PICKLEBALL FRIENDS

PICKLEBALL FRIENDS
(this is a little pamphlet I want to share with my Pball friends)
I PLAYED P-BALL with some friends one Sunday afternoon at a local park. When the tournament was over, and after making ten of my opponents happy, having lost to five out of six teams, I packed up my paraphernalia (bag, other paddle, action camera equipment, and went home).

LATER I REALIZED that I must have left my paddle, so I drove back to look for it at the park. Everyone was gone, and so too was my paddle. I was not worried because I figured that my friends would recognize it and would get it back to me. I also knew that no self respecting Pball player would ever want to be seen with my pitiful paddle.

I DID NOT PLAY Pball again until Tuesday, so I had a whole day of separation anxiety. It is amazing how attached we can be to something of such little value. But still, I was confident that one of my friends would return my paddle, if they found it. I knew I could count on my friends for various reasons. They are honest. They care about me and each other. They would recognize my paddle.

TUESDAY MORNING I walked into the gym and greeted some folks. As I approached the line of players waiting their turn to play, I heard some folks laughingly ask me if I was looking for my paddle. Another lady brought me my prized possession and told me that I had left it at the park. I thanked her and said I figured someone would find and return it.
This might not seem like much to some folks, but it means a great deal to me. It is not about the paddle. It is about friendship, and kindness, and basic honesty.

THIS IS WHY I tell folks about Christ dying on the cross for our sins and physically rising from the dead.

This message is theirs as much as it is mine. God not only gave His Son for us, He wants everyone to know. His salvation and His gift of eternal life belongs to all of us. THE BIBLE SAYS that those who have believed His message and received salvation should tell others the same good news, because God has entrusted us with the good news, so that we can be reconciled with God. I have what belongs to you, and I want to make sure I get it to you.

God's word says that I am debtor to everyone, because God has given me a message that belongs to them.

Romans 1:14

(14)  I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Pastor David L.David L. Gould
promiselander@yahoo.com
http://pastordlgouldmusings2015.blogspot.com/
www.seassideministries.com