Dedicate the Season

Last night we gathered at Faith Community with several of our coaches and athletes to dedicate the upcoming season and school year to the Lord. Our coaches spoke and challenged our students. We also had a guest preacher from Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Paradise alumni, Corbin Young, give a closing message.

One by one coaches challenged students to live and play for the glory of God. Through wins, losses, injuries, or championships and personal accolades, everyone was challenged to bring all the glory back to God. We were challenged to use sports to bring the whole community together.

Our athletes were challenged to use their influence to point people to Christ. This was illustrated last night when a mother of a sixth grade son came up to me and told me that Taylor's comments to her son this summer in a work out made her son's day. All Taylor said was "You worked hard today," and hugged the little boy. The mother had to make the little boy take a bath because he did not want to wipe the sweat off from a varsity football player. Athletes have incredible influence.

The night ended with pee wee football players huddled together in prayer one by one dedicating the upcoming season to God. The high school volleyball and football players huddled together to do the same. The coaches formed another huddle to pray and the parents gathered together to pray as well.

It was a neat night. I have never been a part of a night like that going into the start of a season. When from the head coach down to junior high coaches the main focus was God getting the glory for athletic success. It fired me up.

All over the nation high school and college athletes are finishing up two a day practices getting ready for the upcoming season. There are many dreams and aspirations. Some play for their own personal glory. They see themselves as bigger than the team. Others play for the glory and pride of their school. A few play for God and give themselves over to him to be a vessel that brings him glory.

Maybe your athletic days are over like me. You had your chance and now you are a career person. I challenge you as a parent to continually point your young athletes to play for the glory of God. I have been coaching pee wee football and I used to coach baseball for many years having four sons. At the end of practices I still give a devotion and we end in prayer. I do a devotion before the games and we have a prayer. I challenge these young players to play for God's glory.

Dedicate the season means as an adult you can be a catalyst to unite your community as opposed to being a person who seeks to divide. You can pray for your coaches and athletes. You can cheer and support your team and community for God's glory. You can speak words of encouragement rather than words of destruction from the stands. That would be a welcome sound for all. Let us all dedicate the season to God and trust him with the outcome.