For the second year running, Miles McPherson, former NFL player and lead pastor of The Rock Church in San Diego, California, gave the Gospel invitation in the Football Sunday film that was used by thousands of churches across the world. At The Rock Church alone, over 200 people committed their lives to Christ after a service that included the Football Sunday film.

Pastor Miles offered some thoughts about his experience with Football Sunday 2016:

“Weekly attendance at The Rock Church is about 14,000. Since our Sunday service takes place in the evening, the Football Sunday service ran into Super Bowl kickoff time but that didn’t keep people from coming to church. This year we implemented a new strategy for inviting people to respond to the invitation of the Gospel.

“My part to play for Football Sunday is pretty focused and simple—to share the Gospel. I’m able to tailor the Gospel as the next step for what people see when they watch the testimonies of the athletes on the screen. At our church, we have people text in after the service if they made a decision to follow Christ. That way, whether they prayed the prayer of salvation in the moment during the service or at some time later, we were able to celebrate and follow up with them.

“It’s a priority for us to follow up with everyone who responded to the Gospel invitation from the video sermon. By receiving their response through social media, online, or through text, we are able to send them links to follow-up videos so that they can remain in the Lord and learn to grow in their new relationship with Christ.

“We made sure to use all our resources to promote this event to our church, including posts on our social media channels and using promotions during our services on the Sundays leading up to Football Sunday. We wanted everybody to hear this message.

“On the day itself, we didn’t do anything different in our service; the video just replaced our sermon time. Just like last year, the testimonies that were shared were very impactful for all who came to church that day.

“I love seeing people’s testimonies lead others to salvation. For me, partnering with these athletes and getting to see the power of God at work in people’s lives because of these videos is amazing. People are hungry for the Gospel.”

“I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You.” —Psalm 22:22

“I would encourage anyone and everyone to share this video even though the Super Bowl has passed—it’s an evergreen video. The power of the Gospel, shared through individuals’ testimonies, can overcome the work of the devil in our lives. This video can and should be watched all year long.”

You can watch the full Football Sunday video here: http://theincrease.com/football-sunday-full/

—Miles McPherson, former San Diego Charger and current pastor of the Rock Church

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