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>> "Is not this the kind of fast
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I have chosen:
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to loose the chains of injustice
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and untie the cords of the yoke,
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to set the oppressed free
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and break every yoke?
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Is it not to share your food
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with the hungry and to provide
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the poor wanderer with
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shelter --when you see the
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naked, to clothe him,
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and not to turn away from
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your own flesh and blood?
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Then, then, your light will
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break forth like the dawn,
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and your healing
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will quickly appear;
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then the glory of the Lord
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will be your rear guard.
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Then you will call,
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and the Lord will answer,
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and you will cry for help,
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and he will say: here am I.
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"If you do away with the yoke
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of oppression,
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with the pointing of finger
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and malicious talk,
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and if you spend yourself
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in behalf of the hungry
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and satisfy the needs
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of the oppressed,
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then your light will shine
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in the darkness,
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and your night will become
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like noonday.
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The Lord will guide you always;
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He will satisfy your needs
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in a sun-scorched land
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and strengthen your frame.
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You'll be like a well-watered
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garden, like a spring
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whose water never fails."
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[ Inaudible ]
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[ Instrumental music begins ]
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>> "Do you not know?
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Have you not heard?
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"The Lord is the everlasting
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God, the Creator of
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the ends of the earth.
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He will not grow tired or weary,
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and His understanding
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no one can fathom.
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He gives strength
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to the weary and increases
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the power of the weak.
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Even youths grow tired
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and weary,
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and young men stumble and fall;
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but those who hope in the Lord
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will renew their strength.
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They will soar on wings
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like eagles;
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they will run and
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not grow weary,
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they will walk
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and not be faint."
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>> Amen.
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>> Amen.
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>> Our text for the Sabbath
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reading today comes from
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the Book of 2 Timothy.
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2 Timothy 4:5-8.
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"But you keep your head in all
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situations, endure hardship,
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do the work of an evangelist,
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discharge all the duties
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of your ministry.
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For I am already being
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poured out like a drink
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offering, and the time for
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my departure is near.
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I have fought the good fight,
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I have finished the race,
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I have kept the faith.
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Now there is in store for me
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the crown of righteousness,
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which the Lord,
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the righteous judge, will
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award to me on that day --
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but not only me,
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but also to all who have longed
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for his appearing."
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>> Amen.
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>> Anywhere you go in the world,
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doesn't matter where,
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no matter the differences
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that you find in geography,
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income, general culture,
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anywhere that you go,
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you will find on this planet
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at least one thing in common.
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Sports.
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And it's not just now.
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My guess is, if you were
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to be transported back
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to any particular time
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in the last 6,000 years,
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you would probably find people,
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at some point in their day,
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engaging in sports.
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Sports are big.
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How big, you may ask?
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Well, let me just give you
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some statistics here.
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In North America,
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it is estimated that the value
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of the sports market
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is $83.1 billion.
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That's a lot -- you know,
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a billion here, a billion there.
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Pretty soon, you're talking
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about real money, right?
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$83.1 billion.
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If you compare that to the GDP
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of the nearly 200 nations
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on the planet,
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that would make the sports
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market in North America
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roughly the 71st largest,
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in GDP,
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out of 200 or so nations.
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But wait, there's more.
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Combined value
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of all NFL franchises
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and supporting entities.
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So, this is just the
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National Football League,
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not the NBA, NHL, any of that.
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Just the NFL,
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all their franchises
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and supporting entities,
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the value is estimated
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at $163 billion.
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And we look at it and say,
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"Well, wait a second, the total
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market about $83.1 million."
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The first figure there is only
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for direct revenues.
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So, if a stadium
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sells tickets for a team,
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or if a swag -- you know,
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maybe a jersey -- is sold,
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things that are directly
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connected to that
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particular sports team, that's
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what's in the first figure.
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The second one
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is everything else.
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So, $163 billion
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for the NFL franchises
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and supporting entities,
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like the hot dog stand
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at the stadium, the Uber driver
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that drove people back
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and forth to the game.
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The sports host
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that commentates on the game
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and all the sports networks
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that are out there.
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You put all of that together
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that are in some way connected
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and dependent upon the NFL,
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$163 billion in 2023.
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Notice carefully, that means --
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[Chuckles]
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this is unbelievable --
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That means that the NFL alone
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generates more money in one year
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than 137 other countries
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on Earth individually
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do with their GDP.
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[ Chuckles ]
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Think that's the 58th largest
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GDP on the planet, just the NFL.
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And let's bring this a little
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closer to home.
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United States families --
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this is for their children,
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okay? -- U.S. families annually,
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sports-related expenses
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for their children,
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$30 billion to $40 billion.
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That's $30 billion to 40 billion
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of the $83.1 billion.
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You say, "Well, what are they
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spending all that money on?"
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Well, a variety of things.
00:16:29.72\00:16:30.72
Of course,
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you know, bats and balls
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and rackets and soccer balls
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and shoes and cleats
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and all that stuff,
00:16:34.79\00:16:35.89
but the bulk of it goes
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to lessons.
00:16:37.16\00:16:39.36
Lessons to help their child
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become better
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at the particular sport
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that they are engaged in.
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Let's just be honest.
00:16:45.27\00:16:46.97
Sports are so pervasive
00:16:47.07\00:16:48.94
in the world today
00:16:49.04\00:16:50.37
that it doesn't matter
00:16:50.47\00:16:51.64
if you personally are
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an athlete or not.
00:16:52.81\00:16:54.21
Somebody you know
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is directly affected by sports.
00:16:56.08\00:16:59.18
It could be a friend of yours,
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that your child, your
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grandchildren, your
00:17:01.58\00:17:02.38
Belong ministries,
00:17:02.48\00:17:02.92
adopted students
00:17:03.02\00:17:03.99
here at Andrews, you name it.
00:17:04.09\00:17:05.85
We live in a sports nation.
00:17:05.95\00:17:12.69
In fact, so engaging,
00:17:12.79\00:17:16.10
so enthralling,
00:17:16.20\00:17:17.43
so dominating of people's
00:17:17.53\00:17:18.77
attention is the world of sports
00:17:18.87\00:17:19.87
that it's not too much
00:17:19.97\00:17:20.70
of a stretch to say
00:17:20.80\00:17:22.07
that one of the top threats
00:17:22.17\00:17:24.14
to the successful finishing of
00:17:24.24\00:17:25.74
the work of spreading the Gospel
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is fanatical devotion to sports.
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Well, not a single Amen.
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It's going to be a long Sabbath
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here.
00:17:34.25\00:17:35.12
Let's work on that. Yeah.
00:17:35.22\00:17:36.82
So, last Sabbath, we talked
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about this particular banner
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here on the wall --
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"Forward in faith --
00:17:40.12\00:17:40.59
Founded in faith,
00:17:40.69\00:17:41.42
forward in mission
00:17:41.52\00:17:42.42
for the finishing of the work."
00:17:42.52\00:17:43.36
And we talked about this
00:17:43.46\00:17:44.96
great need, here at the end
00:17:45.06\00:17:46.19
of time, to finish spreading
00:17:46.29\00:17:47.36
the Gospel to the world,
00:17:47.46\00:17:48.40
that people might know Jesus
00:17:48.50\00:17:50.03
and be saved.
00:17:50.13\00:17:51.53
I cannot tell you
00:17:51.63\00:17:52.83
the number of times
00:17:52.93\00:17:54.44
that I have held an evangelistic
00:17:54.54\00:17:56.57
series or, for instance,
00:17:56.67\00:17:57.84
when I was planting a church
00:17:57.94\00:17:58.94
out in western Washington state,
00:17:59.04\00:18:00.81
the community that we were
00:18:00.91\00:18:01.61
planting that church
00:18:01.71\00:18:02.58
in was fairly affluent,
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and they were absorbed
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with sports.
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Happened over and over again.
00:18:07.82\00:18:09.45
People would sign up -- seekers,
00:18:09.55\00:18:10.59
spiritual seekers.
00:18:10.69\00:18:11.62
They loved what we were doing
00:18:11.72\00:18:12.55
or whatnot, but then we'd have
00:18:12.65\00:18:13.69
a special event.
00:18:13.79\00:18:14.59
Oh, they'd sign up for it,
00:18:14.69\00:18:15.72
and then they'd call or they'd
00:18:15.82\00:18:16.89
text or they'd send an e-mail,
00:18:16.99\00:18:17.89
"Oh, I'm sorry, but my son,
00:18:17.99\00:18:19.23
my daughter, their soccer game
00:18:19.33\00:18:20.46
got rescheduled.
00:18:20.56\00:18:21.20
I can't make it."
00:18:21.30\00:18:23.10
It got so bad that I went down
00:18:23.20\00:18:24.43
to the town office and I said,
00:18:24.53\00:18:25.70
"Can I just have every sports
00:18:25.80\00:18:27.17
schedule that you know of?
00:18:27.27\00:18:28.47
Make some attempt that we
00:18:28.57\00:18:30.34
can schedule around these things
00:18:30.44\00:18:31.71
so that we can do what it is
00:18:31.81\00:18:33.14
that we're here to be doing?"
00:18:33.24\00:18:35.04
And, yes, even on the campuses
00:18:35.14\00:18:36.78
of Adventist schools,
00:18:36.88\00:18:39.05
of all levels, from elementary
00:18:39.15\00:18:40.32
through grad school,
00:18:40.42\00:18:41.48
in the last 30 years of my
00:18:41.58\00:18:42.82
personal pastoral ministry,
00:18:42.92\00:18:44.52
I have had the experience
00:18:44.62\00:18:45.39
multiple times
00:18:45.49\00:18:46.62
of having made spiritual
00:18:46.72\00:18:48.22
progress on Sabbath morning
00:18:48.32\00:18:50.56
and having it all come unraveled
00:18:50.66\00:18:52.43
at a sporting event
00:18:52.53\00:18:53.46
Saturday night.
00:18:53.56\00:18:55.86
And I'll preach on Sabbath
00:18:55.96\00:18:56.97
morning about the love of God
00:18:57.07\00:18:57.97
and community,
00:18:58.07\00:18:59.00
and we're all in this together.
00:18:59.10\00:19:00.04
And then we go to a game
00:19:00.14\00:19:01.10
that night, and people
00:19:01.20\00:19:02.20
end up hating each other
00:19:02.30\00:19:03.30
because one won and one lost.
00:19:03.41\00:19:04.84
And I've got people
00:19:04.94\00:19:05.74
in the stands that are cussing
00:19:05.84\00:19:06.91
each other out, and they're
00:19:07.01\00:19:07.54
my church members.
00:19:07.64\00:19:08.74
Right?
00:19:08.84\00:19:10.48
What is up with that?
00:19:10.58\00:19:15.85
And right now, right now,
00:19:15.95\00:19:18.85
as I'm speaking,
00:19:18.95\00:19:21.46
there are two groups of people
00:19:21.56\00:19:23.63
that are very energized.
00:19:23.73\00:19:25.96
They are excited
00:19:26.06\00:19:27.60
about what I'm about to say.
00:19:27.66\00:19:29.80
One, happily so;
00:19:29.90\00:19:31.57
and the other, not so much.
00:19:31.67\00:19:33.87
The first group,
00:19:33.97\00:19:35.34
the one that believes they are
00:19:35.44\00:19:36.14
happy about what they think
00:19:36.24\00:19:36.97
I'm about to say.
00:19:37.07\00:19:38.87
This group has a picture of God
00:19:38.97\00:19:40.38
that is free from enjoyment.
00:19:40.48\00:19:42.51
[ Light laughter ]
00:19:42.61\00:19:45.55
They are like the boy that
00:19:45.65\00:19:47.02
C.S. Lewis once referred to,
00:19:47.12\00:19:48.72
who said that God is, quote,
00:19:48.82\00:19:50.12
"the sort of person who is
00:19:50.22\00:19:51.52
always snooping around to see
00:19:51.62\00:19:52.92
if anyone is enjoying himself
00:19:53.02\00:19:54.52
and then trying to stop it."
