greeting is a reminder that harmony has been restored between God and humanity through Christ, a reminder that God remains steadfast even in the midst of life's most trying and terrible days.

So what does this have to do with Christmas? It is tempting to make Christmas into a warm fuzzy tale about a baby born in a humble stable, surrounded by adoring witnesses singing songs of praise under a starlit sky. But this passage from Revelation reminds us of who this child will grow to be, of where his birth will ultimately lead — a glimpse into the mystery of God's purpose at Christmas.

This child will bear faithful and reliable witness to God's self-giving love — good news for a weary world. This child will make kings and rulers tremble and bring nations and empires to their knees!

At the core of Christmas is the One who is the "Alpha and the Omega," the beginning and the end. The God "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" is about to come and live among us. (See John 1:14.)

So, which are you...not just in football, but what is it that is taking your eyes of your true future. We are discussing how to rediscover the joy in Christmas in our 2010 Advent sermon series. One of the sure means to rediscover the joy is to keep your EYES (thoughts, actions, and desires) on the baby that was willing to grow-up and die and then return. He was willing to come and is going to come again! As for me and my house, I don't care who is going to throw the ball, sing the best oratorio, or even giving the best gift...Jesus has come and will come again...I am waiting and ready!

You know I love ya, Don

Friday Funny - Football

It is Friday and in light of our Indianapolis Colts going to the Super Bowl...I thought our Friday funny should be Football related....enjoy:

A guy took his girlfriend to her first football game. Afterward he asked her how she liked the game.

"I liked it, but I couldn't understand why they were killing each other for 25 cents," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, everyone kept yelling, 'Get the quarter back!'"

Just in case, Payton Manning is the Quarter Back...Keep laughing and find the humor in life. You know I love ya - Don

Colts Win & Reminders to Believers!

The Indianapolis Colts are on their way to taking us to the another Super Bowl win. I was watching the game and I realized the modern Football player is either an offensive or defensive specialist. Even the cheerleaders have a set of cheers for each team. When the defensive team is on the field they shout, "Hold that line! Hold that line!" But when the offensive teams takes over they yell out, "Go, team, go! Go, team, go!"

There was a moment when Jesus faced his disciples. Behind him were all the years of public ministry, the trials and the triumphs, the ecstasy and the agony. All the previous events culminated in this moment as he stood before his disciples, a strange and motley mixture of human beings, and said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Along with this challenge there was a promise, "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (v. 20b).

The saints who came before us were offensively-minded. They moved the ball down the field. Look what happened. It was like the concentric circles which result from a rock thrown into a pool of water. First there were twelve, then in the Upper Room 120, then 3,000 on the day of Pentecost after Peter preached his sermon. For four centuries the Christian fellowship was a mighty force and power that no emperor or nation could stop. But today a malaise has come over the church. It has become defensive, producing a fortress mentality, a kind of spiritual protectionism. There is a widespread desire to hold, protect, and keep what we have by avoiding risk. The cry is, "Hold that line!"

Let's stop the clock, call a time out, re-group, huddle, and do some serious thinking together. Let's consider one important question. How did we get here? We got here because the saints before us were willing to carry the ball forward. Take a stethoscope and listen to the heartbeat of the early church. What do you discover? J.B. Phillips in his introduction to his book, The Young Church in Action, states:

"Here we see Christianity, the real thing, in action for the first time in human history. The young church is appealing in its simplicity and single-minded-ness. Here we see the church ... valiant and unspoiled -- a body of ordinary men and women joined in an unconquerable fellowship never before seen on the earth ... There is someone at work here besides mere human beings ... never before has any small body of ordinary people so moved the world that their enemies could say with tears in their eyes, that these men and women 'have turned the world upside down'."

We got to where we are because of the readiness of these saints to believe, to obey, to give, to suffer, and if need be to die, so as to establish a way of fellowship united in love and faith. They were open to the God-ward side of life that is almost unknown to us today. Their rallying cry was never, "Hold that line," but rather, "Go, church, go!"

Football is just a game for entertainment and fellowship. We certainly enjoy the Colts and the fun of an exciting game. My prayer is also that the church will never forget that we are in an eternal struggle that will see rewards beyond a trophy. The reward is eternal for every Christ-following believer. Have a great day, "Go Colts!" and "Go, Church GO!" - Don