Keep In The Game

Keep in the Game

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4: 2-4

Purpose: To share that we need to hear the word of God and not what our itching ears desire. We need to get into the game get off the bench.

I love this time of year. It is a time in which life seems to be busting at the seams. The flowers and trees are blooming and the grass is turning that mesmerizing green that we have been so long without. All around us we see God’s beauty.

This is the time of the year we have family gatherings and cookouts. And this is also the time of year for Baseball.

Illustration: Tommy Lasorda once said "There are three types of base players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens." And I would say that’s true of the Christian life as well. We need to decide, which kind of player are we?

Illustration: "Most ballgames are lost by lack of genuine effort. Many things in life are lost just because we don’t do anything about them. Doing nothing will accomplish nothing.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 3 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

*RELEASE CHILDREN FOR CHILDREN’S CHURCH*

In our Scripture this morning, we read a warning if you will from Paul to Timothy. This is Paul’s attempt to let timothy know how very important it is that he stands faithful with the Word of God. That he needs to stay in the game. The importance is still here today! I believe that we too need to stand up , get into the game. Paul writes, “the time will come”. And as I look around us in today’s world I see that that time is now.

This is the time for us as Christians to decide. We need to decide, are we going to be a benchwarmer or are we going to get into the game? Are we going to be a Softball Christian or a Hard Hitting, Home Running, Cracker Jack Christian?

We have sat on the bench for far too long, we have only been a spectator and have not been a key player. The game of baseball has many jargons that go along with the sport. I have found three that I believe we can take in and gain a lesson from this morning that will inspire us to “Keep in the Game.” First, in order to “Keep in the Game”, we need to ….

I. KEEP THEM OFF THE BOARD

A. In baseball this means to keep a team from scoring, and off the scoreboard. As Christians, we need to keep the enemy, (Satan and his demons), from scoring on us.

1. I cannot tell you how many times I have failed in this area of the game.

2. Every time I feel guilty because of how I acted in certain situations, I allowed the enemy to score, Every time I doubt my calling as a pastor, I allow the enemy to score, Every time I allow my flesh to take control and I lose my Christian bearing, I allow the enemy to score.

3. Bad days in life happen don’t they? But how we react to those bad days is really what is important in this game.

VIDEO: “Bad Day”

- Ephesians 4:26-27 In your anger do not sin, Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

4. We all have bad days in life. We get angry, we say something that we regret, or do something that we wish we never did. God offers us forgiveness and a brand new start.

5. It is so very easy for us to score one for the other team. We need to keep them off the board and we also need to…..

II. KEEP THE HITTER HONEST

A. In the game of baseball this mean throwing a brush back pitch to keep the batter from leaning over the plate to reach a pitch on the outer part of the plate. As Christians, we need to hold one another accountable in our Christian walk.

Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Illustration: Have you ever tried mowing a lawn with dull blades? It doesn’t work too well, and the more you try to do it, the more frustrated you become with the mower.