Rocky Mountain Church Athletic Association

Rocky Mountain Church Athletic Association	The RMCAA
	Volume 2, Issue 2		April 2007
	Why Pray For Your Sports Ministry?
SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: Out of darkness into light The vast majority of people who came Christ would make them a new creation pray, pray, pray, and then pray some more.	Have you ever thought about how radical the concept of conversion is? When the Gospel is presented to an unbeliever and he/she is given an opportunity to respond, have you ever thought about what attitudes and behavior you are hoping will follow a positive response to Christ's loving call to them? If the newly converted person was an “average pagan” there could be many aspects of their life that will undergo significant change. Read the verses below to see how the Bible	describes a person before conversion. • Acts 26:18. Paul was sent to help people turn to God from 2005 RMCAA Championship game (Flag football) the dominion of darkness. • Eph. 2:1-5. You were dead in your sins	… living according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. • Matthew 7:13-14. Broad is the way to destruction and narrow is the way to life; few find it. • 1 Peter 2:9. God has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Dominion of darkness Dead in your sins Narrow is the way to life and few find it. Out of darkness into light
	I am struck by the difficulty
	As I read these descriptors, I am struck by the difficulty, no, the impossibility, of seeing someone actually make the leap from unbelief to faith. While serving at	an outreach at the Los Angeles Marathon a few years ago, the seeming impossibility of someone making that leap of faith became very clear to me. Our outreach team	was talking to people who may approach us for a variety of reasons. The vast majority of people who came by and talked with us were not followers of Christ.

	wonderful news of the Gospel
Vineyard Basketball 2007	So, as I tried to envision sharing with an interested party the wonderful news of the Gospel, the impossibility of what I was hoping would happen hit me like a ton of bricks. I was prayerfully hoping that someone would hear the Gospel, trust Christ for forgiveness and salvation,	admit that their behavior was sinful, turn from their wicked ways, and follow Christ. And, over time, Christ would make them a new creation, everything would become new. Not too much to ask for a 20 minute conversation.
	pray, pray, pray
As one sports minister recently told me; pray, pray, pray, and then pray some more.	Well, I'm sure you know where I'm going with this line of thought. It is not too much to ask of a 20 minute conversation, if we ask the right person. If we are hoping that our sports ministry efforts will yield well-run sports activities, a deserving league champion, or nice Christian fellowship, then we can recruit a good team of volunteers and pray a little and these things may come to pass. However, if we desire that	people who are dead in their sins and trapped in the dominion of darkness by their eternal enemy will follow Christ and spend eternity in Heaven with Him, then we must pray. Because we are in a spiritual battle, we must use spiritual weaponry. As one sports minister recently told me; pray, pray, pray, and then pray some more.
	Guidelines for what we can be praying.
	Colossians 4:2-6 provides some guidelines for what we can be praying. Devote yourselves to prayer. v. 2 • Pray that God will open a door for you to share the Word. v. 3 • Pray that God will help you share clearly (boldly). v. 4 • Pray that you will conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders. v. 5	• Pray that you will know how to respond to each person (grace and salt). v. 6 Matthew 9:35-38 exhorts us to pray that the Lord of harvest will send workers into His harvest. By Steve Quatro CSRM Director of Operations