Champions

“CHAMPIONS”

Super Bowl Sunday - 2/1/09

INTRODUCTION:

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. We all know what Super Bowl Sunday is about. It’s about the National Football Teams who have played hard all year long in order to finish as “CHAMPIONS!” The teams who won their division are now the prospective “CHAMPIONS” of their & divisions now those two teams play for the “WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!”

The Pittsburgh Steelers & the Phoenix Arizona Cardinals have played hard, made mistakes, been up & down, had injuries, trials, tribulations, they’ve played in the heat & cold, wet & rain & burning sun. They’ve been “Cheered & Jeered”, sometimes, all in the same game. They’ve been disappointed, elated, they’ve won & lost, but they all worked hard to get where they are! Both teams have “PAYED THE PRICE” to finish at the top of their fields & their prospective teammates & the other teams who didn’t make it as far as they did. Both teams are w/out a doubt “CHAMPIONS” but there can only be #1 ultimate “CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM!”

Folk, “CHAMPIONS” aren’t born, “THEY ARE MADE!” Every single one of the players, playing this afternoon, will tell you they “EARNED” the spot they’re in today. They weren’t born that way but they TRAINED, PUSHED, STRETCHED & MADE THEMSELVES the “CHAMPIONS” they are!

Of all the people I think about in the Bible as a “CHAMPIONS” one stands out to me. Understand this, all the people mentioned in the Bible of those that God used in ways that glorified God from Genesis to Revelation were, without a doubt, “CHAMPIONS!”

I think of David, he was a “CHAMPION”, Peter was a “CHAMPION”, Mark, James & John, there were all “CHAMPIONS!” I love David as one of my favorite Biblical Characters along with Peter, Mark, James & John. I love David, I love Peter, Mark, James & John. But there is another one that stands out to me personally. It’s hard to single one out but there is one that stands out to me among these “CHAMPIONS!”

Paul is that one! Paul of all the people I see in the Bible Paul stands out to me as a man who didn’t fall by the wayside, or have any major failures as a Child of God. He understood things about God & God’s ways that very few if any understood as he did. He wrote about those things in order for the young church of the day to be the church “WORTHY” of God’s sacrifice and the Groom that Bride was and is to be united with.

I think about Paul’s “CHAMPIONSHIP DISCOURSE” in II Timothy 4:7-8. Don’t get me wrong. Paul wasn’t bragging at all, in all actuality Paul was just STATING A FACT THROUGH & BY THE HELP OF GOD IN HIS LIFE!

Paul says...

“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have

kept the faith. Therefore is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,

which the Lord the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day,

& not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

“CHAMPIONS” are not made by accident! “CHAMPIONS” are not made by osmosis! “CHAMPIONS”are not made by whimsy, nor by a lack of deliberation! “CHAMPIONS” are made out of & by “PURPOSE & DELIBERATION!”

“CHAMPIONS” are created by God but it takes one like Paul to use the “CHAMPIONSHIP ATTRIBUTES” given by God in order for the “CHAMPION” to come out in the way that God intends! God intends that all of us become “CHAMPIONS!” But we have to take “INITIATIVE” in order for us to become the “CHAMPIONS” God made us & created us to be!

All of those players in todays game they weren’t born “CHAMPIONS!” They had to dig deep within themselves in order for the “CHAMPION” to come out the way God intended! They worked hard to be “CHAMPIONS!” They planned to be “CHAMPIONS!” They studied to be “CHAMPIONS!” They practiced to be “CHAMPIONS!” They even gave up things & suffered in order to be the “CHAMPIONS” they chose to be!

Folk, they just didn’t wake up one day in the Super Bowl! THEY EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE THERE!

IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE A “CHAMPION” YOU HAVE TO EARN THE RIGHT TO BE A “CHAMPION!” Don’t get me wrong, there are some things you cannot do by yourself but of those things you can you have a “CHOICE” to make! To be a “CHAMPION” or not! It’s just that simple! I’ve taken a good introspective look inside myself & I’ve made a choice for me! I CHOOSE TO BE A “CHAMPION!” IS IT EASY, IS IT SIMPLE, IS IT FUN ALL THE TIME! NO TO ALL OF THOSE! BUT THE PAY-OFF IS THE “CHAMPIONSHIP!”