00:19:54.62\00:19:57.96
And because sports do have an
00:19:58.06\00:19:59.36
element of enjoyment about them,
00:19:59.46\00:20:00.93
this first group has thought for
00:20:01.00\00:20:02.56
a long time that sports ought
00:20:02.66\00:20:04.33
to be eliminated completely
00:20:04.43\00:20:05.57
from any venue at all times,
00:20:05.67\00:20:07.40
and they are so excited
00:20:07.50\00:20:09.17
that I'm about to blast sports
00:20:09.27\00:20:10.47
right out of the water.
00:20:10.57\00:20:11.81
In fact,
00:20:11.91\00:20:12.61
they're feeling very competitive
00:20:12.71\00:20:13.58
about that right now.
00:20:13.68\00:20:14.98
[ Laughter ]
00:20:15.08\00:20:17.88
And then there's the second
00:20:17.98\00:20:18.78
group, and they're on
00:20:18.88\00:20:20.15
the other end of the spectrum.
00:20:20.25\00:20:22.62
Some people listening right now
00:20:22.72\00:20:23.75
are in this second group.
00:20:23.85\00:20:24.62
And they are saying
00:20:24.72\00:20:25.42
to themselves, "Oh, no, oh, no,
00:20:25.52\00:20:27.39
oh, no, I can't believe it.
00:20:27.49\00:20:28.89
He's going to speak against
00:20:28.99\00:20:30.26
sports in some conservative rant
00:20:30.36\00:20:31.93
that has no connection with
00:20:32.03\00:20:32.99
the reality of today's world.
00:20:33.09\00:20:34.20
I cannot bear to watch."
00:20:34.30\00:20:36.83
Before I attempt to answer
00:20:41.67\00:20:44.27
either of these groups,
00:20:44.37\00:20:47.11
let it be clear that these
00:20:47.21\00:20:48.01
strong opinions they express
00:20:48.11\00:20:49.84
did not just happen to be, they
00:20:49.94\00:20:52.21
didn't spontaneously generate,
00:20:52.31\00:20:53.58
they didn't occur in a vacuum.
00:20:53.68\00:20:55.58
They are instead the result
00:20:55.68\00:20:56.58
of discussing
00:20:56.69\00:20:57.45
some very important questions.
00:20:57.55\00:21:00.26
Questions whose answers
00:21:00.36\00:21:01.49
affect large sums of money,
00:21:01.59\00:21:02.89
huge chunks of time,
00:21:02.99\00:21:04.06
and the values formation
00:21:04.16\00:21:05.49
of nearly all of our children.
00:21:05.59\00:21:07.60
Questions that have haunted
00:21:07.66\00:21:08.73
Adventist schools for well over
00:21:08.83\00:21:09.96
100 years.
00:21:10.07\00:21:12.53
Questions like this.
00:21:12.63\00:21:13.70
"Should Adventist schools,
00:21:13.80\00:21:15.57
particularly in light of the
00:21:15.67\00:21:17.07
end-times that we live in now,
00:21:17.17\00:21:17.97
should they
00:21:18.07\00:21:18.81
have sports programs?
00:21:18.91\00:21:21.54
Students, should you be
00:21:21.64\00:21:22.98
playing in those sports programs
00:21:23.08\00:21:24.21
if we do have them?
00:21:24.31\00:21:26.25
Can sports programs
00:21:26.35\00:21:27.85
bring glory to God?
00:21:27.95\00:21:29.38
Do they have any place
00:21:29.48\00:21:30.49
in the Christian life?"
00:21:30.59\00:21:31.69
And perhaps most contentiously,
00:21:31.79\00:21:33.22
particularly for Adventists,
00:21:33.32\00:21:35.02
given the deeply negative impact
00:21:35.12\00:21:38.03
most organized sports
00:21:38.13\00:21:39.83
had on Adventist schools
00:21:39.93\00:21:41.26
in the 19th century --
00:21:41.36\00:21:43.20
you following me here? --
00:21:43.30\00:21:45.23
and given how much our pioneers
00:21:45.33\00:21:47.14
thus generally opposed them,
00:21:47.24\00:21:50.54
is it even remotely feasible
00:21:50.64\00:21:53.17
that any of us, in school or
00:21:53.27\00:21:55.24
not, should have any part
00:21:55.34\00:21:56.31
in providing our children
00:21:56.41\00:21:57.48
opportunities to play
00:21:57.58\00:21:58.81
in sporting events?
00:21:58.91\00:22:00.45
Well, having carefully studied
00:22:05.25\00:22:06.86
this question,
00:22:06.96\00:22:10.33
I believe I know clearly
00:22:10.43\00:22:12.03
what the answer is.
00:22:12.13\00:22:14.93
The answer is unequivocally...
00:22:15.00\00:22:20.90
maybe.
00:22:21.00\00:22:23.30
[ Light laughter ]
00:22:23.41\00:22:24.84
Maybe. And let me tell you why.
00:22:24.94\00:22:29.08
Turn in your Bibles, please,
00:22:29.18\00:22:29.98
to 1 Corinthians 9:24.
00:22:30.08\00:22:32.78
1 Corinthians 9:24.
00:22:32.88\00:22:35.48
It's on page 772.
00:22:35.58\00:22:37.22
772 in your red pew Bible.
00:22:37.32\00:22:39.55
They're somewhere near you. 772.
00:22:39.65\00:22:41.86
1 Corinthians 9:24
00:22:41.96\00:22:43.93
finds the Apostle Paul
00:22:44.03\00:22:45.26
once again remonstrating
00:22:45.36\00:22:47.03
with the highly unusual
00:22:47.13\00:22:50.00
church plant in Corinth.
00:22:50.10\00:22:51.77
Corinth was a colorful place.
00:22:51.87\00:22:53.03
It was a pastor's nightmare.
00:22:53.13\00:22:55.07
All kinds of things were going
00:22:55.17\00:22:55.84
wrong there, and
00:22:55.94\00:22:56.81
Paul is seeking various ways
00:22:56.91\00:22:58.77
to try to get their attention,
00:22:58.87\00:23:00.08
spiritually speaking.
00:23:00.18\00:23:01.71
And in 1 Corinthians 9
00:23:01.81\00:23:03.68
beginning in verse 24,
00:23:03.78\00:23:05.05
he comes upon what he believes
00:23:05.15\00:23:07.88
will be a memorable analogy
00:23:07.98\00:23:10.09
of the spiritual life.
00:23:10.19\00:23:11.35
Here's what he says.
00:23:11.45\00:23:13.72
"Do you not know
00:23:13.82\00:23:15.06
that in a race --"
00:23:15.16\00:23:17.46
What did he say? In a what?
00:23:17.56\00:23:18.59
In a race. Okay.
00:23:18.69\00:23:20.83
"All the runners run, but only
00:23:20.93\00:23:22.40
one gets the --" what? --
00:23:22.50\00:23:23.26
"prize."
00:23:23.37\00:23:24.57
Okay, you have a race here.
00:23:24.67\00:23:25.40
There's runners in it.
00:23:25.50\00:23:26.40
They're trying to get the prize.
00:23:26.50\00:23:27.77
"Run in such a way
00:23:27.87\00:23:29.34
as to get the prize."
00:23:29.44\00:23:31.11
Now, is Paul here, you know,
00:23:31.21\00:23:32.71
slipping into cross-country
00:23:32.81\00:23:34.08
coach, giving advice
00:23:34.18\00:23:35.31
to all these church members?
00:23:35.41\00:23:36.14
They need to be
00:23:36.24\00:23:36.75
out on the track.
00:23:36.85\00:23:37.28
Probably not.
00:23:37.38\00:23:38.25
This is spiritual talk here.
00:23:38.35\00:23:40.15
Verse 25, "Everyone
00:23:40.25\00:23:41.68
who competes in the games
00:23:41.78\00:23:42.85
goes into strict training.
00:23:42.95\00:23:44.45
They do it to get a crown
00:23:44.55\00:23:45.49
that will not last,
00:23:45.59\00:23:46.89
but we do it to get a crown
00:23:46.99\00:23:48.39
that will last forever.
00:23:48.49\00:23:51.03
Therefore I do not run like
00:23:51.13\00:23:52.36
a man running aimlessly;
00:23:52.46\00:23:53.73
I do not fight
00:23:53.83\00:23:54.60
like a man beating the air.
00:23:54.73\00:23:55.66
No, I beat my body
00:23:55.76\00:23:57.23
and make it my slave
00:23:57.33\00:23:58.37
so that after I have preached
00:23:58.47\00:23:59.50
to others, I myself
00:23:59.60\00:24:01.50
will not be disqualified
00:24:01.60\00:24:02.90
for the prize."
00:24:03.00\00:24:05.37
Now you tell me,
00:24:05.47\00:24:06.07
what's the prize
00:24:06.17\00:24:06.81
there he's talking
00:24:06.91\00:24:07.94
about at the end?
00:24:08.04\00:24:09.74
Yeah. Eternal life, Jesus.
00:24:09.84\00:24:11.35
You know, this is eternity.
00:24:11.45\00:24:12.38
This is the prize
00:24:12.48\00:24:13.35
that he's looking for, right?
00:24:13.45\00:24:14.78
Now, what Paul is probably
00:24:14.88\00:24:16.22
referring to here
00:24:16.32\00:24:17.75
are the Olympics of his day.
00:24:17.85\00:24:19.22
Maybe there
00:24:19.32\00:24:20.49
are some local events.
00:24:20.59\00:24:21.26
Whatever they were,
00:24:21.36\00:24:22.66
these were sporting events,
00:24:22.76\00:24:24.23
and they were well-known by Paul
00:24:24.33\00:24:25.63
and his audience
00:24:25.73\00:24:26.56
there at Corinth.
00:24:26.66\00:24:27.83
Which leads us to make at least
00:24:27.93\00:24:29.13
two conclusions.
00:24:29.23\00:24:30.37
Conclusion number one,
00:24:30.47\00:24:31.80
sports are not inherently evil.
00:24:31.90\00:24:35.70
You'll never find in the Bible
00:24:35.80\00:24:37.91
where the apostle Paul says,
00:24:38.01\00:24:39.17
"Oh, that everyone would be
00:24:39.27\00:24:40.51
a prostitute.
00:24:40.61\00:24:41.61
Then you will have salvation."
00:24:41.71\00:24:42.68
I mean, why?
00:24:42.78\00:24:44.25
Because prostitution is wrong.
00:24:44.35\00:24:46.31
He never says, you know,
00:24:46.41\00:24:47.18
"Blessed be the murderer,
00:24:47.28\00:24:47.65
for theirs
00:24:47.75\00:24:48.58
is the Kingdom of God."
00:24:48.68\00:24:49.65
Why? Because murdering is wrong.
00:24:49.75\00:24:51.52
Unequivocally.
00:24:51.62\00:24:54.26
But sports are used here.
00:24:54.36\00:24:55.32
There are some people
00:24:55.42\00:24:56.46
who believe that sports
00:24:56.56\00:24:57.39
are inherently evil.
00:24:57.49\00:24:58.99
My Bible tells me otherwise.
00:24:59.09\00:25:00.90
Paul here, in fact, uses it
00:25:00.96\00:25:02.63
to make a spiritual point.
00:25:02.73\00:25:05.17
In fact, that leads us
00:25:05.27\00:25:06.00
to the second conclusion here.
00:25:06.10\00:25:07.34
Sports can be a force for good.
00:25:07.44\00:25:10.11
Again, how do I know?
00:25:10.21\00:25:11.31
Because my Bible tells me so.
00:25:11.41\00:25:13.34
Paul here is taking a literal
00:25:13.44\00:25:15.21
sporting event -- sports --
00:25:15.31\00:25:17.75
and using it as an object lesson
00:25:17.85\00:25:19.55
for our spiritual life.
00:25:19.65\00:25:21.92
In other words, sports can
00:25:22.02\00:25:23.72
teach us positive
00:25:23.82\00:25:25.25
and even transformative
00:25:25.35\00:25:26.89
spiritual lessons.
