[SCENE]
(Organ plays Olympic Theme Music as announcers walk up and sit on their stools, grab their fake mics)
Announcer 1: Good morning and welcome back to the latest edition of the Olympic Trials of Faith! We’ve been here for the last couple billion years recounting some of the greatest triumphs and trip-ups of God’s faithful people
Announcer 2: That’s right JD and we’ll be here for the next 5 billion years recounting all of yours (looking out to congregation) and all the millions to come after you!
Announcer 1: Unlike the the more “athletic” Olympic trials that happen every four years, the Olympic trials of faith happen every single day during every single person’s life.
Announcer 2: And wow we’ve seen some serious falls and triumphs over the years haven’t we?!
Announcer 1: I’d say so! I mean back in the day… Oh the people of God they were so faithful at times! They followed every law in Leviticus, they worshipped in the temple in Jerusalem, they even memorized Psalms to sing to God in worship and saved the best of their crops and harvest to offer to God!
Announcer 2: That’s true but just about the time they “got it right” or did what God had asked them to do..…I swear, a child of God would be back to doing the next dumb thing or forgetting God’s ways or treating their neighbor like garbage instead of with love.
Announcer 1: A little surprising folks didn’t start to catch on after a couple billion years or even after Jesus came and went. But hey, it’s been great for our tv ratings!
(Both laugh)
Announcer 2: So true!
Announcer 1: Well today on our 10,000th anniversary of the show we’re bringing you some of the best (and worst!) examples of faith. We dug some of our oldest episodes of the show out of the archives so we could all relive the finest and most troubling moments from the past.
Announcer 2: Our first clip goes all the way back to our second episode of the show ever. Watch as we see what happened between earth’s first siblings, Cain and Abel, as they make their offerings to God.
[SCENE Cain & Abel]
[Both start on their knees and raise hands up as if offering something to God (an apple for Cain and a sheep for Abel). Abel rejoices because his offering is accepted, Cain throws his hands up as if angry and wondering why his wasn’t accepted.]
Cain: “WHAT? My offering wasn’t accepted? ……Why, you…….”
[Cain gets even angrier, paces around and chokes Abel. Abel falls over dead]
Announcer 1: Oooooo. That had to hurt! That story sure didn’t end well did it? I guess being made in the image of God was not enough to remind Cain and Abel that they were each other’s keepers. Not sure either of them made it through this “Olympic trial of faith” unscathed.
Announcer 2: It’s a shame isn’t it? There are so many wonderful stories of God’s people and these stories are useful for our teaching and living now, but I guess from this slip up we learned more of what NOT to do towards our brothers and sisters.
Announcer 1: True. But God still stuck with all of God’s children after that. Don’t you remember how God didn’t give up on us? Remember Noah? Everyone thought he was crazy when he built that big ark but he ended up saving our people and some of each animal on earth!
[Noah pops out from behind pulpit/organ with his gold medal of faith on]
Announcer 2: Thank goodness he trusted in God! Where would we be without all the Armadillos and Alpacas?!
(Both laugh)
Announcer 1: Ok our next clip is from season 10 of our show. Now this one shows an epic triumph of faith! This clip shows our good friend Daniel. He was one of God’s people living in Jerusalem who got exiled to Babylon.
Announcer 2: Ohhh I remember those NOT so good ol’ days! The kings and rulers were horrible during that time! On top of that we got removed from our homeland and couldn’t even worship God in the temple. (Sigh) It was so depressing to feel so far away from God.
[SCENE: King’s wise man & Daniel]
[Announcers stand in middle of stage- and remove grey wigs if wearing them]
[Daniel is on knees with hands together as if praying]
King’s wise man says to audience: We got the king to sign a law that it is illegal for anyone to worship or pray to anyone but the King! Finally, we’ll be able to get Daniel in trouble and move him out of our way! He’s always getting promoted over us by the King!
[King’s wise man turns toward Daniel and points at him angrily, grabs him and “throws” him into the den of lions. Lion rawr sound effects play. We hear Daniel pray.]
Daniel: “Oh God, give me strength and faith!”
[After waiting for 5-10 sec. Other actor acts as if rolling stone away from cave, Daniel realizes he has been saved, and Daniel makes motions of celebration]
[Announcers walk over to the scene holds out pretend microphone to Daniel]
Announcer 1: Daniel! Wow, we are so grateful to God that you survived being thrown into the lion’s den! Tell us, what was it like? What did you do in there?
Daniel: Well, it all happened so fast but it was pretty dark and scary at first. The only thing that kept me calm was praying to God and reciting one of my favorite psalms over and over again,
“ Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth, sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise. Say to God how awesome are your deeds! Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you. All the earth worships you; they sing praises to your name. Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among mortals. He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the river on foot. There we rejoiced in him who rules by his might forever.”
Announcer 1: Here is your gold medal of faith, Daniel.
Announcer 2: I love that Psalm Daniel, it’s one of my favorites too!
Daniel: Yeah, in the lion’s den it reminded me how God had delivered people in the past and that helped me to trust that God would deliver me as well. Now, even King Darius is praising God because of the signs and wonders God has done!
Announcer 1: Truly a remarkable triumph of faith, Daniel, and one that will continue to inspire us to worship and praise God!
Announcer 2: Yes thank you for sharing your time and your faith with us today Daniel.
