Coach's Corner
Warm-Up
Have you ever sacrificed a play for the in order for the team to win a game? Why did you do it?
If you have ever seen The Lion King, do you remember what Mufasa did? If you do not know, Mufasa was a lion who had a son named Simba. One day, his cub Simba was stuck in a trap, and close to death.
Because of this, Mufasa sacrificed himself to save and give Simba life. What do you think made him do this?
Mufasa loved Simba.
Workout
Want to know a little secret? The Lion King stole that story from God’s Word.
God loves you and has sent Jesus.
Remember I told you we would find out what God did that showed how big His love really was? Remember that gift I said God gave us? Well, let’s unwrap the gift together.
Today’s X and O is the play called Sacrifice.
This is the play that wins the game. This is the gift that God gave us.
Just like we see Mufasa run to his lost cub who was in a trap, God ran to us. He saw that sin separated us from Him and His eternal Kingdom. It saw that it created darkness that made us loose our way.
And does anyone remember what we said about sin last week? What was the price of our sin? Sin separates us from God and that separation leads to death.
Because we have all sinned, we are in a trap of death.
But this is why God sent Jesus to take on our sin so we would never face death. Just like Mufasa, God sent Jesus to our rescue. He sent Jesus into the trap we were stuck in because He loved us so much. He knew the trap was sin, and the trap would result in death, and did not want that for us, so He sent Jesus to us. He was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. In Romans, we see this notion underlined:
“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” — 5:8
God sent Jesus into our trap to take on our sin so we would never face the chains of death. The trap could not just go away, so God replaced us with Jesus. So instead of us being in the trap of death, Jesus took our place. Instead of us dying, Jesus died.
But unlike the Disney movie, Jesus did not remain dead. He rose three days later and beat death. This made a way for something special, something called salvation.
God promises that if we call to Jesus, and say we believe and trust that He truly died for us and rose from the grave, instead of death when we die, we instead receive eternal life and go to where Jesus is, getting to be a part of God’s Kingdom forever!
We can shout that we trust Jesus. Remember our trust fall with God? We can do it with Jesus. He is the same as God; He will not fail us. And when we shout this out, we are saved.
In John 1:12, we learn, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” If we ask Jesus to come into our lives as our leader and savior, we will receive eternal life and go where Jesus is—in Heaven with God.
Can you shout that you trust Jesus? The Bible tells us,
“For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” — Romans 10:10
When we trust Jesus, believe Him, and accept what He did for us, we become children of God!
Wrap-Up
This is great news! What we talked about today can change your life! If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus, talk to your coach or trusted teammate to learn how to become a Christian.
Let’s take a moment to close our Huddle Time in prayer: “Dear God, I believe that You sent Jesus to die for my sins and that You raised Him back to life again. I want You to be Lord of my life. Help me to surrender to You. Amen.”