Evangelism And Football Series

Evangelism and Football

By Paul Dietz

Evangelism and Football

We are now in the midst of one the hottest seasons of the year. No, I'm not talking about the weather and its accompanying temperatures. After all we have just finished having our two weeks of “summer” this past week and autumn is upon us. Our Trees are past their peak and most have dropped their leaves. The colors are quickly fading.

The season I am referring to is none other than one of America's favorite pastimes: football. I and millions of other Americans love the game. I don’t know if many of you can get as fanatical about football as I can. For years, I could not wait to get home from Church so I could watch the game. Even when I lived in Saipan, and the games were aired early Monday mornings on my local time, I would go through all kinds of difficulties to watch the games. Even When I was in Iraq, I would download a special program that would allow me see the games and I would wait for hours for the program to download and buffer so I could watch!

We think nothing of spending hundreds of dollars to be able to attend a pro-game in Boston, Buffalo or New York or various other franchises. It is nothing for us to spend all day Saturday or most of the afternoon on Sunday or Monday nights in front of the television rooting on our personal choice of team or player. And as for the Super Bowl: It is one of the nation's most watched television programs of the year.

When it comes to the sport of football, America is hooked! We love all the tackles, fumbles and interceptions.

It is nothing for us to sit on the edge of our seats or stand or even jump up and down during the play. We scream to the top of our lungs to cheer the players on the field as to encourage their fullest participation in the game.

We get so worked up over a few ounces of air wrapped in pig-skin, don't we? We definitely are fans, the great spectators that sits on the bleachers or stand beside the sidelines expecting the tremendous win of the season. We watch players become injured, coaches become angry and referees become belittled all over an oblong, brown ball and who makes the best use of it to win the big game.

What about the game of life? Are we any different when it comes to whether an individual knows how to make all the right moves on the field of life to become a receiver of God's love and compassion? Do we get concerned about who achieves and who fails in discovering a true relationship with the Christ in the end-zone of life? Or do we just sit on the sidelines (sit in the church pews) watching the world (the lost) pass by and allow their souls to be tackled by satanic forces and therefore struggle to secure the saving grace of the gospel of Jesus?

Is our church nothing more than a bunch of spectators or are we full participants in this “game” of reaching out to the community with the message of God's love?

This morning we continue our study in Acts and we will be looking at Acts 17:16-31. In Our passage we see Paul and his band of missionaries and evangelist continue to share God’s Good News with the lost and continue to be persecuted for it. I urge you to read Acts 17 on your own, as we will not have time to read all of it this morning.

I want to show you several aspects of Pauls ministry that I believe we should be quick to emulate in our personal lives and in the DNA of our Church. First, Let’s look at Acts 17:16

Acts 17:16

 ESV

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.

As Paul and his group traveled, because of persecution and trouble, we see that they had to split up. Paul finds himself arriving in Athens before the others. He has some time to look around, pray, and seek what God would have him do.

We see that He had a Burdened Heart of Missionary. What is missionary? We had Andrea Eaton here last week. Did you notice something about Andrea? I did. She was burdened for the people of Romania, specifically the children that have been discarded and are unwanted. She is burdened. A missionary is burdened for the lost. Are you burdened for the lost?

I. The Burdened Heart of a Missionary

(Acts 17:16)

Paul's Distress: The city full of idols. Paul was distraught over the lostness he saw. Everyone that he saw in Athens was commited to a lifestyle that had Zero to do with God. They worshiped everything and everything except God. They had never heard of Jehovah much less of Jesus Christ.