Bible Verses for New Year's Eve

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Hopewell vs. South Fayette

Tonight, my basketball team played South Fayette in the semi-finals of the CJ Better's Tournament. They are one top ranked Double A schools in the state, so we knew they would be tough to beat, especially since we knew Dayne wasn't going to play. Missing one of our top 3 scorers made the game very tough. We had trouble scoring on offense, and defensively we had trouble because South Fayette was making all of their shots. The final score of the game ended up being 64-43. It was a very disappointing loss, but we knew we could look past it because it does not affect our place in the section.

Hopewell vs. Brashear

Tonight, my basketball team faced off against Brashear, a city league school, in the first round of the CJ Better's Holiday Classic. We never played this team before so we were very unsure of what to expect. During warmups, we noticed a huge height advantage in our favor. So in the locker room before the game, we decided to take advantage of the height differences and get the ball in the post to score. We did what we planned and it worked with a huge victory over Brashear 82-47. Kevin Welsh and Dayne Smith had huge games, but Dayne who was on pace to score 30 points injured himself during the game. During a rebound, he stepped on Kevin's foot and twisted his ankle. The injury seemed pretty serious, and we are unsure of his status for the next couple of games. We play South Fayette tomorrow, and the winner goes to the championship.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Story of the Birth of Jesus - Christmas Eve

References:
Matthew 1:18-25; Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:1-20.

Mary, a virgin, was living in Galilee of Nazareth and was engaged to be married to Joseph, a Jewish carpenter. An angel visited her and explained to her that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. She would carry and give birth to this child and she would name him Jesus.

At first Mary was afraid and troubled by the angel's words. Being a virgin, Mary questioned the angel, "How will this be?" The angel explained that the child would be God's own Son and, therefore, "nothing is impossible with God." Humbled and in awe, Mary believed the angel of the Lord and rejoiced in God her Savior.

Surely Mary reflected with wonder on the words found in Isaiah 7:14 foretelling this event, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."

While Mary was still engaged to Joseph, she miraculously became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, as foretold to her by the angel. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he had every right to feel disgraced. He knew the child was not his own, and Mary's apparent unfaithfulness carried a grave social stigma. Joseph not only had the right to divorce Mary, under Jewish law she could be put to death by stoning.

Although Joseph's initial reaction was to break the engagement, the appropriate thing for a righteous man to do, he treated Mary with extreme kindness. He did not want to cause her further shame, so he decided to act quietly. But God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to verify Mary's story and reassure him that his marriage to her was God's will. The angel explained that the child within Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that his name would be Jesus and that he was the Messiah, God with us.

When Joseph woke from his dream, he willingly obeyed God and took Mary home to be his wife, in spite of the public humiliation he would face. Perhaps this noble quality is one of the reasons God chose him to be the Messiah's earthly father.

Joseph too must have wondered in awe as he remembered the words found in Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."

At that time, Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken, and every person in the entire Roman world had to go to his own town to register. Joseph, being of the line of David, was required to go to Bethlehem to register with Mary. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus. Probably due to the census, the inn was too crowded, and Mary gave birth in a crude stable. She wrapped the baby in cloths and placed him in a manger.

Out in the fields, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds who were tending their flocks of sheep by night. The angel announced that the Savior had been born in the town of David. Suddenly a great host of heavenly beings appeared with the angels and began singing praises to God. As the angelic beings departed, the shepherds decided to travel to Bethlehem and see the Christ-child.

There they found Mary, Joseph and the baby, in the stable. After their visit, they began to spread the word about this amazing child and everything the angel had said about him. They went on their way still praising and glorifying God. But Mary kept quiet, treasuring their words and pondering them in her heart. It must have been beyond her ability to grasp, that sleeping in her arms—the tender child she had just borne—was the Savior of the world.

After Jesus' birth, Herod was king of Judea. At this time wise men (Magi) from the east saw a star, they came in search, knowing the star signified the birth of the king of the Jews. The wise men came to the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem and asked where the Christ was to be born. The rulers explained, "In Bethlehem in Judea," referring to Micah 5:2. Herod secretly met with the Magi and asked them to report back after they had found the child. Herod told the Magi that he too wanted to go and worship the babe. But secretly Herod was plotting to kill the child.

So the wise men continued to follow the star in search of the new born king and found Jesus with his mother in Bethlehem. (Most likely Jesus was already two years of age by this time.) They bowed and worshipped him, offering treasures of gold, incense and myrrh. When they left, they did not return to Herod. They had been warned in a dream of his plot to destroy the child.

Hopewell vs. Shaler

Tonight, my Hopewell basketball team played at Shaler, a Quad A school, in an exhibition game. Coming into the game, we knew that Shaler had a good team and that Quad A was a very high level of basketball. We weren't sure how we would do, but we knew if we could put up a good fight that it would mean good things for our team. It turned out that not only could we compete with them, but we could beat them. It was a close game throughout the entire game, but in the end we pulled out a huge victory with a 67-52 win. Dayne Smith and myself were the highest scorers scoring 19 points each.

