by Dale Reeves
Story Pastor
This past Sunday as I got dressed for Sunday’s worship experiences at Christ’s Church, I decided to give my Bengals’ jersey a rest for a week, and opted instead to wear my “Jesus Won” T-shirt. My daughter Rachel had bought it for me a few months ago while I was prepping to preach a message I called, “Jesus is for Losers.” If you missed that message, you can check it out here. T-shirts with that phrase on them were originally worn as twenty-some Ohio State football players showed up at their fall camp wearing shirts featuring prominent messages related to their walk with Jesus. As one fan shared, “Man, I’m loving the way my favorite team is reppin’ the King of Kings.” OSU running back TreVeyon Henderson shared these words:
“Jesus died on the cross and shed his blood to pay the price for our sins so our sins can be forgiven and we can be made right with God. Three days later he rose, overcoming the power of sin that leads to eternal death, so we can receive eternal life and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Not too long after, there was a gathering on the campus of OSU that included music, testimonies, and a number of baptisms. Tight end Gee Scott Jr. baptized seven of his Buckeye teammates after preaching at a local church. He and some other players regularly share the gospel and take bold stances for Jesus. And since Ohio State recently traveled to Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, last Saturday, and defeated Big-Ten rival Penn State 20-13, I decided to wear my “Jesus Won” T-shirt on Sunday morning.
I hadn’t been at church for very long that morning when someone approached me and commented on my T-shirt. As I poured my second cup of coffee, he asked me the question, “Are you wearing that for the election this coming Sunday?”
My response was, “Uh . . . yeah, that’s it . . . absolutely! No matter what the outcome of the presidential election is, we still know that Jesus is on the throne, right? He is the only one who can save us.”
Regardless of who you voted for this week, I do believe that, and hope that you do too! There are some days when we watch the news and we need to keep repeating this phrase to ourselves . . . Jesus won, Jesus Won, JESUS WON!!
Operation Christmas Child—a Big Win
Then, after attending our first worship service, I joined our tremendous children’s and student ministers’ and their kids (ages pre-K through high school) in the chapel at 10:30 as we packed 150 boxes as a part of our church’s Operation Christmas Child (OCC) initiative. Former staff member and longtime advocate for OCC, Sarah Ferris, shared, “It warms my heart to see all of Christ’s Church come together to serve and to share the Good News of Jesus Christ in this way. It will be shared to children around the world, the written Word will be in their own language!”
Our children’s ministry director, Holly LeMaster, reflected on the morning:
“I was amazed at the abundance that God delivered at our OCC packing party! When Ann Horsley walked in with fifty more pillowcase dresses that were donated, I was astounded by the generosity! We had more than enough for every girl box we packed! We even had leftovers, just like in the Bible with the loaves and fish! This year we had so many groups that partnered with CCKids to provide the quality items we needed: Mom’s Group packed hygiene kits and DIY games; our Quilting Group made pillowcase dresses, drawstring bags, and other special pouches; the Crafter’s Group and women around our church crocheted and knitted washcloths; MAD Camp made jump ropes and other small toys; Epic Camp made coloring books and first-aid kits; and we had so many people show up for our prep workshop a few weeks ago. Our community here at Christ’s Church has many committed Difference Makers who are working to make God’s kingdom fuller, and I am honored to work with each of them!”
Because of some family sickness, just one of our grandkids was able to attend Sunday. I loved watching our grandson Luke take his time to carefully select the items he wanted to pack in his box for a boy, ages 5-9. His favorite thing that he packed inside the shoebox? A plastic slingshot! I fear that we might be responsible for some child in another country shooting his little sister or an innocent bird with an object propelled by said slingshot. My favorite moment of that morning was when we took Luke’s filled box up to Miss Carrie to be inspected. She shook it to make sure it was full, told Luke he did a great job, and then said, “Let’s pray.” My 7-year-old grandson didn’t look up at me and say, “Pop Pop, you pray.” Nope, he immediately launched into a prayer of his own for the little boy who would be receiving his box somewhere in the world by car, or boat, or plane. There is nothing better than planting seeds in little hearts here at home or in a faraway land. Jesus wins again!
A Bengal Win
As we left the church building together, Luke was excitedly telling his mom all about how the OCC boxes get delivered by boat, plane, or vehicle to towns and villages across the globe. As I said goodbye to them, I was approached by Darrell Boreing, one of our talented drummers in our worship band. He asked me if I could use two tickets—not to paradise—but to Paycor Stadium, to witness firsthand the Cincinnati Bengals first home win this season against the Las Vegas Raiders. That was an easy yes since my wife was home under the weather. So, I called my brother-in-law, Barry, and we headed to the stadium to cheer on our Bengals. We had a great time at the game with Darrell and Carol Boreing. Not only had Jesus won, so did the Bengals, 41-24, as quarterback Joe Burrow threw five touchdown passes that day. As we left Paycor Stadium we saw lots of people wearing orange and black, crazy pants, tiger costumes, one guy who looked more like a zebra than a tiger—and even got our picture taken with a Bengal Santa Claus. One young fella noticed the saying on my T-shirt, and said, “I like your shirt!!”
On my way home to check in with my wife I stopped to pick up a few things at Dollar General Market. As I was loading my items on the conveyer belt, a little boy with his mom looked up at me and said, “Hey, you’re the guy who was at camp this year!” He attended our church’s MAD Camp this past summer and remembered some of the fun things we did in the 3rd/4th grade drama class that I taught. And, another lady who stood in line between the child and me randomly said, “Good win today for the Bengals!” I wasn’t wearing any Bengal apparel because I hadn’t been able to go home and change after church before heading downtown for the 1:00 pm kickoff.
I simply looked down at my “Jesus Won” T-shirt and repeated my conversation at the coffee bar earlier that morning . . . “Yeah, it was a great win. Now, I’m thinking about this coming Tuesday, and you know what, no matter who wins the election, Jesus is still our King, isn’t he?”
As we both grabbed our groceries and headed out, the older lady asked me where I attended church, and I was able to invite her to Christ’s Church. Then, in the parking lot of the grocery store, she told me how she loved to sing praises to Jesus, and then she launched into “This is the air I breathe . . .” I joined in with her singing right there in parking lot, then told her to have a blessed week.
It Is Finished
Did God prompt me to choose that T-shirt Sunday morning? I think so. You just never know what kind of seeds are being planted, and what conversations will arise because of being open to God’s leading and prompting in your life. The apostle Paul challenges us with these words:
“It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. . . . For we are both God’s workers” (1 Corinthians 3:7-9, NLT).
Last week in our closing session of Man Church for this fall, at my table we discussed an interesting New Testament Greek word—tetelestai. It is the word that Jesus exclaimed when he cried out with a loud voice and took his last breath on the cross. We render this word in English as “It is finished!” (John 19:30). The word comes from a root word that means “to finish, complete, or bring to an end.” In ancient times, in a business context, it meant “paid in full,” as might be written on a receipt to indicate that a debt had been paid. In a judicial context, the phrase meant “fully served.” And in a military context, the phrase meant “battle won.” When Jesus died on the cross for you and me two thousand years ago, he paid our sin debt in full, he “served our sentence,” and he has already won whatever battle we are currently facing. IT IS FINISHED. JESUS WON!