Bod4God – Team
Sycamore Creek Church
Tom Arthur
February 23/24, 2014

 

Peace friends!  Have you been watching the Olympics?  I haven’t seen the Iron Lotus yet, but I have seen Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you watch these two win the gold medal in ice dancing?  Wow!  They are magical.  They look like they’re right out of a Disney movie.  They make quite a team, and they’re not alone either.  There’s the whole team approach to figure skating this year.  While Meryl and Charlie won gold, the entire U.S. figure skating team this year won bronze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The US Figure Skating Team isn’t alone either.  Because they’re competing alongside all the other teams from the US.  As for Saturday morning, TEAM USA was in second place for the most medals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The top athletes in their sports don’t compete alone.  Even if they’re on the ice alone or in the luge alone or on the slope alone, they’re not alone.  They’ve got a team they’ve trained with.  They’ve got a team that is standing on the side cheering for them.  They’ve got a coach.  They’ve got a whole nation cheering for them to win!

Today we’re wrapping up a series called Bod4God.  We’ve been looking at what it means that our bodies are a temple of God.  How do we dedicate these bodies so that they truly are a temple of God?  The problem I want to wrestle with today is this:

Problem: It’s hard to do it alone.

There’s a nasty cycle that we often get into when it comes to our bodies.  Health problems lead to depression, and depression leads to isolation, and isolation leads to further health problems.  It’s hard to do it alone.  It’s hard to take care of these bodies by ourselves.  Here’s the point of today’s message:

Point: You’re never alone!

Throughout this series we’ve been looking at an acronym: D.I.E.T.

We started with D for dedication.  Then we moved on to I for inspiration.  Last week we heard about E for eating and exercise.  Today we’re wrapping up with T for team.  Who is on your Bod4God team?  I want to look at four teams you need to have in place to have a Bod4God.

1. Eternal Team
Whether you’ve got any other team or not, you’ve got this team: the eternal team.  God is always with you and is always able to do more than you could even ask or imagine.  What?  Yes.  More than you could ask or imagine!  Paul, the first missionary of the church said it this way:

“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine…”
Ephesians 3:20 NRSV

What are you able to imagine about your body?  God can do abundantly more.  Abundantly more!

So what does this eternal team mean?  What does it mean that God is with you and able to do abundantly more?  One thing it means is that you have the wisdom of the creator of the universe at your fingertips.  You’ve got the greatest body trainer you could ever imagine.  Even more than you could imagine, because the creator of the universe knows your body better than any other person ever could, even yourself.  James, Jesus’ brother, said it this way:

“If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to you.”
James 1:5 NRSV

A lot of our problems come down to a basic issue: we lack self-control.  God can give us wisdom, but can God give us self-control?  Absolutely!  Back to Paul:

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Galatians 5:22-23 NRSV

When God’s Spirit is at work in you, all of these amazing virtues begin to take root in your life: love, joy, peace and on to self-control.  You get the wisdom you need from God not to eat that extra doughnut and you get the self-control from God’s Spirit to actually restrain yourself.

Having a Bod4God is hard to do alone, but you’re never alone.  You’ve always got an eternal team: God.

2. Exercise Team
I think that God knows that we need a flesh and blood team that we can see and feel and touch and hear right now.  God is spirit and we worship God in spirit and truth, but God puts people around us to also be God’s presence in our lives.  When it comes to our Bod4God team, who is on your exercise team?

The Proverbs say:

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
Proverbs 27:17 NLT

The past two weeks I’ve gathered with whoever wants to join me at Meridian Mall on Friday mornings at 9:30AM to walk the mall.  My goal is always to get 10,000 steps in by the end of our time together.  Different people who have showed up have had different goals.  Some have a goal of one lap around the mall.  Some have a goal of 5000 steps.  Some are aiming for 15,000.  The thing we share in common is that we’re all there together, and it’s the team together that helps motivate us to get off our butts on a Friday morning and do some exercise.  I am motivated to do it because I know that people are there waiting for me and counting on me to be there.  There’s a kind of basic accountability inherent in being part of an exercise team.  The team expects you to show and waits for you to show up.

