WELCOME
“To take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.” —Ephesians 4:22–24
After you have reset, like we have talked about, you can find freedom in Jesus. That freedom comes when God gives you a new heart.
WARM-UP
To warm up our brains today, I want you to think of the nicest thing that someone has done for you. Was it something they did for you, or they gave to you? (get answers from everyone, then leader share)
It takes a big heart to do something that nice for someone else. Jesus wants to give all of us a new heart.
WORKOUT
NEW HEART
Peter had a rough couple of years following Jesus.
Remember last week when we read about Peter denying that he knew Jesus? He had a few bad moments like that. When they came to take Jesus away, Peter and most of Jesus’s follower got scared and ran.
Then they put Jesus on the cross and He died. But He came back to life and visited His followers.
Read John 21:3-8
Can you imagine that? Peter was so excited to see Jesus that he swam to short to shore and gave Jesus a big, wet hug!
Even though Peter said he didn’t know Jesus, Jesus forgave Peter, and told him to share the Gospel with the world.
This would lead him to telling many others about Jesus.
REAL CHANGE
As you grow as athletes, you may want to change everything you do, even how you sleep. These changes will make you better athletes.
When God gives you a new heart, like He did for Peter, all the bad thoughts and attitudes and actions we do can be changed.
(have an athlete read this) Ezekiel 36:26 says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
When you ask Him to forgive your sins and believe Jesus came back to life, you will get a new heart. But only God can give it to you.
WRAP-UP
Q: What do you think it means to have a heart of stone?
Q: How might this a heart change your life?
A new heart can change so much in your life, like it has mine. As we close in prayer, I will pray that God does the same for you all.
(Prayer and break the huddle)