Scripture Ephesians 4:7-13
What If the Church Played the Super Bowl?
Ephesians 4:7-13
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." 9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
It’s Super Bowl Sunday; we might as well join in the spirit of the game. How many of you are pulling for the Patriots? Who would like to see the Eagles win? How many of you just don’t care? How many of you watch just for the commercials?
But what if the church played in the Super Bowl? What if today’s the typical American church played in the Super Bowl? What if Ashland were in the Superbowl? You’d certainly tune in and cheer for the church, wouldn’t you?
Let’s consider five scenes of what the Super Bowl might look like, if the church were to play the Super Bowl. Along the way, what I hope you learn about the church is this: "The average church does not need more members, it needs more ministers! More players. More participants. More ministry builders. You can decide which one of these five scenarios is the kind of superbowl champion church you’d like your church to be.
SCENE #1: THE COACH PLAYS ALONE
Imagine the scene as the teams burst onto the field and are introduced this afternoon at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. You know the scene. The players run onto the field. Bands are playing. Rockets explode. A squadron of Air Force Jets flies overhead. The players go crazy. Tom Beady and Nick Foles, the team quarterbacks are shouting and pumping up their teams.
But the Super Bowl I’m talking about this morning is very different. The coin is tossed, the National Anthem is played and the opposing team runs onto the field. (We’ll call them the Devil’s Demons.) Then the cameras zoom in on the church still on the sideline, saying the Lord's Prayer (trespasses). But when the prayer is over, instead of the church taking the field of play, they stay on the sideline and the coach runs onto the field; all alone If the church is large enough to have some assistant coaches (other paid staff) they run out on the field as well. Anyway, the coach lines up to receive the kick-off. Now we know what's going to happen. The ball is kicked and the coach makes the catch and takes a few steps forward and, "BOOM." Eleven of the Devil’s most talented special teams’ players converge at once on the poor coach. He dies and and says, “Hey Jesus, someone rung my bell”.
Now who's the church's coach? Who? The pastor is the church's coach. In some churches, like ours, we're fortunate to have a staff of ministers. But do you really think the coach alone or the staff alone stand a chance against the Devil's Demons? (Nothing against our other paid staff, but…) About as much chance as the Browns had in making to the superbowl.
I can see it now. They kick off. I set Becky and Teresa up front to throw a few blocks. But all they hit is the ground. I have the ball. Take a few steps forward and realize I'm about to make my wife a widow, so what do I do? I was going to throw the ball down field to Joey, but he decided to not play because we needed a one-man marching band instead. SO, I lateral the ball to Gary across the field and yell, “Run, Gary, run." That's why we hired you. Reach those youth. Grow our Sunday School. I'm praying for you!"
No. That's not the way to play a football game, especially not the Super Bowl. But sadly, that often illustrates the way too many churches try to do the work of ministry in the church.
Remember our text, Ephesians 4:11-12, It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.
SCENE #2: THE HOLY HUDDLE
After the coach is carried off on three of four stretchers, the team or the church finally realizes they had better get in the game. So, they run on the field and get in the huddle, and they huddle and they huddle and they huddle.
The referee throws a flag. The church is penalized for delay of game. Five yards is marked off against the church. So, they get back in the huddle, and they huddle and they huddle and they huddle. The ref blows his whistle, and throws his flag, five more yards.
The crowd starts to boo. What's going on? Why's the church staying in the huddle? Let's look inside the huddle to see what's going on. We hear one of the church's players say, "Boy, don't we have a pretty huddle." Another one says, "I love it here in the huddle." Still another says, "I love the closeness and the fellowship we enjoy with one another in the huddle." So, the church joins hands and begins to sing choruses in the huddle. “We shall not be moved.”
We like it in the huddle. It's safe in the huddle. You can't get hurt in the huddle. And while we're safe and secure in our HOLY HUDDLES, the church continues to lose ground in the Super Bowl of life.
SCENE 3: HUFFY HUDDLE
You can only stay in the huddle so long before you begin to find fault with something or someone in the huddle. "I don't know why you always get to play quarterback. I can throw the ball as well as you can!"
"Why are you wearing that number? That use to be my number." "You know I'm really tired of these uniforms. I think we ought to have different color uniforms!” And while the church argues among them in a HUFFY HUDDLE, the mass of spectators are left in frustration wondering when the church is going to get in the game.
Three Things Needed to Develop Teamwork and Bring the Church Out of the Huffy Huddle
1. A Leader on the Team
When I played the game, about one hundred years ago, there was a rule every player understood. When you're in the huddle, the quarterback calls the plays. Few people are successful unless a lot of other people want them to be. There's an old Chinese saying, "He who thinks he leads and no one follows, is just taking a walk." Now we can just take a walk together, or we can follow the leader. But to be a winning church, we all have to work together, with every player executing his/her responsibilities under the leadership God has given us.