00:25:26.99\00:25:29.42
We read earlier --
00:25:29.52\00:25:30.46
Susan read our Scripture
00:25:30.56\00:25:31.39
reading this morning.
00:25:31.49\00:25:31.86
Same thing.
00:25:31.96\00:25:32.93
"I have run the race,
00:25:33.03\00:25:34.13
I have finished the course."
00:25:34.23\00:25:35.50
Those are sporting events.
00:25:35.60\00:25:36.56
Those are sporting terms.
00:25:36.67\00:25:39.00
Sports can teach us positive
00:25:39.10\00:25:40.34
and even transformative
00:25:40.44\00:25:41.64
spiritual lessons.
00:25:41.74\00:25:42.64
So, full disclosure --
00:25:42.74\00:25:44.97
I like sports.
00:25:45.07\00:25:48.21
[ Chuckles ]
00:25:48.31\00:25:51.51
Why was there the most amens on
00:25:51.61\00:25:53.18
that point so far this morning?
00:25:53.28\00:25:54.45
What does that mean?
00:25:54.55\00:25:55.35
Yeah, I like sports.
00:25:55.45\00:25:57.22
I have been involved in sports.
00:25:57.32\00:25:58.62
I have played sports
00:25:58.72\00:25:59.49
individually and on teams,
00:25:59.59\00:26:00.86
including varsity teams at the
00:26:00.96\00:26:02.09
high school and college level.
00:26:02.19\00:26:03.19
I played here for the Cardinals.
00:26:03.29\00:26:04.39
I've done this.
00:26:04.49\00:26:05.53
I've played in county leagues
00:26:05.63\00:26:06.59
and church leagues, et cetera,
00:26:06.70\00:26:07.23
et cetera,
00:26:07.36\00:26:07.96
for more than 40 years.
00:26:08.06\00:26:08.96
And I don't
00:26:09.06\00:26:10.93
say that to impress you.
00:26:11.03\00:26:13.20
I say it because sometimes, when
00:26:13.30\00:26:14.50
I hear people talk about sports,
00:26:14.60\00:26:17.04
they don't know a foul ball
00:26:17.14\00:26:17.81
from a free throw.
00:26:17.91\00:26:20.18
I mean, and no offense to them,
00:26:20.28\00:26:21.68
you don't have to be an expert
00:26:21.78\00:26:22.38
on every topic
00:26:22.48\00:26:23.35
in order to make comments on it.
00:26:23.45\00:26:24.28
I've learned good things from
00:26:24.38\00:26:25.91
people that talk about this.
00:26:26.01\00:26:27.25
But I just want you to know
00:26:27.35\00:26:27.98
that I have been there,
00:26:28.08\00:26:28.88
and I've been there
00:26:28.98\00:26:29.85
for more than four decades.
00:26:29.95\00:26:30.79
I have played at various levels.
00:26:30.89\00:26:31.92
Never professionally.
00:26:32.02\00:26:32.72
Don't misunderstand.
00:26:32.82\00:26:33.32
But at
00:26:33.42\00:26:34.89
some decent levels there.
00:26:34.99\00:26:36.49
I've seen a lot of things,
00:26:36.59\00:26:37.53
and I've seen how things
00:26:37.63\00:26:38.66
have gone well,
00:26:38.76\00:26:40.10
spiritually speaking,
00:26:40.20\00:26:40.86
with sports,
00:26:40.96\00:26:41.96
and I've seen how they have gone
00:26:42.06\00:26:42.83
terribly wrong,
00:26:42.93\00:26:44.87
spiritually speaking,
00:26:44.97\00:26:46.57
when it comes to sports.
00:26:46.67\00:26:49.87
So, let me say here at
00:26:49.97\00:26:50.97
the outset,
00:26:51.07\00:26:52.84
I believe that sports can be
00:26:52.94\00:26:56.28
a force for good.
00:26:56.38\00:26:59.41
And I have personally
00:26:59.51\00:27:00.55
experienced sports
00:27:00.65\00:27:02.65
as a force for good in my life.
00:27:02.75\00:27:05.19
But --
00:27:08.99\00:27:10.93
but...
00:27:11.03\00:27:13.06
corporately,
00:27:13.16\00:27:15.46
as in the wider world of sports,
00:27:15.56\00:27:18.13
both for our nation,
00:27:18.23\00:27:19.20
internationally, and, yes,
00:27:19.30\00:27:20.64
in Adventist schools,
00:27:20.74\00:27:21.47
in my experience,
00:27:21.57\00:27:22.94
sports as a positive force
00:27:23.04\00:27:24.87
for good and for God doesn't
00:27:24.97\00:27:27.11
happen nearly often enough.
00:27:27.21\00:27:32.21
I'm not saying that they can't
00:27:32.31\00:27:33.85
be a force for good and for God.
00:27:33.95\00:27:35.38
I'm simply saying
00:27:35.48\00:27:36.38
it doesn't happen often enough.
00:27:36.48\00:27:37.62
In fact, on the contrary,
00:27:37.72\00:27:39.25
too often, sports
00:27:39.35\00:27:40.56
are downright harmful.
00:27:40.66\00:27:42.59
For instance, let me give you
00:27:42.69\00:27:43.63
several examples here.
00:27:43.73\00:27:45.29
Potential harms of sports.
00:27:45.39\00:27:47.36
Inappropriate physical injury.
00:27:47.46\00:27:50.03
Now, I'm not talking about
00:27:50.13\00:27:50.97
your run-of-the-mill injury.
00:27:51.07\00:27:51.50
You're running
00:27:51.60\00:27:52.30
across a soccer field
00:27:52.40\00:27:53.17
and you hit something, and you
00:27:53.27\00:27:54.14
sprain your ankle.
00:27:54.24\00:27:55.04
I'm not talking about that.
00:27:55.14\00:27:56.60
It's not just that you get
00:27:56.71\00:27:57.37
an injury in sports
00:27:57.47\00:27:58.41
that could be potentially
00:27:58.51\00:27:59.47
harmful in the spiritual ways
00:27:59.57\00:28:00.78
that I'm talking about here.
00:28:00.88\00:28:02.21
There are more people
00:28:02.31\00:28:03.14
that break something
00:28:03.24\00:28:03.98
getting out of the tub.
00:28:04.08\00:28:05.35
How few there are
00:28:05.45\00:28:06.21
who cease to bathe.
00:28:06.31\00:28:07.85
Okay, so we're not talking about
00:28:07.95\00:28:09.42
just because injuries happen.
00:28:09.52\00:28:10.72
I'm talking about inappropriate
00:28:10.82\00:28:11.95
levels of injury.
00:28:12.05\00:28:13.25
So, for instance, overtraining,
00:28:13.36\00:28:15.82
a zealous devotion to sport
00:28:15.92\00:28:17.69
and a goal, and it just
00:28:17.79\00:28:18.66
dominates the person's life.
00:28:18.76\00:28:19.69
Or maybe there's an overbearing
00:28:19.79\00:28:20.20
coach.
00:28:20.30\00:28:21.36
"Come on, we can do this!"
00:28:21.46\00:28:22.26
And they end up overtraining
00:28:22.36\00:28:23.30
the athlete,
00:28:23.40\00:28:24.20
and they end up with limitations
00:28:24.30\00:28:26.33
and physical injuries
00:28:26.43\00:28:27.50
that last them for the rest
00:28:27.60\00:28:28.37
of their lives.
00:28:28.47\00:28:30.24
And by the way,
00:28:30.34\00:28:31.34
we will glorify this.
00:28:31.44\00:28:32.71
We do it every day
00:28:32.81\00:28:34.31
in the United States.
00:28:34.41\00:28:36.24
The National Football League,
00:28:36.34\00:28:37.51
[Chuckles] sad to say,
00:28:37.61\00:28:39.81
the fact of the matter
00:28:39.91\00:28:40.68
is that an NFL player
00:28:40.78\00:28:42.28
has a life expectancy
00:28:42.38\00:28:43.62
that is 20 years less than
00:28:43.72\00:28:45.45
the average population.
00:28:45.55\00:28:47.02
20 years less.
00:28:47.12\00:28:48.39
And the rate
00:28:48.49\00:28:49.42
of traumatic brain injury --
00:28:49.52\00:28:51.26
I mean, they even gave them
00:28:51.36\00:28:52.29
a new term -- CTEs.
00:28:52.39\00:28:53.76
Maybe you've read about this.
00:28:53.86\00:28:54.86
Their rate of that
00:28:54.96\00:28:55.60
is far greater
00:28:55.70\00:28:57.13
than the general populace,
00:28:57.23\00:28:58.33
and it has a dramatic impact
00:28:58.43\00:29:00.07
on their mental abilities.
00:29:00.17\00:29:02.90
Boxing, mixed martial arts --
00:29:03.00\00:29:05.14
these tend to be
00:29:05.24\00:29:06.54
just very barbaric sports.
00:29:06.64\00:29:08.68
And they inflict injuries on the
00:29:08.78\00:29:10.15
participants that, frankly,
00:29:10.25\00:29:11.75
Christians really ought to think
00:29:11.85\00:29:12.88
twice before participating.
00:29:12.98\00:29:16.95
Another one -- potential harm.
00:29:17.05\00:29:19.62
Athletes can focus so much
00:29:19.72\00:29:21.02
on developing physical skills
00:29:21.12\00:29:22.79
that spiritual and mental growth
00:29:22.89\00:29:24.19
is stunted or even excluded.
00:29:24.29\00:29:27.86
Now, notice this -- Psalm 103:1.
00:29:27.96\00:29:30.17
'Bless the Lord, O my soul,
00:29:30.27\00:29:32.30
and all that is within me."
00:29:32.40\00:29:33.54
How much within me?
00:29:33.64\00:29:34.64
All, it says.
00:29:34.74\00:29:35.97
With "all that is within me,
00:29:36.07\00:29:36.91
bless His Holy Name."
00:29:37.01\00:29:39.17
In other words, there's not
00:29:39.27\00:29:40.18
to be anything that's left out.
00:29:40.28\00:29:41.94
All of our lives,
00:29:42.04\00:29:43.14
all that we are, to the depths
00:29:43.24\00:29:44.68
of our soul, the mental,
00:29:44.78\00:29:46.25
the spiritual, the physical,
00:29:46.35\00:29:47.52
all of this is to be united
00:29:47.62\00:29:49.18
in praising God.
00:29:49.28\00:29:50.85
All of it is to be focused
00:29:50.95\00:29:51.65
on God,
00:29:51.75\00:29:53.09
including when we play sports.
00:29:53.19\00:29:56.12
Well, here's the thing.
00:29:56.22\00:29:57.76
Too many young athletes
00:29:57.86\00:29:59.39
are way better at sports
00:29:59.49\00:30:01.16
than they are at knowing Jesus.
00:30:01.26\00:30:03.23
And I'm talking about Christians
00:30:03.33\00:30:04.17
here.
00:30:04.27\00:30:06.87
There are too many, uh -- Well,
00:30:06.97\00:30:09.54
let's just put it this way.
00:30:09.64\00:30:10.77
At Andrews University,
00:30:10.87\00:30:12.04
we're all okay.
00:30:12.14\00:30:14.31
But I've heard that at other
00:30:14.41\00:30:15.71
universities,
00:30:15.81\00:30:17.25
there are students who can quote
00:30:17.35\00:30:18.71
you chapter and verse for
00:30:18.81\00:30:20.22
their favorite sports figure.
00:30:20.32\00:30:21.45
I mean, their hero figures.
00:30:21.55\00:30:22.52
They know all about it.
00:30:22.62\00:30:23.42
If they've been playing
00:30:23.52\00:30:24.22
for 10 years, they know
00:30:24.32\00:30:25.25
all the stats from all 10.
00:30:25.35\00:30:26.82
"Oh, you remember that? Oh yeah.
00:30:26.92\00:30:27.99
So-and-so did this and that."
00:30:28.09\00:30:29.42
They can quote chapter and verse
00:30:29.52\00:30:30.69
from that, but they can't find
00:30:30.79\00:30:31.66
John 3:16 in the Bible.
00:30:31.76\00:30:34.36
That's not right.
