As I walked out of church two Sundays ago, I heard the news of Kobe’s death.  In an instant, he was gone. A sad day for basketball. A sad day for all who watched his great career.

And yet, the end is a reality that all of us must face…..

ALL of us will breathe our last and say goodbye to our lives on planet earth.  All of us our destined for the same reality. And we must all face that this is common of all of us.

There were nine souls on that helicopter, and all had something else in common too.  In fact, ALL of us have this in common.

And that is the opportunity to surrender to Jesus Christ.

His offer was for all of mankind.

It was for all who would dare surrender their soul and follow Him.

He did not discriminate.

He has willingly offered His life for Kobe, for you, and for me.  And He has sealed His offer, in blood, on Calvary.

As He has proven again and again, He does not discriminate:

Black or White

Man or Woman

Religious or Heathen

Military Ruler or Peasant

Sailor, Tax Collector, Synagogue Ruler, King

He put no one above any other, and none were unworthy of His time.

He had seen them in all creation and He had come to save them.

Mark 5  22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him………………….

35 While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher any more?”

36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.

41 After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” ). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.

And so it is with you.

You, too, are destined to leave this earth.

You, too, are on a collision course with eternity.

You, too, have an opportunity to choose who you belong to…..

I choose to SURRENDER…….

to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Starry Night by Chris August

I am giving my life to the Only One

Who makes the moon reflect the sun

Every starry night

Was His design

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG3TijLA71s

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Coach J

To be in the center of the battle can be terrifying.

It can cripple us and scar us.

It can put us into a place of fear.

But 2000 years ago, on a cross on calvary, Jesus walked into the eye of the storm and walked away victorious.

This is not a story in a book that you can not relate to.

It is the story of you.

And, more than that, it is the story of what God can do with you and all those you love.

Mark 4  39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

In the eye of the storm.

Jesus walked in love, in faith, and in power.

And He walked that out as a man ….. So that you too could experience His undying, unrelenting, and unbiased love.

You are not powerless.  Just the opposite.

You are meant for greater things.

Nelson Mandela understood this.  I believe that is why he wrote:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

What does all of this mean in 2020?

I want to challenge you.

Not to think you have to do something, but to receive.

Ask God.

Ask Him.

Ask Him to come into your situation…or your mindset…or your fear—-whatever might be stealing from you right now.

When I recently read this verse, I thought, this is CRAZY.  

It is CRAZY that Jesus came to earth.

It is CRAZY that Jesus healed the sick.

It is CRAZY that He stood up and calmed a storm.

As I read this—I thought— “that is consistent” —because He has constantly done CRAZY things in my life.

He has rescued me in my finances, in my personal life, in EVERY area in my life He has showed up and done something CRAZY that has totally rocked my world.

Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords

He is the First… and the Last

He is the Lamb… and the Lion

He is the Defender… and the Counselor

He is the Rider on the white horse… and the Healer

It is often joked about by those who don’t know—but the reality is it is the truth.  He IS the ANSWER.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

In The Eye Of The Storm By Ryan Stevenson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYy1f6VjDHU

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Coach J

FAITH PULLS RAMS’ BRUCE

THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES

As a man whose faith has always been first and foremost, Isaac Bruce doesn’t consider it his job to convert anybody. He believes what he believes, and if you think he’s square, well, that’s what you believe. His mother, a minister, raised her other 14 children the same way.

But Bruce, the St. Louis Rams‘ All-Pro receiver in town for William and Mary’s Colonial All-Pro Football Camp, has a couple of stories to make you think. You could call both of them coincidental, and maybe you’d be right. Or you could say that maybe he’s onto something.

The first came on the night of this past Dec. 7 when the Mercedes he was driving blew a tire and skidded off the interstate. His car flipped twice, he wasn’t wearing a seat belt, the airbags didn’t deploy and the convertible roof collapsed. Yet Bruce walked away without a scratch and his girlfriend had only a small cut on her forehead. The reason, Bruce believes, is because as he lost control of the car he called Jesus’ name.

https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-20000629-2000-06-29-0006290031-story.html

Mark 3 1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

It is amazing to me how men of faith watched Jesus—looking for a reason to accuse.  Had they truly surrendered their lives to God? In my moments of weakness, I have to ask myself the same question…..

