Week 3- Growing in Gratitude
MONDAY — Read the passage with your team.
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Colossians 2:6-19; 3:1-11
8 These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain.
Matthew 15:8-9a
What does this passage have to say about gratitude?
Why is that important?
TUESDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.
1) What do we typically mean when we say that someone has “received Christ”? Is it enough for a person to profess faith and honor God in word (Matthew 15:8)? What does verse 9 say about this kind of expression of gratitude?
2) According to Colossians 2:6-7, what should follow a person’s statement of faith in Christ, if that relationship is genuine? Are you growing in your relationship with Christ? Are you seeking to be taught, that you will grow? If you are “overflowing with thankfulness” (v. 7), will others notice? Would your coaches and teammates describe you as a thankful person? Would your opponents do so? Your family?
WEDNESDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.
3) Against what deceptions does Paul warn the Corinthians (v. 8, 16, 18)? What do the habits of following worldly teaching and beliefs, judgmentalism, false humility, and pride reveal about a person’s view of himself? Is such a person likely to be grateful? What is the great danger of these deceptions (v. 19)?
4) What principles form your own athletic philosophy? What influences shape your habits? What is the basis of these — is it worldly or Biblical? Are you judgmental of your teammates and coaches? Do you blame others for the team’s failures, or even your own failures? Is your humility real, or just a mask for pride that you allow you well up inside of you?
THURSDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.
5) If you are living gratefully toward “Christ, who is your life” (Colossians 3:4), what will be your focus (v. 1-2)? What are these “things above,” and why are they more valuable and beneficial than “earthly things”? How, exactly, do we train our hearts and minds to stay focused on these things? (The answer, for me at least, is difficult to grasp. I’ve struggled for the right understanding and application of this command all my life. Keep struggling for the truth, and we’ll shed some more light on this question in Week 4.)
FRIDAY — Discuss sport applications of gratitude, and pray together.
· Ask your athletes to briefly reflect on what they’ve learned about gratitude this week, and to repeat some of those things. (Remind them of some of the Biblical truths about gratitude you’ve discussed, if necessary.)
· Ask your team, “Based on what we learned about gratitude this week...What does a grateful athlete do?” Do not settle for vague answers; challenge your athletes to go beyond general qualities of a grateful athlete, and to determine what those qualities look like in action.
· Add the results to your team’s list of descriptions of the “grateful athlete”, and be sure the list is displayed somewhere that is constantly visible, as a reminder to the team.
· Pray together as a team. Encourage your athletes to pray for your team’s growth in regard to the discipline of gratitude — especially in relation to some of the issues and challenges that you discussed together this week. Challenge them to also ask for forgiveness, when applicable. Give time for athletes to request prayer (regarding gratitude or anything else), and pray together.
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