From Hockey To Jesus!

From hockey to Jesus!

Parents juggle many things for the benefit of their children. When our son was young, he wanted to play hockey. The practice time for the youngest age group was 12:40 pm on Sunday afternoon. I was the Lead Pastor, so it was a challenge to get our son to the rink on time. I felt it would not be right to shorten my sermon, although some congregants may have appreciated that, or skip meeting people in the lobby after the service. So while I talked with people, one of my friends took our five-year-old to my office and dressed him in his hockey equipment.

At about 12:25 pm, my boy and I would run to the car. He would eat a quick bite for lunch while I raced across town to the arena. Once there, we would sprint to the change room. I would tie his skates while he put on his helmet and gloves. At this time, the kids began to file out of the room on their way to the ice. Our son was often the last in line, but he went on the ice with his group. We were not late.

After that I could relax, join the parents in the stands, and eat my lunch. On one occasion, in my hurry to get our son ready for the ice, I made a mistake we laughed about later. On this day my boy had a hard time skating; he was very clumsy. After a little while, one of the coaches took him to the bench to have a look at his skates. He quickly saw the problem. In my rush to make it on time, I had put his skates on the wrong feet. Oops!

For Sunday practices I went with our son while Heather went home with our daughter. For games and some other hockey times, we went as a family. Heather and I got to know several of the parents and became friends with some of them. We connected particularly well with one couple. The husband was the head coach and we often sat with his wife while the kids played hockey. In the course of conversation, we talked about faith.

Neither of this couple were from church-going families, but the Mom had attended a children’s ministry and as a child, she received Jesus in her heart. However, as she grew up she drifted from faith in Jesus. In University she went with the flow and Jesus had no part in her life. After some time we invited her to church.  She agreed to come, and she became a regular attender and brought their children. We had their family over and they had us to their place. She renewed her faith in Jesus and after some time she requested baptism. I had the joy of baptizing her. I think that was the only occasion her husband came to church. We had some fun times together, but he wasn’t interested in Jesus. It was exciting to see the woman grow in Christ.

While our emphasis is on “going”, that is bringing the message and ministry of Jesus into everyday life, there are times to invite. Any Sunday can be a good day to invite friends to church, and Easter is a particularly good occasion to do so, especially to invite those with whom you have relationship.

Romans 10:13 says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” We very much want people to be saved, but we can’t just wait for this to happen. The next verse reads, "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

God has placed us here as missionaries to the Comox Valley. We have the good news of Jesus for the people around us. We ask you to pray about your part in the mission of bringing the good news of Jesus to the people around you. Pray, asking God to prepare the hearts of those you would like to ask, and then invite people you love to attend the Easter service on April 20 at the Sid Williams Theatre, with children’s ministry at the Florence Filberg Centre.

God is powerful. The Spirit works to bring people from the rink to the church, and from hockey to Jesus!

Pastor Lorne