Happy Friday, everyone, My name is Trevor Jackson, and I serve as the Associate Minister of Recreation at First Woodway Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. Our church’s recreation ministry is known as the MAC—the Ministry Activity Center—at First Woodway, and we exist to help build relationships between God and others through sports, fitness, and recreation. We primarily serve adult populations through a variety of weekly activities, such as pickleball, basketball, and volleyball ministries, as well as special events throughout the year. One of the most exciting events we offer is our summer basketball league. The league runs from the beginning of June through the end of July, and consists of players over the age of 16. All teams are led by a captain who is either part of our MAC Staff or a trusted community member who desires to share the love of Jesus with their team. Games are held on Sunday afternoons and Thursday evenings, typically with a prayer offered before each game. The main question our staff has been asking over the years is how we can better integrate the league—and the game of basketball itself—into the story of the Gospel. While praying before every game certainly isn’t a bad thing, we felt as though we were missing out on something greater. Thus, we believe the Lord gave us the idea of composing a devotional series as a companion to the league itself. As we prayed and discussed what content would be communicated through the devotional series, I thought back to a breakout session from this year’s REACHgathering, where Bob Schindler, M.L. Woodruff, and Asa Bjork discussed God’s original design for sports and fitness, and how God is currently at work redeeming sports and fitness. The presenters spoke on the biblical framework of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation, and offered a Christian worldview from this framework. Thus, this became the framework we used to craft the devotional series. We titled it, The Grand Story of Basketball, intending to examine how basketball was created out of God’s goodness, distorted by the fall, and how the Lord Jesus is actively redeeming it and will ultimately bring the game—and life itself—to complete redemption at His return. A small team of us wrote nine devotionals—one for every Sunday during the league, while the MAC Staff wrote liturgies associated with each devotional to be prayed before the Thursday evening games. League participants received each devotional and liturgy in weekly emails, and we briefly discussed each devotional message prior to every Sunday game before praying. We hoped to open the eyes of the community to God’s presence and involvement on the basketball court, to then have greater awareness of His presence and involvement in all of life, leading to a deepened, all-encompassing relationship with the Lord Jesus. It is my joy to share with you the completed devotional series, The Grand Story of Basketball. I hope and pray that it might be a blessing to you in whatever personal or ministerial capacity the Lord would have it to be. It was a wonderful experience to collaboratively create this with our staff and members of the community, and I am exceedingly grateful to CEDE Sports, the REACHgathering, and George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University for the inspiration, insight, and encouragement they have provided. You can access the full digital version of the devotional series here: https://www.srfcommunity.org/articles/623 or through the SR&F app (Useful Ministry Resources > Devotionals > Adult Basketball Devotionals) In Christ, Trevor Jackson

Posted by Trevor Jackson at 2025-09-12 20:16:03 UTC