by
Denise Eaton Brooks
As Christians, we were all excited when everyone started talking of a young man named, TEBOW. A young talented football player that boldly
stepped out claiming his salvation and his trust in the LORD JESUS the CHRIST. And, recently stepping out was a Clemson
wide receiver who was being baptized in front of all his teammates. These tough guys are finding themselves looking up to GOD for their strength and salvation.
If you have ever been to
Indian Springs Baptist Church and heard Senior Pastor, Dr. Roc Collins preaching,
then odds are you have heard an analogy of faith and football. I recently sat down with Dr. Collins and asked
him what comes to mind when I say, "How important is it to have faith and
football?" He simply replied,
" Faith is very important!"
" In football you must learn to trust in your coach, teammates,
training, and even your equipment to get the touchdown. As well as in life, we must learn to trust in
our Savior JESUS the Christ !"
Indian Springs Baptist
Church has the honor of feeding the Sullivan Central Varsity Football team each
Friday afternoon before the games. The
desire is not only to feed these young men but to take time to show them the
love not only of football, but most importantly the love of GOD. Each team member has a different life at home
and we never know how just this simple show of kindness may impact an entire
family.
When
speaking with ISBC's Youth Pastor, Mark Estepp, he said, " It is a great
opportunity to reach out to the young men and show them we aren’t just interested
in the game, but we care about them in their everyday life, in their succeeding
in life. We care for the administration,
the school, and the team. It doesn’t
matter if you are a member of our church or not we care about our community as
a whole. We want to provide this act of
kindness to reach out to all of them. "
After the first game of the
season ISBC also hosted the 5th Quarter.
This was a time to come and fellowship while eating pizza and snacking
for anyone that wanted to attend. The
ISBC Youth Praise Team providing worship music and our special guest, Nick
Reveiz, a former University of Tennessee football player with an amazing
inspiring testimony for these young men and women to hear. Taking a moment of his time to tell them,
"to not let the game of football define who you are in life. But, to know that you needed to let GOD lead
you to the person that HE has planned for you to be." encouraging each one of them to step out and
be bold, and tell others about GOD.
I will be the first to tell
you that I don't understand this game of football. But, just as in this game
football you may not always get a touchdown, you still have to get up, get
focused and make the next play. Just as
in life, you may get a flat on Monday morning, but you have to pump it up, pray
the other three don't go flat, and get to work.
You may not always win every game, but you still have to learn from
those losing games and work harder to win the next. In life, we will not always win every battle,
but we must take those battles and storms of life to prepare us for the next
hardship that comes our way. And, in
football we will win some games, but we must praise GOD if we win and praise
GOD if we lose. Just as in life, we must
praise GOD in the midst of our storms and praise HIM when life is good!
Praying for all the games to
be safe and that you win a few now and then .. 'til next time PRAISE GOD IN THE
STORM !!!
