Who Would Jesus Be at a Soccer Game?

     Each Thurs night, we play soccer... It's an adult soccer league that Church of the Open Door hosts and its open to men and women, ages 14 and up. We have 4 teams this fall. Our son Daniel is on the Yellow Team and I am on the Red Team. It is an indoor soccer league so each team fields only 6 players on the court at a time. We play for 8 weeks.

Red and White Teams Ready to Play

     Two games are played each Thurs night and at half time a small devotional thought is presented to the teams. Steve Quatro, the organizer of the league, has asked me to give these devotional thoughts this fall. We will be looking at who Jesus is and/or isn't and relate that to different people you might see around a soccer game. For instance...

     Is Jesus like a TV/Radio announcer at a soccer game? The announcer is very much involved in what is happening on the field. He has a "big picture" view of the game, and can even give a detailed report of what is happening, but he is not able to actually affect the play on the field or the outcome of the game. Many people think God is like that. He has set the world in motion, but is now "hands-off" when it comes to day to day activities.  He might be interested in what is happening in the world, but either can't or won't interfere.

     Many of the guys and gals who play in the league do not attend the church on Sunday morning or during the week. Probably 90 % of the team members are of Hispanic decent. So we are hoping to create some friendships with our team mates, and some bridges between them and the church as a whole.  Some will feel comfortable with the English services at church, but I hope to be a bridge to the Spanish ministries of the church.

Soccer for Adults

     Please pray for us as we seek to get to know some of these guys and gals and invite them to seek a deeper understanding of who Jesus is. Pray for me, specifically as I prepare these half-time talks. Steve has suggested that I could do the devotional times in Spanish. It may be more of a mix between the two languages. Pray that those of us who do attend the church can be a good witness of Jesus to those who don't.

Doug