Get a Base Hit: Plan for Giving

SERMON SERIES:              “The World Series of Stewardship”
SERMON TITLE:                 “Get a Base Hit:  Plan for Giving”
SERMON TEXT:                  1 Corinthians 16:1-4
PREACHER:                         Rev. Kim James
OCCASION:                         October 14, 2018, at First UMC
 
 
INTRODUCTION
 
                On Friday and Saturday, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers played games one and two of their National League play-off series.  Game three will be tomorrow, as those teams vie for an opportunity to play in The World Series.  Since the Ogden Raptors are a farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers, I decided I’d read up a bit on the Dodgers.  I have to admit that I’m not normally someone who follows sports very closely, so you who are much more in tune with Major League Baseball will have to forgive me if I say this incorrectly.  But, what I read seemed to indicate that the Dodgers won their way to the play-offs, in part at least, by using an offensive strategy called “platooning.” 
                “Platooning” means that, during the regular season, the Dodgers increased their roster to 39 players instead of the more usual 25.  Those extra numbers allowed them to possess two players for some positions, with one being a right-hander and the other a lefty.  That way, the coach could use whichever batter (the right-hander or the left-hander) was better suited to get a hit off the opposing team’s right or left-handed pitcher. 
                If I’ve understood this correctly, such large rosters aren’t allowed in the play-offs.  So, there’s some question about the Dodgers’ ability to win all the way to The World Series.  But, as their coach said in September, the Dodgers were going to use every advantage they had in the regular season, and getting a lot of base hits was a really important strategy for winning.                
                Today, I want to talk to you about strategy.  Last Sunday, as we began our own baseball-themed series, our emphasis was on the importance of stepping up to the plate by being ready and willing to share.  This morning, with the help of 1 Corinthians 16, we’ll see that we get a base hit when we move from that initial willingness of heart to an actual strategy for how we’re going to do this.  That’s what the Apostle Paul was coaching the Corinthians to do, and that’s what we all need to do.  In order to get a base hit, we need to make a plan for giving.

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