Hopewell vs. Ellwood City

Tonight, my Hopewell basketball team faced off against Ellwood City in another section game. Ellwood City has always struggled against us, and we knew we had to keep it that way because we didn't want to lose to a team that we feel we should beat. The first half we got off to a slow start. Going into halftime, they were able to keep the game close. For some reason are team looked out of sink and rusty, but luckily in the second half we picked up the intensity and defeated them 51-36. Our next game is tomorrow in an exhibition game against Shaler.

Biblical Principles for Godly Verbal Communication

THE POWER OF MY WORDS

For Good or Evil:

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing (Proverbs 12:18).

The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit (Proverbs 15:4).

Summary:

The tongue has the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21).

Biblical Principles for Godly Verbal Communication

THE POWER OF MY WORDS

For Good:

A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver (Proverbs 25:11).

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones (Proverbs 16:24).

An anxious heart weighs a man down but a kind word cheers him up (Proverbs 12:25).

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment (Proverbs 10:20,21).

Biblical Principles for Godly Verbal Communication

THE POWER OF MY WORDS

For Bad:

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison (James 3:6,8).

With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor (Proverbs 11:9).

The words of a gossip are like choice morsels, they go down to a man's inmost parts (Proverbs 18:8).

Prayer and Verse of the Day

VERSE: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galations 2:20

PRAYER: Blessed Jesus, King of grace guard and protect me that nothing may lure me away from Your kingdom. Amen.

Hopewell vs. New Castle

Tonight, we had our home opener and first conference game in Section 2-AAA against the New Castle Red Hurricanes. We knew it was important to get out to a good start in section play, because one of our goals for the season is to win the Section Championship. We came ready to play tonight with a solid performance with a 53-37 victory over New Castle. No one stood out specifically tonight. Everyone played well together and everyone put on a solid performance together as a team.

Bible Verse of the Day

Hopewell vs. Aliquippa

Tonight, my Hopewell basketball team faced the Aliquippa Quips in an exhibition game. I have been playing basketball my entire life and my teammates and I can't recall a time where we ever beat Aliquippa. Tonight was the night we did for the first time with a convincing 64-51 victory. Dayne Smith finally came back from his flu sickness and put on an amazing performance. Not only did he not start due to the fact that he missed so many practices and games, but he also just came back from being sick, and he still put up 35 points of his own.

Bible Verse of the Day

Hopewell Basketball Season Begins

This weekend was the start of my basketball season. My Hopewell basketball team opened up the season with a game against Moon on Friday in the Moon Tip-Off Tournament. Coming into the season our top three scorers that were coming back this season were myself, Kevin Welsh, and Dayne Smith. The problem was that Dayne had the flu and was unable to play in any of the games in the tournment. Our opener against Moon was an undesirable outcome with a 49-54 loss. This automatically eliminated us from championship contention. So, the next day, we had to play a consolation game against Beaver Falls. Luckily, the outcome this time was much better with a 45-40 victory. I was happy to be announced at the end of the tournament as one of players to make the All-Tournament Team by scoring a total of 38 points in the two games.

FCA Meeting (Dec. 11) - Agenda and Discussion Questions

1. Last Time: Hope is the confidence in the work that has already been done, the planning that is in place, and the potential that lies ahead.

2. What is the best Team you have ever played against? Best Athlete? How did it make you feel to go up against someone you knew was better than you?
- The best team I have ever played against is Thomas Jefferson my sophomore year of football. We put up a good fight, but they were just too good. They ended up beating us 35-16 and later went on to play for the State Championship. The best athlete I have ever gone up against was Johnathon Baldwin from Aliquippa my sophomore year of basketball. I knew he was way better than me, but I liked it because it made me work 10 times harder to compete with him.

3. Coach John Wooden (10 National Championships) had 2 suggestions for his players: (1) Don't try to be better than someone else (2) Always give your best effort

4. What percent of the time do you give your best effort in the classroom? At practice? In games?
- In the classroom, I would say I give my best effort depending on the class. If I like the class, I will give at least 90 percent, but if I don't like the class I probably only give 60 percent effort. At practice, some days I might not have energy, feel sick, or had a bad day and might no give a full effort. Most of the time though I try to give my best effort. In games, I always give 100 percent effort. I never want to let myself or my teammates down.

5. Why do you think the majority of us have adopted a "good enough" work ethic?
- Because many of us are too lazy to finish a drill or know that are coaches might be too soft on us and won't yell at us for not finishing.

6. Is it possible to "underachieve"? What about "overachieve"?
- It is always possible to underachieve. Any time you do not give your best effort you are underachieving. It is almost impossible to overachieve. In fact, I can't think of any examples of overachieving. People might accuse someone of overachieving on homework or a project, but the truth is they are jealous that they didn't do as good as that person.

7. Video Clip: Facing the Giants


8. Spiritual Application: Parable of the Talents

4th Core Value of FCA - Integrity

You could define integrity as a sense of honesty and truthfulness in your actions. For example, in sports, you must accept a loss with integrity. Instead of pouting or complaining, accept the fact that you did your best, but came up short. Also, since integrity deals with honesty, be honest with yourself, God, and other. Make sure to maintain integrity in your daily life and in your worship.

