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We get sport from the inside.
Our resources are specially designed for Christians active in competitive sport. Find what you need here, put it into practice, and watch God at work.
In the build up to The Open, the handful of Christian members at Royal Portrush Golf Club jumped at the opportunity for an evangelistic event and so committed to hosting a sports quiz.
With the Women's World Cup, the Netball World Cup and loads more women's sporting events on this summer, there's a huge buzz around women's sport. In all this excitement, is this a bandwagon Christians should be jumping on? Well, it could be argued that the Bible gives us the best foundation for celebrating and encouraging women in sport.
Key resources for Christians who play or coach in competitive and elite sport
Resources to help players and coaches grow in Christ as they compete
Resources to help you explain why Jesus is good news for players and coaches
With the Women's World Cup, the Netball World Cup and loads more women's sporting events on this summer, there's a huge buzz around women's sport. In all this excitement, is this a bandwagon Christians should be jumping on? Well, it could be argued that the Bible gives us the best foundation for celebrating and encouraging women in sport.
What does it look like to fully integrate our faith and sport as we seek to encourage sportspeople to believe in Jesus?
Because of what Jesus has done, we can understand our sport differently.
Prayer is an essential feature of the Christian life and it is something we quickly turn to in times of trouble or when in need of guidance. So why do we often struggle to pray consistently?
Being committed to prayer is something many of us find challenging. At the same time, we know that prayer is important. So why do we often struggle to pray consistently?
We must tell our team mates and friends the truth about eternity.
Some of us change so much when we compete that we worry that we shouldn’t compete at all. How can we compete in a godly way in our sport?
The Bible is clear what our role is when it comes to pointing sportspeople to Jesus, regardless of whether we know it (or not), we’re good at it (or not) or like it (or not). Once we get it, there’s no place to hide.
It’s good to look for every opportunity to speak of Jesus with our sports friends, and inviting them to events where a speaker will proclaim the gospel message can provide you with a good starting point to begin conversations.
If you are a Christian, you’ll know that nothing is more important than our sports friends hearing the amazing news of the gospel and responding to it - eternity is at stake. But how can you go about doing this?
What does your behaviour in your sports club say about who you now are in Christ?
How do I be different amidst the culture of drinking, of sex, in the chat of the changing room? How do I get involved with the sports club and yet be distinctive? How can I be fully committed and yet remain faithful to Christ?
We may think it's obvious for team mates to work out that we're Christians just by observing our behaviour. But how can they know unless we or someone else tells them that we follow Jesus and why we do so?
One of the reasons we don’t share the gospel may be because we don’t really know it! Here's a helpful framework to help you explain it to a sports mate.
You’ve been praying for months, you’ve talked about everything in life other than this, but as you walk along to training you just can’t find the right way to start a conversation about Jesus.
Most of us find it easy to initiate a conversation about sport, but the prospect of speaking to a sports friend about Jesus can be daunting.
At the end of a long season, it's only natural to want to rest our legs and enjoy a bit of a break - after all, our bodies need to recuperate. However, the temptation is also there to take a break from sharing our faith with our sports friends.
When a sports friend who says that they want to become a Christian, it's like that wonderful moment of a baby's first steps. There is something quite remarkable, breathtaking, and yet serious as we help a sportsperson take the first steps in becoming a Christian.
For players, parents and pastors, the issue of whether you should play sport on a Sunday is a difficult one.
Ever find it hard to explain the Christian faith to your sports friends? Ever find it hard to help them see the brilliance of the gospel message? Ever wish you could get someone better to explain it to them?
We are on the pitch as a player and yet again the decision goes against our team. We start to get caught up in the general chorus of complaint. What do we do as Christians?
Disappointment and sport so often go hand in hand. Poor performances, defeats, injuries, getting dropped, a failure to improve - every sportsperson has experienced one or all of these multiple times. But how are you to respond to such disappointment?
The challenge is simple, will you do it? Will you get to work and seek to make Jesus known in your sporting context?
The player who celebrates too early, or the team that holds a celebratory promotional shoot before then losing the final are subject to derision. All of us are quick to revel in the misplaced pride so often seen in sport.
All match he’d been nipping at your heels, deliberately stepping on your feet, pushing you, elbowing you. The referee doesn’t seem too bothered. But these constant niggling fouls have been getting to you. And this incident is the final straw.
Some types of questions can be asked of us and can make us feel uncomfortable or are hard to answer at times. With God’s help these questions need not, and should not, be avoided.
Sport can be a great place for developing friendships. You spend so much time together on and off the pitch, you experience the highs and the lows of a season together, and have a lot in common. Sometimes, however, it can be hard to foster these relationships.
With the season coming to an end, it’s time to rest and reflect on what has been. Yet a danger comes when we do the same with our faith and our willingness to share Jesus with our sports friends. How do we best approach the off-season as Christians?
