Lessons from the Kobe Bryant Story

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

• We have more to gain from funerals than from (Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 NLT).
• Mourning is an important emotional, social and spiritual exercise for people who live in and (physical) space (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4, Revelations 21:4).
• Worldly grief brings pain; godly grief brings , which is a pathway to (II Corinthians 7:10, Matthew 5:4)
• A godly mourning process will help us see the of God (Lamentations 3:22-23).
• Loss is for those who serve the Lord (Psalm 30:5; Job 42:10, Job 42:12).

Loss Helps Us Put Life in

• All of life is like a (Isaiah 40:6-8, James 4:14-16, I Corinthians 1:31, Luke 12:15-21).
• People become bewildered with loss when they buy on blades of grass.

Why?

• It’s natural to ask “why” because we all think we’d be more secure if we had .
• The truth is the only certainty that exists is in God.
• This is because it is impossible to know anything (I Corinthians 13:9-10, I Corinthians 13:12; Deuteronomy 29:29).
• Yes, the things belong to God and the revealed things belong to us.
• However, there is a third category: revealed things that we don’t know .
• It is this other category of that is most damaging.

Looking to Scripture as a Source of Comfort

• What the Scripture reveals about God’s character is an inherent source of .
• We should be more interested in who He is than what He (Psalm 103:7).
• In times of tragedy, God is often the first to and the last to .
• This only happens when people focus on God’s . But people who know His thank Him in the midst of trouble (Job 1:20-22).

The Mamba Mentality from a Heavenly Perspective

Hard work outweighs talent — every time. . . Mamba mentality is about 4 a.m. workouts, doing more than the next guy and then trusting in the work you’ve put in when it’s time to perform. Without studying, preparation and practice, you’re leaving the outcome to fate. I don’t do fate.

—Kobe Bryant

• Like Kobe, Paul sees a relationship between sports and (I Corinthians 9:24-27).
• When Kobe says, don’t leave things to fate, he’s really saying don’t leave things to .
• Tomorrow is not .
• for the Superbowl of life.
• Our rewards are than any prize we can win on earth.

Dr. Joshua Smith