Jesus wants to move in 2020.

He wants to do something amazing for all people, in all places, of all colors.

He wants to bring us to freedom.

God is well aware of our abilities to compartmentalize our lives.

He knows that we might be incredibly strong and faithful in one area of our lives while being broken, lost, and blind in another.  And He loves us anyway.

Where are you?

Is God truly winning?

In the kingdom of God, most things seem backwards.

In the kingdom, if you want to conquer, you must surrender.

That’s right….SURRENDER.

And He showed us.

At the cross, He SURRENDERED His life that we might see how it looks.

So my word to you today is to Let Go.

At The Cross By Chris Tomlin

At The Cross At The Cross

I Surrender My Life

I Am In Awe Of You

Where Your Love Ran Red

And My Sin Washed White

I Owe All To You

I Owe All To You

Jesus

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zev5tHjCB_s

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Coach J

He is going to win.

As I reminded myself of that on Christmas day it became clear to me that nothing could be more true.

As we say the Lord’s prayer, we say:  “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Nothing is better than when God gets hold of something.

He has saved my life on many occasions.

He has redeemed businesses, and marriages, and relationships, and many broken things have been put back together as a direct result of His very hand.

But there is still a reason that we pray that very prayer.

And that is because—we can see brokenness.

There are things that we each must face on a daily basis that are simply BROKEN.  Not partly broken. BROKEN.

But God…

The greatest two words in the Bible.

But God…

You see, there is a truth that we can hold onto. 

But God…

We will eventually break down, get weak, and take in a final breath. 

But God…

We live and work and sometimes don’t have enough.

The enemy can wreak havoc.

Our friends can hurt us.

Our solid plans can be crushed.

Our good works can be waisted.

Our mistakes can be shoved right back into our faces.

But God…

I am not going to lie.  My mom is dying. Her body is shrinking.  Her mind is deteriorating. Her life is growing much smaller.  I had a moment on Christmas day where I simply went in the bathroom and wept.  And I could not stop crying.

But the reality is this:  The enemy might think that he has won on this one, but he will not win.  And God clearly told me that in the bathroom.  And if I wanted to curse the enemy—-all I needed to do was PRAISE the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

The Lord has my mom.

He has all of us that would dare cry out to Him.

Revelation 5 5 and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping;  behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”

You see, Jesus is the The Lion of the Tribe of Judah.  And He sits on the hill and watches. And when God says the time is right, He will come.

Do Not Curse The Enemy

Do Not Let Sin Destroy You

Do Not Crumple At The Sight Of Death

He Is The Lion Of The Tribe Of Judah

And He Is GOING TO WIN

Rejoice In That Now—–

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtFdQofPyfU

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Coach J

And we shall call Him Emmanuel

(which means “God with us”) Matthew 1

Mark 2 14As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

15While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The gospel of Matthew was written by Levi—that tax collector in the verse above.  And many would say that this is the great hypocrisy of the Christian faith. But the reality for me is that it is the proof of it.

You see, this is a crazy thought to someone on the outside looking in—the idea that a thief who was hated by the Jewish people would write them a letter compelling them to change their focus.

And yet he did.  And God used it to stir up the greatest movement in the history of the world.  And it was because HOPE came down.

And that—–can not be stated enough times.

HOPE came down.

HOPE came to the world that rejected it and did not leave until it had been given in full measure.

HOPE came in the form of none other than Jesus Christ.

And HOPE did not discriminate.

It saw the disease that had all the fruits of hopelessness.

The fruits were not just despair, or loneliness, or sadness.

Hopelessness lives in lust and greed and hatred and covetousness also.  It lives in revenge and selfishness and pride also.

Hopelessness does not “disappoint” in its ability to bring destruction.  It can generate all of the depravity we see.

But HOPE, it snuffs out hopelessness.

Romans 5 20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more …

Sin can’t win.

It won’t win.

The championship game has been played…and decided.

The winning team has been crowned.

And that team belongs to Jesus.

