Chapel – Selfish vs. Selfless

Chapel – Selfish vs. Selfless

1 – Why is selflessness so important to successful teams?

·      Which would be more successful -

·      5 on 5?

·      1 on 5?

2 – Here’s another angle on this question from John 12:24-25 (read the text aloud).

·      If we live only for ourselves, we remain by ourselves – one remains one.

·      If we choose to compete selflessly, to involve others and to sacrifice:

o   time

o   possessions

o   minutes

o   points

o   rebounds

o   floor burns

o   we bear much fruit

o   we make everyone better

o   we multiply our team’s productivity

·      If you only self-protect – you lose.

·      If you sacrifice – you win

o   Now

o   Later

o   With teammates, friends, family and in your faith

3 – The challenge today is…

·      Rather than seeking your own good, give yourself up to make your team better.

·      Sacrifice leads to multiplied productivity.

Chapel – Sacrifice

Chapel – Sacrifice

1 – How does a competitor demonstrate genuine love for his teammates?

·      In the book about Coach Joe Ehrmann, “Season of Life” it says that the coaches’ job is to love the players and the players’ job is to love each other.

·      Over the last …… months you have done that.

·      Let’s continue that in today’s contest. 

·      Such love and sacrifice could be the key to a victory today.

2 – This is a great scripture on this theme.  I John 3:16-18 (read text aloud)

·      Christ Jesus is our example – He laid down His life for us.

·      We should lay down our lives for our teammates.

o   Some have done this by changing positions in mid-season.

o   Some have made adjustments in coaching style, daily schedules and more.

o   Some are doing it daily as they play through pain, through injuries and more.

o   We’re following Jesus’ example in so doing.

·      “Let us not love with word and tongue, but in deed and truth.”

o   Talk is easy, deeds are tough.

o   Talk is cheap, deeds are costly.

o   Talk works on practice days, deeds work on game day.

o   Words are good for newspapers, truth is good for teammates.

o   Words please radio listeners, truth pleases your coaches.

3 – Today, win or lose, we’ll be successful if we:

·      Follow Christ’s example and lay down our lives for each other.

·      Love not with word and tongue.

·      Love in deeds and in truth.

Chapel – Rewards

Chapel – Rewards

1 – Today we will discuss ironic nature of rewards in sport.

·      The rewards are the same for the freshman playing his first season as for the senior playing his last season.

·      The rewards for the first year coach are the same as for the twenty year veteran of coaching.

·      At the end of the game or the end of the season, the rewards are the same.

2 – Jesus told a story about this in Matthew 20:1-16 (read the text aloud).

·      Let’s say that a denarius is worth $20.00

·      The guys who worked 6:00 am to 6:00 were paid $20.00

·      The guys who worked noon to 6:00 were paid $20.00

·      The guys who worked 5:00 pm to 6:00 were paid $20.00

3 – It’s similar in the life of our team relate to rewards.

·      Differing levels of experience receive the same reward.

·      Differing levels of understanding receive the same reward.

·      Senior players, juniors, sophomores, even freshmen receive the same reward.

 4 – Young players, give proper respect to the veterans.

·      Appreciate the sacrifices they’ve made for the program.

·      You probably think this level of success is a given, but it has not always been this way.

·      (Recite the names of the eldest players who have invested deeply in the team’s success for a long time.)

·      Like the workers who started at 6:00 am, you enjoy these rewards due to grace.

5 – Veterans, don’t be envious of the young players’ good fortune.

·      They are at the right place at the right time.

·      Their contributions to the team are a large part of our success.

·      Like the workers who started at 5:00 pm, you enjoy these rewards due to grace.

6 – In today’s contest, pursue, achieve and celebrate a great victory.  You will all receive the same rewards; a victory, a championship and memories for a lifetime.

Chapel – Prayer

Chapel – Prayer

1 – Many people misunderstand our purpose in conducting a chapel for our team.

·      Some think that if we pray it will result in a win.

·      Some think that if we go to chapel we are more likely to win.

·      Some think that if we pray we get God on our side.

·      So what’s the point?

·      Does God even care about who wins today?

