Introduction

Just hearing the word “powerful” brings up images and memories of competitions, teams, and experiences in the hearts of athletes and coaches. Some of us can still feel the power in our muscles, in our minds, and even in our souls. Such powerful memories can last a lifetime and beyond.

Application

1. When and where do you feel most powerful in your sporting life? Tell us about the setting and situation.
2. How is power developed in a competitor or in a team?
3. Is that power all physical in nature or what else is involved?

Bridge

1. Read Ephesians 3:16-19: “[I pray] that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. [I pray that] you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and width, height and depth, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
2. Paul prayed for his friends to be strengthened with power. What were the results he expected?
3. How do we experience this kind of power and its results in our lives?

Connection

1. How would this kind of power benefit a player, coach, or team?
2. If physical power is built through physical training and intellectual power is grown through study, how do we develop our “inner man” in our spiritual life?
3. How can we develop the spiritual dimension of our team?

Discovery

1. Consider what you need to add to your daily workout regimen to build your spiritual life.
2. Commit to sixty days of a new spiritual discipline: prayer, Bible reading, Scripture memory, Christian community, sharing your faith, etc.

Close

Memory verse: “[I pray] that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.” Ephesians 3:16