By Faith We Enter The Arena Together

In 1991, I was working with a group of youth pastors from around the city of Calgary, putting together a summer conference for our youth. We were all from churches that didn’t have access to our own summer camp facilities, so we were quite open to options and ideas for where to host the event.

All the great camps around southern Alberta were fully booked with their own summer camp schedules so we eventually settled on Prairie Bible College in Three Hills, Alberta. They had good dorm rooms, a big cafeteria, sports fields and a great space for our evening youth services.

We called it CampFire ’91.

It wasn’t really a camp and I can’t remember if we were even allowed to have a bonfire. For us it was about bringing our youth together to experience the fire of God even if we couldn’t roast marshmallows.

Now because we were on a school campus and not a camp, we didn’t have some of nature’s amenities that make summer camps memorable like a river or lake for swimming and water sports, or horses for trail riding, but we did have access to an outdoor hockey rink that wasn’t paved and had a dirt floor.

Someone thought we could maybe flood the rink and turn it into a mud pit and that became the idea for our first annual CampFire Mud Bowl tournament.

During CampFire week, we put our youth into teams in preparation for the Mud Bowl and while they had amazing God times each day, the upcoming competition at the end of the week was always in the back of their minds.

When gameday finally came, it’s difficult to describe the incredible experience it was for all of us who jumped into the muddy arena and played that day. The Mud Bowl had everything!

There was speed, there was action, there were sweet passes and creative plays, there were wipeouts and spills – possibly a few cuts and bruises – and everyone was covered head to toe in mud!

Who knew that a couple of hours in the mud on a summer afternoon could create a memory – maybe even a top 10 life experience – that we still talk about today?

As I thought back to that Mud Bowl this week I saw parallels to where we are with our 135 Campaign.

Over these next few weeks, our Coastal life groups are coming together to compete in our 135 Life Group Challenge and reach the goal of $250K for our New Westminster Campus.

The Challenge

Following the church’s example in Acts, our groups will be identifying household or personal items they no longer need, selling them, and bringing the proceeds together to meet the 135 Campaign goal.

To increase the fun and inspire healthy competition, we’ve included some great group-building prizes our life groups can win along the way like a Pizza & Bowling Night, Dinner at Thai Coco, a group cooking class at The Dirty Apron and the grand prize Harbour Dinner Cruise.

What you are about to experience over these new few weeks and months as you work with your life group on this cause is a lot like what we discovered in the legendary Mud Bowl tournament:

1. There’s something special about entering the arena with a team.

Sport teams that win championships or soldiers who’ve experienced war will tell you that there’s a unique, special bond that happens when you’ve fought together in the trenches with one another. It’s something you carry for a lifetime.

While I’ve never experienced war, I came away from that Mud Bowl feeling like I had gone to battle with my team, and the camaraderie and bonding we shared was huge.

Many at Coastal can remember our Together We Can campaign where we gave toward our building at 1160 W Georgia or our Eden campaign for the downtown east side, and we carry a lifelong bond because we’ve gone into the arena together for the cause of seeing Christ build His Church in our city.

As you enter this 135 Campaign arena together this year, watch your life group experience that “something special”, that deeper level of bonding and unity that for some groups may last a lifetime.

2. You’ll accomplish so much more as you do this together.

The rules for our Mud Bowl were like European handball or basketball where we could take only three steps before we had to pass the ball to a teammate. This meant we had work closely together and work fast to keep the ball moving or we would get piled on by the other team and lose the ball.

As you work closely in your groups, bringing together your ideas, your creativity and your energy as you set your group goal, we believe you’ll experience a far greater result than if you tried to do this alone.  

There is a saying: “If you want to go fast, do it alone, but if you want to go far, do it together”.

Get ready to be amazed when you see how far God takes your life group through this campaign!

3. You’ll experience the blessing of shared ownership.

In the Mud Bowl, every great play, every sweet goal and every tournament win was shared equally by the team, regardless of who the MVPs were.

When a team wins the Superbowl, everyone gets a ring whether they’re management, coaches, trainers or players. Even the backup and reserve players share in the win and receive a ring!

This campaign allows every life group to have a part in the New Westminster campus. Even though most of us attend another campus, we have a vital share in the blessing of what God is doing in our City.

With the major donations and leadership gifts we’ve received already during this campaign, our LORD also places a high value on the widow’s mite and the sacrifices that every person in our life groups make. That’s why it’s important for our groups to give space for every contribution, large or small.

4. You’ll always remember the thrill of getting your hands dirty.

I don’t know how spiritual this point is, but I think deep down everyone really enjoys the experience of getting covered head to toe in mud like we did at the Mud Bowl. It’s deep in the human soul.

The Bible does teach that God formed us from the soil before He breathed life into us so that could be part of the reason why.

It’s like mud is a great equalizer… a true grounding experience. Regardless of your social status, your wealth, your race – when you’re covered in mud, everyone’s the same.

When you are covered in mud, you’re saying “I’m all in and I’m fully committed to this!”

When we’re willing to enter the arena of advancing the gospel in our city, and when we’re willing to get our hands dirty to the point of being covered in mud, we experience a blessing and a high that can’t be found anywhere else.

During a giving campaign like this we might be tempted to say we’re too busy, or we don’t want the bother of selling items on Facebook or Craigslist.

Some might ask, “Could we just write a cheque instead?”

Of course, our giving is always appreciated but we believe God is making a way for all our life groups to experience something special during this campaign as we roll up our sleeves and do this together.

In Acts 4:33b-35 we see how the early church experienced this:

“…God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses [or possessions] sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.”

As our life groups enter the arena of the 135 Campaign, let’s believe God that we’ll experience the same powerful grace that marked the early church, the same joy of shared sacrifice for the gospel, and the same bond and unity that comes from stepping into the mud together.

For more information on the 135 Life Group Challenge, chick HERE.

If you would like to step into the arena and join a life group this year, click HERE.