Team Focus: Philippians 4:4-9

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Matt (@bcbruintennis)

Team Camp Devotional - Joyful - 2021

 What were your highs and lows of yesterday?

What made the good moments "good?"

What specifically happened that made you feel good about your tennis, the team, or this experience? 

Who was involved in that experience?

-----

Before we dive into a new word study, let's review the past two. Remember, these are words that your groups came up with on Monday based on our team tennis verse from the letter to the Philippians:

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

These are also words that we want to inform our character, who we are trying to be as people. The first two words that we've looked at are:

SELF-CONTROLLED: Power that has intention, direction and control.

ENCOURAGE: Words and actions that build up each other and are performed together.

-----

What idea from the team time has stayed with you most so far?

How are you doing this week with being "directed" or "having an intention" and sticking to it?

How are you doing this week with "building" and "being with" others?

-----

Story: Almost every summer, for as long as I can remember, my aunt and uncle invite my Miller side of the family to their lake house. On this side of my family are 16 cousins, and when we were young we would splash around like crazy on the shore while the parents sat and talked, played frisbee games, or threw each other off the raft that floated in the deep water. As evening approached, we would all get into a couple of boats, drive to the other side of the lake, and get ready for a family tradition: swimming the lake. 

The swim was just over a half mile swim. We'd go along the shoreline, a couple of boats guarding us from the rest of the traffic on the lake. The point wasn't necessarily to race, but to finish the task - a long, slow swim. And it was gorgeous, with the cool water, slow forward strokes, jokes between cousins and other family. My grandpa even used to swim with us. And when you got done, you'd really accomplished something pretty cool - you'd swam more than a half mile!

As we cousins have gotten older, we've begun to include our own kids in the swim. I am the oldest cousin, so I was also the first to have kids. It's been fun to see Gideon, Judah and Hosea get their starts in swimming the lake. It's been fun to swim with them and help them complete the experience. But it's been even more fun to watch my aunts and uncles and cousins swim up alongside them and encourage them, cheer them as they come up to the shore, give them high fives as they finish the swim.

It is more awesome to watch my kids complete this task than it ever was for me to do it myself. It's like I've passed something on. But I guess I find that to be true of joy often. One of my biggest joys is sharing something new with someone. I love taking people to Cedar Point for the first time and watching them be blown away at the size of the roller coasters. I love watching a middle school student fall in love with tennis during MS season. I love telling people about my favorite TV shows, and then having them come back and tell me that they are watching and enjoying them (Community, right Jacob Leininger?)

There is a joy in partaking in a beautiful thing.  Just swimming slowly into the sunset as it falls across the lake, for example. Or just connecting with a beautiful backhand. But it is a momentary type of joy that leaves me wanting to do it again.

There is a joy in completing a task. Finishing the swim by digging your heals into the sand on the shore. Completing your binge watch of a thrilling Netflix mystery. Or winning a close match in the third set of tennis. But it is a joy that can leave you empty if there is no one to share it with, to talk about it with.

But the fulfillment of joy, the ultimate, is expressing your joy in a way that helps draw others in. Expressing your joy in a way that shares it with others. Expressing your joy in a way that builds memories. Expressing your joy in a way that builds others up. 

-----

What things have you done or places have you visited that you'd love to share with others?

-----

The early followers of Jesus were dropped into a debate about what joy really was. To the Greek philosophers of their time period, joy was expressed in self-understanding. Religious expressions of joy for these Greek philosophers were contemplations of what was beautiful and good. Thinking about good qualities of their gods. Maybe even going as far as having a festival to celebrate it.

But to the followers of Jesus, joy was truly experienced in serving a community. You see, they notice that the self-contemplation type of joy was fine - it was just fleeting. As humans, we are always changing, so understanding ourselves is a continual task. It is not sustaining. And festivals, well, they come and go.

Jesus had instructed differently. Jesus had taught that our joy becomes complete as we love one another (John 15). When we love one another, we create lasting relationships. We share our joy, we have intention to our action, we build memories. This type of joy sticks with us. 

If we are going to be a joyful team, it's because we will know that we are part of a group that is out express joy for others. Who is trying to express love for others. A group that wants to share joys and stories and create new ones. A group that wants to serve one another, not just constantly be served. 

And as I look at all of you, I'm super excited to have this group of guys to share and serve with. I'm looking forward to a super joyful year!

-----

What new understanding about tennis this week could you share right now, so that it might encourage and help others?

What ways have you shared and served that have created joy for you?

How can you continue to share and serve this year (inside the tennis team and in other places)?

Team Camp Devotional - Encourage - 2021

What were your highs and lows of yesterday?

What made the good moments "good?"

What specifically happened that made you feel good about your tennis, the team, or this experience? 

Who was involved in that experience?

-----

My kids are builders. They are always building or constructing something. Forts in our living room, suits of armor made out of cardboard, Lego cities on the ping pong table, or sculptures out of their pasta noodles at dinner. Even as a couple of them are getting into middle school, their favorite games are games of gaining and building - Minecraft or games where you upgrade the powers of your characters.

I love this. It's fun to see their creations. If you scroll through my YouTube channel of family memories, more than once you'll see me feature the things they've built. A couple of years ago, Judah even built a tennis stadium, which was super cool!

Sometimes they build alone, but most of the time they want others to come and build with them. Pretty much every day, Abel asks me to come build something with me. Often times it's some type of fort, like yesterday he wanted me to come play "Pirates of the Caribbean" with him and build a pirate ship. We take 7 kitchen chairs and arrange them in the shape of a boat, then drape a blanket across the top of the back ones to make a cabin. I have to tie the corners of the blanket onto the spindles of the chairs, so that his rough play as he jumps around the ship in an eye patch doesn't knock the whole thing down. Sometimes it is hard to keep up with his imagination!

I like the process of building and creating too. Last summer, we had a new porch being built on the back of our house.  As workers threw away scraps of wood in the dumpster in the front yard, I would hoist Gideon up to the side and have him pull out the ones that I could use to make a tree house. I cobbled together bits and pieces of plywood for the floor and other pieces for supports. I took the nails and screws I found scattered in my garage and made a pretty strange looking treehouse. 

I really liked testing my building, making sure the supports were strong. I added way more nails and screws than necessary, because I wanted to make sure it would hold my kids up when they went tromping through it. Unfortunately, some of the screws stuck out at odd angles because I stripped them out and couldn't remove them. And some of the nails got bent. And some of the wood has kind of rotted. But now one summer later, the kids still use the tree house. 

It's fun to build something useful!

-----

When you were younger, what type of things did you like to create to build?

Do you still like to build things now? What type of things?

-----

In the story of creation as told in Genesis, we see that God is a creator too. A builder. One of the wonders of God is that God is able to build with words. God speaks and whatever is said is built. I think that one of the reasons we are builders and creators is because God is creative and a builder. We, as humans, have this piece of God's image in us.

