Value Lessons. In His Service. Jeff Blackwell. Col 3:23

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1 Value Lessons Value lessons are one of the key differentiators of PSO Baseball compared to other leagues. These lessons are meant to be short and focus on a single area that is impactful in the development of a player s spiritual life. This season, we are organizing our lessons around the acrostic BASEBALL. B Be a good teammate (John 13:1-20) A Accept your Role (1 Cor 12: 4-11) S Submit to Authority (Rom 13:1, Heb 13:17, Matt 26:29-44) E Excellence in All Things (Col 3:23, James 3:2, ECC 7:20) B Believe in Jesus Christ (John 3:16) A Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9) L Leaving your sinful ways (1 John 1:9) L Live for Jesus There are 8 lessons to correspond to the 8 weeks of the regular season. These lessons are designed to provide background and to lead up to the Gospel presentation which will be part of our closing ceremonies. Ideally, you would take 5 minutes out of the middle of your practice, during a water break, to share this with your team. Please have the head coach deliver the message. In the past, we have had spiritual coaches, but we feel the message is best coming from the head coach. We do not want to differentiate between the coach that teaches me the sport and another that teaches life lessons. Value lessons are just as an important part of practice as team defense and batting practice are. We are going to be sharing these lessons with the parents as well (they will hopefully get something from them as well), so they will be aware of what is being shared with their player. Please make this a priority. Thank you for your commitment to the ministry of PSO. Working together, I am confident we will have a positive impact on the lives of our players and families as well. To God be the glory. In His Service Jeff Blackwell Col 3:23

2 Be A Good Teammate Jesus washes disciples feet Jesus spent his 3 years of ministry as part of a team of 13 people. This included himself and 12 apostles he handpicked for his team. He lived with them, served with them, worked with them, rested with them and had fun with them. No one was better than the other. They all brought unique skills and ability to the team. Jesus modeled for them how to function as a team to the point of humbling himself to serve his team. See John 13:1-20 Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet B 1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? 7 Jesus answered him, What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand. 8 Peter said to him, You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no share with me. 9 Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head! 10 Jesus said to him, The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, Not all of you are clean. 12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. You need to be a good teammate who: Encourages others when they struggle Has a positive attitude Is respectful of others time but showing up on time and ready to work Gives 100% in practice and games Assumes if a job needs to be done, it is theirs to do (pick up balls, trash) Does not complain, gripe or criticize. Offers words of encouragement and praise So, are you willing to be a good teammate? Dear Lord, thank you for modeling what a good teammate looks like. May we follow your example as we come together as a team this season.

3 Accept Your Role It takes more than 9 people to make a successful baseball team. While only 9 players can be in the lineup and anyone time, it takes many more to assemble a good team. A Major League roster has 25 players plus coaches, trainers, equipment managers, traveling secretary, grounds crew, and business people. All have jobs and they must do their job to the best of their ability for the team to be successful. Success is not dependent on 1 or 2 key players or stars. All are needed as explained in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 A 12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks, slaves or free and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. As you can see, we are all important parts of the team. Understanding that, know what your role is on the team and do it to the best of your ability. Do not be sad or mad if you want to pitch and are playing the outfield instead. Don t be disappointed when it is your turn to sit on the bench. Remember, you will win and lose AS A TEAM. Trophies are given to the winning teams, not just a few key players on the team. Accept your role and do it to the best of your ability. Lord, thank you for this team and my role on it. I know you put this group of players together to learn and grow together. May we all be accepting of the role you have called us to play and may we do it to the best of our ability and to your glory. Amen.

4 Submit to Authority Regardless of who we are or what job we have, we are all under authority of someone else. The President of the USA answers to the people. The President of a company answers to the board and shareholders. Employees answer to the managers. Athletes answer to the manager or coach and most importantly, we all are under the authority of God. As young athlete, you have several leadership figures in your life you are accountable too: Coaches, teachers, your pastor and of course, your parents. How you treat these individuals speaks volumes about the kind of person you are. You may not always agree with them or even like them, but the Bible says we are to respect their authority. In terms of respecting authority of an office holder or worldly leader Romans 13:1 (ESV): 1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Respecting biblical authority S Hebrews 13:7 (CEB): 7 Remember your leaders who spoke God s word to you. Imitate their faith as you consider the way their lives turned out. Jesus also modeled acceptance of parent authority when he asked his holy father to not have him suffer on the cross, but did so willingly since it was part of His Father s plan. Matthew 26:29-44: 39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will. 40 And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done. 43 Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. As an athlete, be coachable. Listen to what your coaches are trying to teach you, follow their instructions, and be respectful in your language, tone and words. A coach will take a player that is coachable over a raw talent every day. Choose to be coachable. Dear lord, thank you for putting authority figures in my life. Help me to be obedient and respectful. Help me to be coachable and the athlete you have created me to be.