2 – Joshua 5:13-15 sheds some light on such questions (read the text aloud).

·      Joshua and his people are about to enter a very strategic battle.

·      He sees a man with his sword drawn.

·      He says, “Whose side are you on?”

·      He’s asking the wrong question.

·      Joshua immediately understands who the Lord is and who the servant is.  He sees the big picture.

3 – Our purpose in chapel and prayer (saying the Lord’s Prayer) and even for my prayers for you individually…

·      It’s not to win God’s favor or to get Him on our side.

·      It’s not to make God a good luck charm for our team.

·      It is to align our hearts and minds with God’s way of doing things.

·      The real question is, “Whose side are we on?”

4 – Today’s challenge –

·      Resolve to compete wisely and well and you will be on God’s side.

·      Commit your heart to your team and you’ll be going God’s way.

·      Sacrifice your personal goals and aspirations for the higher aim of team success and you’ll be doing exactly what Jesus would do.

Chapel – Power, Love and Self-control

Chapel – Power, Love and Self-control

1 – To compete strongly today and throughout the season, three qualities will be required – Power, Love and Self-control.

·      These are powerfully described in II Timothy 1:7 (read the text aloud).

2 – Not a spirit of fear

·      We are not driven by fear.

·      Fear of failure

·      Fear of embarrassment

·      Fear of success (with increased expectations and pressure)

·      Fear of people (family, media, classmates… What will they say?)

3 – Power – the ability to do the right thing

·      Capacity for good

·      The capacity to make great plays

·      The capacity to make good decisions

·      That is power

4 – Love – seeking the team’s best, even at your personal cost

·      Commitment (do your job)

·      Sacrifice (give yourself up)

·      Encouragement (wise speech)

·      Loyalty (to struggling teammates)

·      That is love

5 – Self-control

·      You control your emotions, not fear or anger

·      You control your mind, not your opponent or the crowd

·      You control your body, not outside factors

6 – For today’s contest and the remainder of the season, we’ll be successful if our team is characterized by power, love and self-control.

Chapel – Playoffs

Chapel – Playoffs

1 – On this day we begin this team’s third season.

○     Non-conference season

○     Conference season

○     Playoffs

2 – Suddenly at game time today, the rest of the season doesn’t count.

○     All the teams in the playoffs stand the same.

○     The last team in has the same opportunity as the first seed.

○     Everyone is at 0 and 0.

○     All ___ teams are focused on a __ game run to the championship.

3 – I see a similar idea at Philippians 3:12b-14.

○     I press toward God’s call on my life.  I’m not finished yet.

○     One thing I do:

·      Forgetting the past (both the good and the bad).

·      Reaching forward (always forward).

·      Press toward the goal of becoming the man God made me to be (destiny, calling).

4 – For our team it’s much the same.

○     Press toward our goals.  We’re not finished yet.

○     One thing we do:

·      Forget the past (successes and failures).

·      Reach forward (play by play) always forward.

·      Press toward our team’s destiny.  Become all we can be.

·      Put it all together today.

·      Play our best game to date.

Chapel – Perseverance

Chapel – Perseverance

1 – Here we are at game number ___ of our season.

·      Let’s take a look back at our season so far.

·      We’ve competed at …(tough opponent)

·      We’ve endured a… (hard situation)

·      We’ve won a hard fought battle with …. (good win)

·      We’ve had to battle through… (illness or injury)

·      We won on the road at… (big road win)

·      We now face a worthy opponent on their home turf with a lot at stake.

·      We have handled these tests well and they have made us stronger.

·      This reminds me of an encouraging scripture.

2 – James 1:12 (read the text aloud).

·      Blessed = being contentedly happy.  Remember the bus ride back from ……?  Like that.

·      It says the one who perseveres under trial, not the one who quits under trial, not the one who whines under trial, not the one who complains under trial.

·      It says we are blessed when we refuse to quit and when we continue to move ahead toward the goal.

·      Once we have been approved, we will receive the crown of life.

o   We prove ourselves in the middle of trials, tests and adversity.

o   The result is a crown, a ring, a championship.

3 – Let’s commit ourselves to an attitude that will override every test, trial and each moment of adversity.