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Advantages for using these suggested halftime devotions: 1. Stay Fresh: Avoid repetition of Scripture verses and the same illustrations 2. Teamwork: Reinforce the devotions that players have during their practices 3. Enlistment: Make it easier to recruit first-timers by providing a starting point 4. Scope: By reviewing these devotions, youll know where were headed and why 5. Catalytic: Sometimes a suggested illustration can jog a personal story of your own Caution! Do not mix portions of these devotions during your assigned halftime. Somebody will follow you next week. We all want each week to be fresh and relevant to the parents. Feel free to substitute a relevant personal story instead. Helpful tips: Time: 3-minute devotional during halftime while players are out of the gym. Audience: Adults are the intended audience mostly parents, but some grandparents, too. It has been estimated that about 20% of your audience is unsaved. Only about 10-20% of Upward Basketball parents are active at FBC Alpharetta. The rest may be affiliated with some other church in the area. Practicing: It helps to practice your devotion in front of people rather than alone. Smiling and personal warmth goes a long wayeven in a big gym. What to expect: Prior to your assigned halftime, check in with the staff at the scorers table. At the half, make sure that cheerleaders are not performing first and then switch on the microphone given to you. Speak with enthusiasm, but clearly. When you have a mike in one hand and a Bible in the other, make sure you can open it quickly without fumbling or dropping one of them. If youre relaxed and confident, then your audience will be, too. And when youre finished thank everyone for listening and give the mike back. Purpose: Its not about you. Its about the message that God would have you deliver at a divine appointment when parents are very receptive to God. Crafting a devotion: Feel free to use this collection of suggested devotions to be used of the Lord to spark your own ideas. Just stick to that weeks theme and dont borrow from other devotions. It helps to know where the whole halftime devotion ministry is going. Sporting events are one place parents attend religiously. So, these are designed to build one upon another. You have three minutes, so think in terms of three thoughts. Minute One: People love stories, so why not start with a fun or personal story? Minute Two: Tie in a relevant story from Gods Word that relates to the theme. Minute Three: Drive home an idea that reinforces the theme for that halftime. Avoid preaching, but dont shy away about making a spiritual point.
This week: Everyone is expected to do their best. Satan is unfair. Some players were told to do jumping jacks while others just watched. This unfair scenario set the stage for talking about being kind to each other. Suggested Halftime Devotion: Hello, my name is ____________________ and welcome to another season of Upward Basketball! If this is your childs first season with us or this is their last season, each coach is EXPECTING your children to do their best in practice as well as games.
Now, we all know that doing our best IS possible. However, they sometimes fall short. The way I heard it, one time out here during a game, one of the new players ran out on the court and played hard. But after a while he stopped playing and just stood over by the bleachers. The other players yelled for him to get back in the game. The ref yelled for him to get back in the game. Even some cheerleaders yelled for him to get back in the game. Finally, the coach called timeout and asked him why he was standing on the sidelines. The little player said, I got hot, so I wanted to stand over here by the FANS. One day Satan arrived at the gates of heaven and challenged St. Peter to a basketball game. Peter looked around and said, Okay, well play you. We have some of the best basketball players who ever played the sport. What makes you think you can win? Satan winked and said, We have all the refs. Now, I think youll agree with me that the devil plays unfair. However, God does play fair with each of us, despite the fact that we often do not act our best. One time God decided to send an email to everyone on earth who consistently showed kindness toward others. Do you know what the message of Gods email said? (Pause) Oh, you didnt get it either, I see! Seriously, we CAN know what God wants and we dont have to wait on emails from anybody. The Bible tells us what God wants. This week your players were given a sentence from the Bible to memorize. We call it a memory verse. (Note: Memorize the verse and recite it!) And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8b RSV)
We can know God and He invites us to have a personal relationship with Him. God wants us to show kindness. God wants us to do our best and part of doing our best is treating others and God with kindness. Thank you for listening! (Keep this devotion fun and SHORT. Parents will get used to these devotions as pithy thoughts that challenge them and will like that they are not lengthy sermons.)
This week: Players learned about the Holy Spirit of God. Their coach is like the Holy Spirit, when he helps players do the right thing, protect them from danger, help them feel better, and help them when they have a problem. Understanding the Holy Spirit helps us understand that God cares for each of us. Here is list given to the players: Suggested Halftime Devotion: Merry Christmas! My name is ____________________ . Like many of you, I watch a little too much television. However, I wondered if you have caught the CBS reality TV show, Undercover Boss. Its where a CEO of a company goes into the business wearing a disguise. I recently heard about a show where the CEO of Chiquita that produces fruits and vegetables went into the assembly plants and became exhausted boxing bags of lettuce and worked in the warehouse trying to drive a forklift. Heres a guy with a college degree, participates annually on a Harvard education panel, earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, has racked up several leadership awards, leads more than 20,000 employees I could keep going. Yet, this CEO was out working among the laborers doing the most menial things in order to connect with them.
Jesus was the ultimate Undercover Boss. As Gods Son, Jesus entered earth as fully God and fully man. We should celebrate Jesus birth every Christmas. He came to live among us as one of us, yet the Bible says He never sinned. Jesus taught us about the Holy Spirit of God. This week your players learned about the Holy Spirit. Their sentence from the Bible to memorize this week are words that Jesus taught us about the Holy Spirit. (Note: Memorize and recite the Bible verse!) The Helper, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things. (John 14:26a) Your childs Upward Basketball coach is like the Holy Spirit, because he helps players do the right thing, helps protect them from danger, helps them feel better, and helps them when they have a problem. Just as Jesus said, the Holy Spirit is The Helper that God gave to us after Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended back to heaven Understanding that the Holy Spirit is a Helper helps us understand that God cares for each of us. He not only walked among us as one of us, but the Holy Spirit remains with us each day to teach us as followers of Jesus. The Bible says He will teach us ALL things.
