Putting Three Points on the Scoreboard

This past Saturday, I officiated at a wedding at Ohio Stadium, home of the Buckeyes. The picture above is immediately after the wedding when we were able to walk around the field. Hopefully, I'll receive a picture that someone took of me and "Buckeye Guy," the fan we see when we watch OSU on TV.

For the wedding sermon, I told the couple that I would attempt a field goal and put three points on the scoreboard to help them get off to a good start in their new relationship together as husband and wife.

Briefly, these were my three points:

1) Rely on your teammates. This was from the Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 passage that talks about "two being better than one." This passage also talks about how we need others to pick us up sometimes. I told the couple that God is the one who picks us up but that God wants us to help each other as well. I pointed to the 80 or so people in the crowd and said, "these are your teammates too. Rely on them. They want to help you."

2) Wear your uniform. Their 2nd scripture passage was Colossians 3:12-17 in which Paul tells us to put on love. In addition to wearing scarlet and gray jerseys (or in my case blue and white jerseys without the name on the back!) we also need to wear love, compassion, kindness, forgiveness, gentleness, etc. so that we can live out our faith on a day to day basis.

3) Give your best all four quarters. In the 3rd scripture, I Corinthians 13, Paul's famous "love chapter," in verse 8, he writes three words that are important to always keep in mind. "Love never ends." The reason that love never ends is because of the biblical promise that a time will come when God will make all things new and when sin and death will finally be defeated. With this hope undergirding our lives everyday, we are able to give our very best to God and each other for all four quarters of our lives.

Thanks to the good news of our faith, the wedding couple was already up 3 to 0 by the end of the sermon!

Congratulations, Nate & Krystal!