Who’s on your Bod4God exercise team?  I’ve heard stories so far about people taking advantage of the two community groups that we’ve partnered with in this series.  Some are joining the YMCA at a reduced rate for three months.  They’re working out in the weight room for the first time in a long time.  There are others who are taking up Karate at the Original Okinawan Karate of Holt who also is giving a huge discount for three months or a free month.  Each of these communities of exercise is acting as an exercise team to help people have a Bod4God.

Don’t do it alone.  Who’s on your Bod4God exercise team?

3. Education Team
All of us need some help when it comes to understanding better what it means to live a healthy lifestyle.  Who is on your education team?  Where are you getting more and better knowledge about what it means to take care of your body?  The book of Proverbs says:

“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm.”
Proverbs 13:20 NRSV

If the only people you’re hanging out with are other people who have bad health habits, then it’s likely you’ll have bad health habits too.  But if you’re surrounding yourself with people who are also seeking knowledge and education about how to better take care of their bodies, it is likely you will take better care of your body too.  Wisdom breeds wisdom.  Foolishness breeds foolishness.

Let’s talk a moment about doctors.  When was the last time you invited your doctor onto your education team?  Personally, I like to think of my doctor as a preventative team member.  I like to talk to my doctor before things become a real problem.  When was the last time you had a yearly physical?  It’s called “yearly” for a reason.  When was the last time you invited your doctor to give it to you straight?  If you don’t like your doctor, then don’t give up on doctors.  Find another doctor!  If you don’t like that doctor, find another one.  If three of them all tell you the same thing, that you need to exercise, eat less, and eat better food, then the problem probably isn’t with your doctor.  You’ve got an education team that is trying to educate you about something, and you’ve got your ears plugged up.  Let him who has ears to hear, hear.

Let’s expand this education team a bit.  Again, I like to think of this education team as preventative.  Most of us think of physical therapy as something you do once you’re hurt.  Sarah and I had a close friend who was a physical therapist when we lived in Petoskey.  We were getting ready to go on a backpacking trip to Yellowstone.  We were going to hike thirty five miles over five days into the heart of the backcountry.  I realized that at some point I would literally be a 17.5 mile walk from any kind of civilization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t want my body to break down on me in the midst of Timbuktu.  So we asked our PT friend what to do.  He said that he had a wellness program that we could sign up for.  We went in and he analyzed our bodies, their strengths and weaknesses, and he crafted a set of exercises that were specific to each of our bodies.  The end result was that we were in better shape than we had ever been and our bodies gave us no problems.  The hiking was tough, but it was also very enjoyable because we enlisted an education team.

It’s hard to do it alone.  Enlist your doctor, physical therapist, nutritionist, websites, books, and more.  Who is on your Bod4God education team?

4. Encouragement Team
All of us need cheerleaders.  Every Olympic athlete has someone cheering them on.  The book of Proverbs says:

Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up.
Proverbs 12:25 NRSV

The primary place where we try to build encouragement teams here at SCC is in our small groups.  We’ve currently got 20 or 21 small groups meeting weekly to encourage one another to have a Bod4God.  One of those teams is our challenge group.  After two weeks our challenge group has lost forty-eight pounds!  Friends, it’s hard to do it alone, but together you find encouragement to press on.

Harold Koenig, the director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University has been studying the relationship between faith and health for a long time.  The Agnostic Pub Group I help lead has been reading and discussing his book, The Healing Power of Faith.  In it he writes, “Research finds that the support of a loving family or close-knit social community such as a religious congregation can bolster that motivation to persevere [in any weight-control effort].”  It’s hard to do it alone, but with a faith community of encouragement, you can do it.

That brings us to Sycamore Creek Church.  Why is it important to be a partner with a church?  Why is it important to make a deeper commitment to partner with a community of faith?  Is it because SCC is perfect?  No.  Is it because we always get it right?  No.  It’s because here you will find an encouragement team not only for your Bod4God but also for your entire life.  It’s hard to do life alone.  Find a church family and make a commitment to partner with it.