5 Excellence in All Things Are you an A student? You an awesome video game player, skateboarder or baseball player. If so why? Why do you choose to be excellent in some things and not in others? Striving for excellence is a noble character trait. We are not talking about being perfect. Matter of fact, perfectionism is not a healthy thing or biblical for that matter. James 3:2 (ESV): 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. Ecclesiastes 7:20 (ESV): 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. What we are talking about is excellence. Doing everything you do to the best of your ability. This means paying attention to the tiniest of details. E As you know, baseball is a challenging game. There are a lot of things that need to go right in order to be successful. Take fielding a ground ball for example. The infielder has to approach the ball correctly, catch it and make a good throw. The first baseman then needs to catch it and make sure their foot is on the base. There are lots of opportunities to make a mistake. When we focus on the details, doing the right things, we increase our chances for success. Will we be successful every time? No, that would be perfection and that is an unobtainable goal. We need to focus on doing the little things right. The Bible also talks about excellence. And more importantly, it talks about who we should try to please with our actions. We should not strive for excellence to please our coaches, our teachers or our parents. We need to strive for excellence to please God. Colossians 3:23: 23 Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people. So next time you feel lazy or feel like taking shortcuts or even cheating, remember who you are doing it for. Lord, may everything I do be pleasing in your sight and to your glory.

6 Believe in Jesus Christ What do you believe in? I mean truly believe in. Not like, I believe that Star Wars is the best movie ever or I don t believe in fairies. This kind of belief is something you just know to be true. For example, when you sit in a chair, you believe that it is there and will support you. You don t, in most cases, even question that or think about it. Same with going to sleep. You just believe that you will wake up. Never any doubt. B This is the kind of belief you need to have in Jesus Christ. So you may be asking, what do I need to believe about him. The Bible is very clear on this point. Here is what you need to believe about Jesus Christ: Jesus is the SON OF GOD Jesus came to Earth and lived a perfect life Jesus was crucified for the sins of the world. Since he was perfect, God accepted his sacrifice as suitable for all of man kind Jesus was laid in a tomb and rose from the dead in 3 days Belief that YOU are a sinner and cannot save yourself John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. There is significant evidence throught scripture and history to support these belief s about Jesus. You need to think hard and determine what you truly believe about Jesus.

7 Accept Jesus in your heart as your Lord and Savior Everyone loves Christmas and birthdays. What is it that people love? The Gifts. Nothing better than waking up on Christmas morning and seeing a tree with a ton of pretty wrapped gifts surrounding it. Some of these gifts may even have your name on it. So what do you need to do to actually claim those gifts? You have to actually accept the gift. You do that by taking the gift and opening it. Now you know what it is and who it is from. You say thank you. You have accepted the gift. God has given man the best gift ever. He so wants to have a relationship with us, that he sent his son Jesus to die for our sins on the cross so we could spend eternity with Him in heaven. This gift is truly free. It is not earned nor do we deserve it. BUT, we must accept it. God merely offering the gift is not enough. You must ACCEPT the gift. Scripture says in Romans 10:9 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. How do you do that? You simply pray to God. What do you need to tell Him: A That you are a sinner and realize you cannot save yourself (Romans 3:23-23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ) That you believe Jesus is the Son of God and he came and died for your sins You welcome Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior Al you need to do is pray a prayer like this: Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness. I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin. You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved. Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved. Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life. Amen. It is not hard to do, but has eternal significance. Don t miss out on the best gift you could ever get.

8 Leave your sinful ways L So now that you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have a new heart and a new life. This means that you need to stop doing some of the sinful things you have done in the past. It may mean finding new friends or not going to places that you used to go to. The good news is, you will NOT WANT to do those things any longer because you now have the Holy Spirit living inside you. In 1 John 1:9, the Bible says: 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Some people think that being a Christian means you don t get to have any fun or you have too many rules to follow. In reality, being a Christian is quite freeing. By knowing that when you die, you will spend eternity with God in Heaven, you don t have to worry about dying or what will happen to you. Dear God I don t want to lead my sinful life any longer. Help me to resist temptation and live the life you want me to live. Amen

9 Live for Jesus When you get that one gift you asked for Christmas or your birthday, how do you feel towards the person who gave you that gift? Usually you are thankful and full of joy. This is the same way we should feel about God and the gift he gave us through Jesus. Jesus gave his life for us, so that we have life abundantly. He covered our sins, paying huge debts. Why not give our lives for the service of the Lord? Living for the Savior is more meaningful than living for ourselves. Previously we discussed how salvation is a free gift of God that cannot be earned or deserved. But that does not mean we will not want to do things to express our gratitude to God. You will want to use you gifts and talents to help further God s Kingdom. This is called living for Jesus. What does this look like: L Pray spend time with him Study learn what the Bible says about how to live for God Encourage others by telling what God has done for you Treating others with love and respect Looking for ways to server others Putting yourself second. Thinking of others first. Finding ways to serve in your church Service is not a requirement for salvation. You cannot serve your way into heaven. In Ephesians 2:8-9 it says 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. But that does not mean you will want to serve God out of the gratitude for the free gift of Salvation he offers and the sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross. When you are saved, God gives you a set of spiritual gifts to help you to serve him. It is important to learn what your gifts are so you can be more aware of how God created you to serve him. Find a way to serve today. Dear God, Thank you for the gifts you have given me, most importantly the free gift of salvation. Lord, help me to think more of others and myself less often. Help me to know how I can server you better. Amen