Like God, our words build as well. When Jesus's followers were trying to form new communities committed to each other, they wrote to each other about the power of words and how to use them. They used two words to speak about this: oikodomeō and parakaleō.

Oikodomeō literally means to build. These followers of Jesus realized that whatever they said would begin to build a new reality. And so they wrote to one another things like this:

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." - 1 Thessalonians 5:11

"'I have the right to do anything,' you say—but not everything is beneficial. 'I have the right to do anything'—but not everything builds up." - 1 Corinthians 10:23

Any words that we speak are like planks that we are adding to a tree house. Our hope is that the words we will speak build up the house rather than being pointless. Last summer, when I was trying to build a tree house, I could have just walked around the side lot and nailed random boards to random trees. I would have been building, I would have been creating, but I wouldn't have been building anything up. It wouldn't have had any intention, direction, or purpose - like we talked about yesterday. 

All of our words build something into our team. If our words are careless and critical, that causes distrust. In the end, that will make our team much weaker. If our words build each other up, we become strong.

-----

What words do you notice that are purposeless, that distract or even build unhelpful characteristics?

What words can you say to build each other up during practice, during downtime?

Offer some words to build up your other group members, right now.

-----

The second word about how to speak to each other is parakaleō. This word is usually translated to encourage, but it has an even cooler meaning. It literally means "call to be with." Yes, it's encouragement, but it is the encouragement of coming alongside someone to finish the task. It's "let's do this" instead of just "you can do this." It's coming and building a pirate ship blanket fort with someone instead of making them do it themselves while you sit back sipping your pour-over coffee and thinking about something else. 

This parakaleō is what we want to be as a team. We want to be there with each other. In a game of Five Errors like we played yesterday, we don't just want to tell Ethan "good job." We want to tell him he can get to his goal and then actively be engaged in helping him get there. We want our words and actions to be working together. 

So, think about your words today. Make sure that they are building up.

Then, think about your actions. Help them be building us up too.

If we can oikodomeō and parakaleō then we will have the strongest team :-)

-----

What strikes you in thinking about these two ideas of encouragement: building up and being with?

Which one of those ideas will challenge you the most?

Team Camp Devotional - Self-Controlled - 2021

Who do you think of when you think of the word "power?"

Why do you associate them with "power?"

What does it mean to you to be powerful?

Do you consider yourself powerful?

Is being powerful something you even want to pursue?

-----

In elementary school, the summer sport that I loved the most was baseball. I hadn't been properly introduced to tennis yet, but on warm summer evenings my family would spend most weeknights down at the baseball diamonds. I collected baseball cards, put together fantasy baseball teams, and dreamed of pitching a perfect game.

Of course, baseball was the "American past time." So lot's of my classmates played baseball and hung around the ball fields too. And many of us played some type of little league. When I think of power, I think back to those summer days. I think of the classmates I had who could unleash a fastball with so much speed and raw power that it was frightening. That's what it meant to have power.

When we would get to that first little league practice, all of my coaches would start trying to figure out who would be the pitchers for the season. We'd all throw our warmup pitches, and I wanted so desperately to pitch. I loved the craft of pitching. I loved the idea of being involved in every play, rather than just standing alone in the outfield. But coaches, without exception, picked the players to pitch who could throw the ball the hardest. The players who had the most power. I was never one of those players. 

It always seemed a bit unfair to me. Power seemed so randomly distributed. Why did they have the ability to throw hard and I didn't? Day after day at my house, I whipped a tennis ball against the garage door, practicing my throws and pitches. Most summer days, I pitched to the neighborhood kids while we played a pick-up baseball game. I had practiced, but I didn't have power. How could I get it?

I don't know how it felt for the players who could naturally sling the ball fast. Were they glad they were picked to pitch? Were they scared because they hadn't really ever practiced? Did they feel pressure because pitching is a big responsibility? Did they look down on those of us who couldn't throw hard? 

-----

Do you feel that you are naturally powerful when it comes to tennis?

Are there other areas in life where you feel naturally gifted?

-----

Amongst the early followers of Jesus, there was a Greek word for power that occurred in many of the letters that his disciples were writing to the communities of faith that formed around Jesus' teachings. The disciples Peter, Paul, James, Jude, and Luke all used some form of the Greek word "kratos" to describe having power or being empowered.

What's interesting about how they used this word is that the meaning of it wasn't just a raw speed, intensity or force. Instead, this word actually reflects control or mastery. One Bible concordance puts it: 

"Our modern word power brings to mind some blunt and coercing force, the Greek noun κρατος (kratos) reflects a calm and intelligent kind of control; a giving kind of mastery that comes from an intimate knowledge of whatever is directed."

For followers of Jesus, power wasn't just blunt force, the ability to do something hard and fast and with a lot of force. To truly have power, you also need to exercise self-control.

In elementary baseball, this lesson was eventually evident. Some of the hard-throwing players who got picked to pitch scared us batters to death with the speed of their pitches. But many of them were ineffectual. They threw the ball hard, but over the catcher's head. Or into the dirt. Or, most scary for us hitters, they flung it behind our backs. They had the ability to throw hard, but didn't have any control. And slowly, we little leaguers began to realize a truth that followers of Jesus had been writing about 1,900 years before:

TRUE POWER MUST HAVE INTENTION, DIRECTION, AND CONTROL.

Little by little, the elementary school pitchers who had no control, no direction to their pitches were moved to other positions. And little by little, those of us who had less "power" but more "direction" were given the opportunity to throw some pitches. In the end, the best hurlers in our little league were the ones who could direct their pitches for the most strikes. Those were the players who made a positive difference in the game.

Ultimately, when I think about power and self-control, I think about the ability to make a difference, to make an impact.  I think this is why the writers of the early Jesus communities wrote about egkrateia, or self-control, as a fruit of Jesus Spirit. It is ability, talent, power that is directed that makes a positive difference. So for their experience in watching and observing Jesus, that type of power is the only kind that is worth pursuing. 

We all have areas of our lives where we are naturally gifted with some type of force - the way we hit a tennis ball, the way our words make an impact, the way we are able to sing, the way we are able to get others to follow our lead... the list could probably go on. To truly make an impact, we reflect on how to give that force some direction.

Ultimately, that direction shouldn't just serve us, or get others to bend to our will. The example of Jesus is taking the ultimate force in the universe and laying it out in the direction of service toward others. I hope this tennis season, we can find ourselves being powerful, by serving in the direction of others.

-----

What force have you been gifted with?

How can you give that force direction, especially in service and love toward others?

What step could you take toward that today?

2020: Secure

<TRANSCRIPT> 

Centering Verse: Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Review

Yesterday, we noted how relational these verses are. We noted that the joy is in the Lord and in others. Joy flourishes when we dive into work together. Joy flourishes when we pursue a purpose together. 

Today, we want to take another angle at why we can have joy in the Lord.

Story Time!

In my high school tennis career, there was one player I could never beat. His name was Aaron Myers, and he was the #1 player at Lakeland High School. He was a great player, insanely consistent, but with the perfect amount of power and placement to pass you if you tried to come to the net. 

