What did Jesus say to Kurt Warner?
Thesis: Jesus spoke to Kurt and Brenda and said, “Kurt and Brenda put your faith in me and you will discover that all things are possible with me as long as you put me first!”
The Warner’s favorite Texts:
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Matthew 19:26 “…with God all things are possible.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight."
James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Introduction:
Kurt’s testimony: “Before accepting Jesus as my Lord I lived my life for only me. I never asked God what he wanted for my life. I was living only for what I wanted. When I was 25 years old I realized I was nothing without Jesus and that I was separated from Him because of sin. I asked Jesus to come into my life and show me His way. He did! Jesus became first in my life and a great change took place.”
Kurt’s Bio:
He is the biggest success story in NFL history…rare accuracy…tremendous poise in pocket...steps up and delivers ball under duress consistently…vision is uncanny…uses his entire receiving corps…puts ball in perfect spot to catch and run with it...signed with the Rams 12/26/97...defied odds in taking long road to NFL success..
• NFL Most Valuable Player (1999, 2001)
• Named to Pro Bowl (1999, 2000, 2001)
• Named Super Bowl XXXIV MVP after leading Rams to 23-16 victory over Tennessee
• Threw for Super Bowl record 414 yards and two touchdowns in Super Bowl XXXIV
• Inherited starting quarterback job when Trent Green was injured during 1999 preseason
• Along with Dan Marino, is the only QB in NFL history to throw for 40 or more touchdowns in one season
• Led NFL with 109.2 passer rating 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns in 1999
• Starting QB for Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe in 1998
• Has been the starting Quarterback for the Rams since then.
• 2001: Earned NFL Most Valuable Player honors for second time in three seasons, edging teammate RB Marshall Faulk by one vote…completed 375 of 546 passes for 4,830 yards with 36 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.
o …third QB in franchise history to earn three or more consecutive Pro Bowl berths (Norm Van Brocklin 6, 1950-55; Roman Gabriel 3, 1967-69
o …led NFL in passing yards, touchdown passes, passer rating (101.4), yards per attempt (8.85), third down passing (109.5), and was third in the NFC and fourth in the NFL in fourth quarter passing (101.4)
o …set team records for completions (375), completion percentage (68.8), passing yards, most seasons with 4,000 or more passing yards (two), and most games with 300 or more passing yards in career (26)
o …tied NFL record for 300-yard passing games in a season (nine) and tied a team record for most games with four or more touchdown passes in career (six)
o …had eight games with a passer rating of at least 100.0
o …became fastest player to reach 10,000 passing yards in NFL history, accomplishing the feat against Carolina 11/11 (36 games)
o …number of completions ranked sixth on NFL’s single-season list
o …had 10 multiple-touchdown passing games: two two-touchdown games, five three-TD games, and three four-TD games, plus 10 games in which he completed at least 70 percent of his passes
o …had one of best games of career against Miami 9/30, completing 24 of 31 passes (77.4 percent) for 328 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions (150.3 rating)
Information from Rams website.
His commitment to Christ is summarized in this statement:
“ I embrace my status as a role model big time, and it has nothing to do with athletics. I want to be a role model for Christ in everything that I do!”
He makes sure that everyone knows who is to get the glory for any success in his life:
Kurt’s response: “…the only secret to my success was Jesus!”
“I was humbled by the magnitude of the moment. That’s what my faith does for me; it keeps me grounded and focused on what’s truly important in life.”
I. Jesus said, “Put your faith in me not yourself!”
a. Faith in Jesus is what leads to success in anything in life.
i. The willingness to serve Him and let others know that you love Jesus is paramount to true success in life.
1. Matthew 19:26 “…with God all things are possible.”
ii. Kurt states this about faith, “This is where faith plays and integral role for me. It’s great to believe in yourself, but in my opinion, you have to believe in something more as well. For me, becoming a Christian wasn’t just a transition that made me a better person. It also made me feel less isolated. Before, it was me against the world, or my family and I verses everyone. But once I accepted Jesus and committed my life to him, I had a community of brothers and sisters who believed in a common cause. It was an extended family, like a football team, only the goal wasn’t to defeat an opponent but to share in a love and ecstasy that, in my mind, dwarfed everything else in importance” (240).
