Weekly Content for P.A.C.K. Meetings
P – PRAYER
Pray for your time together. Ask God to give you open hearts, open ears, and a willingness to be open and honest with each other.
Wrap up your time together by having guys share any additional personal prayer requests and then pray specifically for one another.
You can also pray this prayer as a follow-up to the topic:
Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that You are all-powerful and thank You for the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit within me. Help me to depend on Your power and live by that power so I can love, forgive, and obey. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
A – ACCOUNTABILITY
Ask guys how their week was. Follow up on last week’s topic on living with purpose.
Also, it can be an opportunity for guys to share any struggles or challenges from the week that they need to confess or be held accountable for.
If married, ask how everyone is intentionally serving their spouse…and if a parent, what the biggest challenge is right now.
C – CONVERSATION
Talk about weekly content that connects sports to life and faith.
UNPACKIN’ IT DEVOTIONAL CONTENT
Power Leads to Wins
We are two months into the baseball season with the Milwaukee Brewers 36-23 and in first place by seven games in the NL Central Division.
Despite their former manager, Craig Counsell leaving in the offseason for a big contract with the Cubs and trading All-Star pitcher, Corbin Burnes to the Orioles, they impressively keep winning thanks to their power-hitting.
Jesse Rogers explains on ESPN.com in his article, “How Brewers are Riding Power to Top of NL Central Standings.” The alternative headline reads, “Small Market, Big Power: How the Brewers are Slugging Their Way to the Top.”
The Brewers are second in the National League in home runs per game behind the loaded Dodgers, and 8-2 in their last ten games.
New additions, Rhys Hoskins, Gary Sanchez, Joey Ortiz, and Jake Bauers have solidified their lineup and are scoring runs with their power. Brewers GM, Matt Arnold said, “We [acquired] guys for a reason. Those guys have that kind of pedigree. We weren’t where we hoped to be in power last year.”
They made the necessary changes and now have a lineup of power throughout, including eight players with five or more home runs, tied for the most in Major League Baseball.
As we consider how the Brewers rely on power to score runs and win games, let’s unpack the power we have available to us as followers of Jesus.
We have our own “lineup” of power: the power to be resilient, the power to forgive, the power to love, the power to comfort, and the power to resist temptation.
We have this “lineup” of power because of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit within us. We no longer live powerless lives; instead, we trust in the power of God and the power He gives us.
2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT) tells us, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
Before Jesus returned to Heaven He said, in Acts 1:8 (AMP), “But you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…”
Ephesians 3:20 (NLT) reminds us, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
To maximize our “lineup” of power and live a supernaturally powerful life that honors and obeys God, we must make the necessary changes and replace our limited power with His unlimited power.
We don’t have to operate in our own power but rather tap into the power made available to us when we receive salvation in Christ. Through His power, we live with joy, patience, and endurance.
2 Peter 1:3 (AMP) tells us, “For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”
Colossians 1:11 (AMP) gives us this prayer: “…[we pray that you may be] strengthened and invigorated with all power, according to His glorious might, to attain every kind of endurance and patience with joy.”
Today, as the Brewers are “riding power to the top,” let’s be encouraged to depend on the power of Christ and yield to the power of the Holy Spirit to experience “home runs” and “wins.”
Romans 15:13 (ESV) says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS TO CONSIDER OR EMPHASIZE OR OTHER DIRECTIONS TO GO:
- We trust that God has the power to do anything He pleases.
- We trust in God’s power, which gives us hope and the power to endure.
- The power that God demonstrated when He raised Jesus from the grave gives us the confidence and hope that He’s capable of anything.
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV): “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Ephesians 3:16-17 (AMP): “May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love…”
Romans 15:13 (ESV): “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Ephesians 1:18-20 (NIV): “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His Holy people and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms…”
PODCAST-LISTEN/WATCH:
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- What do you think about what the Brewers have done this season?
- What other power hitters or teams with lineups of power have impressed you this season?
- In what specific ways do you need God’s power today?
- Why is it so important to have faith in God’s power shown through the resurrection of Jesus to believe in His power working in us?
- How have you seen God’s power work in your life?
- Why is God’s power needed for resilience, forgiveness, love, comforting others, and resisting temptation?
- What is the difference between living powerless or in our limited power vs. living with God’s unlimited power?
- How is God’s power connected to hope, joy, and peace?
- What does it mean to yield to the power of the Holy Spirit?
- Why is it important to understand that God has equipped us and given us the necessary power to live the life He calls us to?
- Do you have an example of someone you admire who lives the supernaturally powerful and dynamic life of following Jesus?
K – KICKING Around Interesting and Relevant Sports Stories and Topics (You Can Start with This)
Go around the room as each guy shares a thought, a hot take, an observation about their favorite team, or a big story happening. Save the conversation about the sports topic from the devotional for later.
THIS WEEK’S SPORTS HEADLINES/TOPICS:
- NBA/NHL Playoffs
- Caitlin Clark’s first season in the WNBA and the conversations surrounding her.
- College Baseball
- Justin Jefferson got PAID! What do you think of the value of WRs in the NFL?
