Another friendly reminder...

This is another friendly reminder from the webmaster that there will be a leaders meeting for softball next Thursday July 31st, 2008 at Sunset Baptist at 7:30 PM in the evening. Please be sure to inform your rep as we don't want anyone to forget and get fined in the process.

Also, if you have not done so already please send any team pictures to our e-mail at ccu_softball@yahoo.com as soon as possible so we can have the plaques ready at the end of the season BBQ. Thank you for your time and cooperation.

Fellowship Guide 9

Live it Loud: “Lead Me On” – July 27 Devotion

Bible Verses

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. - Hebrews 13:7

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. - 1 Corinthians 11:1

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. - John 13:12-17

Introduction

One of the most important elements of the Christian church is leadership. Would the church have survived the first century without the guidance of the Apostles' Paul and Peter? When we first become Christians how important is it for our spiritual growth to have someone lead us in our faith? What makes a great leader?

Sharing/Discussion Questions

1) When you think of a leader, who is the first person that comes to mind? Why? (It can be a famous person, or someone you know).

2) What do you think are the 2 or 3 most important qualities of a good coach or leader?

3) What qualities does Jesus possess that make him a great leader?

Ask a volunteer to read the Bible verses out loud.

Wrap up

Often times when we think of what makes a good leader, we think of someone who has knowledge and experience and can tell us what to do and how to do it. We might think of someone who is a great planner or administrator and can keep an organization or team running smoothly and efficiently. We might envision a coach barking out plays and correcting mistakes, or a boss asking us to work overtime, or a politician delivering a great speech.

During his time on earth, Jesus certainly displayed many of the qualities we would expect from a leader. However, he took it a big step further when he humbly washed his disciples' feet. Leaders often expect those who are under them to do the “dirty work”. Yet here Jesus demonstrated the “nature of a servant” (Phil. 2:7) and did what many leaders often fail to do: set an example to those following them. In war, a general sends his troops out to battle and possibly to their deaths. To pay the price for mankind's sinfulness, Jesus did not send one of his disciples to the cross. He went there himself.

Fellowship Guide 8

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Icebreaker – You can choose to play this song if you would like. Or even better just start singing it.

What is something that brings us an enormous amount of satisfaction?

Satisfaction is one of the Rolling Stones most well known and popular song. It is a song with overtones to sex, anti-commercialism, and an overall dissatisfaction with the world around the singer. Mick Jagger yelled that he couldn’t get no satisfaction and in reality he couldn’t. He was fed up with the rock star lifestyle at the time and at the time the status quo. We live in a society where satisfaction is desired quite heavily. Satisfaction through our food, entertainment, work lives, money and fame. Unfortunately, satisfaction usually proves empty and fleeting. Just like Mick Jagger many of us have looked for satisfaction in the wrong places. There is greater satisfaction out there. Something that will quench it and never have to refill again. Where this world only is momentary and satisfaction is fleeting, Jesus provides us with living water to satisfy us. We seek satisfaction from God Himself. He is eternal and the satisfaction that He supplies is also eternal. This is not to say we can’t enjoy ourselves anymore. God created us to have recreation, to enjoy ourselves when we do things. However, our deep satisfaction, our deep meaning and our lives should rely upon God. He is the only one that can truly Get Us Satisfaction. Now if only Mick Jagger would figure that out.

CCU Website Scores and Standings

As you all may know the CCU Main Website Scores and Standings section remains incomplete and only partially updated. I apologize for the delays but at the same time encourage those with the field binders from Westlake, Gellert, and Orange Park to submit the scores from previous weeks so I can get the site updated completely. Thank you for your cooperation.

Fellowship Guide 7

Live It Loud – No Fear

Deut 31:6

Leader: please feel free to add to this devotion. This is a guideline to help you facilitate the team’s devotion time.

You can start off with an ice-breaker or singspiration.

You can ask these questions or break-up into smaller groups.

1) What do you fear?

a. It can be a hard hit softball.

b. Speaking in front of an audience

c. Failure

2) How do you overcome fear?

a. Just bit your lip and move forward

b. Not do the action – avoidance

c. Pray

• Share an experience when you were fearful, and God helped you through it.

• Read Deut. 31:6
• God has promised us here that the Lord our God goes with us and never leaves us.
• Pretty straight forward, right?
• Satan puts this fear in our head so that we feel that God is away, but it is us who leave Jesus. Jesus is always by our side, as His promise to us.
• Don’t dismiss fear though. Of course it is a very common emotion and state. But we can overcome it with the Lord’s help.
• How do we overcome this fear?
• Through prayer
• Through the understanding of His Word (the Bible)
• With the understanding comes faith
• With faith comes trust
• You just need to experience it once to always believe.

Field Reminder!!!

Just a friendly reminder that we will no longer be using Ponderosa field for the rest of this season. We are now moving over to Orange Park. Please sent any inquiries to ccu_softball@yahoo.com or please feel free to leave a comment on the CCU Softball Blogspot.

The directions:

(assuming you're headed from SF south)

1. Take 280 South

2. Exit the Westborough exit and veer to the left and make a left at the light to go down the hill towards El Camino Real

3. Make a right at El Camino Real Blvd.; get into the left lane

4. Make a left at West Orange Avenue

5. A few blocks down the field should be on your left (we are using the all dirt softball field)

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=orange%20park%2C%20south%20san%20francisco%2C%20CA&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

Mid Way Through!