iii. Kurt’s testimony on his web site shares about the importance of his faith in Jesus:
Before accepting Jesus as my Lord I lived my life for only me. I never asked God what he wanted for my life. I was living only for what I wanted. When I was 25 years old I realized I was nothing without Jesus and that I was separated from Him because of sin. I asked Jesus to come into my life and show me His way. He did! Jesus became first in my life and a great change took place. (First Things First website).
iv. Kurt adds, “Many Christian athletes seem timid about enunciating their love for Jesus, perhaps because they think it will turn off the public and cost endorsement money. While I respect the fact that everyone has different beliefs. I’m personally very eager to share my views with anyone who will listen. Just as I pride myself on hanging in there against a fearsome pass rush, I’m determined not to flinch when people mock or shout down my views. My role model in this regard is my wife. When Brenda was a teenager in Waterloo, Iowa, she literally had to fight for the right to voice her faith. Classmates would call her “Jesus Freak” and “Holy Roller” and knock her down in the halls and throw punches at her simply because of her beliefs. She was kicked out of junior high school parties because she was dragging everybody down” (242,243).
T.S.- When we learn like Kurt Warner to place our faith in the Lord then we are on the way to discovering that with God all things are possible.
II. Jesus said, “Understand that with me all things are possible!”
a. Jesus can open any door even when it seems closed.
i. Mark 9:23: “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
ii. Mark 10: 27 “”With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
b. This is why Kurt titles his book “All Things Possible”
i. Kurt and Brenda’s Story displays that with the Lord anything is possible.
ii. Some of the themes that apply to their lives:
1. “Rags to Riches”
2. “Hope never quits”
3. “I will never give up”
4. “Endurance”
5. “First things first”
T.S. - Kurt and Brenda’s story helps us to realize that when we put First things First anything is possible with the Lord! We also must realize that when the impossible happens we at that point become a role model for Jesus.
III. Jesus said “Realize that you are a role model whether you want to be or not.”
a. Kurt notes, “But to me the issue isn’t whether we should or shouldn’t be role models, because it’s really a moot point. The reality is that we are role models, and there’s no getting around that fact. So, to me, the question then becomes. What should we do about it? I embrace my status as a role model big time, and it has nothing to do with athletics. I want to be a role model for Christ in everything that I do” (240).
b. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told his disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes you will receive power and then they will become witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Same is true today when Christ touches our life with the Holy Spirit we become His witnesses and therefore you are hurled into a role modeling position whether you want to be or not.
c. Kurt Warner is a great role modeled. They are making a difference!
i. He and Brenda are active in helping with fundraising for Cancer research.
ii. Kurt spends time with kids who come to see him at practice.
iii. He and Brenda visit Kids in Children’s hospitals with illnesses and bring them gifts and encouragement.
iv. He and Brenda work with disabled kids.
v. They work with kids at there church.
vi. They started Warner’s Warmer Coat Drop to get poverty stricken kids winter coats.
vii. They are involved with toys for tots at Christmas.
viii. They give away grants to help people who are in need.
ix. They role model family values.
1. Kurt shows everyone that handicap people are special. And is proud of his adopted handicap son Zach.
2. They are great Christian witnesses
3. Kurt was voted the Man of the year a year ago.
x. They are active in a variety of fundraisers helping any one they can.
xi. They are active in schools and have a poster placed in Iowa schools promoting reading and they as a family are sitting there reading the Bible.
d. The question that comes to mind is, “How do others view Kurt in this area as a role model?”
i. Vermeil said, “Kurt Warner is Kurt Warner,” Vermeil said. “it’s not a fairy tale, it’s real life. He is an example of what we all like to be on and off the field. He is a great example of persistence and believing in himself and a deep faith…What else can you write? He is a book He is a movie, this guy” (Dave Kindred).
ii. David Kindred observed of Kurt this scene, “It had been 16-0 once; that was the score when Titans safety Blaine Bishop went down after a tackle, horribly down, silently down, unmoving, as if paralyzed. And on the Rams’ sideline, the building silent, Kurt Warner dropped to a knee and prayed” “I asked the Lord to watch over him.”
iii. Paul Attner states this about Kurt Warner, “I believe in magic. At least, when it is draped all over Kurt Warner. There are multiple reasons to choose the Titans to win this most evenly matched Super Bowl in memory. But even though they, too, generate a feel-good aura and have strengths galore to carve out a victory, I can’t shake those magical vibes about Warner” (Sporting News, 1/31/200)
1. Why would someone say he’s magical?
a. Because he senses something supernatural about Kurt. In reality he senses the presence of Jesus.
b. Christians should have a magical sense about them. The world should be able to see something beyond this world in their lives.
