Text: Romans 3:21-26
Topic: How baseball illustrates the gospel
Big Idea: Baseball demands perfection, but offers the grace of a second chance.

Introduction
• Illustration: Becker grew up in a baseball family, and the addiction has been passed on to her.
• Baseball dramatically represents some of life's most important lessons.

Baseball is about falling short of perfection.
• Paul talked about the Law as a standard of perfection that is impossible to meet.
• Baseball players are judged by, and cannot escape from, their statistics.
• Baseball players are guaranteed to fail more often than they succeed.
     - Illustration: Mickey Mantle struck out 1,710 times in his career, and he is an all time great.
• Life is like that: a hard, judging master of anyone who seeks to be good at it.

Baseball is about grace.
• In baseball, a game with no clock, there is always time for redemption.
     - Illustration: San Francisco Giant Bob Brenley made four errors in one inning, but also hit two home runs, including the game winner.
• In life, grace means you always have another chance.
• Paul made a lot of errors in his life, but Jesus found him and turned him around.
• Jesus spent most of his time with people who had gone 0 for 4 in life.
• With Christ, we will always have another chance.