3rd Core Value of FCA - Service

You can define service as the work done by one person or group that benefits another. In FCA, we have learned that service in your community is extremely important. It is important to serve your church. For example, at my church, I count the people, ring the bells, and help in any other way I can. Also, it is import to serve your community in other ways. For example, this year FCA is volunteering to help at Special Olympics. Service is extremely important, and trust me, if feels better to give than to receive.

2nd Core Value of FCA - Teamwork

You can define teamwork as the joint action by two or more people, in which each person contributes with different skills to achieve a common goal. In FCA, we learn how important it is to have great teamwork. For example, it takes teamwork every month for us to get the word out to everyone that there is an FCA meeting. Also, in sports, teamwork is the most important aspect of a team being successful. If the team can work together they can do great things. Lastly, it takes teamwork to spread the word of Christ through preaching the Word and helping out at FCA meetings or church. Also, if a group of people see something wrong, such as someone getting bullied, they need to stand up together and work as a team to get help and to help the person in need.

1st Core Value of FCA - Excellence

You can define excellence as the quality of excelling or possessing good qualities in high degree. In FCA, we want to excel in everything we do. As Christian Athletes we want to excel in our own sport or sports, and we also want to excel in our religion through daily worship and spreading the word. Since excelling in our lives is so important whether on or off the field, it is the first core value of FCA.

FCA's 4 Core Values

I will cover the 4 Core Values of FCA throught this week...

1. Excellence (Monday)

2. Teamwork (Tuesday)

3. Service (Wednesday)

4. Integrity (Thursday)

Christian-Athlete Profile of Tim Tebow

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has won one Heisman Trophy and was close to winning another. He has records in the NCAA for his running and passing ability as a quarterback. His freshman year he was not a starter, but contributed very much to the Gators National Championship and SEC Championship. In 2008, his junior season, as a starter he led the Gators to another National and SEC Championship. Finally, this year, during his senior season, his team fell short in the SEC championship with a loss to Alabama. But, they eventually went on to defeat Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl. Many say that he will go down as one of the greatest college football players to ever play.

What is even more amazing about Tim Tebow is that he has accomplished just as much off the field as he has on the field. What will last far beyond what he has accomplished on the football field is his mission and charity work, his work with children, the ability to touch lives, and his Christian faith. As a missionary, he has traveled and preached to poor people in villages all over the world. Both of his parents are missionaries, so Tim does a lot of his traveling with them. He also has gone to prisons and hospitals to preach to people in need of faith and prayer.

Tim Tebow has been able to inspire others while on the field. Before each game he writes Bible verses on his eye-black patches, such as Philippians 4:13 and John 3:16. While watching a Florida game, I learned that Tim also inspired his coach and family. Coach Meyer and his family spent a week with the Tebow family in the Dominican Republic helping the needy.

Tim Tebow is a role model for all. He teaches us all how you should act both on and off the field and teaches us the kind of person we should all be. We should all try to be a little like Tim in all of our endeavors in life.

PROFILING CHRISTIAN ATHLETES

The first christian athlete we will profile is Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

FCA Competitor's Creed

I am a Christian first and last.
I am created in the likeness of
God Almighty to bring Him glory.
I am a member of Team Jesus Christ.
I wear the colors of the cross.

I am a Competitor now and forever.
I am made to strive, to strain,
to stretch and to succeed
in the arena of competition.
I am a Christian Competitor
and as such, I face my challenger
with the face of Christ.

I do not trust in myself.
I do not boast in my abilities
or believe in my own strength.
I rely solely on the power of God.
I compete for the pleasure of
my Heavenly Father, the honor of Christ
and the reputation of the Holy Spirit.

My attitude on and off
the field is above reproach -
my conduct beyond criticism.
Whether I am preparing,
practicing or playing;
I submit to God's authority
and those He has put over me.
I respect my coaches, officials,
teammates and competitors
out of respect for the Lord.

My body is the temple of Jesus Christ.
I protect it from within and without.
Nothing enters my body that
does not honor the Living God.
My sweat is an offering to my Master.
My soreness is a sacrifice to my Savior.

I give my all - all of the time.
I do not give up. I do not give in.
I do not give out. I am the Lord’s warrior -
a competitor by conviction
and a disciple of determination.
I am confident beyond reason
because my confidence lies in Christ.
The results of my efforts
must result in His glory.

LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN.
LET THE GLORY BE GOD'S.

Bible Verse of the Day

Team FCA

As a Competitor – Athlete, Coach or Fan, you are a skilled person. You have talents and abilities. You have expectations and deliver results. But for a Christian Competitor, being skilled is just the beginning.

A Christian Competitor aims to become like Jesus Christ - the greatest competitor of all time. He is the greatest competitor for the souls of men … the greatest champion to hang on the cross … the greatest teammate to lift up those around him … the greatest captain to build a lasting team.

If you want to play like Christ every time you put on your uniform, lace up your shoes or walk out of the locker room, then you are ready to sign The Competitor's Creed.

This is a Creed for Christians who want their love for sports to become evidence of their love for Christ. This is a Creed that declares your membership on TEAM FCA - the Team that wears the Jersey of Jesus.

http://www.fca.org/TEAMFCA/