He beat me nine times in my high school career. Nine times! I beat him... nonce. As in never. I would get so frustrated, feeling like I should do better. Feeling like I should win. I would think and test and try and hit harder and hit slower and serve faster (and make more errors, get too tentative, and double fault). I just couldn't figure out how to beat him!

But I still remember the time that I got the closest. My senior year, I was starting to understand my strengths, the shots that I owned, the things that I could do well. And I realized that I had very good touch. I volleyed fairly well, had good control and the like. I talked to my assistant coach about my struggles against the Lakeland #1, and we realized since I couldn't "out-consistency" him I would need to attack. What if I took my skills and developed a new weapon? What if I learned a low slice? That would change his contact zone and he'd have to hit lower. Maybe I could make an impact.

I practiced my new stroke over and over that week. I became certain that I could hit it. Okay, I didn't make 100% of the balls, but I knew that if I focused I'd get it. I entered the match with that tactic, a way that I was committed to play. I knew what a good point would look like, I knew I had practiced, and I executed. 

I took the lead early in both sets, but couldn't ever finish them out. He was a great player, like I said, and he figured out how to beat me. But I came the closest ever. And I felt good after the match. Really good. Like, I had studied, executed, and truly did my best. And unlike most of my losses, I didn't tear myself apart or get really frustrated.

Why? Because I was secure.

Secure

Being secure means you don't have to doubt. It means you know something is true.

Security is built on:

- knowing you have done the work.

- knowing you have a purpose.

- knowing that someone has your back.

In my match:

- I put in the work on a low slice.

- I figured out my game plan.

- I knew my coach was in agreement with me.

I felt secure.

Jesus and Security

A person who is secure in what they are doing, in their purpose, can be a little off putting. They have a confidence to them. Sometimes that can seem cocky, but it just means they know their work, purpose and that someone has their back.

Look at Jesus in John 6. In that chapter, he feeds 5,000 people, which gains him many followers. Then he goes about explaining to those followers that it is relationship with him that will show them what God is like. He continues explaining that he will have to die, because God is a giving God. Jesus will give himself over to death because of his love for the world. 

Jesus' followers hear that he will have to die, and they don't like this teaching. They tell him, literally, Dude, "this is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" But Jesus doesn't back down and say sorry. He repeats himself. He tells them his words are the way to life.

And many of his followers leave.

Jesus turns to his 12 disciples and says, "So, do you want to leave to?"

Jesus isn't begging people. Jesus is secure. 

- Jesus knows that he is doing the work.

- Jesus knows that the things he says and the death he dies are his purpose.

- Jesus knows that the Father has his back, God fully loves him.

You are Secure

This tennis season, you can be secure.

- You are completely loved by God.

- You are loved by me.

- You have teammates, coaches, and others who have got your back.

- Your purpose is to pour out into the team, to invest who you are in togetherness.

- Your purpose is to show up and work hard.

- You can do that work. 

You can always know that I will be there. I'm not leaving. I'm not throwing you off the team. I'm not going to berate and yell at you for stupid choices. I am going to affirm your security. I am going to affirm that you are important. That you are significant. 

And ultimately, the one who truly has your back is God. And this is what Paul (a man who once tried to arrest and kill Jesus' followers!) said about his experience with God's love:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You are secure.

That is a great reason to rejoice in the Lord!

2020: Rejoice in the Lord

<TRANSCRIPT>

Centering Verse: Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Story Time!

What is your favorite, personal, sports moment? What memory do you have that you are particularly proud of in sports?

While you think, I'll tell you mine. It was my senior year of high school, during the basketball season. We were a pretty good team, near the top of our conference and definitely good enough to compete for the Sectional title. And I was a very good free throw shooter. In practice, we would shoot 200 free throws over the course of our 3 and a half hour practices.

Yep, you read that right, 3 and a half hour practices :-)

I shot about 98% on average during practice, meaning that I would typically make 196 of the 200 free throws each night. So, naturally, being that good of a shooter I never played in games. 

Actually, I'm not at all bitter about it. The truth was (and I knew this then too) that the players ahead of me were just all around better than me. So they played. And even though I had one great skill, I sat the bench. But late in the season, my coach approached me with an idea. Our starting point guard was a sophomore who was shooting about 50% on free throws. He needed to get better so he could make them at the end of games. Our coach proposed that I work with him on free throws. 

I did, and he got better and better in practice. Meanwhile, we won the Sectional and advanced to the Regional final against the #2 team in the state. At their court. And late in that Regional we were up 2 points with about 20-30 seconds left in the game. Sure enough, the other team fouled our sophomore point guard, and his free throw shooting was put to the test. Make them and we'd surely win. Miss and the other team would have a chance. 

He stepped up and went through the ritual I'd been teaching him. Find the nail with your shooting foot, bounce the ball three times, focus on the rim, elbow in, follow through. And he sank both free throws, clinching a Regional title for the team! After the game, as our fans rushed the court, he pointed to me amidst the joyous cheers, acknowledging our work. I had not played a minute of the game, but it felt like this belonged to me. It was my favorite personal sports moment. 

I found my greatest joy was in the team, in the accomplishments that we had worked on together.

Joy in the Lord is Relational

Our team verse starts with the phrase "rejoice in the Lord..." But notice some of the other phrases in these verses...

- The Lord is near.

- Present your requests to God.

- The peace of God... will guard your hearts...

- Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.

- God will be with you.

All of these phrases are ones of togetherness, or relationship. Joy, nearness, sharing, guarding, practicing, with-ness. These are all things that we can only experience if we look outward and notice God and others. Let's take a deeper look at this.

Joy

Spiritually speaking, joy is not just when I'm happy. I mean, there's more than just that. Joy comes when I'm moving toward God’s active presence in the world. We know we are moving in this way when we sense the growth of love or faith or mercy or hope—or any qualities we know as gifts of the Holy Spirit. If I am becoming more kind with people, and I experience this movement as life-giving and Christlike, I am in a state of joy.

The key here is that joy is filled with hope, filled with growth, filled with purpose. This is why I can still experience joy in difficult situations, because I can see how it is leading me to develop perseverance or understanding, bringing me closer to some person in my life, or helping me look out and celebrate the accomplishments of others!

On the other hand, we can move away from joy. We find that happening as we move away from God’s active presence in the world. We know we are moving in this way when we sense the growth of resentment, ingratitude, selfishness, doubt, fear, and so on. If my outlook becomes increasingly gloomy and self-obsessed, I am in a state of desolation. I am resisting God and other people or, if not actively resisting, I am being led away from togetherness by other influences.

Let me put this in simpler terms. Back during my senior year of high school, not really playing in games was making me resent my teammates. I wasn't feeling grateful for making varsity and playing, I was doubting myself. That was leading me away from others. Choosing to help a teammate with his form filled me with love. I was working together again with someone for a purpose. I was investing in the team. Joy was growing in me.

