How does God compare to an NBAÂ Team? (based on Colossians 1:9-17)
1. God the Father is the Coach
2. We are the players in the game
3. For any team to succeed they have to work together. They have to love each other. Paul shows us to pray for each other. “…do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding†– Colossians 1:9 The Bible says, “Love thy neighbor as thyself†– Matthew 22:39
4. Every chance we get (every time out) we should talk to our coach so that we can execute a winning game plan. “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God…†– Colossians 1:10 “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he†– Proverbs 29:18
5. Nobody wants us to win like our coach. He also wants us to have everything he can give us so we can win. “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power…” – Colossians 1:11
6. And just like in a basketball game, the game of life has some opposition. Your coach’s job is to give you the plan to defeat those who are against you. In basketball, your goal is to get the ball from one end of the court to the other and in the basket as many times as you can in 48 minutes. But there are opponents in your way. Your opponent is not your fellow man. Ephesians 6:12 says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood…” Jesus told us there will be things in our way, but don’t fret. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.†– John 16:33 And Paul tells us “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness…†– Colossians 1:13. He already told you that you are going to win. That other team has a coach too…Satan. Satan will loose.
7. We might commit a foul and the coach might have to bring us to the bench for a little while, but it is not his goal for us to foul out. Matter fact He has the ability to take away our fouls, because not only is he the coach, he’s the referee. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:†– Colossians 1:14 “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.†– Matthew 18:14
8. And what about the coach’s son? If you have ever played on a team where the coach’s son played most of the time the son was really good, maybe even the best player. The coach will often times use his son as an example on how to run certain drills, proper shooting technique, the triple-threat (pass, shoot, dribble) stance for instance in basketball. He always starts. It’s almost like the son is an extension of the father on the floor. “Who is the image of the invisible God…†– Colossians 1:15. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. – Romans 8:28-30
9. We are playing for the Lord. “all things were created by him, and for him:†– Colossians 1:16
There is No Better Answer than the Word of God when…
A. When you are hurting
B. When you are lonely
C. When you don’t know which direction to go
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