T.S. - Kurt and Brenda are role models that should challenge each of us a Christians to step it up and be what the Lord desires us to be “Godly role models in a fallen world.” We also will see that they are role models in their success and in the quality of having perseverance. They have stressed that the secret to success in life is persevering with Jesus through the tough times because it will produce character that the world will notice and applaud.
IV. Jesus said, “Never give up – persevere and endure to the end!”
a. How does he persevere?
i. By his faith, by prayer and by being a doer of the Word.
1. His First Things First Foundation leads the way in helping out those who are in need.
ii. James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
1. This is Brenda’s favorite Bible verses.
iii. Kurt just came out with a new book which talks about the need to press on in life. His book is entitled “Keep Your Head Up!”
b. Brenda is Kurt’s inspiration in this area of life.
i. He states: “For all the fuss people have made about my story in the wake of my achievement with the Rams, Brenda’s story (his wife), in my mind, is far more compelling… Compare my story to Brenda’s: sure, I had to work at a grocery store and play Arena football, but she had to cope with her child’s mental and physical disabilities and endure her parent’s sudden death. Yet her faith was strong enough that she pressed ahead, raised a family, (alone when he husband left her while pregnant), and has not lost sight of what’s truly important in life. You tell me which story is more intriguing; I don’t think it’s even close. And obviously there are thousands of others like Brenda we never hear about who have triumphed in the face of circumstances far more daunting than getting passed over by a few football teams” (243).
ii. Brenda’s testimony: “As a young girl I put God first in my life, when my biggest concern was how to fix my hair. As I grew into an adult my concerns became much greater. I lived through my oldest child’s severe head injury, a broken marriage, poverty, and both my parents’ tragic deaths in a tornado. Although I do not understand it all, I have held onto my foundation- Jesus. I continue to realize that God IS faithful. He loves me and I need him to be first in my life.”
1. Brenda has had to deal with her ex-husband accidentally dropping her son Zachary in the bath tub and causing him brain damage.
2. This lead to a rocky marriage which ended in divorce when her ex-ran off with another women. Her husband left when she was pregnant with there second child.
3. She has had to be a single mom and raise two kids on her own. She discovered what poverty was like.
4. She had to deal with her parents being killed in a freak tornado in Arkansas after living there only 1 week.
a. She had to deal with the movie Twister which came out the week after her parents were killed.
5. Kurt learned from Brenda what it meant to never throw in the towel and what it meant to press on. That’s why when he won the Super Bowl he ran over to her in the stands kissed her and told her, “I love you, “and then also said “We did it.” Jesus, Brenda and Kurt did it together!
6. Do you recall Brenda’s favorite verses?
a. James 1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”
iii. Romans 5: 1-5: 1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
1. Today many want the fame of fortune that pro football players get.
2. But the key to success in life is not fame and fortune but character.
3. If you achieve fame and fortune without character you will soon lose your fame and fortune because of lack of character.
T.S. - Brenda and Kurt know what it means to persevere – not to quit - and they allowed God to develop them into a couple with character that honors God.
Conclusion:
The first and most important lesson we learn from the Warner’s is that we must put first things first. When we have a right relationship with the Lord everything else comes together.
So how’s your priority list? Who’s first?
The second lesson learned from the Warner’s is that when your relationship is right with the Lord then all things are possible with God.
When we have God in his rightful place then everything else comes together.
The 3rd lesson learned from the Warner’s is when God does the impossible be ready to be the role model that Jesus desires you to be. Remember you are a role model whether you want to be or not.
So how are you doing in this area as a role model?
The 4th lesson learned from the Warner’s is that they demonstrated the character trait of perseverance and God used their hard times to produce a couple with character that the world has observed and applauded. There trials and hard times produced a family that is making a difference in this fallen world of selfish people.
So let me ask, “Are you persevering through the trials of life and developing a strong godly character?” “Or are you becoming just bitter and not better?”
