May 2024
“If The Lord Wills...”
James warns us that we can be presumptuous when we plan. “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will,…instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall also so this or that.’” (James 4:13-15) The presumption is to make our plans and assume they will come to fruition without the Lord bringing them about, without dependency on the Lord.
At CEDE SPORTS, we make our plans, some of which you heard about in our February newsletter, some of which you will hear progress about in this newsletter. In our planning, we try to avoid this tendency that James speaks about and work to cultivate an attitude of dependency on the Lord in our plans.
As you read, please keep praying for us as a ministry that we would be well aware of this self-centered presumption along with the following facts from James 4: “You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” With those prayers, please also pray that we might be bold in our efforts as we depend upon the Lord for his will to “be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Map of Chaplains
Map of Churches
This map shows the location of the chaplains currently on the SCC App
This map shows the location of the churches currently on the SRF App (USA only here)
May 2024
New Church Partnerships
Cornerstone Christian–Brownsburg, IN
First Baptist Jackson–Jackson, MS
Rock Springs Baptist–Milner, GA
Western Prong Baptist–Whiteville, NC
Highland Park Presbyterian Church–Dallas, TX
Cypress Baptist Church–Benton, LA
Mount Pleasant Christian Church–Greenwood, IN
Recent Blog Posts
New Staff:
Don Weyrick
Don lives just outside Philadelphia, PA. Before moving there, he spent all his life in southern California. In California, he founded Playing 4 Eternity Sports Ministry, a ministry for higher level adult men and women basketball players. With CEDE SPORTS, Don will focus on recruiting local churches and sports chaplains to CEDE’s coaching, connecting, and resourcing.
New Chaplain:
Adam Riley
Adam Riley II was born and raised in Georgia and now lives in Charlotte, NC. He serves as a staff associate in the Young Life Charlotte Urban area, a character coach at West Charlotte High School, and works as a pit crew member for JGR. We look forward to his new role and involvement with the CEDE SPORTS High School Chaplains Initiative.
May 2024
CHURCHES
REACHgathering 2024
The 9th REACHgathering took place this year April 16-17th in Charlotte, NC at Hopewell Baptist Church. CEDE SPORTS is one of the Foundational Partners for REACH. REACH is an effort to catalyze and further unite the movement of gospel-centered, reproductive sports, rec, and fitness leaders in local churches. To that end, we hope to inspire, affirm, equip, and connect SR&F leaders at REACH.
SR&F App
The SR&F app was created to enhance the connectivity of Sports, Recreation, & Fitness ministry leaders in local churches in the US and around the world. The SR&F app community currently has over 930 members on the app!
Feel free to check it out by scanning the QR code to the right!
The REACHgathering typically involves main sessions with worship through music and a speaker, a wide variety of track sessions, regional roundtables, and recreational activities, along with several times for casual connection among the participants. To read more about the REACHgathering , click here for more details and information.
At REACH this year, CEDE had the privilege of leading track sessions in Gospel Centricity and Sports, Gospel Centricity and Planning, Does God Care Who Wins?, Sports, Life, Truth Integrated Devotionals and a Women’s Round Table Discussion. We also hosted our annual Partner Church Luncheon, where we celebrate the progress in those Partner Churches and expose potential new partner churches to the work of God there. REACH is always a great time of connection and ministry for our CEDE SPORTS team.
May 2024
CHAPLAINS
High School Sports Chaplains Initiative
In the Spring of 2023, God opened the door for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and CEDE SPORTS to connect with Harding University High School in Charlotte, NC by providing some equipment for baseball teams. Bob Dyar formed a relationship with the athletic director there and learned of the absence of sports chaplains in the school. This led him to meet with Canaan Grier who was already working at the school with YoungLife. They began discussing the possibility of Canaan becoming a sports chaplain for the high school. Once he agreed, little did they know, this would begin the High School Chaplain Initiative of CEDE SPORTS.
SCC App
The SCC app was created to enhance connectivity among Sports Chaplains around the world. The SCC app community currently has 5 different language translations and over 820 members.
Feel free to check it out by scanning the QR code to your right!