On the SECOND day of school, a little first grader was awakened by her mommy who said as sweetly as she could, Get up Amber, its time to go to school. The little girl was startled and sat up wide-eyed. What! I thought I did that yesterday! She thought one day was all it took and she had been there, DONE that. Are you DONE learning? Now the big question is, who are you learning from? Is the Holy Spirit of God teaching you? He stands ready as your Helper. Thank you for listening!
really far away, but when I heard her voice, I immediately recognized it and knew I had a choice. I could disobey or I could sprint for home. I knew her voice. This week your players learned that Jesus is like a shepherd. We are like sheep that need to listen to His voice. Heres the Memory Verse. (Note: Recite the Bible Verse from memory.) I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. (John 10:14 NIV) God loved the world so much that He sent is only Son, Jesus. And whoever believes in Him will never die, but live with Him forever and ever. Jesus is calling. Are you listening? God gave Jesus to us as the perfect gift. God loved us enough to give us exactly the right gift. He did it because He knows us. He knows us VERY well. God sent Jesus because He loved each one of us. Do you know Him? Ask God to be very real to you this Christmas. Thank you for listening. And Merry Christmas!
can be reached through Jesus the Son. Only through Jesus can we know the Way to eternal life. A helicopter pilot flying in downtown Seattle once had an electrical malfunction knocking out his navigation and communications. He looked around and found a piece of paper and scrawled a message on it. He flew close to a business tower and held up the sign which said, WHERE AM I? The people in the office building saw the note and quickly wrote a message of their own and put it against the glass. It said, YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER. Life sometimes gives us messages that might be totally accurate, but totally meaningless. You can trust Jesus to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Just ask Him to forgive you of your sins and believe on Him as the Lord of your life. If you want to talk about it, just meet me over at the Scorers Table. Lets talk about Jesus. Thank you for listening! Go over by the Scorers Table. Turn in your microphone and just make yourself visible for about five to ten minutes at least. It would help if you had a Bible handy. Be prepared to explain the plan of salvation in your own words and to share a three minute testimony of how you came to faith in Christ.
My halftime devotion teammates have been encouraging everyone to have a personal relationship with God. We have talked about the character of God and how God is one God in three persons The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like a coach who helps us. Jesus is like the TV show, The Undercover Boss because He walked among us even though He was God. We learned that Jesus is the only way to God. He is the way, the truth, and the life. A few years ago, a pastor in China was met at the front door of his church by a young lady. The lady was smiling and said, I am now a Christian! The pastor was very wise and asked the girl, What makes you think that you are now a Christian? The lady
pointed to her clothes and said, I am wearing Levi blue jeans. And this is a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. I am now a Christian! The pastor explained that loving Jesus is not the same thing as dressing like an American. He explained much the same that I have explained to you that we all have sinned. God sent Jesus to die for our sins. The only way to become a Christian is to ask God to forgive us of our sins and believe on Him as our God and our Savior. When we follow Him, we receive the Holy Spirit and He lives through us. I never heard what decision that Chinese young lady made. However, I do know the decision that I have made to follow Jesus all of my life. I encourage you to follow Him starting today. If youll meet me at the Scorers Table, we can talk about what it means to accept Jesus as your Savior. Thank you for listening.
Go over by the Scorers Table. Turn in your microphone and just make yourself visible for about five to ten minutes at least. It would help if you had a Bible handy. Be prepared to explain the plan of salvation in your own words and to share a three minute testimony of how you came to faith in Christ.
ever poured out his heart to God in prayer? The married man looked stunned and said, I have been taught that God is too busy to worry about me. Hes got war and famine and lost children to look out for. Hes just too busy. The Christian co-worker smiled and said, My God is a BIG God. Hes not too busy for you or anyone else. This week, let me encourage you to Ask. Seek. Knock. God is waiting to hear from you. (If you sense the Lords leading, close in prayer simply thanking God for hearing our prayers no matter how small they may seem to us.)
I once heard about a guy that loved going on weekend hunting trips. But there was a problem. When he came back home, his wife said he stunk so bad she wouldnt kiss him as usual. So he got a brilliant idea. Before he left his house, he vacuum-sealed a clean shirt and a pair of pants in an air-tight bag. When he was ready to go home, he peeled off his smelly, muddy clothes, and put on the fresh clean clothes over his dirty body. So, he was filthy from head to toe, but he was wearing clean clothes! When he announced that he was home, his wife saw the clean clothes and ran to give him a hug and a kiss. But when she got near him, she could see the dirt on his hands and face and smell him as she got near. He might have looked clean, but underneath, he was just as dirty and stinky as ever. The Bible says to be IN CHRIST. Its more than an outward change. Its not superficial. Some people may try to act like a Christian, but if the inside isnt changed, then it wont last. We know how to be IN CHRIST when we have a spiritual transformation of our mind and our heart. We will want to spend time with Him in prayer and know what He has to say by reading the Bible. God changes us from inside out, not the outside-in. If you are a new creation IN Christ, then congratulations. If you still want to be a new creation IN Christ, meet me over at the Scorers Table and well talk about it some more. Thank you for listening. Go over by the Scorers Table. Turn in your microphone and just make yourself visible for about five to ten minutes at least. It would help if you had a Bible handy. Be prepared to explain the plan of salvation in your own words and to share a three minute testimony of how you came to faith in Christ.
As you know, this is our last game. On behalf of First Baptist Alpharetta, I want to thank you for paying attention during these halftime talks. You are precious to God. I hope that these have inspired you to live for Him. Thank you for listening!