The Champions Spirit
Volume 67, Issue 51
December 21, 2008
FAMILY MATTERS...
If you are visiting with us today, we want you to know that you are our honored guests. We pray that our time together will bless us all as we worship and praise our Lord together!
Welcome! We are thankful to have two new families added to Champions! Last week, Joe and Oleta Coleman expressed their desire to work with us. This week, we are happy to announce the coming of Jonathan and Rachel Sherwin and their little girls, Hannah and Leah. We look forward to working with them for His cause!
During the week, each of our members should have received a letter containing information about our 2009 budget and the desire of our elders to have an indication from the membership as to their level of financial commitment for the coming year. This morning, we will be turning in those cards. I am thankful for all who have prayerfully and carefully made their decisions for the coming year.
This will be the last bulletin of the year. We enjoy the opportunity to communicate with you though this means, and pray that you will have a very happy holiday season and New Year! (If you have announcements, call the office. If no one is there, just leave your message on the answering machine. For emergencies, of course, you can contact any of the elders or staff.)
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!
Jeremy's Junction
In the sports world, people are talking about the record that Chris Paul broke Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs. Chris Paul stole the ball from Tony Parker. This was the 106th consecutive game that Chris Paul had a steal.
Chris Paul has become a very popular player the past few years. His fame really began several years ago when he was a senior in high school. In one game, he scored 61 points. Yet, it was the manner in which he scored them that became so famous so quickly.
Growing up, Chris was best friends with his grandfather. His grandfather was his biggest fan and came to all of Chris's games. When Chris was a senior, his grandfather passed away. Chris was preparing to quit basketball because he was so distraught. His parents, however, convinced Chris that this is not what his grandfather would have wanted. So, Chris got up and went to play the game. For the first time, his grandfather was not sitting in the stands.
The game was not even close. Chris Paul scored at will against his opponents. At one point in the game, the coach was preparing to take Chris out since the game was out of reach. The players begged the coach to leave Chris in. He didn't fully understand what they were saying, but he understood that something was happening that was more important than a score.
Near the end of the game, Chris Paul was preparing to shoot to free-throws. He made the first and the crowd went insane. He took the ball and intentionally air-balled the second. He had the opportunity to net 62 points, but air-balled the second giving him only 61. His coach was confused by this and asked one of the players what was going on. The player responded that Chris was playing this game in honor of his grandpa. He was determined to score one point for every year his grandfather lived. He grandfather died at age 61.
This story has been told repeatedly for the last several years. Chris Paul was going to score 61 points in honor of his grandfather. 61 points, no more no less.
We all have people in our lives that have inspired us and that we give credit for helping us along the way. We also give glory and praise to our Father from Above who has given us life and so many blessings on this earth. He gave his Son so that we could have a shot at everlasting life. Whenever we come to worship Him, we need to worship Him with all our spirit. Giving Him our full attention and our whole heart while we sing to Him. We also need to worship in truth. Follow His guidelines and the way He wishes to be worshiped. Worshiping in spirit and in truth... no more and no less.
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. (John 4:23)
—Jeremy Geurin
John's Jogs
THE NOTE
Jordan MacGruder, a news columnist, found a note near the sight of a fatal plane crash. The note was hastily scribbled on a piece of paper and simply said, “T all is forgiven – I love you. Dad.” Analyzing and thinking about the note, Jordan was disturbed and concerned about the note. She concluded the note must have been written by a father who was killed in the plane crash to a son or daughter. She decided to write a series of articles in a search for the intended recipient concluding with the final article as a Christmas story. Checking the airline passenger list she found three possibilities with names beginning with “T.” She interviewed each – but a zealous TV host kept trying to coop her story.
The first interview was a preacher who had just taken over the pulpit of the church his dad had built. He was impressed with the note but knew it was not his because his dad would never refer to him as “T” for he always called him Timothy and that he always went by Pop not Dad. He suggested that Jordan was deeply involved in the note that it may mean something for her. Reading the note did cause him to recall his last conversation with his father.
The second interview was a lady musician – song writer. Because of her unacceptable behavior her parents had thrown her out of the house at age 16. The note was not for her but reading the note and discussion with Jordan her father was deceased but she would contact her mother.
The third interview was the son of a wealthy man who had disinherited him for his bad behavior. However, the TV host got to him and they agreed that he would say he was the one and he would appear on a one-hour TV presentation and he would be able to use the note to sue for reinstatement in inheritance. Jordan had doubts of his sincerity but no proof so she left despaired.
As she approached her car a teenage girl approached her and asked if the note was addressed to “T.” Her dad always called her “T” because as a kid she always wanted to tag along. Also the note was in a plastic wrapper with cookie crumbs that she had baked Christmas cookies for him to take along. They had argued because she was adopted and she wanted to look for her birth mother after her adopted mother had died. In their discussion she showed Jordan the Bible he had given her on her 16th birthday with her birth date inscribed in it. Looking at that date Jordan realized that not only had she found the true recipient of the note but she had found the daughter she had given up for adoption 16 years earlier.
She gave the third interviewee an opportunity to do the right thing after showing him the proof that he was not the person. He admitted on TV that the note was not for him. Jordan’s final article protected the privacy of the note’s recipient but concluded that the importance was not the note or who it was written to but the message in it of “Life and Love.” Inviting the girl to spend Christmas with her, stating that it was going to be her best Christmas and she would tell her why.
The spirit of Christ is seen in this story:
- In the way the note touched the lives of each person involved.
- The hard lesson learned by the TV host and the lying son.
- The forgiving spirit learned by the musician toward her parents.
- The honest truth seeking and integrity of Jordan.
- The parental – child love and longing shown by Jordan, the girl and the writer of the note.
I have watched that movie three times and each time it brought tears to my eyes. Christ's Spirit was working there if no place than myself.
—John Qualls