Every Sunday we have "Soccer Church" at PlayUSA in Aurora, IL. Today was an amazing day!
John writes:
Eleven unchurched, young hispanic soccer players decided they want to be like Thomas who was willing to die with Jesus. After hearing the story of Lazarus' resurrection they agreed to meet with me next week over tacos at lunch to talk about how they can be completely committed to Christ. Please pray for them.
Here's how it happened:
The text was John 11:1-44
I showed a power point of well-known logos and signs such as McDonald’s, Toyota, including some typical road signs from Mexico. The last sign was a “One Way” sign. Contrasted Proverbs 14:12, "the way of man seems right but leads to death," with John 14:6, "Jesus is the way to God that leads to eternal life." Man’s way - a lie - leads to death. Jesus’ way > truth > brings eternal life.
John the Apostle wrote down seven signs or miracles to show us Jesus is the way to God. We quickly reviewed six of the signs and then I told the story of Lazarus in John 11:1-44.
I took a pause after verse 17 where Thomas says, “Let’s go to Judea and die with Jesus.”
I asked, “What is your commitment to Jesus like? Are you willing to die with Jesus as was Thomas? If someone held a pistol to your head and told you to deny your faith, what would you do? (Ironically, I made my hand like a pistol and pointed it at the head of a young man named Thomas.) Are you willing to die for Jesus? Let’s continue the story.
Then, I continued with the rest of the story. I asked,
What is your commitment to Jesus like? Are you willing to die for Him? Are you following your own way or are you following Jesus? How can one determine if he is really committed to Christ unto death? By dying to sin and self.
Jesus spoke of walking during the day and not falling because of this world’s light versus walking at night with the danger of falling. He was using physical things to help us understand spiritual realities. In our physical world our light comes from the sun that shines twelve hours during the day. But Jesus said, "I am the light of the world, he who follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life."
So there is both physical and spiritual light and darkness. There is also physical death and spiritual death. Spiritual death means you die to sin and self. If you die to your sin and self today . . . if you decide to stop living your way and start living Jesus’ way . . . if you die spiritually right now, Jesus will raise you from the dead and give you a new life just as he did for Lazarus.
So how do you prove you are really committed and will even physically give up your life for Christ? You will die spiritually. This means you will die to sin and self. Who is directing your life right now? Who is making your decisions? (Salvador eagerly blurted, “God.” I stopped and affirmed him saying, “That’s good!” This was a special moment and everyone was very quiet and attentive.) I continued, “Who is on the throne of your life? If you are on the throne making all the decisions then you are on the road that leads to death. “Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Follow Him and you will have eternal life.”
You have to die today to sin and self and then Jesus will raise you from the dead just as he did to Lazarus. Jesus will command the great stone be taken away from your life so you can live like He wants you to live. He’ll call out your name, “Osvaldo! Oscar! Manuel! Come out!” Then he’ll command that your grave clothes be removed and finally that you be set free to live a new life with Him.
Spiritual things are more powerful than physical things because spiritual things last forever. If you die spiritually and Jesus gives you a new spiritual life you will pass right through your physical death because you will be walking with Jesus, the Light of the world. You won’t fall into the darkness of condemnation because of your sin.
How many want to be totally committed to Christ? Who wants to give their lives completely and once and for all to Jesus. Today I want to give you the opportunity to do that. If you are interested in learning what it really means to be like Thomas and follow Jesus then sign your name to a list we will pass around. Next week I want us to go out to a Taqueria and have tacos. I will buy. Just come and have tacos and we’ll talk about what we can do to prove we are really giving our lives to Christ. They immediately, without me knowing it, began passing around the notebook. Before I knew it someone handed me the list. Eleven guys signed their names.
Please pray for the PlayUSA Soccer Church ministry and specifically for these eleven young men.