We recently changed our “membership” to “partnership.”  We made that change because “membership” sounds like something you do at a country club.  That’s not what we wanted membership to mean.  We wanted it to be a partnership with our mission: to ignite authentic life in Christ by connecting (with God and others), growing (in the character of Christ), and serving (our church, community and world).  Partners say, “I want to help advance that mission in this world.  I want to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.  I want to be part of a faith community that is curious about God, creative in all that we do, and compassionate to everyone.”

Our process of partnership begins with Pizza with the Pastor.  I know what you’re thinking: is pizza really good for a Bod4God?  Well, it depends on what kind of pizza you eat and how much you eat.  A couple of pieces of pizza loaded down with veggies is a great nutritious meal.  Pizza with the pastor happens every fourth Sunday and Monday and pizza is on me.  You get a chance to get to know me and other new people at SCC.

The next step of partnership is to take SCC 101, 201, and 301.  These happen on the first, second, and third Sundays and Mondays, and you can take them in any order you want.  101 has to do with connecting to God and others.  201 has to do with growing in the character of Christ.  301 has to do with serving the church, community, and world.  We eat pizza and work through some ideas that are very specific to SCC.

One last step of partnership is to be baptized.  We’ll baptize people any time of the year, but our big baptism happens at the end of June with Baptism at the Beach.  There’s a nine-session small group that prepares you to be baptized, to baptize your child, or reaffirm your baptism if you were baptized as an infant or have fallen away from God since your baptism.  This small group is called Christianity 101.  It’s also great for those who really want to go deep in their faith.  It begins in March and runs for nine sessions through June.  Baptism is the sign and seal of being a part of God’s family.

It’s hard to do it alone.  Partner with SCC and put us on your encouragement team.

5. Ex-Team
Let’s be honest.  There are some people on your team right now who you need to get off your team.  The book of Proverbs says:

Stay away from fools, for you won’t find knowledge on their lips.
Proverbs 14:7 NLT

No pun intended!  Now I have moles throughout the entire church, and I was sent this picture this past week from one of our small groups that is supposed to be encouraging one another to have a Bod4God.  I’ve blurred out the faces to protect the guilty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flagrant foul!  Twenty-yard penalty!  I know I just mixed sports lingo, and that’s why you don’t want me on your referee team.  And there are some people you don’t want on your Bod4God team.  Who in your family is always egging you on to eat another cookie?  Who among your friends is always telling you another piece of fried chicken won’t hurt.  Who do you work with who is always trying to get you to go to the after work party where you know there’ll be lots of junk food you shouldn’t eat?  I’m not telling you to no longer associate with these people, but you will need to find a way to not let them influence you as much as they have.  They’re not on your Bod4God team.  Treat them like tax collectors and Gentiles!  It’s hard to do it alone.  Who do you need to add to or subtract from your Bod4God team?

Partnership
Today we have several people joining the SCC team.  They’ve all taken SCC 101, 201, and 301, and they’re ready to make a commitment today to partner with SCC in our mission: to ignite authentic life in Christ.  These are the commitments they make today to be on our team:

Partnership Vows
Tom: Do you seek to avoid evil and do good?
Partners: I do.

Tom: Do you confess Jesus as Savior and Lord in community with the church?
Partners: I do.

Tom: Will you stay in love with God?
Partners: By God’s grace, I will

Tom: Do you commit to connecting with God through worship and others through small groups?
Partners: I do.

Tom: Do you commit to growing deeper in the character of Christ through spiritual practices and H.A.B.I.T.S.?
Partners: I do.

Tom: Do you commit to serving the church, community and world with your time, talent, treasure, testimony, and temple?
Partners: I do.

To the church
Tom: Do you as the body of Christ, the church, reaffirm your own desire to avoid evil, do good, and stay in love with God?
Church: We do.

Tom: Do you commit to connecting with God and one another, growing in the character of Christ, and serving the church, community and world?
Church: We do.

Tom: Will you nurture one another and these new partners in the Christian faith and life, and surround them with a community of love and forgiveness?
Church: We will.