00:30:34.46\00:30:35.70
Not for someone who professes
00:30:35.80\00:30:36.77
Christ as their Lord and Savior.
00:30:36.87\00:30:40.30
That's why Ellen White
00:30:40.40\00:30:41.14
had this to say.
00:30:41.24\00:30:42.17
It's a very simple statement,
00:30:42.27\00:30:43.00
but she's spot-on.
00:30:43.10\00:30:44.51
She says, "The little child
00:30:44.61\00:30:45.67
finds both diversion
00:30:45.77\00:30:47.24
and development in play."
00:30:47.34\00:30:49.54
So play is a good thing here.
00:30:49.64\00:30:51.38
"And his sports should be such
00:30:51.48\00:30:53.68
as to promote not only physical,
00:30:53.78\00:30:55.55
but mental and spiritual
00:30:55.65\00:30:57.12
growth."
00:30:57.22\00:30:58.39
In other words,
00:30:58.49\00:30:59.45
there's no exceptions.
00:30:59.55\00:31:00.62
Just because we step onto
00:31:00.72\00:31:01.86
a soccer field or a basketball
00:31:01.96\00:31:02.82
court or whatever it is,
00:31:02.92\00:31:04.09
that doesn't mean that now
00:31:04.19\00:31:04.93
our Christianity gets
00:31:05.03\00:31:05.59
checked at the door.
00:31:05.69\00:31:06.43
No, all of this is supposed
00:31:06.53\00:31:07.83
to be helping us to know
00:31:07.93\00:31:09.26
God better, that we might
00:31:09.36\00:31:10.50
give glory and praise to Him.
00:31:10.60\00:31:13.27
Number three.
00:31:13.37\00:31:14.84
Consequently,
00:31:14.94\00:31:15.80
"when executed poorly,
00:31:15.90\00:31:17.37
sports can be a major
00:31:17.47\00:31:19.54
distraction away from God
00:31:19.64\00:31:21.64
and His will."
00:31:21.74\00:31:22.94
This is huge.
00:31:23.04\00:31:25.35
You see, people
00:31:25.45\00:31:26.48
when they think about sports,
00:31:26.58\00:31:27.28
a lot of Christians
00:31:27.38\00:31:28.12
in particular, they'll look
00:31:28.22\00:31:28.98
at sports in general and,
00:31:29.08\00:31:30.69
you know, maybe -- whatever,
00:31:30.79\00:31:32.32
a baseball game on TV.
00:31:32.42\00:31:33.49
And they're like, "Well,
00:31:33.59\00:31:34.36
I'm not betting on it,
00:31:34.46\00:31:35.29
and I'm not at the game.
00:31:35.39\00:31:36.46
I'm not drinking, not
00:31:36.56\00:31:37.63
smoking, whatever in there.
00:31:37.73\00:31:38.76
So it must be fine."
00:31:38.86\00:31:41.63
Here's the thing -- the devil
00:31:41.73\00:31:42.90
doesn't care if you're
00:31:43.00\00:31:45.27
full-blown on his side,
00:31:45.37\00:31:48.27
as long as he can keep you
00:31:48.37\00:31:50.04
distracted from God's side.
00:31:50.14\00:31:53.01
That's all it takes.
00:31:53.11\00:31:55.78
When we get to Heaven --
00:31:55.88\00:31:57.95
I don't know how many people,
00:31:58.05\00:31:58.61
but I know
00:31:58.71\00:31:59.41
that there will be some --
00:31:59.51\00:32:01.48
when someone says,
00:32:01.58\00:32:03.18
"Why isn't so-and-so here?"
00:32:03.28\00:32:06.52
the answer will be soccer...
00:32:06.62\00:32:10.33
basketball...
00:32:10.43\00:32:14.50
football.
00:32:14.60\00:32:16.67
Fill in the blank --
00:32:16.77\00:32:18.33
your favorite sport.
00:32:18.43\00:32:20.60
Not because those things
00:32:20.70\00:32:21.57
are inherently evil.
00:32:21.67\00:32:23.10
No, but because they proved
00:32:23.20\00:32:25.71
to be such a distraction
00:32:25.81\00:32:28.01
that people didn't pay attention
00:32:28.11\00:32:30.38
to God.
00:32:30.48\00:32:34.15
Let me be real specific
00:32:34.25\00:32:34.95
about this.
00:32:35.05\00:32:36.69
Some of the distractions here,
00:32:36.79\00:32:37.75
reflected here, notice this.
00:32:37.85\00:32:41.69
It can distract us from prayer.
00:32:41.79\00:32:43.59
The Bible is real clear about
00:32:43.69\00:32:44.63
how much prayer we should have.
00:32:44.73\00:32:45.39
1 Thessalonians 5:17 --
00:32:45.49\00:32:46.76
"Pray without ceasing."
00:32:46.86\00:32:49.03
That's a lot of prayer,
00:32:49.13\00:32:49.56
isn't it?
00:32:49.66\00:32:50.53
And we talked about
00:32:50.63\00:32:51.43
this previously, last year.
00:32:51.53\00:32:52.37
This is not meaning that our
00:32:52.47\00:32:53.30
lips are moving the whole time,
00:32:53.40\00:32:54.24
saying something to God.
00:32:54.34\00:32:55.30
It is to say that 24/7/365,
00:32:55.40\00:32:58.01
we have one ear cocked towards
00:32:58.11\00:32:59.54
Heaven all the time, that we're
00:32:59.64\00:33:01.38
listening for the voice of God.
00:33:01.48\00:33:02.51
We're listening
00:33:02.61\00:33:03.21
for His Holy Spirit
00:33:03.31\00:33:04.31
to be -- that we can be
00:33:04.41\00:33:05.41
available to do whatever it is
00:33:05.51\00:33:06.51
that He asks us to do,
00:33:06.61\00:33:08.82
including when we step
00:33:08.92\00:33:09.85
onto a sports field
00:33:09.95\00:33:10.92
or onto a court somewhere.
00:33:11.02\00:33:11.89
That's maybe
00:33:11.99\00:33:13.29
when we need to listen the more,
00:33:13.39\00:33:14.19
because the potential for
00:33:14.29\00:33:15.36
distraction is so high.
00:33:15.46\00:33:17.73
Another distraction.
00:33:17.83\00:33:19.16
Time and money inappropriately
00:33:19.26\00:33:20.56
diverted away from evangelism.
00:33:20.66\00:33:22.63
Sports can do this.
00:33:22.73\00:33:23.37
They can prove
00:33:23.47\00:33:24.47
to be this kind of distraction.
00:33:24.57\00:33:25.27
What do I mean by this?
00:33:25.37\00:33:26.43
Paul says this.
00:33:26.53\00:33:27.30
Ephesians 5:15-16, he says,
00:33:27.40\00:33:29.37
"Be very careful how you live,
00:33:29.47\00:33:31.77
then -- not as unwise, but as
00:33:31.87\00:33:34.71
wise --" and get this -- "making
00:33:34.81\00:33:36.91
the most of every opportunity,
00:33:37.01\00:33:39.78
because the days are evil."
00:33:39.88\00:33:41.85
You know, I don't know what
00:33:41.95\00:33:44.12
it is with Christians when they
00:33:44.22\00:33:45.42
get out into a sporting event.
00:33:45.52\00:33:46.69
So many times,
00:33:46.79\00:33:48.02
Christians will go out there,
00:33:48.12\00:33:49.22
and it's like everybody
00:33:49.32\00:33:50.16
on the other side,
00:33:50.26\00:33:51.46
on the opposing team,
00:33:51.56\00:33:52.39
is their enemy.
00:33:52.49\00:33:54.73
And what they fail to realize
00:33:54.83\00:33:56.26
is that everybody on that field
00:33:56.36\00:33:57.93
is a potential candidate
00:33:58.03\00:33:58.83
for Heaven.
00:33:58.93\00:34:00.54
Every last one of them,
00:34:00.64\00:34:02.30
even the guy on the other team,
00:34:02.40\00:34:04.81
the lady on the other team
00:34:04.91\00:34:05.87
that just burned you --
00:34:05.97\00:34:07.08
right? -- made you look like a
00:34:07.18\00:34:07.81
fool on the court.
00:34:07.91\00:34:09.31
Yeah, they still need Jesus.
00:34:09.41\00:34:12.25
And what you say to them
00:34:12.35\00:34:13.78
and how you act towards them,
00:34:13.88\00:34:16.08
with you claiming to be
00:34:16.18\00:34:17.15
a Christian, that potentially
00:34:17.25\00:34:20.06
could have an eternal impact
00:34:20.16\00:34:21.26
on that person.
00:34:21.36\00:34:23.26
"Make the most of every
00:34:23.36\00:34:24.53
opportunity," God says.
00:34:24.63\00:34:26.46
Somebody did it for you.
00:34:26.56\00:34:28.20
You need to do it for them.
00:34:28.30\00:34:31.20
There's more.
00:34:31.30\00:34:32.13
This is talking
00:34:32.23\00:34:33.70
about playing or spectating.
00:34:33.80\00:34:35.64
If you stick with distraction
00:34:35.74\00:34:37.77
in sports long enough,
00:34:37.87\00:34:39.11
and you don't throttle it back,
00:34:39.21\00:34:40.61
it will eventually lead
00:34:40.71\00:34:41.74
to obsession.
00:34:41.84\00:34:44.58
The Bible talks about this.
00:34:44.68\00:34:45.81
1 John 2:15-16 says,
00:34:45.91\00:34:47.68
"Do not love the world
00:34:47.78\00:34:48.75
or anything in the world.
00:34:48.85\00:34:49.82
If anyone loves the world,
00:34:49.92\00:34:50.92
the love of the Father
00:34:51.02\00:34:51.92
is not in him.
00:34:52.02\00:34:53.39
For everything in the world --"
00:34:53.49\00:34:54.46
get this list --
00:34:54.56\00:34:55.46
"The cravings of sinful man,
00:34:55.56\00:34:57.06
the lust of his eyes
00:34:57.16\00:34:58.39
and the boasting of what he has
00:34:58.49\00:35:00.40
and does --" Oh, I don't know.
00:35:00.50\00:35:01.76
Do you know any sports figures
00:35:01.86\00:35:02.43
that do that?
00:35:02.53\00:35:03.90
Yeah, I do, right?
00:35:04.00\00:35:06.30
They boast about what they what
00:35:06.40\00:35:07.20
they have, what they've done,
00:35:07.30\00:35:08.04
all these records they've set,
00:35:08.14\00:35:08.74
et cetera.
00:35:08.84\00:35:10.24
This "comes not from the Father,
00:35:10.34\00:35:11.61
but from the world."
00:35:11.71\00:35:14.08
Don't put your love on that.
00:35:14.18\00:35:16.71
You know what the word "fan"
00:35:16.81\00:35:18.48
is short for?
00:35:18.58\00:35:20.42
"Fanatic."
00:35:20.52\00:35:22.72
You know what?
00:35:22.82\00:35:23.59
We're not even
00:35:23.69\00:35:24.65
in favor of fanaticism
00:35:24.75\00:35:26.45
in the religious world,
00:35:26.55\00:35:29.36
much less the sports world.
00:35:29.46\00:35:31.73
Our allegiance belongs to
00:35:31.83\00:35:32.69
Jesus Christ, no one else.
00:35:32.79\00:35:34.10
A fourth potential harm.
00:35:39.07\00:35:40.97
Sports can easily glorify self
00:35:41.07\00:35:42.74
rather than God.
00:35:42.84\00:35:43.97
You're familiar with the famous
00:35:44.07\00:35:45.21
text 1 Corinthians 10:31.
00:35:45.31\00:35:46.81
In fact,
00:35:46.91\00:35:47.51
let's read this together.
00:35:47.61\00:35:48.48
Ready? One, two, three.
00:35:48.58\00:35:50.18
"Whether you eat or drink
00:35:50.28\00:35:52.38
or whatever you do,
00:35:52.48\00:35:54.35
do it all for the glory of God."
00:35:54.45\00:35:56.95
How much for the glory of God?
