On Team Jesus: Finding Peace in Life's Chaos

Jason Speegle: Good morning. Well, since Byron stole my joke about if you're here, you really need the chapel credit.
I'll go ahead and introduce myself. I'm Jason Speegle. I'm the director of tennis here.
I appreciate Carlos and Sabri sitting down front. It'll be good to not stare at empty chairs right there.
And so my prayer today is that there's somebody here that Jesus would speak through me
and that there's somebody here that needs to hear the words that he's put on my heart.
I know the topic for this semester at chapel has been peace.
And I've thought a lot since Josh asked me to speak about peace.
And I know for myself, just being in peace or having that feeling of peace is something that I struggle to find.
I feel like I'm always worried about something or stressed about something.
And the truth is, most days I don't feel very peaceful.
I have a short video clip for you that I think depicts what a lot of my days feel like.
And it's such a great movie.
If you haven't seen Tommy Boy, that's your homework for Christmas break, okay?
And hopefully this won't depict anyone's travel home for Thanksgiving break.
But that may have been a live look in at one of the tennis trips.
But so sometimes my days feel like this.
I'm cruising along. I'm singing to my favorite song.
And then, bam!
Something out of nowhere causes things to happen.
Things to spin out of control.
I don't know if you've ever had days like that.
Life tends to be chaotic and unpredictable, especially this time of the year.
With holidays and finals and projects and work and family and shopping for presents,
things can get pretty crazy.
This time of year, the Christmas season is supposed to be all silent night, holy night.
All is calm.
Yeah, right.
I don't know if you recall Tommy in the video.
When they thought they had survived, they had this moment of peace.
Thought they were going to make it through.
He looks over at Richard and he says,
Oh, God.
Well, I'm ashamed to admit, but sometimes I feel like that's what my prayer life goes to
when I'm in the midst of those crazy moments.
Oh, God, is all I can seem to get out.
In the moments that I need to pray more, I pray less.
Thinking that I'm too busy.
I have to get this work done.
And I better get it done.
I better get to work.
All right.
I want to ask a question.
Does anybody have a favorite sports team that you cheer for and watch regularly?
Let's shout out a few.
LCU.
I heard the Cowboys.
Who?
The Chiefs.
Okay.
I'm a Holmes fan over there.
The Astros.
All right.
Okay.
Nobody said the Eagles, so we can continue.
Okay.
But I don't mean just a team.
You can't.
You kind of like.
Like, you kind of like their mascot or, you know, you think their star player is kind of cool.
I'm talking about a team that you scream in your living room, for good or for bad, that you wear their jersey.
You, maybe your dad and your dad's dad rooted for that team.
A team that you know what their record was from four years.
And you know right now what their playoff chances are or aren't in the case of the Cowboys.
I'm a Cowboys fan, by the way.
A team that on any given day can either make or ruin the next day, the next week, maybe the next year of your life.
Anybody have a team like that?
Cowboys.
They've ruined a lot of years.
Any other teams?
The Steelers.
Steelers?
No.
Okay.
Who?
Dallas Stars.
The Dallas Stars.
All right.
Some hockey fans.
All right.
Well, I want you to think about how you feel when you're watching your team play.
Okay?
And especially when it's in a close game.
You're on the edge of your seat.
Are you feeling stressed or are you feeling peace?
Have you ever gotten up at halftime and changed your shirt because your team was down?
I have.
Okay?
Final four is a big deal.
All right?
Have you ever sat in the same chair or ate the same thing or did the same routine?
I remember in high school once the Cowboys were in the Super Bowl and I thought, "I have to go to church tonight.
I don't care if I miss part of the game.
If I don't go to church, they will lose for sure."
I went to church and they won.
So take from that what it's worth.
So think about it.
I think about it.
It's a tough game.
You have to take it.
Think about how you feel when your team's in a close game.
And then has anyone ever been busy while your team's playing?
You've had something come up, you've had to work or you've had practice or something that
you have to do and you've planned to watch the game later or you've recorded the game
to try to watch when you get home.
Has anybody ever done that?
I would say DVR, but I feel like that dates me a little bit in the streaming era.
So I used to do this all the time.
When I had to travel or I was at work and I couldn't watch my favorite team play live,
I would record it and I would try so hard not to find out the score, not to find out
the result before I could get home and watch the game play out.
But inevitably, wherever I -- so I would turn notifications off on my phone.
I would avoid talking to people that I knew, you know, were fans of my team.
I would avoid talking to fans of that team as well.
I would try to not look at monitors wherever I was, turn the radio off, all of those things.
But inevitably, someone somewhere before I got home would blurt out, "Hey, did you see
that Cowboys comeback win?"
Or, "How about those Red Raiders?
How about the Chaps?
Did you see their epic victory?"
And I was always grateful to hear that my team had won, but I was always a little frustrated
and disappointed that I had learned the score and I had learned the outcome before having
a chance to watch the game.
But being a sports fan, I would usually watch the game anyway to see how my team played.
There would be ups and downs for my team during the game, but I would -- I was able to be
at peace watching the game because I knew the outcome.
I knew that my team had already won and I was just watching how they did it.
This is how I think we ought to live our lives.
I think we ought to live our lives as Christians.
We've all had days where we overslept, we missed our alarm, we lost our keys.
Maybe we've had a flat tire, we forgot we had a test that day, we failed to turn in
an assignment.
Maybe our phone died or we had a bad hair day.
We spilled coffee on our shirt or ran late for practice.
Maybe we got stuck in traffic or had to work late, got pulled over, had our computer crash.
Maybe we forgot to save our work that we did the night before.
Or we've had family emergencies or had someone say something mean about us.
There are a million different things throughout our days that can steal our sense of peace.
But when these moments of stress happen, I want you to remember these verses.
John 16:33 says, Jesus is speaking, "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble, but do not be afraid.
But take heart, for I have overcome the world."
Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who
love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
1 John 5:4 says, "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and this
is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith."
And in 1 Corinthians 15:57, the Bible tells us, "But thanks be to God who gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
So during these busy and stressful times, when there is doubt and pain in your life,
as there will inevitably be, when you feel like your whole world is spinning out of control
or there's a semi-truck coming right at you, you may not always feel the peace that surpasses
all understanding.
You may feel like you can't do it and that you want to give up.
In those times,
I want to challenge you to just pray.
And remember that you are on Team Jesus.
Jesus, the Prince of Peace, the one who has already won the battle, and we just get to sit and watch how he does it.
So enjoy this Christmas season and rest in his peace.
I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving break and be safe.
You are dismissed.
Thank you.