Sermon Notes 02-01-09

“ What Is A Real Fan?”
“King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.” Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” Acts 26:27-28

Sports is one of the largest pastimes in the world.
Billions of dollars are spent on sports events and sports related items.

Advertising's big game

The cost of a 30-second spot for Super Bowl I in 1967 was $42,500 on CBS and $37,500 on NBC. (That’s right, it was the only time the game was broadcast on two networks). Twenty years and 20 games later, the cost had spiraled to $600,000. For this year's game, CBS is asking $2.6 million for a 30-second add!

Events like the Super Bowl and World Series attract worldwide interest.
Many Christians would also add that sports is probably the biggest idol in many people's lives.
Many Christians also follow athletics.
This message is not to condemn all sports as bad. In fact, there are some things sports fans can teach Christians --if we are willing to learn.
What can sports fans possibly teach the Christian?

The Lesson:
1st What is a Fan? Someone who is “one french-fry short of a happy meal!”
The word "fan" is a shortened form of "fanatic."

A fanatic is "one who is unreasonably enthusiastic or overly zealous, going beyond what is reasonable"
A fan, however, is "one who is enthusiastic about a sport, pastime, or performer.”
We can see by the definitions that there is a fine line between the two, with the difference possibly only being in the eye of the beholder.

Have you ever been to an Oakland Rader Game?
The dedication and zeal that a sports fan shows for his team or sport might be considered fanatical—WHAT WOULD WE CALL THE PERSON IF THE OBJECT OF THAT ENTHUSISAM WAS JESUS CHRIST? NUTS?

I believe many Christians stop short of full surrender to God because of "what people might say." After all, we don't want to be fanatics, do we?
In Acts 26, the great Apostle Paul addresses King Agrippa and Festus the governor.
As Paul expounded and preached Christ the two leaders had totally opposite reactions.

Agrippa said in verse 28, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Festus, on the other hand, had this reaction: 24At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”
The word in verse 24 that is translated "mad" in the English is the Greek word "mania."
This is the only time in the Bible the word "mania" is used.

It is still used today across the world as a psychological term.

It means "excessive excitability, a persistent, obsessive enthusiasm."
Festus was saying, "Paul, you are a fanatic! You are excessive about this "Jesus."
Festus thought Paul's words were unreasonable and overzealous.
Yet politicians in his day thought nothing of murdering potential rivals to their power.
Paul was fanatical in the eyes of Festus, but murdering for political gain was okay.
I believe Christians can learn a lot from sports "fanatics" of our day.

It is socially acceptable to be a fanatical sports "fan" but is it acceptable to a “Fanatic” for Christ?

The Lesson:
1st What is a Fan?
2nd Sports Fans are Faithful! They don’t conform

Sports fans like to identify with their team. They have hats, shirts, socks, even underwear with the logos of their favorite teams on them.
They don't mind being different.
They enjoy being the only one in a crowd with the logo of their team on it.
They are "representing."
It has been said that Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, wore his North Carolina Tar Heel gym shorts under his uniform while he was winning championships for the Chicago Bulls.
"Once a Tar Heel always a Tar Heel," he has said.
Some fans have even been buried in a replica jersey of their favorite player.

So if sports fans are so brave about representing their teams, why are Christians so shy about being a witness for Christ?
The Braves fan or Falcon fan can leave his native Atlanta and wear his colors proudly wherever he might go, but the Christian gets in a crowd of lost people and loses his voice!

Acts 1:8 “…...ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
The witness represents Christ to the lost; he testifies of what Christ has done for him.
Some Atlanta Brave fans would do the "tomahawk chop" in a crowded mall to show their spirit, but some Christians have trouble passing out tracts in such an environment.

The Lesson:
1st What is a Fan? Someone who is “one french-fry short of a happy meal!”
2nd Sports Fans are Faithful! They don’t conform.
3rd Sports Fans are Loyal! They don’t switch!

Paul said in Philippians 3:13-15 “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” If you enjoy sports at all, then you have probably heard of the term "bandwagon" fans. These are the (so-called) fans who switch from one team to another according to wins and losses.

They are always on the side of the winner.
But these fans are held in derision by most true fans.
Most fans choose their loyalties based on their parents or their childhood experiences.

Once you become the fan of a certain team, the bond is for life if you are a true fan. Win or lose, sink or swim ---they are your team! Christians should have the same attitude as Paul taught the Philippians in Chapter 3:13 “That I may know him...I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Salvation is a lifetime bond with the Savior.

The personal relationship with Christ Himself is primary to the believer. No one has ever been disappointed in Him.

The Lesson:
1st What is a Fan? Someone who is “one french-fry short of a happy meal!”
2nd Sports Fans are Faithful! They don’t conform.
3rd Sports Fans are Loyal! They don’t switch!
4th Sports Fans are Passionate! They don’t give up!

Jesus said in John 6:66 “66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.”
Another distinguishing characteristic of the sports fan is their passion for their teams.

True fans will never give up until the last second ticks off the clock or the last out is made.
Some of the greatest sports stories are about those who did not give up in the face of great adversity.

In John Chapter 6 we read of followers who walked no more with him.
Jesus watched them leave, and asked His disciples this question, Will ye also go away?

Peter replied with the great acclamation: Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.