It’s great when a sports friend wants to become a Christian, especially if this is off the back of reading the Bible with them. However, we want to make sure our sports friends are ready to take this commitment and fully understand what they are committing to.
The world of sport is vast, but the majority do not believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. How do we go and speak to them?
The pressure to perform in sport will have been felt by all of us at some point or other. Whether it is the pressure of a coach, a parent, the crowd. How do we handle pressure as Christians?
God’s Word is powerful, and it will do His work in the lives of sportspeople. Our best thoughts, ideas or opinions, though useful, are still those of ourselves, of humans. They cannot compare to the Word of God in either power or influence.
In the heat of competition, we can react negatively both in what we say and in how we act towards an official who has penalised us or - in our eyes - acted unjustly. How are we to understand a godly attitude towards sports officials?
When we have seen or experienced something exciting it’s natural to want to share it with others. Why, then, are we sometimes so hesitant to tell others the story of the greatest thing that has ever happened to us?
There will always be disappointment in sport. But how we navigate these as Christians in competitive sport is an important witness to our faith in Christ.
To make disciples of the vast world of sport is a huge challenge that can feel daunting and overwhelming. What’s our motivation for such a task?
In sport, coaches, parents and other teammates can encourage us to be proud. Sometimes this is for encouragement but at other times it is done deliberately to inflate our ego. But how should I view my sporting talents and achievements as a Christian?
Without opponents, our sport wouldn’t exist. But how do we love them as our neighbour rather than hate them as our enemy in opposition?
When sportspeople ask questions, we want to try and do more than simply answer them and move on. Often there is something behind their initial question, motivating it or hiding a deeper heart issue. How can we answer them well?
Our friends need to trust us if we are to expect them to explore questions of faith with us. In order to build this trust, alongside spending time with people, we need to be authentic in how we live our lives.
We love to share good news. So why do we sometimes find it hard to share the Good News of the gospel?
What stops you from praying for your sports friends?
For many of us, we struggle to stand out consistently for Jesus Christ in our sports club. Sometimes we lose sight of the spiritual/eternal implications of knowing Jesus. Why should we share the Good News about Him?
What is it that motivates you to stand out as a Christian competing in the world of sport?
A key question to ask whenever we reflect on a competitive situation is not ‘did I win or lose?’ but ‘did I glorify God in my attitude and actions?’ This is easier said than done, so how can we do it well?
What is our role and what is God's role in helping sportspeople come to know Jesus? Understanding your role is crucial as you look to speak and live for Jesus in your sport.
The commandment to ‘go and make disciples’ is daunting. It is important to grasp the difference between our role and God’s role in pointing people to Jesus and to leave Him with the results.
Although some of us may have had bad experiences of hearing the gospel explained in a public setting, in Romans 10 we see that God uses people to proclaim His word and He uses His proclaimed word to save people.
People watch our actions and often determine who or what we are by what they see. What does your behaviour in your sports club say about who you now are in Christ?
If we are to tell people about the gospel, we need to know what the gospel is and how to explain it clearly.
Your story, my story, His story.
How does what I read in the Bible fit together with how I play my sport?
How is playing my sport different as a Christian?
We are often caught between Sunday services and sporting events as, more and more, sport in our culture clashes with timings of church. How do we get the balance right?
We love to share good news. So why do we sometimes find it hard to share the Good News of the gospel?
How do we actually go about sharing our faith with our sports mates?
Why should we even think about sharing our faith with our sports friends?
Resources to help you explain why Jesus is good news for players and coaches
Key resources for Christians who play or coach in competitive and elite sport
Resources to help players and coaches grow in Christ as they compete
A series of blogs looking at this hot issue in today's culture
In our culture, our looks and our bodies and our diets seriously matter. How do we live distinctly as Christians in this world?
A series of blogs looking at a number of the top issues sportspeople face
How can I make the most of my sporting talent as a Christian? Can I strive to get to the top, while still following Jesus? `
Why does pressure have such an effect on us, how can we cope with it and does the Bible give us any pointers?
There are few harder things to deal with in sport than injury. So how can we approach this perennial enemy as Christians in sport? What does the Bible say about injury?
Sport has a love-hate relationship with justice and fairness. On one hand it cannot function without it, but so much debate circles around the many unfair decisions and outcomes. So what does the Bible say about fairness?
The legendary American football coach Vince Lombardi once said “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is”. This might be overstated but have you ever had the nagging feeling that wanting to win is inherently ‘un-Christian’.
Should Christians be those who recite the old amateur mantra ‘It is not about the winning, but the taking part’? Does ‘turning the other cheek’ mean that we shouldn’t even want to win in the first place?
Turn to the back pages at the moment and it is difficult to get away from doping scandals. How as Christians should we think about these issues?
To see how someone can move from being a Christian who plays sport to being a Christian in sport, let’s see what the Bible says about sport.
The Bible says lots of things...but what, if anything, does it say about sport?
A video unpacking the phrase 'Pray Play Say' as taught through Colossians 4:2-6.
