Well, hey, Lake Point family, happy last weekend of the year 2025.

If we haven't met, my name is Carlos and I serve as part of the pastoral team here at Lake Point.

And, man, I'm grateful today.

We get to gather online, worship together, and open up the Word of God together from different homes, neighborhoods, city, states, and countries.

And, man, let me start by sharing this story with you.

I grew up playing all kinds of sports in my life, but a while back, a friend of mine

invited me to play this sport that I've actually never played before, like ever.

And he said, would you like to go play pickleball?

And I said, one, that's a funny name for a sport I've never

heard of. And two, I've obviously never played before, but I'm always happy to learn something new.

And I find that if you don't know, this sport is like if tennis and ping pong had a baby, that's

pickleball.

And when you play it, you find out quickly, looks can be deceiving.

Like in my first couple of games, I played against this sweet lady who is more advanced in years than I am.

And on the outside, she seemed very friendly and kind.

But on the inside, she turned out to be a pickable monster who just wanted to crush me.

And she absolutely did.

And, you know, I'm there.

I'm learning all the rules.

How do you keep score?

And I can't tell if people are going easy on me out of pity.

I'm not sure.

...