Working Together

I could have done a lot of things to rekindle my growth and purpose in the team during that basketball season. I could have doubled down on my defense, reached out to others to help me with ball handling, etc. The keys to joy was not doing it alone and doing it with a purpose of togetherness.

God is always at work in the world. God is finding ways to bless us. Joy truly flourishes when we dive into that with God, and with others.

What Can You Do?

It's always nice to hear these things. But let's make it practical... what can you do today to refocus and move forward with purpose? 

What will help the team? 

What will bring others hope? 

What ways can you forgive and show mercy? 

What ways can you be grateful?

Is there something that you can help someone with in tennis? 

Can you really focus on encouragement and noticing the good in others? 

Could you commit to a good attitude when you aren't on the courts? 

Could you work hard through mini-tennis and footwork drills?

Do you need to keep a good attitude about the COVID requirements? 

Do you need to bring positive focus and leadership?

What will invest in the team, and what we can do together?

What will lead us to rejoice in the Lord, together?

Devotional Thoughts: Week #3

Practicing Our Significance: Service

Our Foundation
1. We are accepted by God and each other.

2. That acceptance is what sustains us.

3. That sustenance allows us to find our significance.

4. Our significance is what we do to celebrate our acceptance.

5. In that joy, we may get to participate in some great achievements.

Practices So Far
Practicing Our Acceptance - Contemplative Prayer
Practicing Our Sustenance - Confession
Practicing Our Significance - Service

Introduction
So, uh, one of my greatest joys is... um... eating. I love to eat. Maybe you've noticed that some of my favorite memories revolving around tennis have to do with food. Pizza King, senior night meals, going to sweet restaurants like Harvey Hinklemeyer's or the Industrial Revolution after tournaments.

This has always been true for me. Eating together is both delicious and joyful. I don't know, maybe this goes back to laughter filled family meals as a child. Or maybe to my own young sports career where my little league teams celebrating big wins by going to Pizza King. Or memories of high school where my basketball team got ready for big games by going to Pizza King. Or maybe even to date nights, where Courtney and I would eat out after basketball or football games by going to Pizza King.

But my senior year of high school, I decided that I wanted to do something significant for my tennis team. I wanted to be a leader. I wanted to serve God and serve those around me. So what could I do?

Well, I loved eating. So I devised a plan around eating. We had morning practice the first two weeks of August, from 7:00-9:00 in the morning. I decided that each morning after practice, I would take one of the new freshmen on the team out to eat breakfast, and I would pay for their breakfast. We went to the Village Kitchen, one of the smokiest, cheapest, yet most delicious breakfast places and ate eggs and toast, and I learned to know the new members of the team. It was really quite fun. And several of the guys and I became friends beyond tennis.

Significance
Our team verse for many years has been Philippians 4:4-9. Near the end of that verse is this, "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice." The last part of that verse obviously has to do with significance. Our significance comes from what we put into practice.

But the first part of that verse is important for significance as well. It say "whatever you have learned or received or heard." It clues us in that significance is not something we do on our own. It's not something that we prove. It's not a way to show that we are worthy. We are already accepted. We are already sustained in joy.

Instead, significance is about taking gifts - the lessons we've been taught, the gifts we've received, the ideas we have heard - and then making them come alive in the world.

In my seventh grade Bible class, the lesson I drive at over and over again is that God LOVES to work in relationship with us. God PREFERS to inspire us and then let us participate in the doing. And that is where our significance comes in. God creates us, accepts us, sustains us, and then gives us gifts. We get to choose whether we use those gifts in joy.

One important note however... even if we don't join in with God and sharing our significance, we don't lose our acceptance. God doesn't suddenly get mad and turn back on us. God is good, God keeps giving, accepting and sustaining.

God just keeps hoping we will lean into our significance. That we will take what we've received and put it into practice.

Service: A Celebration of Significance
"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” - Frederick Buechner

My deep gladness (or greatest joy) might well be eating. And so I tried to use that joy to meet a deep hunger in my tennis team. Not literal hunger, though that may have been helped too, but instead an emotional one. Entering high school in the fall sports season can be intimidating and lonely. I tried to use my joy of food to encourage players who may have felt uncomfortable or lonely or unsure. To show them they had a spot and were noticed.

It wasn't a chore, because at the very worst I got to eat great food. That's the unbelievably awesome way that God has created us. We tend to enjoy serving when we do it out of the gifts God has given.

It doesn't mean there won't be any uncomfortable moments. It was very uncomfortable for me to ask the first freshmen I talked to if he wanted to go grab some breakfast the next morning just so I could get to know him. I am terribly awkward in situations like that. But after that initial uncomfortably, I found the experience one to rejoice over.

I've had some service times that have been more sacrifice than celebration, and those have value as well. But our significance is a celebration of who we are meeting what others need. And when we step into that, it is simply building on the foundation of acceptance and sustenance, and it feels right.

What about you?
What are some things that provide you with deep gladness, with joy?

How could you share those things with others on our team?

Do you notice deep needs around you? Do you notice deep needs on our team? Noticing them is probably a hint that you can help to meet those needs?

How have others shown their significance by helping you with your needs? Have you thanked them?

I'd challenge you to put into practice something this week. Even if its just inviting someone to meet you at Joann's before school or to hit up The Chief after practice :-)

Devotional Thoughts: Week #2

Practicing Our Sustenance: Confession

Our Foundation

- We are accepted by God and each other.

- That acceptance is what sustains us.

- That sustenance allows us to find our significance.

- Our significance is what we do to celebrate our acceptance.

- In that joy, we may get to participate in some great achievements.


Introduction
For my first two years playing high school tennis, I had a secret that I didn't tell anyone. But I'll confess it to you now...

I don't smoke.

I've never smoked. But I didn't dare tell that to my high school team. You see, for whatever reason, the mid-1990s tennis players at my school liked to smoke cigarettes. Sometimes when we went for a run my freshmen year, seniors would sneak off the prescribed path to smoke. I just jogged on, a wide eyed 14 year old just trying to impress my coach by getting the lowest time.

So, I didn't partake, but I also never let them know that I didn't smoke. By my sophomore year, I was a varsity member myself. When ever the topic of smoking came up, I laughed, I nodded, I smiled. I felt very uncomfortable. I was so afraid to say what I thought. I was afraid of my teammates opinions.

My junior year, I was riding in a car from practice to a team event with one of the seniors. He handed me a cigarette. He flicked his lighter and held it out to me. My time for hiding was over.

"I don't smoke," I said. Then I held my breath, I waited for him to laugh at me. I waited for him to try to convince me that smoking was awesome. I waited for him to hand it back to me.

But he didn't. He said, "Dude," then took a deep breath, "that's awesome. I wish I'd never started actually." Then, when went on to have a long conversation about our regrets. Things that we wished we never would have done. I talked about breaking into a baseball teammates house (not to steal anything, don't get too excited.) He talked about a couple of his girlfriends. I talked about the way I had treated some of my friends. It was a good, brief conversation.

