This summer our church organized its first softball team. How good are we? Well, I am the pitcher and I have never played organized softball until now, so what does that tell you? In fact, in our first season we had a perfect record — the kind that gets no trophy!
But we have something going for us. In fact, as I was warming up before the game last week I over-heard a member of our opposing team say to his teammate, “Hey tonight we are playing the cheer leading church.”
You see, even though our softball team is filled with many first-timers, and even though our team was placed in the A League with teams that were elite rather than the C League with rookie teams, and even though we had not won any games all seasons, scores of fans filled the bleachers every week to watch us play. At our last game, one hundred fans came out to cheer for us, including some people who had only visited our church. You must understand, usually our opposing teams would have at the most three or four people in their stands and many times they had no one at all.
Not only did we have bleachers full of fans every week, they were always boisterous. They sang goofy songs, waved home-made signs, and shouted nicknames at players. They even formed a tunnel out of pool noodles for us to run through. Before our game started this week they sang the National Anthem and then before the fifth inning (in which were destined to be mercy-ruled) they sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
Opposing teams always were amazed at our fans. Often times our opponents would ask us about our church and one team even wanted to fans to join us in our traditional prayer on the field. It is common now for guys from the other teams to ask if they can run through our tunnel with us!
The cheerfulness exuded by our church has left a blessed impression on many fellow Christians in our valley. And I must say, if it were not for the endless joy of our fans I am not sure our team would have still been smiling and having fun by the end of this season. Truly, there is power in cheerfulness.
By the way, if anyone has any pictures of our games and our fans please email them to me and I may post ‘em here.
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.
That my just be the biggest miracle in sport: A church softball team that doesn’t bring in pagan ringers and also makes a positive impression for the Kingdom of God. Great job.
Man, I need some coffee. Look at the grammar in that post.
Jason,
Quite a testament to the love of Christ that resides in those at your church.
Soli Deo Gloria!!
ABClay
I agree