Don McClanen, a young athlete and coach in the 1940s and 1950s, wondered why professional athletes endorsed products like shaving cream and cigarettes but not their Christian faith. He thought it was essential for Christian coaches and athletes to share the “good news” that Jesus Christ is the way to salvation.

That insight became the backbone of a mission to see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes. Former FCA President Les Steckel said, “If there is ever a question about what God can do with a life totally surrendered, called, and risking all to follow His vision, we can point to a young basketball coach (Don McClanen) from Oklahoma, who in 1954 saw the potential of athletes and coaches to share the gospel with the world.”

Mark 16 – The Mission

Mark ends with Jesus’s work and mission. While it seemed like it ended on the day He was crucified, it was only the first scene in His redemptive act. When He died on the cross, Jesus paid for the sins of the world, which required a blood sacrifice to purify sin. He didn’t stay in the grave; He rose from the grave and defeated death!

The Kingdom Coach and Athlete go and tell the good news about Jesus to everyone. Without Jesus, all are lost, dead in their sins, and desperately needing to hear the good news that Jesus saves all who come to Him, trusting in His substitutionary death and resurrection as their hope for forgiveness and life.

Bible Memory Verse – “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the Throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of His kingdom.” Luke 1:32-33 LSB

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