And it allowed me to finally relax around my teammates. We had been honest, and it was a good thing.

Sustenance
As followers of Jesus, accepted by God, we are sustained by joy.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

- Philippians 4:4-7

We are accepted, and that should be a catalyst into joy. Our situations may become dark, we may have difficult decisions to make, but our worth is secure in Christ.

Their are two things that really kill joy as far as I can tell.

1 - Comparison
Theodore Roosevelt once said that comparison is the thief of joy, and I believe that is so true. When I start focusing on who others are, and how I might stack up to them... that's a dark road. Comparison keeps me focused on the future or the past, either the things I have to do to be better than someone, or the things that I haven't done to be better than someone. Joy is found in receiving the gifts of right now. Of receiving our acceptance right now. Comparison is one killer.

2 - Hiding
As I introduced with my little story, the other killer is hiding. Hiding inside ourselves. Hiding the things we've done. Hiding from ourselves, not seeing the reality that is around us. Or hiding from God's love, telling ourselves the lie that we don't deserve it.

Often in tennis, we hide and compare. We compare ourselves to teammates and then we hide from them. We get scared that they think less of us, so we don't ask for help in places we need it. We pretend every thing is okay when others around us seem happy. We pretend every thing is bad when those around us are complaining.

But there is a simple cure to being sustained by joy - it's called speaking the truth.

Confession: The Key to Living in Joy

Confession is simply telling the truth. Yes, the truth about where we've failed. But also about how we feel, what we fear, and the things we are tempted to believe. Confession is simply admitting what is going on. It doesn't always have to be sad.

It means that when we are tempted to start comparing ourselves to others, we confess that we are God's sons, truly and wholly loved. Right now.

It means that when we are tempted to hide, we tell the truth about where we are struggling or why we are feeling good or what we truly think.

Confession is hard, because it requires trust. But when it comes to our relationship with God, we can have ultimate trust there. We can always come before God and tell the truth. I also hope that there is at least 1-2 other people that you can go to when you need to tell the truth. Having someone to "confess" to is key to living in joy.

As a team, we are starting with the foundation of acceptance. We are starting there, and then hoping to live in joy because we have the freedom to confess. To be us, to tell the truth about being loved by God and anything that is difficult for us. To tell the truth about being sorry when we mess up.

And let me confess, I've messed up this week. I challenged you guys to be up to the difficulties and the times when odds were against you. I asked you to relish them... and then I got angry and bitter about the rain and started to give up when it was a challenge. I have spoken too quickly in correction instead of encouragement. I have not gotten these devotional thoughts out until the end of the week. But another thing that is also true is that I am feeling a lot of joy because of how we played and sang and talked together as a team last night. So despite my shortcomings, you picked me up and I appreciate that!

Prayer
God, may we live in Your acceptance. May it sustain us with joy! Amen.

Devotional Thoughts: Week #1

Practicing Our Acceptance: Contemplative Prayer

Our Foundation
- We are accepted by God and each other.

- That acceptance is what sustains us.

- That sustenance allows us to find our significance.

- Our significance is what we do to celebrate our acceptance.

- In that joy, we may get to participate in some great achievements.

Introduction

I didn't like coffee. 

All through college, I laughed at my fellow students, staying up late hours of the night by drinking a terribly bitter beverage. When I was in Costa Rica, where the mountains grow some of the most delicious coffee in the world, I refused every cup offered. When I came to Bethany to work, I was informed that there was always hot coffee in the teacher's lounge and I scoffed, saying, "I guess I won't be visiting the lounge much." I just believed that coffee was bad and gross and not worth my time.

But then, I realized that teaching is a grind and caffeine helps you make it through. So I started buying Diet Coke every day, at $1.25 a pop. That adds up to a lot of money over the course of a school year, and soda is not actually good for your health, so I figured that I'd need to stop that. So I decided to try coffee again.

And it was still gross.

But I had a good reason to believe that coffee could be good for me. And I had a lot of trustworthy friends who told me that coffee was good. I just didn't have the experience of a good cup of coffee. And so I began to practice making a good cup of coffee. I tried some cream, I tried some sweet and low. I went through a school year where each cup of coffee I drank had two scoops of sugar in it. But slowly I came to believe something new: coffee is delicious!

Acceptance

During camp week, we established that we are accepted by God, and that we are truly taking the attitude of acceptance toward each other. But sometimes it is difficult for us to accept that belief. 

Some of us have come to believe that we are not good enough.

It's strange, but beliefs actually need to be practiced as well. Just like forehands, backhands, jump shots, free kicks or free throws - we have to have experience with beliefs for them to become a part of who we are.

That's what happened for me and coffee. I had to experience that coffee was actually good. Slowly those experiences began to change my belief. 

Contemplative Prayer: The Place to Experience God's Acceptance

So let's move toward the practical. If we want to truly want to believe that we are accepted, that WE ARE ENOUGH, then how can we experience that?

One way is through contemplative prayer.

Contemplative prayer is a spiritual practice that allows you to focus on something that you know is true in your head, but haven't truly accepted with your heart. For example, if you are struggling to experience that you are enough, prayer can bring that into your heart.

There are two main ways that I have experienced this. 

Centering Prayer 

In centering prayer, we choose a word or a phrase that reveals the truth about God. I love the Bible, so I typically choose a word that comes from a Scripture somewhere. For example, my favorite phrase to contemplate is "You are my son, whom I love. In you I am well pleased." Then we take some time in silence to return to the word or phrase. It has always helped me to engage my imagination as well, thinking of God speaking that word or phrase to me.

When we are silent in the prayer, we will get distracted or may start having doubts. When that happens, we simply gently return ourselves to the word or phrase. So, as I'm sitting silent I may start to think things like "I'm not really a good coach." As I think that, I breathe in and remind myself, "You are my son, whom I love. In you I am well pleased."

Slowly, these truths begin to sink into us. Especially as we let the prayer repeat through our days. 

Imaginative Prayer

To me, this has been the most amazing form of prayer in my life. As a follower of Jesus, I have often been told that "God is with you." But I don't always notice how. Imaginative prayer has allowed me to look at this in a new way.

First of all, I will look at an experience in my life. Perhaps a situation where I got mad at my kids. Maybe where I was far too impatient and spoke harshly to you as my team. Perhaps a situation that I was very proud of, like a good lesson or practice. Then I will close my eyes and ask, "Where were you Jesus, and what were you saying?" 

More often than not, God answers me by showing me how God was interacting with me during that experience. Sometimes, he was whispering things I did not notice or chose to ignore. I see God comforting me with forgiveness, acceptance, and peace - all the things that Jesus proclaimed in his life and teaching.

What about you?

What has been a moment where you were really down this week? Can you close your eyes and see what God might have to say about that situation? My guess is that God was more proud and understanding than you might think.

What has been a moment where you were really proud? Can you close your eyes and hear God speak love about you? 

I hope you can. It's a great experience to begin to believe the acceptance!