00:35:57.05\00:35:58.62
All of it. Everything.
00:35:58.72\00:35:59.79
All the stuff that you do,
00:35:59.89\00:36:00.86
whether you're playing sports
00:36:00.96\00:36:01.79
or not, you're in the classroom,
00:36:01.89\00:36:02.46
you're at home,
00:36:02.56\00:36:03.59
you're driving your car,
00:36:03.69\00:36:05.06
you're a basketball star,
00:36:05.16\00:36:06.29
you're a football star,
00:36:06.39\00:36:07.10
whatever it is, soccer,
00:36:07.20\00:36:08.70
all of it's done for the glory
00:36:08.80\00:36:10.13
of God.
00:36:10.23\00:36:12.43
And contrast this.
00:36:12.53\00:36:13.64
Just imagine with me,
00:36:13.74\00:36:14.47
in your mind.
00:36:14.57\00:36:15.47
Imagine that God the Father
00:36:15.57\00:36:16.44
is in Heaven, watching
00:36:16.54\00:36:17.91
the post-victory celebration
00:36:18.01\00:36:20.51
of an NFL team.
00:36:20.61\00:36:22.81
Okay, so, He's looking down
00:36:22.91\00:36:23.85
from his Throne, onto the earth,
00:36:23.95\00:36:24.85
and in some stadium somewhere,
00:36:24.95\00:36:26.15
there's a team
00:36:26.25\00:36:27.72
of 300-pound guys that are
00:36:27.82\00:36:29.32
all jumping up and down.
00:36:29.42\00:36:30.39
They got these big bass voices,
00:36:30.49\00:36:31.15
right?
00:36:31.25\00:36:32.39
"We're the greatest.
00:36:32.49\00:36:34.36
We're the greatest in the world.
00:36:34.46\00:36:35.69
No one's better than us.
00:36:35.79\00:36:37.29
We are the greatest."
00:36:37.39\00:36:41.43
And God the Father looks down
00:36:41.53\00:36:46.00
and He says, "Hey,
00:36:46.10\00:36:47.37
Gabriel, get a load of this."
00:36:47.47\00:36:50.21
"We're the greatest.
00:36:50.31\00:36:52.71
We're the greatest in the
00:36:52.81\00:36:53.88
world."
00:36:53.98\00:36:55.24
Did I hear
00:36:55.34\00:36:56.01
what I thought I heard, Gabe?
00:36:56.11\00:36:57.31
They -- They -- They think that
00:36:57.41\00:36:58.78
because they tossed
00:36:58.88\00:37:00.75
around a dismembered pig
00:37:00.85\00:37:04.35
for an hour and a half, with
00:37:04.45\00:37:06.35
some temporary painted lines
00:37:06.45\00:37:07.66
on fake grass, that they're
00:37:07.76\00:37:08.69
the greatest in the world?"
00:37:08.79\00:37:11.26
"Yes, Father,
00:37:11.36\00:37:11.93
I'm afraid that's true."
00:37:12.03\00:37:16.53
In contrast to such arrogance,
00:37:16.63\00:37:18.60
the Bible counsels us clearly
00:37:18.70\00:37:20.24
to do something quite different.
00:37:20.34\00:37:21.97
Philippians 2:3.
00:37:22.07\00:37:23.57
"Do nothing
00:37:23.67\00:37:25.34
out of selfish ambition."
00:37:25.44\00:37:26.68
How much do we get to do?
00:37:26.78\00:37:27.68
Nothing, it says.
00:37:27.78\00:37:28.68
I mean, it's just,
00:37:28.78\00:37:29.71
you know, straight across,
00:37:29.81\00:37:31.55
"Do nothing out of selfish
00:37:31.65\00:37:32.98
ambition or vain conceit,
00:37:33.08\00:37:34.82
but in humility consider others
00:37:34.92\00:37:36.35
better than yourselves."
00:37:36.45\00:37:37.15
Oh, how different
00:37:37.25\00:37:37.92
the sports world would be
00:37:38.02\00:37:39.15
if this advice were followed.
00:37:39.25\00:37:41.62
I mean, this is night and day
00:37:41.72\00:37:42.52
from so much of what we see,
00:37:42.62\00:37:43.83
whether it's, you know, amateur
00:37:43.93\00:37:44.73
sports or professional sports.
00:37:44.83\00:37:46.56
"Do nothing out of selfish
00:37:46.66\00:37:47.66
ambition or vain conceit,
00:37:47.76\00:37:48.76
but in humility consider others
00:37:48.86\00:37:50.07
better than yourselves."
00:37:50.17\00:37:51.63
Wow!
00:37:51.73\00:37:54.44
And I got to tell you,
00:37:54.54\00:37:55.54
this kind of conceit is such
00:37:55.64\00:37:57.07
a temptation for young athletes
00:37:57.17\00:37:59.31
that I need to pause here
00:37:59.41\00:38:00.18
and tell a story.
00:38:00.28\00:38:02.74
Because if you adopt
00:38:02.84\00:38:04.25
a self-centered attitude
00:38:04.35\00:38:06.45
in any part of your life,
00:38:06.55\00:38:07.52
but perhaps particularly in
00:38:07.62\00:38:08.98
your sports, sooner or later
00:38:09.08\00:38:10.89
it will catch up with you
00:38:10.99\00:38:12.19
and it will not end well.
00:38:12.29\00:38:14.02
Ye, verily,
00:38:17.76\00:38:18.69
in the last millennium,
00:38:18.79\00:38:19.63
when I was in high school,
00:38:19.73\00:38:20.93
I went
00:38:21.00\00:38:22.46
to three different high schools.
00:38:22.56\00:38:23.26
I won't tell you which one
00:38:23.37\00:38:24.10
this was, okay?
00:38:24.20\00:38:25.53
And I won't tell you the true
00:38:25.63\00:38:26.30
name of the gentlemen
00:38:26.40\00:38:27.90
that's involved in this story.
00:38:28.00\00:38:28.80
I'm just going to call him
00:38:28.90\00:38:29.44
Robert, okay?
00:38:29.54\00:38:31.01
So, Robert
00:38:31.11\00:38:34.41
was one of hundreds of students
00:38:34.51\00:38:36.28
that were at our school
00:38:36.38\00:38:36.98
at that particular time.
00:38:37.08\00:38:37.98
It was wintertime
00:38:38.08\00:38:38.91
when this story takes place.
00:38:39.01\00:38:39.88
It was colder outside,
00:38:39.98\00:38:40.88
so we were inside.
00:38:40.98\00:38:41.75
It was Saturday night
00:38:41.85\00:38:42.62
and it was open rec, and
00:38:42.72\00:38:44.25
there was all kinds of students.
00:38:44.35\00:38:45.72
And this is back in the days,
00:38:45.82\00:38:46.59
you know, we had 500,
00:38:46.69\00:38:47.29
550 kids or whatnot.
00:38:47.39\00:38:48.86
And so the gym was packed,
00:38:48.96\00:38:49.76
even though it was huge.
00:38:49.86\00:38:50.99
And where I was at,
00:38:51.09\00:38:52.06
we were playing basketball.
00:38:52.16\00:38:52.96
It was just kind of
00:38:53.06\00:38:53.70
three-on-three
00:38:53.80\00:38:54.50
pickup games there.
00:38:54.60\00:38:55.50
And we only had one basket
00:38:55.60\00:38:56.67
to our name, because, again,
00:38:56.77\00:38:57.43
there's so many
00:38:57.53\00:38:58.43
other students in the gym.
00:38:58.53\00:39:00.07
And so I get two other guys
00:39:00.17\00:39:01.47
with me, and we line up against
00:39:01.57\00:39:02.87
the wall, we get in line,
00:39:02.97\00:39:03.87
and finally we have next.
00:39:03.97\00:39:05.71
The game finishes,
00:39:05.81\00:39:07.08
and the winning team comes over.
00:39:07.18\00:39:08.41
Well, for whatever reason,
00:39:08.51\00:39:09.98
I had not been paying attention
00:39:10.08\00:39:11.05
to who was playing
00:39:11.15\00:39:12.25
on this winning team.
00:39:12.35\00:39:13.62
And now I saw that
00:39:13.72\00:39:15.95
one of the players was Robert.
00:39:16.05\00:39:19.59
I thought, "Oh, no. Oh, no."
00:39:19.69\00:39:23.26
Because, you see, there were
00:39:23.36\00:39:24.39
two things about Robert
00:39:24.49\00:39:26.13
that distinguished him.
00:39:26.23\00:39:26.86
Number one, he was quite
00:39:26.96\00:39:28.30
a good basketball player.
00:39:28.40\00:39:30.30
He's quite good, one of the best
00:39:30.40\00:39:31.10
in the school.
00:39:31.20\00:39:32.70
And number two, he was the king
00:39:32.80\00:39:34.50
of trash-talking.
00:39:34.60\00:39:36.47
Okay, now, some of you may
00:39:36.57\00:39:37.87
not know what trash-talking is.
00:39:37.97\00:39:38.97
It's a fairly self-descriptive
00:39:39.07\00:39:40.38
phrase, and I'm not going to
00:39:40.48\00:39:42.18
give you NBA-grade examples,
00:39:42.28\00:39:43.71
because this is a family show
00:39:43.81\00:39:44.35
and we're not
00:39:44.45\00:39:45.35
going to do that here.
00:39:45.45\00:39:46.75
Trash-talking is where you talk
00:39:46.85\00:39:48.28
to your opponent, and usually
00:39:48.38\00:39:49.58
it's constantly.
00:39:49.68\00:39:50.42
It's like this just this
00:39:50.52\00:39:51.62
dribble that just goes,
00:39:51.72\00:39:52.89
"You can't play. I'm the best.
00:39:52.99\00:39:54.36
There's no way
00:39:54.46\00:39:55.52
you can guard me,"
00:39:55.62\00:39:56.49
all this kind of stuff.
00:39:56.59\00:39:57.23
They make comments
00:39:57.33\00:39:58.69
about the lineage of your mother
00:39:58.79\00:39:59.93
and this kind of stuff.
00:40:00.03\00:40:01.06
That's what trash-talk is,
00:40:01.16\00:40:02.03
right?
00:40:02.13\00:40:03.30
And Robert
00:40:03.40\00:40:04.60
was, like, the king of this.
00:40:04.70\00:40:05.57
He just did -- I mean,
00:40:05.67\00:40:06.57
I hated to play with him.
00:40:06.67\00:40:09.04
And so we get on the court
00:40:09.14\00:40:10.01
and we're matching up,
00:40:10.11\00:40:10.71
and I'm like, "Okay,
00:40:10.81\00:40:11.81
I'm just going to come over here
00:40:11.91\00:40:12.71
so I don't have to take Robert."
00:40:12.81\00:40:13.54
Sure enough, one of the other
00:40:13.64\00:40:14.34
guys on my team took him.
00:40:14.44\00:40:15.34
Like, "Okay, maybe I don't
00:40:15.44\00:40:16.81
have to mess with him."
00:40:16.91\00:40:17.88
So, we start the game.
00:40:17.98\00:40:20.18
I have no idea who won.
00:40:20.28\00:40:22.98
I don't remember anything else
00:40:23.08\00:40:23.82
about the game except what
00:40:23.92\00:40:24.69
I'm about to tell you.
00:40:24.79\00:40:27.26
At some point, I was just beyond
00:40:27.36\00:40:29.12
the top of the key,
00:40:29.22\00:40:30.53
and one of my teammates
00:40:30.63\00:40:31.86
tossed me the ball.
00:40:31.96\00:40:33.53
And to my surprise,
00:40:33.63\00:40:34.76
the lane was open
00:40:34.86\00:40:35.70
between me and the hoop.
00:40:35.80\00:40:36.97
Surprised because, I mean,
00:40:37.07\00:40:37.83
there's volleyballs
00:40:37.93\00:40:38.50
going across here
00:40:38.60\00:40:39.30
and people running across.
00:40:39.40\00:40:40.27
This is wide-open,
00:40:40.37\00:40:41.37
even in this cramped gym.
