Quick Soccer Story

 This week we had our first soccer game.  The guys from my neighborhood (the ones I play soccer with occasionally) were feeling a little jealous that I was coaching the team from Correrah, so I invited them to play against us on Friday (yesterday).  After the game I gathered both teams around and told them I had a message I wanted to share (and some Capri Sonnes).  In the message I simply told them God loves them.  I quoted John 3:16 and explained that we have good news:  that God is not angry with us, but that He loves us and wants to save us if we’ll believe in Him and in His Son.  The message was simple and a little awkward, but I wondered if they had ever heard before that God actually loves them.  A few older men standing around then incited the players to give a big round of applause, and we closed in prayer. 

     I don’t know what kind of impact this message may have had, but I’ve been reminded this week that the gospel message is really quite simple:  God is love.  More than anything what we are asking God to do is pour out His love on these people, to reveal this love to them in the message of the gospel, and to bring them to faith in Jesus, who is the embodiment of His love.  Jesus said, “I have not come to condemn the world, but to save it.”  As we’ve seen in the news this week, the Muslim religion is not usually one that is typified by much love.  Families here are not generally very loving, fathers being very distant from their children and their multiple wives, mothers generally treating their kids more like slaves than actual children, and friends and neighbors often yelling and shouting at each other as the means to resolve their problems.  Yet God’s design is so different.  He is our loving Father.  He invites us into loving relationship with Him.  He blesses us with parents and family as a means of sharing and reflecting His love.  And He brings us into Christian community and fellowship where His love can continue to minister and bless us.

  I pray that God will reveal these truths to the people around us.  And I hope that through our actions and our words, a little love will go a long ways.