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 pray specifically for one another.
You can also pray this prayer as a follow-up to the topic:
Heavenly Father, help me to live a genuine and authentic life, and show me how to confidently live a life marked by the truth. Please forgive me for the ways I’ve misled and deceived others, and give me pure motives and intentions as I desire to obey You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
A – ACCOUNTABILITY
Ask guys how their week was. Follow up on last week’s topic about “FINDING A WAY TO WIN” and ask them if they had any additional thoughts about the narrow road vs. the wide road.
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:
The Disguise
Super Bowl week is here and if we turn on any sports shows this week, chances are, analysts will mention the word “disguise” while breaking down the matchup.
Both teams have been watching game films on one another and devising a game plan to win, which includes incorporating strategies of deception.
Once the game kicks off, the Chiefs’ defense will implement disguises in coverage to throw off 49ers quarterback, Brock Purdy.
The 49ers’ defense will do something similar throughout the game as they will attempt to appear like they’re running man coverage, but will actually be in zone coverage.
We also know how dangerous both offenses can be. Before each play, both teams will try to fool the defenders by how they line up and deceive them into thinking they’re going to run in one direction but have every intention to go the other way.
Most of us as fans don’t realize all that’s happening while the quarterback is reading the defense before the snap. However, he’s busy trying to figure out what the defense is up to while determining how a defender is attempting to sell him or convince him of his false intentions on the play.
In recent years, the Chiefs have had tremendous success for several reasons, but their creativity on offense (especially how they execute trick plays), is a big factor in beating defenses.
They fake like they’re going to do one thing and then do something different. They also can create confusion for defenses by sending players in motion and lining up in unique formations.
The 49ers’ defense will have a tough test on Sunday, but they will be ready with their own tricky tactics. On some plays, they will pretend like they’re blitzing when they aren’t or they will try to mislead Patrick Mahomes into reading the wrong coverage based on what they reveal during the pre-snap.
It’s going to be a fascinating game to watch and no question that disguises will be an integral part of the action. Whoever executes better deception will most likely have an advantage.
When it comes to our own lives, the ability to deceive others may give us an advantage for a while, but unlike football, it’s not what leads to winning.
If we aren’t careful, we can put on a disguise and pretend that we are someone we aren’t. We can mislead people with false intentions or conceal what our true motivations are. We can also be fake with people about what’s going on in our lives.
It’s so tempting to trick others into thinking we’ve got it all together or that we’re doing everything right. Too often we try to convince or sell people on something about us that isn’t true. We may say we’re going to “run in one direction,” but have every intention to go the other way.
However, as followers of Jesus, we’re called to live honest and holy lives marked by truth. Yes, we’re imperfect, but we can live authentically in grace and love without deception and disguises.
Ephesians 4:25 (AMP) tells us, “Therefore, rejecting all falsehood [whether lying, defrauding, telling half-truths, spreading rumors, any such as these], speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one another [and we are all parts of the body of Christ].”
1 Peter 2:1 (NLT) says, “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.”
Proverbs 12:22 (NLT) states, “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in those who tell the truth.”
Today, let’s drop the disguises and choose to be genuine with what we say and do. Let’s be honest before the Lord and others as we confess any ways we’ve been deceiving, misleading, and pretending.
Although the trick plays are awesome in the NFL, in life, we don’t get away with the trickery for long because “Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known” (Luke 12:2; ESV).
I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!
Further Scripture Reading:
Proverbs 27:19 (NLT): “As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.”
2 Timothy 3:12-13 (NLT): “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (ESV): “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”
Additional Thoughts to Consider or Emphasize:
- The importance of discerning other people’s disguises and a willingness to seek out the truth – help others take their masks off.
- The importance of discerning false teachers that aren’t teaching Biblical truth.
- The reality is that we are imperfect and we can be confusing because we don’t always do what we say or do what we want to do. However, we still can’t accept hypocrisy as being okay or lying to ourselves that it’s fine to live a lie since nobody is perfect.
Podcast-Listen/Watch:
Questions to Discuss:
- Why is it so hard to be honest with people about how you’re really doing?
- In what ways has someone else deceived you?
- In what ways do you pretend like everything is fine when it’s not?
- In what situations are you most tempted to be fake with people?
- How have you tricked others into thinking something about you that wasn’t true?
- Why is an authentic and genuine life so much better?
- How would your life change if you were honest with others?
- What has been something in your life that you used to keep hidden, but now is in the light?
- If you’re willing to be honest, what are some of your big imperfections and struggles?
- Is there anything you’ve been misleading about that you’d like to confess?
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 going on. Save the conversation about the sports topic from the devotional for later.
This week’s headlines:
- Super Bowl
- What is your favorite Super Bowl ever?
- What player will be an X-factor this year?
- Who will be the Super Bowl MVP this year?
- Did anyone watch the Pro Bowl?
- College basketball heating up.
