• Welcome everyone and particularly any newcomers this week.
• Remind each other of the vision of CIS and the purpose of the weekly group meeting. (Consider using CIS videos and resources to keep this fresh each week).

1. In pairs look back on your week of sport and discuss how last week’s group meeting helped you. Follow up with anything people asked for prayer about.
2. In pairs share prayer points for the week of sport ahead and spend time praying for each other.

Some weeks pray more widely for other clubs and teams in your university which are not represented in the group. Alternatively, you can also use the CIS prayer diary to pray for the whole mission of CIS.

You might also want to use this slot to discuss and plan your evangelistic event for the term and pray specifically about it.

Week 19 | Praying with an eternal perspective

Introduction

As we continue to reach the world of university sport for Christ this session will help us to have an eternal perspective as we pray for those in our sport and witness to them.

Read

Read Romans 8:18-27

Reflect

What difference can having an eternal perspective make to our lives, and our sport in particular?

Explain

The world is broken and often things can feel painful, frustrating, disappointing and sad. In our sport, and in our lives, we can feel despair and suffering that sometimes makes us want to give up on God. In this powerful chapter Paul encourages the believers to keep going, by guiding them to have a deep and eternal perspective.

Paul says that ‘our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.’ He's not saying the sufferings of the present time are nothing, or that we should pretend pain isn’t real, or that we shouldn’t cry out to the Lord in our brokenness – BUT – it is saying ‘compare and contrast’ – put these things in the weighing scales – suffering feels heavy and intense, but there is something more intense, longer lasting, more real – and that is the weight of the glory that will surely follow for those who hope in Jesus.

The hope of Heaven, of an eternity with Jesus where we will have new bodies, be in a new creation, and where there will be no pain, suffering, death or sin – this hope can, and should, radically change the way we view our ‘present sufferings’, and so strengthen us to keep going and continually turn to God in prayer. And as we wait and endure, we can rejoice that we have the Spirit of Jesus to help us in our weaknesses and speak to God on our behalf (v27).

Discuss

1. How will this eternal perspective help you when you face difficulty or suffering in your sport or life?
2. How do these verses help you pray with patience and hope for what is to come?
3. How do these verses motivate you to pray for your sports friends who don’t know Jesus and boldly live and speak for him as you train and compete alongside them?

Pray

• Pray that God would help us keep that eternal perspective when suffering or disappointment comes our way in life and in our sport. (Speaking to someone in your church about specific sufferings you might be facing is crucial)
• Ask God to help you depend on him through prayer as you wait and endure on this side of heaven.
• Pray we would encourage each other to look forward to heaven and talk of the hope we have with our friends in our sports clubs.

Update everyone on the key messages for the week. These might include:

• Sharing the student sign up link
• Encourging graduates to fill in this form using a non-university email address so Christians in Sport can stay in touch with them after they leave university.
• Promoting your evangelistic event for the term
• Plugging Sports Plus leader applications

Share these resources with your group at the end or immediately after the meeting to encourage them.

Listen

No despair, only hope | Romans 8:22-25 | New Year Training 2023

Watch

What does the Bible say about disappointment in sport?

Read

How can I deal with disappointment well?