Medal Rounds: August 17-18 (Beach Volleyball); August 20-21 (Indoor Volleyball)
Get Out and Play!
Gather:
2 balloons
Go:
1. Split the group into 2 teams. Each team blows up a balloon and ties it shut.
2. When the judge says, “Go!” each teammate takes turns batting the balloon into the air. The balloon cannot touch the ground or the round is over.
3. At random intervals, the judge will yell out body parts (head, elbow, foot, etc.). Players may only hit the balloon with that body part until a different one is called.
A Champion’s Heart
Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. —Romans 12:4-5
Have you ever seen a basketball game where one super-talented athlete almost wins the game by himself? That can be fun to watch, but it’s not very good teamwork.
Volleyball has a rule that forces a team to work together: no player can touch the ball twice in a row. Even if the ball bounces straight up, you can’t hit it again until someone else gets a turn. The most popular combination in indoor volleyball (bump-set-spike) uses three teammates, with each player executing a different skill.
Genesis 1 tells us “God saw that it was good” again and again as He created the world. But when God saw Adam all alone, He said, “It is not good” (Genesis 2:18). No matter how talented you are, God didn’t create you to do great things by yourself. We’re supposed to work together: old and young, boys and girls.
Being part of a team means you depend on others. At some point, you have to stop trying to control everything and trust that your teammates have just as much God-given talent as you do. It’s about respecting God as much as it is respecting people.
Are you giving your teammates the opportunity to use their abilities? When was the last time you thanked someone for the gifts he or she brings to the team?
