Welcome to the Bethel Church Sermon of the Week.

We hope you enjoy this message by Pastor Eric Johnson.

For more information about this podcast and other resources, visit bethel.com.

You know, I have a unique message today.

It's more of a talk than a message.

In some ways, it might feel like a lecture, not in a negative sense, but in a, I really want

to be thoughtful and thorough as I go through today's talk.

So I'm going to go ahead and start.

The title of today's message is the game is rigged.

The game is rigged. Or another way to say it would be the game is

fixed. The game is fixed. To preach in today's climate it takes courage, takes thoughtfulness,

and tact to the listeners. To listen to in today's climate is to carry grace, respect, and to look for places to have a healthy dialogue.

This is what I hope we accomplished here today. This message will potentially be heavy and

heady at the beginning, but bear with me, I believe by the end, we will have a pathway where

there's lots of hope and a pathway toward a better future and ultimately a new and better

humanity.

Many of us have played a sport at some point in our life.

Now for some of us, it was a one-time thing and you quickly realize, this is not for me.

But others of us, we found deep, deep passion in playing sports.

And many of you know me, I have a very deep connection to sports.

And even though my body is 44 years old,

sometimes my mind thinks I'm 18 when I play sports.

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