00:40:41.47\00:40:42.30
Like, "Ah, perfect!"
00:40:42.40\00:40:43.61
Fake left, go right,
00:40:43.71\00:40:45.87
blow by my defender.
00:40:45.97\00:40:47.01
I head towards the hoop there
00:40:47.11\00:40:48.41
to make this clear layup,
00:40:48.51\00:40:49.78
and I jump up to
00:40:49.88\00:40:51.28
lay the ball off the back
00:40:51.38\00:40:52.51
of the backboard.
00:40:52.61\00:40:54.42
And just at that time,
00:40:54.52\00:40:57.22
I saw the hand...
00:40:57.32\00:41:01.69
and the arm
00:41:01.79\00:41:04.99
and the body that belonged
00:41:05.09\00:41:06.90
to trash-talking Robert.
00:41:07.00\00:41:08.86
Unbeknownst to me,
00:41:08.96\00:41:10.10
somehow in the crowd --
00:41:10.20\00:41:11.03
You know, I had not caught him.
00:41:11.13\00:41:11.80
There's too many people.
00:41:11.90\00:41:12.73
I didn't differentiate him.
00:41:12.83\00:41:13.64
Didn't see it in my
00:41:13.74\00:41:14.94
left field of vision here.
00:41:15.04\00:41:16.27
He had seen me break
00:41:16.37\00:41:17.64
towards the hoop and had left
00:41:17.74\00:41:18.87
his man sprinted towards,
00:41:18.97\00:41:20.48
and he, too, had jumped.
00:41:20.58\00:41:21.91
So, this takes a little
00:41:22.01\00:41:22.51
while to tell,
00:41:22.61\00:41:23.35
but it was all happening,
00:41:23.45\00:41:23.98
obviously, very fast.
00:41:24.08\00:41:25.25
I am headed up like this, and
00:41:25.35\00:41:27.02
here comes Robert with his hand.
00:41:27.12\00:41:28.38
I can see it out of the corner
00:41:28.48\00:41:29.32
of my eye, and I think to
00:41:29.42\00:41:30.72
myself, "No, no, no, no, no, no,
00:41:30.82\00:41:31.85
no, no.
00:41:31.95\00:41:32.75
If Robert blocks my shot,
00:41:32.85\00:41:34.32
I will hear about it
00:41:34.42\00:41:36.26
until three days after I'm dead.
00:41:36.36\00:41:38.53
I mean, he's just going to go.
00:41:38.63\00:41:39.66
He'll tell everybody on his
00:41:39.76\00:41:40.80
hall, everybody in the cafeteria
00:41:40.90\00:41:42.16
for the next three weeks.
00:41:42.26\00:41:43.03
'Oh, I stopped Shane!
00:41:43.13\00:41:44.20
Did you see that?'
00:41:44.30\00:41:45.33
Oh, anything but that."
00:41:45.43\00:41:47.20
So, instinctively, I reach up
00:41:47.30\00:41:48.34
a little higher.
00:41:48.44\00:41:49.37
You're trying to get it
00:41:49.47\00:41:50.41
out of the reach of his hand.
00:41:50.51\00:41:51.21
He was good. He had hops.
00:41:51.31\00:41:52.97
He's coming up like this.
00:41:53.07\00:41:54.11
Hand higher, higher, high.
00:41:54.21\00:41:55.34
I'm now just as high as
00:41:55.44\00:41:56.54
I can possibly go...
00:41:56.64\00:41:59.18
when I feel some cold steel
00:41:59.28\00:42:01.85
right about here.
00:42:01.95\00:42:04.52
And instinct took over,
00:42:04.62\00:42:05.72
and I cocked my wrist,
00:42:05.82\00:42:07.59
and I dunked right over
00:42:07.69\00:42:08.92
the top of trash-talking Robert.
00:42:09.02\00:42:11.59
[ Light laughter ]
00:42:11.69\00:42:14.10
[ Applause ]
00:42:14.20\00:42:15.16
[ Laughing ]
00:42:15.26\00:42:19.13
And to my shock, I don't know,
00:42:23.57\00:42:26.71
100 students did exactly
00:42:26.81\00:42:28.44
what you just did.
00:42:28.54\00:42:29.81
[ Laughter ]
00:42:29.91\00:42:30.98
Not because of my great play,
00:42:31.08\00:42:32.21
but because trash-talking
00:42:32.31\00:42:33.55
Robert had just been slammed
00:42:33.65\00:42:34.78
back down to earth.
00:42:34.88\00:42:35.85
Okay?
00:42:35.95\00:42:37.09
Because they'd all heard
00:42:37.19\00:42:38.12
from him, too, right?
00:42:38.22\00:42:39.79
Now, this is not
00:42:39.89\00:42:41.16
a positive reflection on me.
00:42:41.26\00:42:42.49
That was an accident.
00:42:42.59\00:42:44.66
This was not skill on my part,
00:42:44.76\00:42:45.69
alright?
00:42:45.79\00:42:46.43
I was just trying
00:42:46.53\00:42:47.23
to escape trash-talking for
00:42:47.36\00:42:48.16
the next three years of my life.
00:42:48.26\00:42:48.90
Okay?
00:42:49.00\00:42:50.13
And there, the guy
00:42:50.23\00:42:52.57
who thought he was the greatest
00:42:52.67\00:42:55.50
had just been reduced
00:42:55.60\00:42:57.77
to a proper size.
00:42:57.87\00:43:02.71
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:43:02.81\00:43:03.75
particularly those of you
00:43:03.85\00:43:04.51
that are athletes,
00:43:04.61\00:43:05.58
hear it and hear it well.
00:43:05.68\00:43:07.92
Winning a game
00:43:08.02\00:43:10.59
doesn't make you great.
00:43:10.69\00:43:14.46
Winning a league championship
00:43:14.56\00:43:16.86
doesn't make you great.
00:43:16.96\00:43:19.56
Winning the NBA finals
00:43:19.66\00:43:21.40
doesn't make you great.
00:43:21.50\00:43:22.90
Winning the World Cup
00:43:23.00\00:43:24.20
doesn't make you great.
00:43:24.30\00:43:26.10
What makes you great
00:43:26.20\00:43:27.80
is one thing.
00:43:27.90\00:43:29.07
Knowing Jesus Christ.
00:43:29.17\00:43:31.14
He alone
00:43:31.24\00:43:32.71
is the source of true greatness.
00:43:32.81\00:43:34.38
Only in Christ are we elevated.
00:43:34.48\00:43:36.14
We said we sit there
00:43:36.24\00:43:37.38
at the right hand of the Father,
00:43:37.48\00:43:38.48
with Jesus Christ.
00:43:38.58\00:43:39.31
Only in Jesus
00:43:39.41\00:43:40.72
is true greatness found.
00:43:40.82\00:43:43.22
And if you're trying to find it
00:43:43.32\00:43:44.65
in sports, and your performance
00:43:44.75\00:43:46.12
and your stats and likes
00:43:46.22\00:43:47.56
and whatnot, all of that stuff,
00:43:47.66\00:43:48.66
you will be sadly disappointed
00:43:48.76\00:43:51.83
because that only leads to death
00:43:51.93\00:43:54.10
and discouragement,
00:43:54.20\00:43:56.00
and all you'll find
00:43:56.10\00:43:57.03
are fair-weather friends
00:43:57.13\00:43:58.00
that happen to like you
00:43:58.10\00:43:58.90
because of a few numbers
00:43:59.00\00:44:00.10
on a piece of paper somewhere.
00:44:00.20\00:44:02.10
Jesus Christ
00:44:02.20\00:44:03.87
is the solution, not sports.
00:44:03.97\00:44:06.37
My prayer for Robert
00:44:06.47\00:44:07.71
is that that was
00:44:07.81\00:44:08.58
a turning point for him.
00:44:08.68\00:44:09.34
I don't know.
00:44:09.44\00:44:10.31
I don't know what happened
00:44:10.41\00:44:11.15
after that.
00:44:11.25\00:44:12.68
My prayer for him is that
00:44:12.78\00:44:13.98
that was a time
00:44:14.08\00:44:15.35
of change, in which he said,
00:44:15.45\00:44:17.32
"I no longer want to be great
00:44:17.42\00:44:18.55
in the eyes of my peers
00:44:18.65\00:44:19.99
because of my sports.
00:44:20.09\00:44:21.69
There's something
00:44:21.79\00:44:22.56
better than that."
00:44:22.66\00:44:24.19
And having said all of that,
00:44:29.00\00:44:31.83
some of you are probably
00:44:31.93\00:44:32.73
wondering how sports
00:44:32.83\00:44:35.44
could possibly hold a place
00:44:35.54\00:44:37.07
at any Christian school
00:44:37.17\00:44:39.47
because of all the potential
00:44:39.57\00:44:40.28
harms that could happen.
00:44:40.38\00:44:43.81
The truth is, I think they can.
00:44:43.91\00:44:47.42
I think that sports can have
00:44:47.52\00:44:50.15
a rightful place,
00:44:50.25\00:44:51.15
a positive place,
00:44:51.25\00:44:52.29
a spiritually healthy place
00:44:52.39\00:44:54.39
in a Christian school.
00:44:54.49\00:44:56.12
You say, "Well, why do you say
00:44:56.22\00:44:57.26
that, given what you've
00:44:57.36\00:44:57.99
just said?"
00:44:58.09\00:44:58.89
I say it because of this.
00:44:58.99\00:44:59.76
Because of the benefits.
00:44:59.86\00:45:02.03
When sports are conducted --
00:45:02.13\00:45:04.03
key word here "appropriately."
00:45:04.13\00:45:06.57
When sports are conducted
00:45:06.67\00:45:07.70
appropriately, the benefits,
00:45:07.80\00:45:09.74
the blessings that they bring,
00:45:09.84\00:45:10.74
including spiritually,
00:45:10.84\00:45:11.61
can be real and many.
00:45:11.71\00:45:13.74
For instance, let me put some up
00:45:13.84\00:45:14.48
on the screen here.
00:45:14.58\00:45:15.78
Potential benefit
00:45:15.88\00:45:16.51
of sports here.
00:45:16.61\00:45:17.48
Number one, sports can be
00:45:17.58\00:45:18.45
enjoyable.
00:45:18.55\00:45:21.68
This is a good thing.
00:45:21.78\00:45:23.42
Now, some of you think
00:45:23.52\00:45:24.69
this is false advertising,
00:45:24.79\00:45:25.82
because, again, this picture
00:45:25.92\00:45:26.99
of God doesn't include enjoyment
00:45:27.09\00:45:28.09
or happiness or whatnot.
00:45:28.19\00:45:28.89
So let me just help you out
00:45:28.99\00:45:30.19
a little bit here, right?
00:45:30.29\00:45:31.19
Sports can be enjoyable.
00:45:31.29\00:45:32.29
This is a good thing.
00:45:32.39\00:45:33.23
"Adventist Home," page 513,
00:45:33.33\00:45:34.93
"Let us never lose sight
00:45:35.00\00:45:36.03
of the fact that
00:45:36.13\00:45:36.97
Jesus is a wellspring of joy.
00:45:37.07\00:45:39.17
He does not delight
00:45:39.27\00:45:40.20
in the misery of human beings,
00:45:40.30\00:45:41.60
but loves to see them --"
00:45:41.70\00:45:42.67
what's that last word? --
00:45:42.77\00:45:43.30
"happy."
00:45:43.41\00:45:43.97
That's good news, isn't it?
00:45:44.91\00:45:45.84
Right? Loves to see them happy.
00:45:45.94\00:45:47.34
Well, there's been many,
00:45:47.44\00:45:48.61
many times
00:45:48.71\00:45:49.68
I've been happy playing sports.
00:45:49.78\00:45:51.11
It's a great time of fellowship
00:45:51.21\00:45:51.61
and fun
00:45:51.71\00:45:52.58
and all this type of thing.
00:45:52.68\00:45:53.55
How about this?
00:45:53.65\00:45:55.02
"Adventist Home," page 497.
