Note this talk was given after a themed 'TV games' night
Stuff needed for talk
Cardboard cut out medals, complete with ribbon
Talk Introduction
During this evening's TV games night, some of you experienced what it is
like to win, and some you have experienced what it is like to lose...
That's what we're going to talk about tonight...winning and losing...
The middle bit
What does it feel like to win or be successful?
Some people think it's important to win...to be a winner...to be
successful...
What do you think being successful means?
How does it feel like to lose?
Why do some people think other people are losers?
Do you think it is possible to lose in life?
So who decides what makes someone successful?
Can something that one person sees as successful be seen by another as
failure?
The Bible bit
There is a story in the Bible about a man who was very rich...he thought
he'd made it...he asked
Jesus:
Luke 18:18:24 TM 194 "One day one of the local officials asked him, 'Good teacher, what must I
do to deserve eternal life?'
Jesus said, 'Why are you calling me good? No one is good - only God. You know
the commandments, don't you? No illicit sex, no killing, no stealing, no
lying, honour your father and mother.'
He said, 'I've kept them all for as long as I can remember.'
When Jesus heard that, he said, 'Then there's only one thing left to do: Sell
everything you own and give it away to the poor. You will have riches in
heaven. Then come, follow me'
This was the last thing the official expected to hear. He was very rich and
became terribly sad. He was holding on tight to a lot of things and not about
to let them go."
What would you have done?
Would you have "sold everything you own" just to "give it away to the
poor"?
What kind of things do we find hard to turn away from?
Even if they are bad for us...
The Bible says in Luke 13:30 P1031 "There are those who have the lowest place in life now who will have the
highest place in the future. And there are those who have the highest place
now who will have the lowest place in the future"
In other words...what people might see as important is not necessarily
what God thinks is important...
Those who appear to be winners in this life, may, in God's eye's may have
come last....
So what kind of things make a person successful in God's eyes?
