From the Rec Min December 18, 2018

Good afternoon C-Sports staff and volunteers! I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season and soaking in all of the Christmas programming you can attend. Saturday was another great day of basketball. We have one more game day this coming Saturday and then we will break for the Christmas and New Years weeks. We have more free Dollar General Bowl tickets to give away to people who plan to attend the game and we have more of the C-Sports at the Jags tickets for the January 5 game at the Mitchell Center to sell at $5 per ticket. Please come get these this week!!

Saturday I was blessed to share several of the halftime devotions during the games. This time of year makes it easy for me to feel the Spirit moving throughout the gym and in the hearts of all present. I spoke a bit about our church and neighborhood programs in which we celebrate our Lord coming to us as a tiny baby. The humble entrance increases the effect of our Creator becoming “one of us”. My message Saturday was an effort to remind all of us who love every aspect of Christmas to remember the purpose for which He came. While every story of His birth and childhood carries meaning we don’t want to get carried away with the beauty and sentiment of the precious Baby and forget the full story of His time here on Earth.

Just as Jesus had a purpose, we also have a purpose and calling to fulfill. We have a very diverse membership in our C-Sports and Recreation family. We serve in many ways through our jobs, our interaction with family and friends, and in the positions of leadership/servanthood (the same thing) we are called to in the church and community. The longer we live the more we increase in knowledge and wisdom. We are told in Deuteronomy 4:9, “Watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” The story of Christmas has both history and future. Both are important to the total “reason for the season”. Let’s be sure to use this time of the year to not only celebrate the season, but to develop a year round habit of seeking and speaking the Word – especially to our children. As we celebrate Jesus “coming to us”, let’s also “come to Him” through our prayer life, Bible study, and witness.

Thank you all for your efforts here in our Recreation Ministry. We see and hear great words of testimony from many who are served and changed through your efforts. I always enjoy hearing from coaches or others who volunteer to mentor and lead about how they don’t understand how the Spirit uses their simple efforts to change the lives of generations to come. Just as Jesus spread the loaves and fishes to the thousands, He uses our simple devotion to Him in miraculous ways. Keep up the good work. May our Creator, Lord, and Savior touch the lives of all you reach through your formal and informal influence in this ministry and your families during this “Most Wonderful Time of the Year”!!

See you on the court!

 

In His Service,

 

Steve Ellisor, Recreation Minister

Christ United Methodist Church

251-706-3326

 

“In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:6

 

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