Tag: teamwork

A Team Effort

Old Testament: Judges 1-3

Poetry: Psalm 52

New Testament: 1 Corinthians 12

            I love baseball. (If you don’t, don’t leave just yet, please). Baseball is a team sport.  This was put on display for me recently.  I was watching a Washington Nationals game this weekend and the commentators brought in a retired pitcher who used to play for the Nationals in their 2019 World Series winning season.  During the playoffs that year, Anibal Sanchez came very close to pitching a no-hitter.  It was broken up in the 8th inning by a Cardinals batter.  When asked about it Sanchez said he wouldn’t have come close to having a no-hitter without his teammates making great plays.  He said no pitcher should ever get sole credit for a no-hitter.  It’s impossible without your teammates making plays.   Sanchez wasn’t just being humble, he was 100% right.  It takes a catcher to catch the pitch, fielders to make plays and throw the ball to first, outfielders to run and catch fly balls.  Without good teammates, you can’t pitch a no-hitter.  When a no-hitter does happen, or even rarer a perfect game, the pitcher gets the accolades and they stick a microphone in his face after the game, but it was a team effort.

            The same is true for the Church.  That’s what Paul was trying to get at in 1 Corinthians 12.  There are a few people that are “up front” during a worship service.  The worship leader, the soloist, the scripture reader, and the pastor all have visible roles and they are important.  But they aren’t the only important people.  Many important people are working behind the scenes in nearly invisible ways.  The person running the sound system is important.  The pianist, guitar player, and other musicians are important.  The person who makes the coffee before Sunday School is important.  The people who set up tables for Church dinners are important.  The people who teach children’s church are important.  The people who clean the bathrooms, take out the trash, and vacuum the floors are important.  The people who buy toilet paper are important, very important.  If those people don’t do their jobs what have you got?  A mess.  Also important are the people who type the bulletin and change the slides with the worship song lyrics, and the people who make sure that the heat is turned on or the a/c is turned on.  All of these people are important.  So are the people who faithfully place their financial contributions in the offering, and the people who count and collect those offerings, and the people who write checks so that the pastor can feed their family and the lights stay on.  Even in smaller churches, it takes a lot of people to share their gifts and talents.

            Apparently, in the Church at Corinth, there was a lot of jealousy and rivalry going on between Christians.  It was causing division in the Church.  The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to correct some of those problems.  He wanted them to understand that Churches need to maintain unity to be healthy and carry out the mission that God has given us to do.  Everyone in the church is not gifted in the same way.  Some people love to be up front serving in visible ways.  Some people are not gifted to speak or lead worship, but they have other gifts.  I have a special needs sister, Christine, who wants to help and has claimed her gifts by handing out the church bulletins.  She grabs a stack and goes to each person in Sunday School and gives them a bulletin.  She wants to help by sharing her gifts.  She also loves to sing very loudly in worship and her exuberance is infectious.  (And she likes to say “amen” when her brother the preacher says that he’s winding up the sermon).

            Read through all of the Apostle Paul’s letters in the New Testament and see how much Paul depended on others to help him carry out his ministry.  Often when he wrote letters to encourage and teach Churches he was in jail for preaching the Gospel of Jesus, which was a threat to both the religious leaders and the Roman Empire.  Paul depended on people to take the letters he wrote from prison and deliver them to the Churches.  He also depended on people to bring him food, an extra blanket, his books and letters, and medicine.  He had poor eyesight so he depended on a secretary to write down his words. He also longed for fellowship with other followers of Jesus.  Paul was the face of much of the teaching and spread of the Church in the first century, but it took a team to support him.

            What are some ways that you are serving in your Church?  You can’t start too early.  Our church has a 7-year-old help take up the offering some Sundays. As you read through 1 Corinthians 12, try not to get too bogged down thinking about the theological issues that continue to divide Christians today (are the spiritual gifts Paul mentions for now or did they stop after the first century?)  It’s amazing how this chapter that Paul wrote to help a church not be divided has caused many Christians to disagree and divide.  If God decides to give you the gift of miracles or healing, who am I to tell you that God did away with those gifts 1900 years ago?  (if you do have the gifts of miracle or healing, please come visit me, I could use it.)

            Remember, there is no “ I” in “Team”.  And there is no I in Church.  It’s all about how we use the gifts God has given each of us to serve.

Pastor Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  What similarities do you see between sports teams or work teams and the team work needed to carry out the work of Jesus and the Church?
  2. Are you currently using any of your gifts to help carry out the mission of the Church?
  3. Are you willing to test your gifts and potentially experience some failures and disappointments as you seek to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ and the Church?  What will you try and risk next?
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Builders, Unite!

