The Pennant Season
by PASTOR DICK RILEY
Rockford United Methodist Church
The pennant races are one and, as professional baseball moves through the month of September, many teams, including the Detroit Tigers, are fighting for an opportunity to play in the World Series.
The teams have already begun working harder in order to secure a position in the post-season play. Many players on a pennant-contending team seem to play with more intensity. The front office will now begin bringing up fresh players from the minor leagues and even trade for some talent to give their team that extra edge in the pennant drive. Everyone seems more determined to finish the season on a high note. Excitement fills the air as fans watch their team in hot pursuit of a championship pennant.
And, in many ways, September is also the time when the Christian church enters its own pennant race, striving to achieve the goals it set out for itself at the beginning of the year. It is, therefore, a good time to remember the words of the Apostle Paul, who wrote: “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 3:14).
Remembering those words, September—within the Body of Christ, within the church—is a time when the leadership as well as the rest of the people within the church begin doing things with more intensity; with more determination. It’s a time when our worship services, our educational classes and opportunities, our outreach programs and our fellowship times are fine tuned to make sure that our calendar year finishes and our program year begins on a high note, as we “press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Want to be a part of a pennant race—of a championship team? Then visit the church of your choice this weekend as you worship, pray, learn, reach out and have wonderful Christian fellowship with one another!
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