This article appears in the Spring 2026 issue of the FCA Donor Publication. The FCA publication is a gift from our FCA staff to all donors giving $50 or more annually. For more information about giving, visit here.

Happy 2026! We here at FCA hope you’re having a great spring. 

The Lord has blessed FCA, through the efforts of our amazing team, with another wonderful annual ministry theme of “Proven.”  

I’m so excited about this year’s discipleship journey. It reminds me of the term “Old Faithful.” When you read those words, perhaps you think of the geyser in Yellowstone National Park. Maybe it calls to mind something from your childhood or something more recently that has proven to be faithful, dependable and highly predictable. 

Many times we strive to put time, effort and energy into validating ourselves — in our families, relationships, jobs, sports, and even in our relationship with God — only to be left feeling exhausted, unfulfilled, undervalued and unappreciated. 

This year, we’re leading coaches and athletes to consider a new way of dealing with our inherent need to prove ourselves. We don’t have to keep striving to prove our worth; God has proven everything for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. We simply receive and rest in the truth of the Gospel: Jesus has accomplished everything we need for this life and the next through his sacrificial death and powerful resurrection. 

In our yearlong exploration of the Proven theme, we will help coaches and athletes: 

• connect to Christ and others;  

• cultivate Christlike character;  

• understand that what we choose matters; and 

• stay committed to Christ. 

We all want things — and people — in our lives that are true, reliable and have stood the test of time. These attributes reflect the character of God, and they attach themselves to our lives as we become more like Jesus. Becoming Christlike (sanctification) is a lifelong process and is wonderfully represented in the second core principle of our Proven theme, which is “Cultivate,” based on John 15:8-11. 

In verse 8, Jesus says, “My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.” We prove that we are Jesus’ disciples by cultivating the fruit of the Spirit in our lives — love, joy, peace, and all other godly qualities. We grow in this Christlike character by remaining in His love, keeping His commands, serving others and staying connected to Him through prayer and His Word. 

I grew up farming, which includes a great amount of cultivation. In agricultural terms, cultivating is simply inserting what is good for the crop and removing what is bad. It’s an intentional process where plants go from root to fruit.  

This is a great picture of our lives as followers of Christ. To this end, we will be exploring the following principles with coaches and athletes: 

• Believers prioritize spiritual training (1 Timothy 4:7-8). 

• Believers trust that Jesus is a greater source of joy than sports (Psalm 16:1). 

• Believers grow in Christlike character (2 Peter 3:18). 

The more we become like Jesus, the more Kingdom fruit we bear.