The Seattle Seahawks, winner of this year's Super Bowl, regularly give a huge amount of credit for their team spirit and success to the "12th Man"—referring to their enthusiastic fans and supporters. For those of you who not familiar with American football, a team is allowed 11 players on the playing field at any one time. So the "12th Man" refers to all the other people who are contributing to the team's morale and success. It can include the other players, coaches, staff, etc., but it primarily refers to the moral support from many un-paid loyal fans. The fanbase, especially those cheering in the stadium on game-day, can have a profound energizing impact on players.

Texas A&M University claims the idea and phrase that began to be voiced there in 1922 and it became increasingly popular ever since. Current Texas A&M students call themselves the "12th Man". The entire student body stands throughout each game to symbolize their "readiness, desire, and enthusiasm" to theoretically take the field as a player if needed. They so identify with the team that they say "when the team scores, everybody scores."

Other college and professional teams began to use the phrase, but Texas A&M got the phrase and logo trademarked in 1990. After that, most other teams agreed not to use the slogan. But the Seattle Seahawks had begun using the slogan during the 1980's and continued to use it, so A&M sued and won its case in 2006. The Seahawks agreed to a one-time settlement of $100,000 plus agreed to pay $5000 per year afterwards for the privilege of continuing to use the slogan.

After Seattle's 43-8 win over the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was praising his team. And he said, "We take this trophy back, and everybody knows we take this trophy back to the 12th man."

"The 12th Man" is an inspiring concept. How does this apply in our church, the United Church of God? There are so many people contributing to the work of the church in so many ways, it's impossible to decide who are the players on the field and who are all the players that are not quite on the main playing field. We might arbitrarily say that employees, both full-time and part-time, and full-time volunteers make up the most active players.

But the entire "team" is much, much larger than that! Many members volunteer their time and efforts to serve the church in countless ways—the church at large and their own congregations. They aren't passively sitting on the sideline—it's like they are continually standing and cheering, giving priceless help and moral support that is greatly appreciated by those on the "front lines."

Much of the "success" we're having in preaching the gospel, teaching God's truth, and reaching out to others is due to the prayers of the members and the many other supporters of the United Church of God. And the tithes and offerings from many church members, coworkers and donors enable the church to pay for the innumerable expenses involved in our efforts to fulfill the commissions given to the Church by Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-16.

So this is a big "shout out" of appreciation to all those who identify with this team called United Church of God. It truly is a united effort by many, many players and supporters. Many, many thanks to the players on the field and all those who are a part of United's "12th Man!" God is well aware of every single one of you and He is pleased.