(Then looks out to audience) Well you’ve heard it straight out of the lion’s den here in Babylon folks! Our God is the living God. God will always rescue and redeem us and God’s kingdom will never be destroyed!
[Announcers come back to their stools]
[SCENE]
Announcer 2: Wow, I forgot what it was like to be as young as Methuselah, at the ripe age of 969!
Announcer 1: We looked good back then didn’t we! Heck we are still looking good even thousands of years later! It’s amazing the station has kept us on this long and we haven’t been phased out by Jimmy Kimmel or Tom Brokaw.
Announcer 2: I know! Thank God!
Announcer 1: It’s amazing how God has continued to work in average people even in today’s world.
Announcer 2: That’s right, just because some of the stories of the faithful were written down in the Bible as part of God’s word to us, doesn’t mean that it’s all over. We’ve seen plenty of examples during our time on this show. In fact, I think we even have some clips from our summer field work don’t we JD?
Announcer 1: I think we do! Here’s a slideshow we’ve put together to highlight some of our favorite triumphs of faith over the years….
Announcer 2: Here’s a picture of Peter, one of Jesus’, disciples being sent out to feed and tend to God’s people, even after he denied Jesus three times.
(actors: one has hand on Peter’s shoulder, Peter is doing a “thumbs up” sign and looks excited to be sent out!)
Announcer 1: Here’s a picture of Timothy, who was nurtured in the faith by his grandma and mother and ordained by the Apostle Paul to continue his ministry.
(actors: one acts as if he is laying on hands to commission Timothy to ministry)
Announcer 2: Here is a picture from not that long ago, of many faithful people walking arm and arm to peacefully protest during the civil rights movement
(Actors link elbows)
Announcer 1: Here’s a picture from this summer of a runner, shining as an example of faith and love even at the athletic Olympics. Here she is helping up a runner who fell during a race.
(one actor on ground as if he fell, the other acting as if he is helping him up)
Announcer 2: Here is a picture of our youth being faithful by serving others when they were playing board games with residents at a home in Charlotte, North Carolina for those who are homeless but recovering from surgeries or illnesses.
(actors act as if playing card game)
Announcer 1: I love remembering all of these moments! Today we are lucky enough to have one of our very own youth here today. Earl is here to share with us about his experience of trying to be faithful to God. Come on out Earl!
[Earl walks over to where announcers are sitting]
Announcer 2: So Earl, we saw you playing board games with your neighbors in Charlotte who were homeless and didn’t have a place to go when they got out of the hospital. That’s a great example of how not only you but others and organizations who have tried to be faithful and listen to God’s call to help others. We know that you and the youth had many experiences like that on mission trips, but tell us what are some ways you all try to be faithful right here in Decatur?
Earl: Well, we really enjoy going to Phillips Tower to play board games with our church members who live there. We also love doing service projects by making meals, hygiene kits for Threshold, spending time at Mercy church, Hagar’s House and Friends of Refugees and also just encouraging each other to attend church and youth group.
Announcer 1: That’s great and a good reminder that we can try to serve and be faithful followers of God wherever we go. So what makes it hard for a middle schooler to be faithful in their daily life?
Earl: Well definitely our busy schedules. They get in the way of doing things we might do to connect with God like praying, worshipping, going to youth group and serving others in our community. We might not fear being thrown into a lion’s dens if we pray or make time for God and our church family, but there are definitely a lot of other things that pressure us and compete for our time. Also we might see things going on like someone being bullied or things like poverty and violence in our world. We know we should say something or stick up for others but it’s hard to do that! Sometimes I just don’t know what to say or what I should do.
Announcer 2: Very true, I think we all struggle to be faithful from time to time. So who are some examples of faithfulness to you today that encourage you to be faithful to God in your daily life?
Earl: For me, Ms. Mac, Ms. Brooks and some of our pastors here at church are examples of faith to me. They have always been there for me and they have taught us how to share our faith through singing and leading worship. Also, my great-grandmother is another person I think of when I think of faithfulness.
Announcer 1: Those are great examples. I bet we could all think of people in our lives that have been examples of faith to us. So, my last question for you Earl is how do you try to be more faithful to God in your daily life?
Earl: Well, you know being faithful doesn’t have to be a big act, it could be smaller acts every day. So I try to find God everywhere around me, wherever I go. I also try to pray and study the Bible. These things help teach me and remind me that God is always there for me and help give me courage to stand up for someone when they need it.
Announcer 2: Thanks Earl for being with us today and sharing your faith with us. You have been an inspiration of faith to us just like Daniel and so many others. Thanks for coming to be a part of this special 10,000th anniversary episode of “The Olympic Trials of Faith.”
Announcer 1: We hope you all have enjoyed our show today and hope you will continue to tune in every morning at 11:00am. Remember as Paul said, “My child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus…continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through Jesus Christ.”
Announcer 2: You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.
Announcer 1: And know this, that the God of Cain and Abel, the God of Noah, the God of Daniel, The God of Peter and Paul and Timothy and his grandmother Lois, is also YOUR God. And our God is the living God whose kingdom shall never be destroyed, not by war, division, flood, famine, peer pressure, or busy schedules. So remember when you feel like you are stuck in a lion’s den or wandering alone in the desert that the living God has made you, redeemed you, walks with you, forgives you, loves you and will always, always deliver you.
Thanks be to God!!
Announcer 1 & 2, Athletes 1 & 2: Be faithful y’all!
[Organ plays Olympic Theme music]
