There's No Me In Team

There Is No ME In Team

NOW – this morning ‘Super Bowl Sunday’

WE ARE - stepping out of the Beatitudes,

HOWEVER - we are staying in our series “The End Of Me, Where Real Life Begins…’

TODAY’S… conversation is, ‘There Is No ME In Team.’

LOOK 3 PEOPLE IN THE EYE…

NOW - I’m sure that you have heard the acrostic of the word team – ‘Together Everyone achieves more!’

Together we achieves what? more (anybody like more?)

Who achieves more? Everyone

How do we achieve more? Together

AND LISTEN- part of what makes ‘team’ so awesome and powerful is something called synergy…

You know I really like that word… I MEAN - it’s such a cool word, AND - an even cooler concept.

Synergy basically means that the sum – the effects – the results of a high functioning team are always greater than the sum of their individual abilities…

IN OTHER WORDS – we can do more working together – than working by ourselves.

LIKE - individually we can each lift 200 pounds for a sum of 400… But together we can push up 500!

That’s team, that’s synergy, that’s awesome!

NOW - later today the Patriots and Eagles will face off in Super Bowl LII…

AND LISTEN – no matter who wins, it will not be an individual win – it will be TEAM win. With every player doing their job, because there is no ME in team.

NOW - as I was preparing this message…

I started wondering about who were some the greatest sports teams of all time…

SO – (me and mister goggle) did some hanging out, riding the waves of cyber space together…

AND - after extensive study and research I would like to present to you some of the greatest sports teams of all time…

NOW - they are not in any particular order.

(SHOW PICTURES OF THESE TEAMS)

The UCLA basketball Team who under coach John Wooden won 10 national championships in a span of 12 years…

This picture is from 1973 – they just won their 7th straight championship and had back to back undefeated seasons.

Hey do you know what coach Wooden always kept in his pocket? A cross, to remind him of what really matters.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 1946-1949 won 3 national championships

Since 2009 Alabama has been in 6 of 9 Championship games and has won 5 times. Hate them or love them, that is pretty amazing!

The Boston Celtics' were a dynasty in NBA Basketball from 1957 to 1969…Led by Coach Red Auerbach and center Bill Russell they won an 11 championships in 13 years

The New York Yankees… (though I hate to do it, I must give the evil empire their props)

The Yankees have been to the world series 40 times (which is a huge number when you consider that there have only been 113 world series to date) and they have taken home the championship 27 times…

Their best run was from 1949 to 1958 with Casey Stengal at the helm, They were in the World series 10 years in a row and they took home the title 7 times… (the won 5 in row during that span)

Pittsburg Steelers – from 1975-1980 won 4 Super bowls…

From 1984 to 1990, led by Wayne Gretzky the Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup five times.

Okay one more team…

And get ready to boo, hiss and hate…

Since 2001 they have played in 8 of 17 Super Bowls and they have won 5 to date…

They have average 12.2 wins a season and have won 77% of their games….

Won their division 15 times

And went to 12 conference championship in 17 years.

NOW – not only… do we see a lot of awesome TEAMS in sports…

BUT - we also see a lot of awesome teams in the Bible…

Teams btw that are performing for something a lot more important than a trophy or a championship…

(the Glory of God)

QUESTION – when you think of great biblical teams in the bible – what teams pop into your mind?

I MEAN – what were the Teams that had great synergy… that empowered them to achieve amazing things together…

Noah and 3 his 3 sons… (Shem, Ham, Japeth)…

I MEAN – these 3 guys without a single power tool built a ship that was 450 feet long… 75 feet wide and 45 feet high… That’s big. Not to mention collecting all of those animals and keeping the human race alive…

Moses and Aaron… another great team. 2 brothers both in their 80’s standing side by side and helping deliver about 1 million of God’s people from 400+ years of slavery…

I MEAN - think about it… armed with just their faith and a wooden staff they brought the mighty Egyptian Empire to her knees…