Millions of people watched the Superbowl on Sunday but I am pleased to report that even more people attended church worldwide that same day. However, the sad news is that many people spent more time preparing for their Superbowl party than they did praying or preparing for Church service on Sunday. Yes the New York Giants took home the Lombardi trophy and all of the team, players and coaches enjoyed the riches that come from winning the Superbowl; but the fame and riches of this world are fleeting as is life itself.
Everyday we all get to play in our own Superbowl. The prize for our victory is more precious than all of the riches and fame of this world. Our Superbowl is the game of life and the prize for winning is everlasting life in the presence of God.
During my emails this past two weeks I wrote about our pre-game preparations. In Piety as an Ideal, I shared that authentic piety is a life fully directed to God. We learned that we must live a life in the grace of God that is growing, conscious, and shared. If a team is going to win the Superbowl, the players also mush have an ideal whereby they are consciously aware of their abilities, that they are growing in their skills and where they freely share their talent to help the team win. We reviewed just like a football player must spend endless hours watching film we must spend endless hours in prayer with our COACH!
Then in the Study email we learned that as Christians we must be formed as a Christian, conform to a pattern of Christ and transform the secular environment in which we live. In the same way professional football players must be formed by their coaches, conform their play to meet their opponents and willingly transform the play of the game to assure victory.
But study and piety are pregame activities. Ultimately we must dawn our uniform and play in the big game. As Christians we are called to transform all environments for Christ. We are called to reach out to others to share the victory of Christ. We are called to Apostolic Action.
For an athlete no matter how many hours of study and preparation go into place before the game, they still must play the game. We too with the grace we have obtained through piety and study, must get out of the comfort of the locker room and go out and bring others to Christ.
A statement in the Cursillo 3 Day Manual says, "Being Christian without action is equal to not being Christian." It goes on to say, "In order to have an apostalate one needs to be an Apostle."
When I speak of action I am referring to Apostolic Action, not just nice action. Even an atheist can do nice things for other people. By Apostolic Action I am talking about the action of bringing others to a relationship with Christ. To bring others to Christ we need to employ the method of "Make a friend, Be a friend, Bring a friend to Christ."
Our world is one in which all people are struggling, suffering, hurting or are empty inside. Christ is the only assurance of victory for those people. We must go out and build sincere friendships in this hurting world. We must live by the truth and truly be interested in them and we must now, well prepared for our pregame preparations of Piety and Study, share the Good News of Jesus with them. We must work to bring others to a personal relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ.
If we do this we will not only guarantee our Superbowl victory we will help others secure their victory as well. Then we can all share the prize of life forever in the presence of God.
Can we help each other as we work together to share the Good News? I have a personal goal of increasing the number of people receiving the 4th Day Letters about the Good News of salvation by 1,000 new email readers. To help you reach out to others, I suggest an easy outreach is to say to someone like, "I receive an inspirational Christian email once a week, would you mind if I have it sent to you too?" This simple phrase can get an entire discussion started that is focussed on Jesus Christ. Please click here to submit someone's name today. Together we can reach 1,000 people. But just like the Superbowl if one player drops the ball the entire team suffers. Today as a team, lets win 1,000 souls for Christ. It's kickoff time!
Questions:
- Do I know someone in my everyday environment who needs to come to know Jesus better?
- Am I willing to step out into Apostolic Action?
- Do I know someone who might enjoy reading these 4th Day Letters?
