When a football quarterback breaks the huddle to run a play, he looks over the defense to try to determine how they are going to come after him.  Sometimes he will get to the line and he will get a signal from the sideline that came from the press box high above the stadium.  A coach who has a view of the entire field has seen either an opportunity to make yards or a defensive lineup that will mean disaster.  The quarterback then calls an audible (a change of plays).  It takes a lot of skill and he has to trust the coach.

It seems to me that we are living in a world where we are forced to call a lot of audibles.  It is hard to understand what is happening in our society.  Things that would change yearly or monthly are now changing daily.  We are constantly hearing about the changes that are taking place every day.

The game of life is much like the game of football.  We are in the game and there are those that are trying to defeat us.   Left to our own ability, we do not have much of a chance.  But the Lord looks down on the entire game and unlike the coach, he had a perfect understanding of what is going on in every situation.

The rules do not change and there are certain principles that lead us to victory.  It is important that we follow Biblical principles.

When we are in the midst of pressure, confusion, and change what are we to do?  Let me give you some ways we ought to respond.  They are not new but it helps us to focus on them again.

• We must remember that we are dependent upon Him
• Make prayer a priority in your life
• Be aware of other opportunities to invest in others
• Spend time regularly in the Word of God
• Be found faithful with your time, talent and tithes
• Make Bible Fellowship and Worship a priority. They will provide strength in times of challenge
• Make faithfulness the watchword of your life
• Never forget that we serve a risen Savior and no matter what the circumstance victory is ours.

This week someone alerted me of the fact that the American Humanist Association has unveiled a Christmas ad campaign in Washington, D.C., with the slogan “Why believe in a god?  Just be good for goodness sake.”

Once again, I find it very interesting that the campaign starts in Washington, D.C.  The head of the association said that the purpose was not to argue the existence of God, but they were trying to plant a seed.  Make no mistake about it, they are trying to stamp out God and to certainly take Christ out of Christmas. This is a reminder to us that we cannot take what we believe for granted. Now is the time for us to be verbal and vigilant. It is important for us to be ready to defend what we believe.

A survery earlier this year found that 92 percent of Americans say they believe in God. While that may be the case, a major portion of America is certainly not acting that way. This once again provides for us an opportountiy to proclaim the truth.

In recent days, we have had best selling books by Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins promoting a new atheism.  There is nothing new about this atheism. It is still just a plain rebellion against God, only packaged differently.  This is a time for us to proclaim clearly, that Christmas is not just about love or peace or goodwill, but it is about God reaching out to mankind with the promise of salvation in His greatest gift, the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot let efforts like this pass by without taking the opportunity to proclaim our message clearly.

Yesterday I was in Columbia to receive the Impact the World Award from the South Carolina Baptist Convention for the work that our church has done in the area of social and moral concerns in order to impact people with the gospel.  As I sat there on the stage, I listened to them list a number of ministries in which we have been involved. It was a great experience. Some of them I hardly even remembered and I was reminded what a powerful purpose they served. Others are ongoing and I was also reminded of how they are touching the lives of people on a regular basis with the gospel.  It turned out to be a very exciting experience.

As I walked off the platform, I realized that no one in our church even knows this award exists. You do what you do because you love the Lord and because you want to see the world impacted for Christ. I can assure you that your presence, your time, your efforts, and your gifts make a tremendous difference. In the midst of great opportunities and great challenge, this is not a time for us to backup, individually or collectively. We should be standing strong and increasing our efforts to spread the Good News. God will continue to honor our faithfulness as we seek to honor Him.

One of the things that excited me the most yesterday was to think about the numbers of people who have served so faithfully. God has given to this family of faith a very special attitude of service. I can assure you that is not present everywhere. So we must remember to whom much is given much is required. A number of people stopped me yesterday and said “congratulations,” but I assure you that I understand that those words of affirmation don’t belong to me, but they belong to those that are so faithful in our fellowship.