From Sidelines to Stardom

Have you ever had to sit on the sidelines of life?

One of the more storied accounts of a person going from the sidelines to stardom comes to us from the movie Rudy, released in 1993.

Rudy Ruettiger was born in 1948 in Joliet Illinois into a lower class family of steel mill workers. After barely graduating from high school, Rudy took the inevitable path that everyone from his town took of working at a power plant both before and after serving in the Navy. Yet, after losing his best friend in an industrial accident at the plant, Rudy decided to no longer waste time by putting off his dreams. He set out for the University of Notre Dame with hopes of one day playing football for the Fighting Irish. Yet, there were two very large obstacles that lay in his path: 1) he had very poor grades, and 2) he was half the size and weight of the average NCAA football player. Knowing that his future was laid out for him as a steel worker in Joliet, Rudy felt the burn for something more from his life, but seemed unable to achieve it because of his limitations.Yet, with passion on his side and after getting admitted into Holy Cross Junior College in South Bend (with much help by one particularly compassionate priest) Rudy spent his time studying and working as a groundskeeper at Notre Dame's Knute Rockne Stadium. During his time at Holy Cross, Rudy learned that he suffered from dyslexia, which had undoubtedly contributed to his previous academic struggles. However, taking his limitations in stride, he worked around his disorder and received good grades during his two years at Holy Cross.It took Rudy three semesters to be granted acceptance into Notre Dame as a transfer student. He almost didn't make it because Notre Dame does not accept seniors as transfer students. He then won a spot on the scout team, against who the varsity team ran its plays. Through two years of hard work, sleeping the broom closet at the stadium and begging every hour of his day toward his dream, he earned the respect of the Fighting Irish players and coaches, and in the last home game of his senior year, Rudy dressed for the game. During the last moments of the game, Rudy tackled the Georgia Tech quarterback and for the first time in Notre Dame history, a player was carried off the field on the shoulders of the rest of the team.Rudy Ruettiger received his bachelor's degree in sociology from Notre Dame in 1976.

Ahh…what a feel-good story that brings a tear to our eyes and stirs the heart of every underdog that ever lived! Indeed, the entire Bible is filled with stories of the underdog – the person that was made a somebody in the kingdom because of the touch of the Master’s hand. Abraham, Moses, David, Jacob, the woman at the well, Peter, Paul…each were spiritual outcasts until the Lord inserted Himself into their lifestory and changed them forever.

This week, we’re going to look at another spiritual “sideliner,” a eunuch from Ethiopia, and how the touch of the Master’s hand made him a household name in the annuals of faith.

As you worship this week:

Meditate – on what makes you frail, inadequate to perform God’s mission to the world.
Contemplate – how your shortcoming is the beginning of God’s glory and his goal for your existence.
Seek – the healing hand of the Master and His ability to make something beautiful out of every life.
Find – the true joy that comes from embracing to Voice of Truth for your life and following wherever it leads.

Resounding Themes:

Made New, Made Free
The Healing Hand of Jesus
Reborn Into New Life

Getting READY to Worship

Ready, Set, READ

Acts 8:4-8, 26-40

Ready, Set, MEDITATE

- Where do we find Philip as this story unfolds? How do the people respond to him? Is there any irony that he now (after seeing Jesus perform so many) is using miraculous signs to affirm the work of God in his life? Where does the Spirit lead him to next?

- Who is this Ethiopian and where is he going? In his native land, who is he? To the Jews, who is he? Would he really ever have any chance at being a part of something big in the kingdom of God? As Philip applies the Scriptures, what truth is revealed?

- When the truth is understood, how does he respond? What happens next? Why is the immediacy of the situation so captivating? What is the true response of a soul set free? Why is the Ethiopian so joyful?

- What sideline of life are you sitting on? What inadequacy do you embody that keeps you from participating fully and freely? How has Jesus overcome your weakness to make you strong for His purposes? How can your shortcomings become a billboard for God’s glory?

Ready, Set, PRAY

Father, I pray to you the words of this song:
Who am I that the Lord of all the earthWould care to know my nameWould care to feel my hurtWho am I that the Bright and Morning StarWould choose to light the wayFor my ever wand'ring heart
Who am I that the eyes that see my sinWould look on me with love and watch me rise againWho am I that the voice that calmed the seaWould call out through the rainAnd calm the storm in me Not because of who I amBut because of what You've doneNot because of what I've doneBut because of who You areI am a flower quickly fadingHere today and gone tomorrowA wave tossed in the oceanA vapor in the windStill You hear me when I'm callingLord You catch me when I'm fallingAnd You've told me who I amI am Yours

Father, we declare that we – in all of our inadequacy – are Yours, to be used for Your purposes. Lord, pull us from the sidelines and give us a roll in Your mission to the world. We declare that we are “somebody” in Christ.

And it’s in His name we pray. Amen.

Ready, Set, WORSHIP!