2. A Cause Worth Fighting For
If we're going to get the church out of the huddle, we need a cause worth fighting for. In Super Bowl LII, two teams will battle for the right to be called "the best in the NFL." For the church, that which motivates us to come out of the huddle should be the souls of men and women. But we don’t stop there. We must be united in our effort to fully disciple every believer who attends our church.
3. We Need an Understanding that "Everyone is Needed."
There are no unimportant saints in God's church. Another important principle in team sports is this: No individual player is more important than the team as a whole. The church needs to learn to play as a team.
On December 28, 1967, the Green Bay Packers lined up on the one-yard line of the Dallas
Cowboys with no time outs, and 13 seconds left in the game. Dallas was ahead 17 - 14. Twice the Packers had sent running back Donnie Anderson into the line only to slip on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The temperature at game time was 13 degrees below zero with 15 mile-an-hour winds swirling around the stadium. As the Packers came to the line of scrimmage for the last play of the game, the quarterback, Bart Starr, called his own number, and dove in behind right guard Jerry Cramer who had managed to place a crushing block on the bigger and stronger Jethro Pugh of the Cowboys. The Packers won the game and went on to win their third straight NFL championship. Bart Starr may have scored the touchdown, but it was Jerry Cramer who made the block. PICS & VIDEO GO TO: https://youtu.be/YsLhU0KlasI
Everyone is important in the work of the Kingdom! We can't do it alone.
SCENE #4: THE TEAM NEVER RAN DRILLS
Suppose the Patriots (4.5 favorites) are so over-confident that they’ve spent the last two weeks celebrating their victory over the Jaguars to earn the right to return to the Super Bowl. They haven't even thought about the Eagles. They know they should win. They haven't practiced. They haven't watched a film. They haven't put together a game plan.
Here's another sport's principle: "You play like you practice."
The same principle is true when applied to the church. "You play like you practice." When it comes to the lay leadership in the church, we too often find ourselves performing poorly because we have failed to effectively train our leaders.
Too often this is how churches recruit our leaders. A member of the church nominating committee walks up to Sister-Do-It-All two minutes before class and says, "Sister Do-It-All, the Lord has laid it on our hearts that you ought to teach our three-year-old class. We know how much you love children since you have seven of your own. Besides, if you don't do it then no one else will. So, we give Sister Do-It-All a Sunday School quarterly and shove her in the class room door and lock the door behind her.
One of the most important things we have learned is that the reason our people refuse leadership in the church is because they have tried it before and had such a terrible experience that they promised themselves, "I'll never do that again."
The church is out of the huddle but they're still being defeated because they haven't been trained.
SCENE #5: THE TURN AROUND TEAM
Halftime finally comes. The church drags itself into the locker room, bruised and embarrassed. But to our surprise Jesus sent the coach back to the team. He gives them this pep talk.
"I have a confession to make. First of all, I've failed to equip you to do the job. I've tried to do it by myself. I know you don't feel adequate to do the job. I know you don't know what to do or how to do it. But from this moment on, it's your game. I'll teach you and I'll show you how, but you've got to play the game. I believe in you. I know you can do it. Now let's get out there and win one for the Lord!"
And the church charges out of the locker room back onto the field for the second half. The Church takes the kick-off and return it for a touchdown. The Church intercepts a pass and carries it all the way for another TD.
The church’s front line, led by the Deacons, the board of education, the trustees, the executive council, the mission committee, the personnel committee, the nominating committee, the nursery committee, the marketing committee, the first impressions team, the ushers, the greeters, the church unique team, the choir, the bell choir, the kids choir, the orchestra, the instrumentalists, the media team, the website and social media developers, who make Sunday Power Point slides, the prayer warriors, nursery volunteers, those who send encouragement cards and gifts, those who visit hospitals and shut ins, serve communion, the prayer team, those who serve meals and hand out groceries, those who plan and organize events like fun day, Omas’s soup kitchen and auction, Sunday school and WOW teachers, Vacation bible school workers, those who make coffee on Sunday, those who lead bible studies, who collect mittens and school supplies, who receive a life time ministry award, who prepare the Turkey Dinner, who run the video camera, who update our church library, who keep track of finances and pay the bills, the ones who don’t have a specific job but serve whenever they can, the people who clean up after events, those who invite others to church, our nursery workers, our secretary, our accompanist, our minister of music, our youth leader, our senior pastor, those who seek to develop new ministries for an ever changing world around us, those who live out their faith at home and at work or school, those who follow Jesus when he said “I did not come to be served but to serve.”
Finally, on the last play of the Super Bowl, with no time outs left, and the clock running out, the quarterback dives over for the winning touchdown. But the star of the game is not the quarterback, but the team. It's been a total turn around, a total team effort!
And as the Commissioner awards the church the Super Bowl trophy, we humbly bow and place our award, our victory and our recognition at the feet of the Team Owner, the Lord of Lords as we say, “Worthy is the Lamb to receive honor, and glory, and praise.” We press on to receive that high calling which is in Christ Jesus alone. To God be the Glory forever and ever. Amen!
Now that’s a Super Bowl for the Ages!
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Acts 6:1-7
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Jesus got in the game.