Wow I can't believe that we've all been playing softball for a little over a month now! As we draw near to the mid season break, let's take this time to remember where we all came from and to give thanks to God for everything He has created on this wonderful Fourth of July. I hope everyone has an amazing Independence Day and of course eat lot's of food and enjoy the weekend! Remember this week is rivalry week, so just as the Giants host the dreaded Dodgers... your church teams will be facing off against each other this week! Come support the friendly games and make a good time of fellowship, I know I will!

Here is this week's fellowship guide.

The Fellowship of the Believers

I. Introduction (2 minutes)

How many of you have heard, seen or even read the book “The Lord of the Rings”? A few years ago, Hollywood adapted the book into movie format…and turned the book into a 3 part trilogy movie series. The first movie is called “The Fellowship of the Ring” and that was the 14^th top grossing movie of all time. The second and third Lord of The Rings movies were also all time top movies as well…with “The Two Towers” (2^nd movie) ranked 7^th all time and “The Return of the King” #2 all time (behind Titanic in case you’re curious). One has to wonder what made “The Lord of the Rings” movies (or LOTR for short) so “compelling” that, worldwide, movie goers have spent nearly $3 billion watching the 3 movies.

II. Opening discussion (5 minutes)

At this point, let’s break up into groups of 5 people. Within the group, briefly share about these questions:

1. First of all, who has watched any of the 3 movies?

2. For those that have watched the trilogy, which of the three movies did you like the best?

3. What is it about these movies that really “compelled” you to watch the movies? Definition of “compelling”: driven or urged irresistibly to something (so in this instance, what attracted you to go watch this movie).

III. The Word (10 minutes)

Back in the days of Jesus, there was something that also had a magnetic affect on people like the LOTR movies. The story can be found in a certain section of the Bible, in Acts 2: 42-47:

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Let’s take a moment to look at this passage more carefully. They (the first “church” where the believers gathered back then) spent time together DAILY. What did they do every day? They spent time listening to the apostles teach, then they spent time eating (breaking of bread) and spent time praying. As a result of these times spent together, God revealed many wonders and miraculous signs through the apostles…so the time spent together was not boring at all, as everyone was in AWE!!. ALL the believers were TOGETHER…and had everything in COMMON…meaning, they SHARED EVERYTHING. They sold all that they had…and shared with ANYONE (with other believers and possibly even with non-believers?). Every single day, they continue to meet in the temple courts…and they met in each other’s homes to share meals…and they ate with glad/sincere hearts…giving praise/thanks to God…and enjoying favor (to be looked upon in a friendly or positive way) from all the people. Look here for a moment…this one last point I didn’t see until a pastor shared about it recently…the very end of the bible passage…”And the Lord ADDED to their number DAILY those who were being SAVED”. Looking at the passage, the early church was just doing very ordinary things that believers today do…listen to someone teach, spend time eating with each other and praying. The only difference is that the believers of the past did those things EVERY day…and they did everything TOGETHER. Another major difference is that the believers back then shared EVERYTHING with ANYONE that was in need. The passage didn’t say anything about people holding anything back for themselves…rather, they sold everything they had…and with the proceeds from the sales, they shared it with anyone.

(If you’re leading fellowship, this next part is for you…but only if time permits: Share something from your past experiences to the entire group. Think back to a time when you encounter a Christian or a group of believers who lived in such a way that really moved you to find out more about God. Be specific in sharing WHY that person or group COMPELLED you to God.)

IV. Application (5 minutes)

Take a moment now and look at the “groups” you belong to. Some of you go to a small group, or “fellowship”, that meets once a week. Most of you attend church once a week. Each of you right now is part of a team. All the teams in this league are part of the CCU league. Think about the groups that you belong to…your small group/fellowship, your church, your team, the CCU league. Do any of these groups do anything that “compels” or draws non-Christians to the groups? When we think back to the early church in Acts, they really didn’t do anything extraordinary in terms of outreach. Rather, they did ordinary things…but what was extraordinary in the early church is that they spent time daily, did everything together, and shared everything with everyone. People outside the early church noticed the believers “Living it Loud”…and they were “compelled”, or drawn, to the church.

1. How are the groups that you belong to?
2. Are the people in your groups living with each other in such a way that would “compel” other people to want to join so that they can know more about who God is?
3. Are YOU living in a way with other believers so that your group is “attractive” to pre-Christians?

One of the most effective ways to attract people to a group is to show genuine love and care. One of the quickest way to turn people away from a group is when the members in the group are complaining and bickering over things that really don’t matter in the big picture of things.

What are you (and the groups you belong to) doing now to “LIVE IT LOUD”?

If you don’t belong to a Christian group, would you like to join one and find out how awesome it is to be in a community of people that is unlike any other community you can find around you?

Ephesians 4: 1-3

¹As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Closing prayer:

May God move His people, His church, to live as one giant compelling community. May He speak to each one of us in such a way that we can identify at least one specific thing today where we individually can change so that God’s presence here on earth, His church, can be example of God’s magnificent love. Thank you God for loving each one of us. Amen.