When Danny Gokey lost his wife, it was devastating.

She was gone and he was not sure what to do.

But that was not the end of her story…it was the beginning.

And all of us, no matter where we are, can have a beginning.

And all of that, is because HOPE came down.

What he sings about.  What God did for us. All of this.  People do not know about it. SHARE IT.  Because the world could use some HOPE.  And it could use a beginning.  Make sure that all you know know who has the winning team—-and who HOPE is.

Hope In Front Of Me

Danny Gokey

There’s Hope In Front Of Me

There’s A Light I Still See It

There’s A Hand Still Holding Me

Even When I Don’t Believe It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KIhYZQ_ovw

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

And we shall call Him Emmanuel

(which means “God with us”) Matthew 1

Mark 1  40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

When the debt comes due, there is only One who can pay it.

And it is none other than Jesus of Nazareth.

If the God of the Universe will put His hands on a leper, He will put His touch on your life.  And He will do it without hesitation or regret or fear.

All of us—ALL OF US—will stand before creator God.

All of us—ALL OF US—will give account of who we were, what we did, and why we did it.

All of us—ALL OF US—will fall short if we have no advocate.

The gospel of Mark is very clear.

Jesus came to planet earth so that planet earth could choose to come to Him.

Without His willingness to get dirty—-there is no gospel.

Take a moment today to thank Him–to worship Him–to put Him ABOVE all that lies in front of you.

In Jesus–you are FREE.  

FREE of the Enemy’s power over your life.

FREE of your inadequacy.

FREE of death.

There is no greater gift than that.

Jesus Paid It All

Kristian Stanfill

Lord Now Indeed I Find

Thy Power And Thine Alone

Can Change The Leper’s Spots

And Melt The Heart Of Stone 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FHwdx5BIvc

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

And we shall call Him Emmanuel

(which means “God with us”) Matthew 1

The gospel makes no sense at all–until it does.

2000 years ago, in a remote village, Jesus changed the course of human history.

And for those who would dare proclaim Him King, He changed their individual eternity.

His GOSPEL–It is free, but we must choose it.

His GOSPEL–It is for all, but it must be chosen.

His GOSPEL–It does not discriminate, but it divides.

And it is rooted

In LOVE~ His love saves us

In COVENANT~ His death seals our eternity 

In COMPASSION~ His decision to save us is rooted in Him knowing EXACTLY who we are and saving us anyway.

In HOPE~ His life opens up all of our options.  We now have a future, and a God who loves us just as we are.

As we read through the gospels, we see that each of them use different lenses to tell us this same message.

• Matthew tells His story inside the theme that He (Jesus) is the King of the Jews.

He is the King of the Faith

• Mark tells His story inside the theme that He (Jesus) is the Humble Servant of the Nations.  

He is the Servant of All

• Luke tells His story inside the theme that He (Jesus) is 100% man, born into sin, into flesh, and into imperfect humanity.  And yet, He found a way to overcome it and STILL be perfect.

He is the Firstborn of all Mankind

• John tells His story inside the theme that He (Jesus) is 100% the Son of God Himself.

He is the Son of God

The teachings of Mark:

Mark 1 4And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

All of us…ALL OF US…come to the end of ourselves.  We realize that we simply are not good enough. We realize that we fall short even of the standard that we set for ourselves.  How can we possibly meet the standard of a perfect God?

And yet…that is why He came.

And that is why John baptized.  So that we can die to ourselves and confess that we simply do not measure up.  So that we can be clean. Baptism is the symbol of us being clean–Jesus is the way that it actually happens. 

Come To The Fountain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL6eCfEQrQ8

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

God loves EVERYONE.  And a guy named Rod Olson told me one time that He was looking for the FAT-C

Faithful

Available

Teachable

Committed

People that are all in.

You become FREE when you realize that you aren’t the center of the universe…the center of your world.

When we realize that we need something greater than anything that we could possibly have.

Luke 3 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Our God…by Chris Tomlin

Our God is greater

Our God is stronger

God You are higher than any other

Our God is healer

Awesome in power

Our God

Our God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5d_gm9zrnY

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J