*Old Testament: Nehemiah 3 & 4

Poetry: Psalm 20

New Testament: John Intro – found below

“Teamwork makes the dream work.” I’m sure this saying or one like it is on many framed posters in the workplace. I can’t utter it without a smirk on my face. It is cheesy, but there is a powerful truth at the core of it. When people work together, the result is something greater than just adding up what each would have accomplished individually. It is more than just the sum of the parts. It is the secret sauce, or added little something you get when people are connected and integrated. Iron Man is better with Hulk and Captain America. Michael Jordan is better with Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. Neil Peart is better with Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee.

This is part of what Paul was getting at in 1 Corinthians 12 when he was talking about spiritual gifts within the body of Christ. People have different strengths and abilities they bring to the table. Not everyone does the same thing, and nobody can do everything. Instead, we specialize in something and rely on others to do their part. When everyone is contributing, things are working like the proverbial well-oiled machine. When someone is missing, things are not as efficient or effective as they could have been. Paul recognized the strength that emerges out of our interconnectedness and unity.

Rewinding back to Nehemiah chapters 3 and 4, we can see the same principle in play. The context is that they are returning to a ruined Jerusalem after being in exile. The walls need to be rebuilt to ensure the safety and security of everyone in the city, and so that they can work towards getting back to something resembling normal again. Chapter 3 gives us a less than riveting account of the names and jobs of those working to repair the city and its walls, but in chapter 4, things get juicier as enemies threaten to come make war with them to stop their progress. 

This threat prompted a needed pivot in strategy. Some people would be stationed with sword or bow to defend the city against attackers, while others continued to build. Some did dual duty, building with one hand while holding a weapon in the other. It was an “all hands on deck” situation that required the effort of everyone in order to succeed. It wasn’t easy, but they were able to accomplish the goal.

The mutual support of everyone involved and the guidance of good leadership made the result something greater than you would think possible. After experiencing something like this, you might look back and say, “Wow, I don’t know how we did it.” This creates awe and wonder in our hearts, not because of our own abilities, but because of the power of working together while following and cooperating with God’s spirit. The lines start to blur between what I’m doing, what you’re doing, what we’re doing, and what God’s doing.

What could this say about what God is like? God does not prefer to do all the work alone, but would rather delegate and involve his children in the work. When we say humanity is the image of God, this is not about appearance, but vocation. We image God not by looking like him, but by sharing in his work as his agents. Through our actions, others can experience a taste of God. Does this remind you of anyone? We can see God by looking at Jesus, whose God-imaging abilities are unparalleled. Jesus was the only human who perfectly and faithfully stepped up to the work God gave him to do.

You may sometimes feel like you don’t have much to offer the body of Christ. Whatever you can do, even if you think it is insignificant, is beautiful and desperately needed in the church and in the world we reach out to. We cannot do this without you. And perhaps paradoxically, you can’t do this without us. And we can’t do this without God. But somehow this machine works when you put it all together.

-Jay Laurent

Reflection Questions:

1. What are some things you can do to help build up the church?

2. Can you think of times in your past when being part of a team allowed you to accomplish something amazing?

3. What is your favorite team (doesn’t have to be sports)? What is it about the members of the team that allow them to work so well together?

Gospel of John Introduction

John, “the disciple that Jesus loved”, wrote the gospel of John, as well as 1, 2, & 3 John and Revelation.  John told us his purpose in writing this gospel in John 20:31, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Many times in the Gospel of John, John contrasted light and darkness.  For example 1:6-9, “There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John [the Baptist].  He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.  The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”

Then 3:19-21 states, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But whosoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

Then in 8:12, John wrote, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

The most well-known verse in the Bible is found in John 3:16.  I’ll close with John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

-Steve Mattison

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The Perfect Team

Acts 18 26

ACTS 18

 

Shoes and socks, salt and pepper, peanut butter and jelly.   Some things just go together, complement one another and make the perfect team.

 

Priscilla and Aquila are just such a pair.  They are spoken of at least three times in this chapter by Luke, and then Paul will speak highly of them in three of his letters – and each time they will be mentioned together – a team.  They were a team in marriage and a team in ministry.

 

They endured storms together – banished from their home in Italy when Emperor Claudius removed all Jews from Rome. Together they opened their home to others.  Paul would stay in their home, and later they would host a house church.  Together they risked their lives for the sake of Paul (Romans 16:3-4). They learned together and taught together. They traveled together. They mentored together. Together – they served God.

 

If you are married already – consider how you can work on your teamwork skills today (and all your tomorrows, too).  Neither you nor your spouse is perfect – that is true, of everybody else’s spouse too  – but together you CAN be a perfect team – complimenting each other’s skills and working together for God’s glory. What acts of service to God and others can you work on together?

 

If you are not married now – but might be in the market to be married at some point…consider wisely. Rather than seeking out the hottest athlete or the cutest nerd (or whatever characteristics are already on your to-find list), be intent upon finding one who will be a great mate to serve the Lord with you.

 

-Marcia Railton