Quotes, Notes, and Thanks

Most of the material from this blog has come from Henry Nouwen's book "In the Name of Jesus."

Here's a quote:

"Contemplative prayer keeps us home, rooted and safe, even when we are on the road, moving from place to place, and often surrounded by sounds of violence and war. Contemplative prayer deepens in us the knowledge that we are already free that we are already free, that we have already found a place to dwell, that we already belong to God, even though everything and everyone around us keep suggesting the opposite."

Also, on the topic of experience, here's a quote from Brennan Manning.

"My trust in God flows out of the experience of his loving me, day in and day out, whether the day is stormy or fair, whether I'm sick or in good health, whether I'm in a state of grace or disgrace. He comes to me where I live and loves me as I am."

Thanks for reading!

Team Camp 2019 - Devotional #4

Overview
We are enough. We are brothers. We are grateful.

We are accepted by God and each other.

That acceptance is what sustains us.

That sustenance allows us to find our significance.

Our significance is what we do to celebrate our acceptance.

In that joy, we may get to participate in some great achievements.

---------------------

PAUSE:
- What phrase did you come up with to help you remember your acceptance by God?

(Here are some examples in case you don't have one yet, imagine God saying to you "You are enough" or "You are my son, whom I love" or "You are my beloved" or "I am in support of you."

- What is your greatest joy that meets the world's greatest need? In other words, how might you do something that celebrates your acceptance by helping others?
--------------------

Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

---------------------

PAUSE:
- Read through that passage again. What word or phrase sticks out to you on a second read?

- Why might that be? What is that word or phrase leading you think about?

- Take a moment now to pray. Start with hearing from God who you are. Take a deep breath and remember your phrase of acceptance. Then tell God what you are thinking about this passage, or ask a question. Take another second to breathe and see if any response comes to you. If so, great. If not, breathe in God's acceptance one final time.

--------------------

Put it into Practice

Let's break down the verses above for a bit in view of achievement. So let's start by defining achievement from the Google Dictionary.

"Achievement"

Definition: a thing done successfully, typically by effort, courage, or skill.

Synonyms: attaining, gaining, winning, acquirement

Okay, now let's move into these verses. For some context, these verses come from the book of Philippians. That book is a letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the people of Philippi. And this is part of the closing section of the letter, it's the last and lasting advice that the writer wants to leave with those who read the letter.

So let me summarize this final advice:

1. Rejoice!

2. Rejoice!

3. Be gentle.

4. You don't have to be afraid or anxious

5. Instead, pray and be thankful

6. God will give you peace

7. Meditate on the good of life

8. If you receive something, put it into practice

9. God will give you peace

I love this passage's advice about how and why to follow God. It acknowledges that following God should deliver us a lot of joy and peace. I could riff for awhile on why that is true, but for brevity's sake let's accept that it is. 

But another thing I love hear is that the passage is so much about recognizing what you are receiving. In our world, so much of what we think defines achievement is about more. Just look at the synonyms Google suggested for achievement! Attaining, gaining, winning, acquirement... all of those words have the connotation of getting more. It always the next thing and the next thing and the next thing. 

But achievement according to God is much more beautiful than killing yourself to get some next thing or award, it is rejoicing, and then rejoicing again. It is prayerful (reminded of acceptance) and thankful. It recognizes the good gifts of life. And then it puts those gifts into practice.

Notice, the last phrase there, "put it into practice." For the follower of Jesus, that is the achievement. Achievement is simply receiving the joy of affirmation, thinking about what brings us joy that might also help others, and putting that into practice.

For the follower of Jesus, achievement has nothing to do with results. 

---------------------

PAUSE:
- Is that hard to accept, that achievement has nothing to do with results? Why or why not?

--------------------

Two "Achievements"
Let me tell you some Sectional championship stories. For a purely outside perspective, the greatest achievements in my coaching career have been my two Sectional championships. Let me tell you those stories...

In 2008, we returned all seven members of our varsity team from the year before. And that 2007 had been very good, advancing to the Sectional final and losing just 3-2 to NorthWood. There were a bunch of good guys on this team who worked hard. 7 seniors and one junior competed for varsity that year, and they were pushed by two sophomores eager to take their spots (Seth Krabill and Ben Mast).

I so wanted to win Sectional that year. I was young (27) and this group was the first group of players that I had recruited away from soccer, taught them since middle school, and coached for four years. This was the group that would prove to the whole of Northern Indiana tennis that I was a good coach. This was the year I would finally feel accepted and celebrated by the tennis world. I might even be recognized with a coaching award for how I'd turned around the program, 3-15 the year before I came to Sectional (maybe even Regional) champions in my 5th year. That achievement would make me feel awesome.

So during the season, we defeated each of the teams in our Sectional. We had some close ones (3-2 over NorthWood) and some blowouts (5-0 over Fairfield). So come Sectional, I was ready to win. In the first round we played Fairfield, and found ourselves tied 2-2 with them and down 1-5 at #2 doubles for the match. My dream looked over. I walked around behind the match nervously praying that God would bless us, like there was only one blessing to be had from the situation. Well, we dug ourselves out. Point by point we came back, and we actually never even faced a match point. We won 6 games in a row, and won the match 3-2. That momentum carried over into the final, and we defeated NorthWood 4-1 to lift the Sectional trophy.

And I felt... sick to my stomach. As the following weekend unfolded, my feeling turned into relief, that it was over. I was proud, but not like I thought. We lost in Regional, and then I went to the coach's meeting where we decide All-District and Coach of the Year. I had won Sectional, now I wanted another achievement, an award. The coaching award was announced, and it went to someone who had taken over their program 5 years ago. Before their first season their team had only won 3 matches. But in 5 years, they'd built the program and took their first four year players to a Sectional final. It was the coach from Columbia City.

And I was like... wait... I did those same things but better. I won the Sectional final. I had a better record this year. I did it with no All-District players (Columbia City's #1 had made the All-District team). I needed the awards to prove I was in. I was a good coach, right?

I had put so much stock in results, but when it happened I couldn't even enjoy what really happened. I doubled down on trying to prepare my new team with 7 new varsity players to repeat as Sectional champions the next year, determined to prove that I was a good coach. But that next year of coaching broke me, so much that I almost quit. I ended up crying real tears while watching a concert at Grace College during that next season, realizing that I was focusing on the wrong things. There was a song that hit me like a freight train called "Carry the Weight." Ugh.

Now I realize, I had been trying to use achievement as a way to my significance and acceptance.

The second Sectional we won was much different. First of all, the verse that I started this devotional with was our framing verse for the season. Our team prayer was "Every breath in is gratitude, every breath out gets rid of our fear." And so I was very focused that year on receiving from God, hearing what God had to say about us, and not worrying about other things.

