Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”
I heard a quote on American Family Radio that I feel rings true with today’s society. “If all you do is go to the football games, sit in the stands, and cheer the team on, you will never get a work out. You will get fat and lazy, and you will never score. This is the state of our church today.” You can either say, “Amen” or “Ouch!” Think about that for a moment, Peeps. In many cases, going to church has become likened to going to a football game. We get dressed up and attend on Sunday mornings. We sit through the praise and worship service. If it isn’t to our liking, we go on down the road to another church next week. We want to be entertained. We want the praise team and the pastor to put on a good show for our money…that is if we even tithe. We may even let an amen or two slip out if it gets really good, but when the sermon is over, it’s over…over until next week. During the week, we go on about our business as usual without a thought of church, God, or scripture. If that is our mindset, then I really hate to say it, but we are all going to get fat and lazy. We are missing out on a well needed daily spiritual workout. We are missing out on many much needed conversations with out Lord. We are missing out on the score! If we keep our faith all to ourselves and never share the gospel with another soul, we are truly missing the whole point!
Last night, our church went outside the walls of the building to do an outreach at some apartments in town. We asked permission from the managers, which we received, but we were met with some resistance after the fact as we later learned that although the complexes are situated in close proximity, the tenants are not allowed to go off of their property and onto the other property. We finally worked it out so that we could meet in the middle in between the complexes. We prayed over this outreach. Our friend, Nick, grilled and smoked about a hundred pounds of chicken. Eric made a humongous cast iron pot of jambalya. We also cooked up a huge pot of green beans, and the ladies of the church donated desserts and rolls. We made sure to invite all of the people from each individual apartment a week prior to the event. We set up games, tables, and chairs. We sat down and ate with strangers. We got to know these people. We learned facts about their lives, where they worked, and the things that were on their heart. We had several plates left over after the event, and my husband and I loaded these up and drove around our little town to the local gas stations and dollar stores and delivered meals to the workers. Everyone was very receptive and grateful.
When it was all said and done, to an outsider looking in, one might say that we failed. We didn’t have a very big turn out, at least not the turn out that we had hoped for, but we didn’t fail. We shared the gospel. The Good News of Jesus Christ was shared with these people! One woman in particular shared that it had been on her heart to get back into church, and our presence was just what she needed to remind her that now is the time. She told me that she lacked transportation. Another lady and I gave her our cell phone numbers and offered to pick her up and bring her to church. If we made a difference in only one person’s life, if even one person’s heart was changed, if even one seed was planted last night, I think that our outreach was an amazing success.
I don’t say these things to brag on my church, although I love my church dearly. No, my friends, I am sharing this to express that it is important for us to be more mission minded. We can’t sit in the stadium and expect the crowds to come to you. You don’t have to plan a big outreach and pray that someone shows up. You merely need to pray that God puts someone in your path and that He gives you the boldness to speak the truth of the gospel to that person. Plant a seed. Water one that has already been planted. You may not ever see that seed come to fruition, but that’s not your job. As Christians, we are charged with the duty of sharing the gospel, planting the seed, and watering the seed. The Holy Spirit will do the rest. We must learn to daily step outside of our comfort zone and be more mission minded. Get off of the bench. Quit warming the bleachers. Get out there and get in the game! As you plan your day today, plan time to dig in the Word, plan time to pray, and plan time to share the Good News! Be mission minded! Be a blessing to someone today!
Inspirations from the Funny Farm 