00:45:55.12\00:45:55.98
"God loves to make the youth
00:45:56.08\00:45:57.89
happy."
00:45:57.99\00:45:58.75
There's that word again.
00:45:58.85\00:45:59.89
"Pure enjoyment will not debase
00:46:00.06\00:46:01.42
one of God's gifts."
00:46:01.52\00:46:03.93
And here's a quotation,
00:46:04.03\00:46:04.99
this next one, for those
00:46:05.09\00:46:06.39
particularly who are concerned
00:46:06.49\00:46:07.96
about the end of time
00:46:08.03\00:46:09.00
and the days that we live in.
00:46:09.10\00:46:10.07
That's a concern I share, too.
00:46:10.17\00:46:11.37
I think Jesus is coming soon.
00:46:11.47\00:46:12.53
We need to be ready, we need
00:46:12.63\00:46:13.34
to help others get ready.
00:46:13.44\00:46:14.57
And some people have said,
00:46:14.67\00:46:15.64
"Well, what that means is,
00:46:15.74\00:46:16.71
everything else
00:46:16.81\00:46:18.07
just gets shoved to the side.
00:46:18.17\00:46:19.64
We're going to be laser-like,
00:46:19.74\00:46:20.58
focused on church,
00:46:20.68\00:46:21.98
religion, et cetera."
00:46:22.08\00:46:23.58
Here's what she has to say.
00:46:23.68\00:46:24.88
"Testimonies, Volume 1,"
00:46:24.98\00:46:25.51
page 514.
00:46:25.61\00:46:26.85
"Recreation is needful
00:46:26.95\00:46:28.98
to those who are engaged
00:46:29.08\00:46:30.22
in physical labor,
00:46:30.32\00:46:31.35
and is still more
00:46:31.45\00:46:33.15
essential for those whose labor
00:46:33.25\00:46:34.62
is principally mental."
00:46:34.72\00:46:36.86
Students, are you listening?
00:46:36.96\00:46:38.73
"It is not essential
00:46:38.83\00:46:40.00
to our salvation,
00:46:40.10\00:46:41.26
nor for the glory of God,
00:46:41.36\00:46:43.06
to keep the mind laboring
00:46:43.16\00:46:44.60
constantly and excessively,
00:46:44.70\00:46:46.10
even upon religious themes."
00:46:46.20\00:46:48.44
Wow!
00:46:48.54\00:46:49.84
And you thought
00:46:49.94\00:46:51.31
she never had any fun.
00:46:51.41\00:46:52.27
Pbht.
00:46:52.37\00:46:54.21
What she's saying -- Let me just
00:46:54.31\00:46:54.48
be crystal clear about this --
00:46:55.54\00:46:56.11
sometimes you need
00:46:56.21\00:46:57.18
to lay your Bible down
00:46:57.28\00:46:58.61
and go play a game, because
00:46:58.71\00:47:01.28
it's what's best for you.
00:47:01.38\00:47:02.22
We are not just machines
00:47:02.32\00:47:04.42
for God's joystick to control.
00:47:04.52\00:47:06.02
No, no, no, no, no, we are
00:47:06.12\00:47:07.49
live people with real minds
00:47:07.59\00:47:09.59
that need to be taken care of
00:47:09.69\00:47:10.56
in a balanced fashion.
00:47:10.66\00:47:12.29
Sports are enjoyable.
00:47:12.39\00:47:14.00
That can be healthy.
00:47:14.10\00:47:15.03
Number two.
00:47:15.13\00:47:16.10
Oh, excuse me,
00:47:16.20\00:47:16.90
I almost forgot this.
00:47:17.00\00:47:17.57
Zechariah 8:5.
00:47:17.67\00:47:18.67
Even the Bible talks about, "The
00:47:18.77\00:47:20.00
city streets --" this is
00:47:20.10\00:47:21.10
talking about the New Jerusalem,
00:47:21.20\00:47:21.87
Jerusalem made new --
00:47:21.97\00:47:22.64
"will be filled with boys
00:47:22.74\00:47:23.67
and girls playing there."
00:47:23.77\00:47:26.21
You know, this is just
00:47:26.31\00:47:26.91
the Gospel according to Shane.
00:47:27.01\00:47:28.34
But part of me genuinely wonders
00:47:28.44\00:47:29.88
could it be
00:47:29.98\00:47:30.75
that during the millennium,
00:47:30.85\00:47:32.05
we will rediscover play --
00:47:32.15\00:47:34.35
the joy and the innocence
00:47:34.45\00:47:36.85
that our children find?
00:47:36.95\00:47:38.09
We lose that, don't we?
00:47:38.19\00:47:39.55
We lose that as we get older.
00:47:39.65\00:47:40.52
Could it be that, the
00:47:40.62\00:47:41.66
millennium, we will play more
00:47:41.76\00:47:42.82
than we ever did here on Earth?
00:47:42.92\00:47:43.76
Just a thought, just a thought.
00:47:43.86\00:47:46.83
Number two -- playing sports
00:47:46.93\00:47:47.86
can bring health benefits,
00:47:47.96\00:47:49.00
both now and for life,
00:47:49.10\00:47:50.20
physically speaking.
00:47:50.30\00:47:51.77
Now, this may sound obvious
00:47:51.87\00:47:52.53
to some, but
00:47:52.63\00:47:53.74
let's just be honest.
00:47:53.84\00:47:54.80
Me still playing
00:47:54.90\00:47:56.27
sports at my age is unusual.
00:47:56.37\00:47:59.67
Most of my classmates have
00:47:59.77\00:48:01.34
descended to the couch long ago.
00:48:01.44\00:48:02.84
Okay?
00:48:02.94\00:48:04.65
And it's not because I'm
00:48:04.75\00:48:05.68
magic or something like that.
00:48:05.78\00:48:06.51
This is something I enjoy.
00:48:06.61\00:48:07.98
It also has the benefit
00:48:08.08\00:48:08.85
of helping
00:48:08.95\00:48:09.92
to keep me in shape, right?
00:48:10.02\00:48:11.02
Such as the shape is, right?
00:48:11.12\00:48:13.15
You know, there is something
00:48:13.25\00:48:14.79
pathetic about 80,000 people
00:48:14.89\00:48:16.99
who are out of shape,
00:48:17.09\00:48:17.79
sitting in a stadium
00:48:17.89\00:48:18.83
watching 10 guys
00:48:18.93\00:48:20.33
or whatever that are in shape
00:48:20.43\00:48:21.63
do their thing.
00:48:21.73\00:48:23.63
We can do better than this,
00:48:23.73\00:48:24.97
right?
00:48:25.07\00:48:25.93
And sports can be a way to
00:48:26.03\00:48:28.34
engage in lifetime fitness.
00:48:28.44\00:48:31.87
And remember, so important.
00:48:31.97\00:48:35.34
The Bible tells me,
00:48:35.44\00:48:36.44
1 Corinthians 6, that --
00:48:36.54\00:48:38.41
Paul says, "Don't you know that
00:48:38.51\00:48:40.25
our bodies are the temple
00:48:40.35\00:48:40.88
of -- who?
00:48:40.98\00:48:42.85
The Holy Spirit, God.
00:48:42.95\00:48:43.79
That's right. God lives here.
00:48:43.89\00:48:45.12
This is the whole purpose
00:48:45.22\00:48:46.02
of the health message
00:48:46.12\00:48:46.79
in the Adventist Church.
00:48:46.89\00:48:48.49
The primary goal of the health
00:48:48.59\00:48:50.13
message is so that our brains
00:48:50.23\00:48:51.29
can hear God.
00:48:51.39\00:48:53.73
Keep the body physically fit
00:48:53.83\00:48:55.46
so that your mind can hear
00:48:55.56\00:48:56.80
the Holy Spirit speak.
00:48:56.90\00:48:58.57
If your body is sick, you can
00:48:58.67\00:49:00.07
hear the spirit that much less.
00:49:00.17\00:49:01.87
It's not a sin to be sick,
00:49:01.97\00:49:03.20
but it is a sin to be sicker
00:49:03.30\00:49:04.17
than you need to be.
00:49:04.27\00:49:06.81
So when it comes
00:49:06.91\00:49:07.51
to doing sports, hey,
00:49:07.61\00:49:09.08
there's some great benefit here.
00:49:09.18\00:49:09.91
Did you know
00:49:10.01\00:49:10.78
that Berrien Springs
00:49:10.88\00:49:11.81
has its own pickleball app?
00:49:11.91\00:49:14.22
Yeah.
00:49:14.32\00:49:16.55
Now, don't let that
00:49:16.65\00:49:17.89
be the only thing you remember
00:49:17.99\00:49:18.79
from this sermon, alright?
00:49:18.89\00:49:19.69
But, I mean, in other words,
00:49:19.79\00:49:21.29
there are people around here --
00:49:21.39\00:49:22.36
I'm going to guess like
00:49:22.46\00:49:23.29
50% Adventist -- that are like,
00:49:23.39\00:49:24.69
"Yeah, we want to keep staying
00:49:24.79\00:49:25.83
in shape, we want to do this.
00:49:25.93\00:49:26.73
Sports are a good thing.
00:49:26.83\00:49:27.76
It'll help to keep us fit,
00:49:27.86\00:49:28.96
in the right shape, et cetera."
00:49:29.06\00:49:30.33
We need to be doing this.
00:49:30.43\00:49:33.23
In fact, gentlemen, I'm going
00:49:33.34\00:49:36.64
to pick on you for a moment.
00:49:36.74\00:49:38.14
Okay?
00:49:38.24\00:49:40.81
For every female sports fanatic,
00:49:40.91\00:49:44.11
there's 100 males.
00:49:44.21\00:49:45.05
Okay?
00:49:45.15\00:49:46.51
Ladies,
00:49:46.61\00:49:47.55
you have your other vices.
00:49:47.65\00:49:48.38
We'll talk about
00:49:48.48\00:49:49.42
that another time, okay?
00:49:49.52\00:49:51.15
But, gentlemen, when they
00:49:51.25\00:49:52.42
talk about couch potatoes,
00:49:52.52\00:49:53.56
rare is the person
00:49:53.66\00:49:54.59
that pictures a female.
00:49:54.69\00:49:55.72
They're looking at you, alright?
00:49:55.82\00:49:57.19
They're looking at me.
00:49:57.29\00:49:59.39
And you need to take
00:49:59.49\00:50:00.53
a close look at the amount
00:50:00.63\00:50:02.50
of time and energy and money
00:50:02.60\00:50:03.87
that you're investing in sports.
00:50:03.97\00:50:06.27
It's not a sin to go
00:50:06.37\00:50:07.14
to a ballgame, okay?
00:50:07.24\00:50:09.67
But if this is dominating
00:50:09.77\00:50:11.17
your life, if the only thing
00:50:11.27\00:50:12.91
that's getting you out of bed
00:50:13.01\00:50:13.81
in the morning is your tee time,
00:50:13.91\00:50:15.54
or that you're going to do this,
00:50:15.64\00:50:17.81
or you're going to do that,
00:50:17.91\00:50:18.85
and maybe you're sacrificing
00:50:18.95\00:50:19.78
other things
00:50:19.88\00:50:20.48
that need attention --
00:50:20.58\00:50:21.82
Maybe your wife, for instance,
00:50:21.92\00:50:23.62
is being sacrificed in the time
00:50:23.72\00:50:25.22
that ought to be spent with her
00:50:25.32\00:50:26.39
or with your children or
00:50:26.49\00:50:27.79
students, with your friends --
00:50:27.89\00:50:29.62
and instead you're sacrificing
00:50:29.72\00:50:31.13
it on the altar of sports.
00:50:31.23\00:50:34.00
Gentlemen, look carefully.
00:50:34.10\00:50:35.93
Look carefully.
00:50:36.03\00:50:37.50
Again, in the millennium,
00:50:37.60\00:50:38.73
the reasons listed
00:50:38.83\00:50:40.27
for why some people aren't there
00:50:40.37\00:50:41.37
will include sports.
00:50:41.47\00:50:43.20
Don't let it happen to you.