Winning Sectional was pure joy. I remember having a complete sense of calm, as we played on two indoor courts and went way down in the first sets of both of the matches to go on court. I was relaxed because I knew for real that the guys loved each other. I didn't have any fear. I was simply grateful. We came back and won one of those two, and then won two more to take a 3-2 win. And nothing more had been proved about us. Whether we won or lost, we had been there for each other. Whether we had won or lost, we were accepted by God. That team had players I had baptized, players I had talked with for hours, players I had prayed several years for. They accepted me, I accepted them, all was good.

Even when we lost the Regional in heartbreaking fashion, we were good. Because I realized that no Regional championship can make me more than what God sees in me - one of God's own, beloved children.

---------------------

PAUSE:
- What achievements are you hoping to pursue this year?

- What do you think you will gain if you are successful?

--------------------

Let's Go!
Achievement is so much better when it comes as a result of acceptance. One of the reasons is that then we have others to share the achievement with, someone who had supported us. And these relationships of trust with God and the other brothers around us... these are what life (and tennis) is really about.

Team Camp 2019 - Devotional #3

Overview
We are enough. We are brothers. We are grateful.

We are accepted by God and each other.

That acceptance is what sustains us.

That sustenance allows us to find our significance.

---------------------

PAUSE:
- What is great about being accepted?

- Which person in your life do you feel accepts you the most?

- What is your relationship like with that person?

--------------------

Chasing Purpose

"The need for purpose is one the defining characteristics of human beings. Human beings crave purpose, and suffer serious psychological difficulties when we don’t have it. Purpose is a fundamental component of a fulfilling life." - Psychology Today

Humans seem to want significance - reason that they matter to the world. Sometimes we call it "meaning," sometimes we call it "purpose," and here I am calling this need "significance." We have a sense that what we do in our life matters, and we want to be going in the right direction.

Henri Nouwen, a famous Christian philosopher, came up with a brilliant triad that describes the ways that many people pursue significance and purpose. He called them the three lies of the human heart. We went into these in detail last year at camp, but they are so powerful, it's worth bringing them up again.

Three Lies:

1. I am what I do and accomplish.

2. I am what I have and accumulate.

3. I am what others say about me.

Within these lies, whichever we buy into, it is there that we often pursue our purpose or significance. If I believe that I am only what I accomplish, then I pursue a purpose of winning. If I believe that I am what I have and accumulate, then I pursue of purpose of consuming. If I believe that I am what others say about me, then I pursue a purpose of either people-pleasing or bickering with those who think differently than me.

I definitely struggle with the third of these lies, that I am what others say and think about me. It is easy for me to find my purpose in people-pleasing and keeping the peace at all costs. But when I do that, I end up feeling resentful because nobody really looks out for me, for the things that I want. I end up frustrated and feeling like this can't be all there is to my place in the world.

But working at significance as a response to these three lies is a way of working backwards. It's basing my significance and purpose on achievement, rather than on my acceptance. And so we want to look at this from the viewpoint of God's acceptance instead.

---------------------

PAUSE:
- Which of these three lies most affects you?

- In what ways do you chase acceptance based on what others think of you, what you have, or what you accomplish?

--------------------

What is significance?

When we try to rightly order our lives - receiving our acceptance from God and allowing that to sustain us - we still have a desire to be involved. To do something. But we should realize that our doing, our purpose, doesn't gain us any more acceptance. Rather than coming from a place of desperation and wild seeking, our purpose should come out of joy and gratitude. Another way of putting this is...

Our significance is what we do with our acceptance. 

Probably my favorite quote to explain this comes from Frederick Buechner, who says about significance comes "where our greatest joy meets the world's greatest need." 

You see, we are accepted, and that should cause great confidence and joy. In that confidence in joy, we can find some purpose by looking around us and seeing how the things that make us come alive are needed in the world around us. 

Here's my example: I love noticing the specific in the world. It gives me great pleasure to describe the way the wheat bends, to know the specific name for the helicopter seeds that fall from maple trees (samaras), and to be able to name for my wife the things she does that make me love her (like the way that she unwrapped a Burger King sandwich for me and handed it to me while I was driving over to Bethel College for a basketball game and we were in the middle of our biggest fight as an engaged couple - see, specifics :-)) 

Because of my love of specifics, I also love telling stories. Throughout my life I've done that through teaching, poetry, songwriting, this blog. These are my greatest joys - telling stories and filling them with specifics. When I have a class period at school where all the students are engaged with a story that I'm telling, I feel amazing. I feel satisfied. I feel at peace.

---------------------

PAUSE:
- What are your greatest joys?

-------------------- 

But my greatest joys can also cause me a lot of pain. Sometimes, I feel forced to write poetry. Recently, I have been trying to finish a poetry collection, and I have a certain number of poems I am trying to get to. Striving to just finish that next poem is giving me no peace and joy. It is stressful. 

That's because intention matters when thinking about purpose. Direction matters. If I am trying to gain acceptance by plunking out another poem or telling you a funny story, then I will not be at peace.

If I am resting in GOD'S ACCEPTANCE, and writing poems in gratitude or in response to human need, then I feel that peace. If I am using my love of specifics to send you an encouraging email, or write your senior night speech, then I feel at peace. 

Our purpose, our significance, comes with what we do with our acceptance. 

Living That Out with the Team

So, on this team, you are secure in the acceptance of God and the acceptance of your brothers.

On this team, you have that foundation.

So, what is your greatest joy in being a teammate? Perhaps your greatest joy is howling with joy when someone hits a great shot, just joining in their affirmation. Perhaps your greatest joy within the tennis team is helping someone fix a shot. Perhaps your greatest joy is working really hard when you can tell others are not. Perhaps your greatest joy is researching tennis, really figuring things out. Perhaps your greatest joy is recognizing the work of others and thanking them for what they do. 

But, like a great game of Team 105, all of those things are necessary to a great team. We need people to hit the overheads, but we need people to make sure to run down and get a racket on the smashes too. We need people to be vocal leaders of encouragement, and we need people to silently work hard. We need people to research, we need people who teach, we need people who make others laugh, we need people who make people think. 

I can't be all those things... I just tell stories and try to describe the specifics, like trying to come up with a poem for the stench of our room here at camp. An odd mix of sweaty athletic socks, Fruit by the Foot, and dry Frosted Flakes. Yeah, something like that.

---------------------

PAUSE:
- Where do you find you have the greatest joy within the team?

- Are you trying desperately to gain acceptance with the way that you act and serve the team, or are you receiving the acceptance of God and others and contributing out of gratitude?

- What action could help you receive and remember God's acceptance more?

--------------------

Team Camp 2019 - Devotional #2

Overview
We are enough. We are brothers. We are grateful.

We are accepted by God and each other.

That acceptance is what sustains us.

---------------------

PAUSE:

- What stood out to you about acceptance

or the stories we read yesterday?

- What phrase did you come up with

at morning practice to help

you remember your acceptance?

--------------------

Check-In
What is it that keeps you going through your days? What person or activity is the light at the end of the long, dark times for you?

