Dodgeball, Chick-Fil-A, and The Gospel

Photo courtesy of Danielle Solis

Over the weekend, our high school ministry had a great outreach event at the local YMCA. Over a hundred students brought their friends for a night of dodgeball, climbing, and other fun activities. Oh, and of course, catering by Chick-Fil-A.

So what makes a night of hanging out with friends and delicious chicken sandwiches even better? Taking time to share the Gospel. In between games and activities, we took a break in the pool to hear from HYACKs intern Ben Panner. I thought it was a great presentation and explanation of God’s love, and wanted to present it to others who were not able to be there, so here is what Ben shared that night:

Photo courtesy of Danielle Solis

As an adventurous and ambitious 3-year-old, Ben, or “Butterball Ben” as his father affectionately remembers his chubby days, was at a cookout with families from church when he decided to jump into the pool. However, not knowing how to swim, he sank straight to the bottom, and started fighting for his life as he tried to get to the surface. It could have been a dangerous situation, but his father jumped in to save him within seconds. No hesitation at all. Didn’t matter that he was still wearing his sunglasses, shoes, watch, etc. Everything else was replaceable. His son obviously was not.

This story has a special place in Ben’s heart. Not only does it remind him of his dad’s love and sacrifice for him, but it illustrates a story of another Father’s love. This story is the heart of the Gospel. God reaches out to save us, just like Ben’s dad had done, but this story differs in another significant way. We all need to be saved by God, but we are not fighting and struggling for our life in the pool. In reality, we are dead on the bottom of the ocean. As Ephesians 2:1-2 says, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world.” (NIV)

This refers to our spiritual death. There’s nothing we can do to please God and be reconciled with Him on our own. But God didn’t originally intend for our depravity. He created a beautiful and perfect world for His creation to live in. However, through rebellion and disobedience, sin entered the world, and humanity’s relationship with God became broken. We are spiritually dead, sinful people, guilty before God. Seems rather bleak and hopeless, no?

Ephesians 2:4-5 then provides the greatest hope in the world. It shows a way out. How we can be rescued. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” (NIV)

God doesn’t leave us dead at the bottom of the ocean. Why? Because He loves us more than you can imagine. We are His beloved children. In His mercy, He gives us what we do not deserve, and sends His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins. To die a death we deserve. Only to be raised to life so that we can eternal life through Him. He is reaching out His arms to rescue us. He is calling for us to turn to Him. So that we can be made alive again by repenting our sins. He wants to restore our relationship with Him out of his great love.

On our own, we are dead. Not even struggling to survive, but dead. But God, as a loving Father, extends His arms to rescue us through His Son, so that we are made alive again.

And if that isn’t good news, I don’t know what is.

Thanks to Ben Panner for sharing his thoughts and notes from his message!
Also, check out the promotional video for our YMCA event made by Joey McKenna, one of our students.