The Mission of CPA Football – Soli Deo Gloria Head Football Coach: Jay Mathews, 627-0852
As a covenant school – all of our endeavors should be the pursuit of the glory and the enjoyment (delight) of God. How can this be done in the context of football?
#1 We Need to Aim at that Purpose – As a team we must have a commitment to this goal. It should not be a “some of the time thing”- it needs to be an “all of the time thing.” We need to be bold enough to accept that as our goal and not apologize for pursuing it. #2We Need to Confess Sin – We will always fall short of the glory of God. We must be willing to be transparent and repentant when we miss the mark of this calling. This assumes a desire to be obedient to the will of God. We need to confess sins of selfishness, pride, laziness, fear, anxiety, impurity, and a lack of love for God and others. #3We Need to Grow in Trusting Him – We honor God by developing the Romans 4:18 faith that Abraham had. “Against all hope, in hope he believed. Without weakness of faith. He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but He was strengthened in faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He has promised.”- This faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. #4We Need to Bear Fruit. John 15:8 “Bear fruit and glorify Him.” We do not want to discredit the Lord by a lack of excellence or a poor public witness.
Two Types of Fruit: Action fruit - Driven to be the best for the glory of God – Incredible intensity and disciplined play- Excellence in classroom, weight room, film room, practice and game field- future fruit as productive citizens, faithful husbands, loving fathers, men of God. Attitude fruit - Fearless, unselfish, confident, humility, love, service, leadership, courage, passion
An Important Note: This is a razor-edged balance that is often misunderstood and misapplied. CPA football teams play to win. We make no apologies for wanting to approach every contest with a desire to defeat our opponent. If we lose, we hurt because we work so hard. But we come back competing. The kingdom of God competes every
day with the kingdom of darkness- we believe competition is good.
Many Christian athletes have adopted what I call a “Kumbayah Club,” which uses Biblical catchwords to justify mediocre performance. We want our team to be tough under pressure, to perform with valor, and defeat opponents even if they adopt a “win at all cost” philosophy. We may not always be well received- we will always have detractors and enemies- but our sacrificial work and commitment to excellence is a spiritual service of worship.
Holy – Humble – Hungry Thanks to John McArthur and Ray Ortlund for the inspiration of this mission
