Our Coach (The Holy Spirit)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Band of Brothers: B.O.B. has been awesome lately! If your son is not involved in this he is missing out. Come this Saturday from 10 am to 12:30 pm to experience an incredible time of camaraderie and walking together as young men to build God’s Kingdom.

Girls’ Bible Study: On Saturdays at 11 am the middle school girls meet at Starbucks at Tinseltown for a great time of fellowship and studying God’s Word together. If your daughter is not involved I strongly encourage her to come to this. Note: This Saturday there will be no Bible Study because Shelby Reeder (leader) will be at Campus Harvest. If you have any questions or want to get involved contact Shelby @ 904-553-6524 or shelbinater17@bellsouth.net.




THE MESSAGE

TITLE: Our Coach: the Holy Spirit

Last week we talked about how we all join a race when we give our lives to God. Christianity is a marathon, not a sprint. From Aesop’s fable “Tortoise and Hare” we found that Mr. Tortoise won the race because he was consistent, gave it his all and kept his eyes on the finish line, walking straight the entire time. In order to be victorious in our walk with God we too must apply these principles to our lives. These alone, though, will not give us the victory. Just like any game or race we are in we can’t win without a coach! Who is our Coach for this race/game of life? The Holy Spirit is our Coach.

Why are coaches so important (On a whiteboard the class came up with 6 reasons why coaches are so important)? :

1. They teach you how to play.
2. They correct you when you mess up.
3. They give you a game plan/direction.
4. They are your spokesman to the ref.
5. They motivate you during training time and during competition.
6. They encourage you when you lose.

From this list we discover that the Coach God has given us has similar qualities to this list. First, coaches teach you how to play. John 14:26 says that the Holy Spirit will teach you all things. When we are confused what the Bible is saying or don’t know how to read it the Spirit will show us how to read it and what it means. If we don’t know how to witness to someone our Coach will teach us how.

Second, coaches correct you when you mess up. Part b of John 14:26 says that the Spirit reminds you of what Jesus has said. When we make a mistake in life the Holy Spirit convicts or corrects us by reminding us of how we are supposed to live.

Third, coaches give you a game plan/direction. John 16:13, says that the Spirit guides us. In this game/race we must have a direction of what to do and where to go. If you walk into the halls of your school without relying on your Coach to guide you, you are going to be confused and weak and end up giving the enemy the advantage. Many of us try to win on our own strength. We have the looks, the talk, the popularity and with these talents like a cocky athlete believe we can skate by without any help from the Holy Spirit. Should we ever trust in our own strength? No! We must always rely on the guiding of the Spirit. The moment you rely on yourself, even if it appears like success, is the moment you failed.

Fourth, coaches are your spokesman to the ref. Romans 8:26, 27 says that the Spirit intercedes for us. For example, when you are in a basketball game and the ref is making poor calls a good coach will address the ref. A great coach will go beyond addressing straight to confronting and receive a technical foul like my coaches in middle school. The Holy Spirit also speaks on our behalf to help us out so we can win.

Fifth, coaches motivate you during training time and during competition. Acts 1:8 says that we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. I remember before races and basketball games my coaches would almost always give us a motivational speech. There would be times when these speeches would pump me up so much that I thought I was invincible. The difference between the Spirit pumping you up and a normal coach is that the Spirit actually does make you stronger. It’s not just mental. Are you getting pumped up every day by the Spirit? If you are not in your prayer closet getting filled with strength, then you might as well raise the white flag to the enemy and say, “I surrender!” If you walk onto the game field half asleep your component is going to blindside you from nowhere.

Finally, coaches encourage you when you lose. Romans 8:16 refers to how the Holy Spirit reminds us of who we are. When we lose a battle and the enemy tries to tell us that we are losers the Spirit of Truth steps in and reminds us who we are—His sons and daughters. He reminds us that we are winners and not losers. We may have fallen down today but we are going to get up tomorrow.

To win this race, this game we call life we must listen to our Coach as He teaches us. We must learn from his corrections and follow his directions. We must trust in him interceding for us. He’ll take care of us. We must get pumped up in him daily! Finally, we must let Him tell us who we are.


Ryan Austin
Element Leader