For long times in my life, I've had different things that sustained me. For much of my high school and college years, my girlfriend (turned-fiancee-and-then-wife) sustained me. Thinking of her made the days worthwhile and the difficulties worth facing. I could get through school because when we finished we'd be married and everything would be perfect. That hope kept me alive.

Until that hope was proved to be to hollow. I saw a glimpse of that when Courtney broke up with me for just a week in college. But even as we got married, I began to see that leaning on her was too much. She couldn't keep me going all the time. She had bad days. She had some difficulties of her own, and sometimes those were enough for her to hold. She loved me, but that love wasn't going to be enough to sustain me.

So I turned to my gaming. Now, don't think Fortnite here. Instead, think super geeky soccer coaching video games. Like, where you don't even control the players on the field but instead just control the practice plans, coaching staff, and tactics for the games. So in depth, so realistic, so much a chance at success (in a make believe world where the players were literally represented by dots :-) But eventually, even winning in that game became boring. That couldn't keep me going.

So, I turn to lots of things for sustenance - being well liked by my students, getting poems published, success on the tennis court, and more.

And all that I relied on - family, marriage and even eventually kids - none of that could keep me going when I faced existential crises. Big questions that revolve around God, life, and my place in the world. No wife or Worldwide Soccer Manager title can really answer the questions about why life and pain even exist. To answer those, I need something deeper to sustain me.

I can see what many of my students are sustained by. Some are kept going by Netflix. I have some students in my classes who are sustained by Marvel, knowing the exact number of days before the next movie comes out and praying for it every day in Bible class. Some hang on to every word of a group chat. Many are carried on each day by their sports performances. But like the things that I found, they are one day of boredom or hard question away from realizing these things can't hold their weight, so to speak.

--------------------

PAUSE:

- What do you use to sustain you?

- How have you noticed that it doesn't really work?

- How have you noticed that it does work to keep you going?

- Do you have faith that it will keep you going in the long run?

--------------------

What can we learn from Jesus?

So, last night we looked at how God accepted and affirmed Jesus. Where did Jesus go for his sustenance? What kept Jesus going?

Jesus experienced many hard or dramatic things in his life. Things that would drain many of us of our energy, or make it hard to keep going. Here's a list of some of those things.

- Being rejected and run out of his hometown

- Healing people of sickness then being overrun with crowds

- Calling a special group of followers 

- Walking on water to his still fearful and doubt filled disciples

- Feeling frustrated as his disciples recognizes that he is Messiah, but not really understanding what that meant

- Having a miraculous meeting with Moses and Elijah on a mountaintop

- Being asked continuously tricky questions of faith

- Learning that one of his best friends, Lazarus, had died

- Knowing that one of his best friends, Peter, would deny even knowing him

- Realizing that his own death was coming

- Experiencing the pain of his own death

How was Jesus sustained through all that? 

Well, specifically for each of the events above, Jesus prayed directly before or directly after them. Some of the particularly painful events - like the rejection of those in his hometown or his death on the cross - he spent many days and prayers preparing for. Before he went into his hometown to begin his ministry, he had spent 40 days in the wilderness. Before and during the crucifixion, we have a record of 6 different prayers in that time that are recorded. If you count the last supper, which was on the night that Jesus was arrested, then we have a record of 9 prayers during that period of his life. No doubt there were countless more that were not recorded.

In fact, Luke 5:16 tells us this about Jesus and prayer:

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."

No doubt, these times of prayer were important for Jesus. No doubt, they prepared him for the dramatic events of his life on earth, whether those events ended up being amazingly good (raising Lazarus from the dead!) or amazingly disappointing (all his friends running away from him at the crucifixion). There is something about these times of withdrawing and returning to God that gave Jesus his sustenance.

--------------------

PAUSE:

- How often do you make time for prayer?

- What things do you often pray about?

- Do your times of prayer fill you up, keep you going?

- What do you think Jesus prayed about?

--------------------

How does prayer sustain us?

1) Prayer reminds us who God is.

Not all of Jesus' prayers are recorded. But the ones that are typically involve some type of praise of God and some comment about who God is to Jesus.

- Luke 11: "Our Father, in heaven, hallowed (set apart, different, greater than us) be your name." 

- John 12: "Father, glorify your name."

- Matthew 6: "Father... Your will be done."

- John 11: "Father... you always hear me."

Praying about who God is reminds us of God's tendencies. God is different than us. God is much more powerful, much more attentive, much more present, much more patient, much more merciful... the list can go on and on. And perhaps you've experienced one of those qualities of God. Perhaps you have experienced God's redemption, where in your life a bad situation came up and God turned that terrible situation into something good or beautiful. Perhaps you've been in a situation where you were at your lowest point, and you experienced the joy of Emmanuel, "God with us," as God came and sat right there with you (in the soccer goal :-)

Remembering who God is gives us hope. 

And notice who Jesus always describes God as in his prayers: Father. Remember, this was not the normal way that Jewish people addressed God. They would use Adonai (Yahweh), as an official name for God. Why did Jesus use "Father"? 

Because it reminded him, and all of us, about who God is. Remember at Jesus baptism, he was shown acceptance with the words - "You are my son, whom I love." So, God is Jesus' father. And every time that Jesus remembers that God is his father, he remembers that he is loved and that God is pleased and that he is accepted. Which leads right into the next point...

2) Prayer reminds us who we are.

We are utterly and completely accepted by our loving God. God is crazy in support of us. Jesus was told at his baptism - "You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." How many times did that echo through his prayers? How many times did Jesus breathe deeply and let that phrase wash over him?

As humans, we constantly screw up. In tennis, like 98% of the points end with somebody making an error. And I think life is a lot like tennis. In like 98% of our interactions with others, the interaction ends with one of us having made a mistake :-) But what really begins to kill us is when we carry those awkward interactions and fears with us, instead of hearing the voice of God telling us who we really are.

We are God's sons, who he loves; with us God is well pleased.

Like we said yesterday, you might not have done everything right, but because of who God is, everything is going to be alright. Or, maybe someone has really hurt you, and you don't feel okay. But because of who God is, everything can end up okay. 

Wrapping Up

In total, prayer is the time when we are reminded of our acceptance and the great God that accepts us. That acceptance is what sustains us.

God's acceptance never waivers. So no matter where we end up, no matter what changes in our lives, no matter how bored, scared, hurt or successful we find ourselves, God's acceptance is a rock solid foundation to build on. 

As a tennis team, we want to all have that foundation. And then we want to add some scaffolding and start a solid building by offering our acceptance to each other. We want our acceptance of own another to be that next layer that we can all count on... not just during the season, or at practice, but all through life. But it all starts with a foundation of acceptance. That keeps us going.

--------------------

PAUSE:

- What situations have you seen God (or a great good) at work in your life?

- What word would best describeGod to you? Jesus used the image of "Father." Is there an image that fits better for you? Healer, Friend, Great Comfort? Something else?

- What message have you heard that you could repeat to yourself during prayer about being accepted? Write it down or make a note in your phone.

--------------------