For the win...

March 1st, 2024

Earlier today, my brother Todd and I and Dallas drove over to Council Bluffs, IA to watch my nephew compete in the Junior College National wrestling tournament.

At the beginning of the day, there were 35 wrestlers in his weight class from all around the country and there are just four competing in the semifinals tomorrow…my nephew, Tucker won all three of his matches and is one of those four.

He won his first match pretty easily and then decided to make it exciting. During his second match, he was behind by three points heading into the final period and towards the very end got the pin.

In his most recent quarterfinal match, he was behind 3-2 with less than 10 seconds in the match…he shot in and with five seconds left scored a takedown…then his opponent scrambled to get out and with one second on the clock was awarded one point for loss of control.

The buzzer sounded and both coaches threw out their “challenge bricks” (It’s a wrestling thing 😊).

Tucker’s coach was arguing it shouldn’t have been a point for loss of control and the opponent’s coach was arguing it should have been two points for a reversal.

So we all had to wait for the official to review the video to see if his opponent would be awarded a second point which would put the match into overtime.

After several minutes, the referee came back and confirmed his call. Tucker won 5-4!

As we cheered, there was plenty to celebrate including Tucker becoming an All-American.

I think Tucker would be the first to say, many people have sacrificed to teach him how to succeed as a wrestler. Not only did he need to learn what to do, he also needed to learn how to do it. He has had plenty of teachers such as his coaches, brothers, parents, and grandparents…and plenty of teammates and friends.

Although life is not a timed match, there are plenty of similarities including the need for a good teacher.

So, what makes someone a good teacher?

This Sunday, I look forward to sharing some thoughts in response to this question as we continue our sermon series through the Book of Matthew. We will study Matthew 5-7, which is the Sermon on the Mount, and learn about how Jesus is the Master Teacher.

He offers so much more than sharing knowledge and inspiring change, Jesus transforms lives because of who He is and what He says.

There is so much more for us to learn together. I look forward to seeing you at 8:00, 9:15 (Full KidCity available), or 10:45 am (Full KidCity available), or you can watch the Livestream on YouTube (Like and Subscribe) or Facebook at 9:15 am. Additionally, we are also publishing our sermons on Spotify.

I hope you have a great evening,

Troy