00:50:43.30\00:50:45.37
Don't let it happen to you.
00:50:45.47\00:50:47.21
Make sure that everybody knows
00:50:47.31\00:50:49.11
that Jesus,
00:50:49.21\00:50:50.98
your spouse if you have one,
00:50:51.08\00:50:52.58
your children if you have them,
00:50:52.68\00:50:53.98
are first in your life,
00:50:54.08\00:50:57.05
not sports.
00:50:57.15\00:51:00.79
Another benefit -- sports
00:51:00.89\00:51:03.53
can help teach self-control
00:51:03.63\00:51:04.96
and self-discipline.
00:51:05.06\00:51:05.79
This is huge.
00:51:05.89\00:51:07.50
1 Peter puts it this way.
00:51:07.60\00:51:08.43
Peter says, chapter 5,
00:51:08.53\00:51:09.60
verses 8 and 9, "Be
00:51:09.70\00:51:11.00
self-controlled and alert.
00:51:11.10\00:51:12.73
Your enemy the devil prowls
00:51:12.83\00:51:14.00
around like a roaring lion
00:51:14.10\00:51:15.20
looking for someone to devour.
00:51:15.30\00:51:16.37
Resist him,
00:51:16.47\00:51:17.41
standing firm in the faith."
00:51:17.51\00:51:18.84
Do you see what he's done here?
00:51:18.94\00:51:20.04
He is essentially tying
00:51:20.14\00:51:21.14
self-control
00:51:21.24\00:51:22.38
to obtaining victory
00:51:22.48\00:51:23.55
over Satan's temptations.
00:51:23.65\00:51:25.28
That's huge.
00:51:25.38\00:51:26.51
There are so many
00:51:26.61\00:51:27.65
people in the world today
00:51:27.75\00:51:28.52
that don't have self-control.
00:51:28.62\00:51:29.78
But sports, rightly done,
00:51:29.88\00:51:30.95
can help to teach that.
00:51:31.05\00:51:33.89
Number four -- rightly done,
00:51:33.99\00:51:34.96
sports can help us cooperate
00:51:35.06\00:51:36.36
more and compete less.
00:51:36.46\00:51:38.39
The Bible says this --
00:51:38.49\00:51:39.73
Philippians 1:27 --
00:51:39.83\00:51:40.03
"Whatever happens --" Paul
00:51:42.20\00:51:42.90
says -- "conduct yourselves in
00:51:43.00\00:51:44.00
a manner worthy of
00:51:44.10\00:51:45.03
the Gospel of Christ."
00:51:45.13\00:51:45.77
We say, "Well, Paul,
00:51:45.87\00:51:46.53
what does that look like?
00:51:46.63\00:51:47.70
"Then, whether I come and see
00:51:47.80\00:51:49.14
you or only hear
00:51:49.24\00:51:50.21
about you in my absence,
00:51:50.31\00:51:51.34
I will know that you stand
00:51:51.44\00:51:52.77
firm in one spirit --"
00:51:52.87\00:51:54.44
how many spirit? --
00:51:54.54\00:51:55.41
just one -- "contending
00:51:55.51\00:51:56.51
as one person
00:51:56.61\00:51:58.65
for the faith of the Gospel."
00:51:58.75\00:51:59.88
In other words,
00:52:00.05\00:52:00.62
we are to do teamwork.
00:52:00.72\00:52:01.58
We're to work together.
00:52:01.68\00:52:02.38
There's to be harmony
00:52:02.48\00:52:03.12
in the church.
00:52:03.22\00:52:03.92
One of the hallmarks of genuine
00:52:04.02\00:52:05.22
Christianity is genuine
00:52:05.32\00:52:06.76
community amongst the members.
00:52:06.86\00:52:09.39
Sports can be a help
00:52:09.49\00:52:10.19
in teaching that.
00:52:10.29\00:52:12.09
And lastly, number five --
00:52:12.19\00:52:13.60
rightly done,
00:52:13.70\00:52:14.93
sports can be one more tool to
00:52:15.00\00:52:16.30
help develop the habit of doing
00:52:16.40\00:52:18.10
everything for the glory of God.
00:52:18.20\00:52:20.60
And listen carefully.
00:52:20.70\00:52:22.14
If you get this right in sports,
00:52:22.24\00:52:26.37
it gathers an inordinate amount
00:52:26.47\00:52:28.61
of positive attention.
00:52:28.71\00:52:29.74
Why?
00:52:29.84\00:52:32.05
Because sports in particular
00:52:32.15\00:52:33.85
is filled with conceit
00:52:33.95\00:52:35.12
a lot of the time.
00:52:35.22\00:52:37.02
So when there is a genuine
00:52:37.12\00:52:38.19
Christian who shows genuine care
00:52:38.29\00:52:41.02
and honesty and compassion,
00:52:41.12\00:52:42.96
even, in their play, you better
00:52:43.06\00:52:45.66
believe people notice it.
00:52:45.76\00:52:48.00
How many Christians have ended
00:52:48.10\00:52:49.16
up on the 5:00 news
00:52:49.26\00:52:50.53
for positive reasons
00:52:50.63\00:52:51.80
in the last decade?
00:52:51.90\00:52:52.80
Do a count sometime.
00:52:52.90\00:52:53.54
It's remarkable.
00:52:53.64\00:52:54.84
People notice
00:52:54.94\00:52:57.54
when you live your life 100%
00:52:57.64\00:52:58.94
for the glory of Jesus Christ.
00:52:59.04\00:53:02.68
All of this leads us
00:53:02.78\00:53:03.81
to the question,
00:53:03.91\00:53:05.38
"How can we make sure
00:53:05.48\00:53:07.92
that we are choosing
00:53:08.02\00:53:09.08
the right way to use sports,
00:53:09.18\00:53:10.92
rather than a harmful way?"
00:53:11.02\00:53:13.15
And don't underestimate
00:53:13.25\00:53:14.62
the importance of this question.
00:53:14.72\00:53:15.82
If we cannot do sports
00:53:15.92\00:53:17.26
for the glory of God
00:53:17.36\00:53:18.63
and the good of His children,
00:53:18.73\00:53:19.66
then we ought not to do them,
00:53:19.76\00:53:20.46
period.
00:53:20.56\00:53:24.67
So, how can we ensure that
00:53:24.77\00:53:26.43
if we have sports in our lives,
00:53:26.53\00:53:27.94
they will be a positive
00:53:28.04\00:53:28.94
spiritual benefit to us,
00:53:29.04\00:53:30.24
rather than harmful?
00:53:30.34\00:53:31.87
You know, it's actually fairly
00:53:31.97\00:53:32.84
simple.
00:53:32.94\00:53:33.94
Listen carefully.
00:53:34.04\00:53:35.21
The way to ensure
00:53:35.31\00:53:37.81
that sports will be a positive
00:53:37.91\00:53:39.78
spiritual benefit to us,
00:53:39.88\00:53:41.68
rather than harmful,
00:53:41.78\00:53:43.49
is what I'm going to tell you
00:53:48.62\00:53:49.82
about next week in part two.
00:53:49.92\00:53:51.46
[ Light laughter ]
00:53:51.56\00:53:53.86
So I hope that you can be there.
00:53:53.96\00:53:56.67
But until then,
00:53:56.77\00:53:58.87
let it be clear that the stakes
00:53:58.97\00:54:01.40
involved with this issue
00:54:01.50\00:54:02.77
are potentially sky-high.
00:54:02.87\00:54:05.64
People's salvation may depend
00:54:05.74\00:54:07.84
on our answer to the question
00:54:07.94\00:54:09.94
and our conduct afterwards.
00:54:10.05\00:54:12.75
Because, you see,
00:54:12.85\00:54:16.15
the Christian athlete's
00:54:16.25\00:54:18.39
challenge is not to merely
00:54:18.49\00:54:21.66
play their best,
00:54:21.76\00:54:24.23
but to actually grow in God,
00:54:24.33\00:54:26.66
and to help others grow in God,
00:54:26.76\00:54:29.00
through all that they do,
00:54:29.10\00:54:30.93
including on the court
00:54:31.03\00:54:32.47
or field of play.
00:54:32.57\00:54:35.84
That is a challenge that none
00:54:35.94\00:54:38.74
of us can afford to lose.
00:54:38.84\00:54:42.24
>> Amen.
00:54:42.34\00:54:44.55
[ Applause ]
00:54:44.65\00:54:51.62
[ "Redeemed!" begins ]
00:54:51.72\00:54:54.86
¤
00:54:54.96\00:54:59.39
[ Congregation sings ]
00:54:59.49\00:55:02.40
¤
00:55:02.50\00:55:10.37
¤
00:55:10.47\00:55:18.85
¤
00:55:18.95\00:55:27.32
¤
00:55:27.42\00:55:36.77
¤
00:55:36.87\00:55:46.21
¤
00:55:46.31\00:55:54.18
¤
00:55:54.28\00:56:03.73
¤
00:56:03.83\00:56:13.17
¤
00:56:13.27\00:56:21.64
¤
00:56:21.74\00:56:30.55
>> Father God, we are so honored
00:56:30.65\00:56:31.45
to be your children.
00:56:31.55\00:56:33.05
Thank you so much for adopting
00:56:33.15\00:56:34.29
us into your family.
00:56:34.39\00:56:36.09
May we prove faithful, Lord,
00:56:36.19\00:56:37.96
both on and off the court.
00:56:38.06\00:56:40.43
This we ask in the name
00:56:40.53\00:56:41.06
of Jesus.
00:56:41.16\00:56:42.36
Amen.
00:56:42.46\00:56:43.50
>> Amen.
00:56:43.60\00:56:45.47
[ Instrumental music begins ]
00:56:45.57\00:56:48.14
¤
00:56:48.24\00:56:50.81
>> I'm Shane Anderson,
00:56:53.78\00:56:54.78
the lead pastor here
00:56:54.88\00:56:56.08
at Pioneer Memorial Church.
00:56:56.18\00:56:58.41
At Pioneer Media, we have been
00:56:58.51\00:57:00.15
blessed by the financial support
00:57:00.25\00:57:01.98
that comes from our viewers
00:57:02.08\00:57:03.15
like you, that enable us
00:57:03.25\00:57:04.95
to continue this ministry.
00:57:05.05\00:57:07.39
We've made a conscious decision
00:57:07.49\00:57:08.79
not to continually appeal to you
00:57:08.89\00:57:10.26
for that support.
00:57:10.36\00:57:11.96
However, keeping this ministry
00:57:12.06\00:57:13.16
going takes money to support
00:57:13.26\00:57:14.96
our staff and technology needs.
00:57:15.06\00:57:17.60
If God has blessed you
00:57:17.70\00:57:19.23
and you would like to further
00:57:19.33\00:57:20.10
the work of this ministry,
00:57:20.20\00:57:21.77
we invite you to partner
00:57:21.87\00:57:22.74
with us.
00:57:22.84\00:57:24.41
You can donate on our website,
00:57:24.51\00:57:25.74
pmchurch.org,
00:57:25.84\00:57:28.18
then click Giving at the top,
00:57:28.28\00:57:30.51
then select Media Ministry.
00:57:30.61\00:57:33.25
Or call the number
00:57:33.35\00:57:34.65
877-HIS-WILL.
00:57:34.75\00:57:37.52
Again, that number is
00:57:37.62\00:57:38.59
877, the two words HIS-WILL.
00:57:38.69\00:57:42.32
My prayer is that the God
00:57:42.42\00:57:44.06
who has blessed you will
00:57:44.16\00:57:45.73
continue to pour into your life
00:57:45.83\00:57:47.10
the gifts of His joy
00:57:47.20\00:57:48.46
and His hope.
00:57:48.56\00:57:50.10
Thank you, and I'm looking
00:57:50.20\00:57:51.83
forward to seeing you right here
00:57:51.93\00:57:53.07
again next time.
00:57:53.17\00:57:55.00
¤
00:57:55.10\00:58:03.04
¤
00:58:03.14\00:58:11.02
¤
00:58:11.12\00:58:18.96
¤
00:58:19.06\00:58:26.37