Message from Janice Koivisto, Junior High Teacher

Our Biggest Fan, Our Incredible Cheerleader, Our Greatest Advocate

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Romans 8:31

Ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you that I LOVE football! Come fall every year, I watch 4 to 5 collegiate games on Saturdays, 2 to 3 NFL games on Sundays and Monday Night Football is where you’ll find me to start my week. People ask me which team I like best, and who do I cheer for. Actually, I cheer for any and all of them! In any given contest, I will choose a team and cheer like crazy for them!

But when the Phoenix Christian Cougars are playing, my SERIOUS FAN loyalty kicks into gear…I encourage the defensive line, I “hurrah” for the O-line, I clang my cowbell for a great tackle or a flat-out run, and yes, I harangue the “zebras” and offer them my bifocals so they can see to make better calls! I wear my victory beads, I deck out in Cougar Green & Gray, and yes, I stomp my feet and yell a lot!!

As great a fan as I may think I am, advocating for the Cougars, taking their side and supporting them, I pale in comparison to Our Great Advocate, Jehovah God.

God guards and protects those who belong to Him…He is the tackle on our D-line and the guard on our O-line….Now, that doesn’t mean that all our plays will run smoothly and our games will be victories. We will encounter people who oppose us and are determined to harm us. Satan will never grow tired of trying to lure us into sin and pull us offside. Notice that in James chapter 1 it says, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials,” not “if you fall into various trials.” So difficulties and enemies, trials and adversities are a certainty for us.

But in the midst of these tough times, the persecutions, the “long fourth quarters”, there it comes….flashing across the big screen: “GOD IS FOR US”. He is our shield, our security, our protector. God’s power gives us victory that is greater than any power that might attempt to defeat us. He can overrule all things, and nothing can overrule Him (not even the “zebras”)!

So, buck up, my teammate! God is on our side! He’s the greatest Fan we could ever have, cheering for us, advocating for us, fighting for us! The game is tough right now, the enemy facing us looks big and mean, and yet still we hear Him cheering our name, calling to us and standing with us!

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”