As God continued to open doors, in January of 2024, JGR and CEDE SPORTS invited the athletic directors from 22 high schools in Mecklenburg County to come to JGR to discuss what it might look like to have sports chaplains or “character coaches” in each of their schools. If they were interested in pursuing that idea, Bob asked them to contact him to further discuss how this might work.
While this was transpiring, Bob discovered Adam Riley was already working at West Charlotte High School as a character coach/chaplain at the school. Adam is a pit crew member for JGR and attends a small group BIble study there. Additionally, the AD at Olympic High School reached out to Bob to discuss a need for help with character development at the school and the possibility of sports chaplaincy there. The AD at Audrey Kell, the largest high school in North Carolina, also reached out to Bob, asking about leadership training for their athletes and a possible role for CEDE SPORTS to teach or facilitate the leadership training.
It has been incredible to see God continue to open door after door, providing one opportunity after the other to bring this High School Sports Chaplain Initiative to reality. With Canaan Grier Grier and Adam Riley as new staff members for the CEDE SPORTS team, we look forward to how God will use them in their roles. We also look forward to God’s direction and provision for these additional opportunities to provide sports chaplains at these high schools. We ask for your prayers that God would continue to bless these efforts and provide the right people to step into sports chaplains roles at these schools.
May 2024
JGR
Continuing to Meet Together
As a chaplaincy team at Joe Gibbs Racing, we continue to count it a privilege to serve the employees of JGR and their families for the sake of the Gospel. We find great joy in living out our convictions of relational ministry, being an embedded presence within the team, centering on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and resting in the sufficiency of Scripture and the Holy Spirit’s work. It has been exciting to see God at work through conversations in the shop, in the gym, at the track, and in our large and small group meetings.
At our weekly Wednesday Bible Study at JGR (Large Group), we continue to focus on two topics this Spring and Summer. We are going through a series based on Paul David Tripp’s book, “Do You Believe?” as we consider core doctrines of Christianity and their implications to our day-to-day lives. We are excited to continue that through the summer. We also had a number of team members share their personal stories of God’s grace at work in their lives. It has been very encouraging and powerful. Through it all, come have come to faith in Christ, while others are asking to meet in small groups and/or one-on-one to further explore the claims of Christ.
This year we started a number of new small groups as older ones continue to grow. Ken Cross had the privilege to lead a Christianity Explored bible study at his home with employees and their significant others. Please pray for that group in particular as well as the other groups exploring God’s Word together. Please pray for men and women to come to Christ, to be discipled, to get connected, and to become members of a local church. On that note, please pray for our upcoming Leader’s Training in July as we seek to raise up, equip and encourage men and women for ministry here at JGR and in their local churches.
May 2024
SNAPSHOTS
At the REACH gathering in 2014 there were only 5 women (pictured). This year, there was more than 40–our largest number yet! We are grateful to God for this growth and for many opportunities to encourage women in sports ministry and in gospel work.
JGR held a “Throwback Day“ the week of the Darlington Race and employees wore old NASCAR apparel. There was a “best dressed“ contest at the start of Wednesday monring Bible Study. This is one example of being an embedded presence at JGR.
...
A CEDE SPORTS coached church, Cypress Baptist in Benton, LA kicked off their summer Adult Flag Football league. There are 17 teams, and only 4 or 5 of them attend their church. Please pray for the coaches, athletes, and their families!
A new Sports Chaplains course launched this month in South America. Bob Dyar and Julio Bautista lead the time with 10 men and women from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Turkey!
Thank you for your prayers and support!
CEDE SPORTS was born out of a desire to mobilize churches and chaplains into sports ministry built upon relational outreach. Sports are a bridge that can bring connection and a laboratory that can bring transformation. Our hope will always be to see God continue to use CEDE SPORTS to mobilize gospel centered sports chaplains and local church sports, rec, and fitness leaders to make disciples and redeem the culture of sports.
Thank you for thoughtfully and prayerfully supporting our ministry. Your support allows us to impact the people of sport through churches and chaplaincy. To further support, you can find the donation page on our website by clicking here.
Please reply with any encouragements or share with a friend who might be interested in hearing more about our ministry. We are deeply grateful for your support and we look forward to what God will accomplish in the coming months!
Follow us
@cede_sports
Like what you've read?