Don’t be a bench warmer!

I love the game of soccer. I’ve been playing soccer since I was 6 years old and still enjoy playing to this day. One of my memories was of my Coach in High School. I can almost hear him today, “Paul! If you’re going to play with heart, you got to practice the basics!” Of all the basics he tried to pound into my head, being a “Team” player was at the front.

Lee Iacocca once asked the legendary football coach Vince Lombardi what it took to make a winning team.

Lombardi said, "There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don’t win the game. Then you come to the third ingredient: if you’re going to play together as a team, you’ve got to care for one another. You’ve got to love each other. Each player has to be thinking about the next guy. You’ve got to do your job well in order that he can do his. The difference between mediocrity and greatness is the feeling these guys have for each other."

Great teams in sports, in business, and especially in the church, are formulated when the members of the teams love and care for each other.
Behind every great ministry leader is a great team that makes the ministry possible... let me say that again, behind every great ministry leader is a great team that makes the ministry possible.

We all know from reading the Bible that the apostle Paul is a great Christian leader. But we should also know from reading the Bible that he couldn’t do it all by himself. In his letters, he mentions over 100 people by name that has important roles in his ministry.

We have people like him in our church. Some of you love the church so much that you’re willing to help out anyway you can. Some of you spend hours away from home to attend church meetings. To run the sound system, bookstore, safety, parking, hospitality, and children’s ministries; the list goes on and on.

I want our church to be a place where people are welcome to come and rebuild their lives. I want you to know that if you’ve ever messed up; if you’ve ever blown it big time; our church is a place where you can come and repent of your sins. And find solace and forgiveness. You will be welcomed here with a warm handshake and a glad heart. And you will discover that there is still a place for you in the ministry of this church.

I wrote in my blog yesterday that we all have special talents and abilities; we all have spiritual gifts when we accept the Holy Spirit within us. All of you have different backgrounds, different histories, and different gifts. Yet each one of you is an IMPORTANT part of God’s team.

I want you to pray about where your place might be on God’s team.

God has a special place for you on His team.

Put me in Coach, I’m ready!