He talked about how the baptistry in his Church was in need of repair. According to him, it sounded like when they filled it with water, they had to hope it held the water long enough to actually let them have the baptism the next day. So they decked the inside of it with wood and hired someone to fiberglass it. Now, it's a nice looking piece of work! But the pastor said he prayed something like, Lord, we need You to send someone to us now so we can baptize them in the nice baptisry You've given us.
Then the pastor proceeded. He said that recently, like the last two weeks or so it seemed like, he had a conversation with a young man who said he trusted Christ, and He wanted to take a stand for Jesus. The pastor knew him as the boyfriend of a girl in his Church. He had attended services before so the pastor knew the young man had heard the Gospel several times. But in order to make sure he understood what a commitment to Christ was all about, the pastor talked with him about his decision to surrender to Jesus.
And this is where the story got really interesting to me. By this time, I was simply sitting, listening, nodding, smiling, and rejoicing with all the other pastors and Church leaders as I listened to how God worked in this young man's life and drew him to Himself. But then the pastor telling the story shared specifically how and where the young man made his decision to trust Christ. The pastor said something like this: As I mentioned, the young man had attended Church before with his girlfriend so I knew he'd heard the Gospel several times before. But then [the pastor pointed his finger across the room towards where I was sitting as he continued] he and his girlfriend went Judgement House, and he said that's where the Lord brought everything together for him, and the Lord opened His heart to respond to the Gospel. And He's going to be the first one we baptize in our "new" baptistry!
Wow! I sat there a bit shocked and pleasantly surprised. I wish every person who was a part of Judgement House - and I know it was an army of folks - could have been sitting there with me because God used everyone who as a part of Judgement House in any and every way to be a part of the awesome work He did in that young man's life. I'm not even sure of the young man's name, but now his name's written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And God used everyone who was a part of Judgement House in any way to be His ambassadors in bringing this young man to repentance and faith in Christ.
Read carefully what Paul says in Galatians 6:9-10: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."
You know, sometimes we "see" the fruit God grows from the seeds of the Gospel we sow, and other times we don't. Think of it this way: God has a garden - it's His Kingdom. Woodland Park is one "row" in God's garden. Sometimes the seed we scatter falls in our row, and God causes it to spring to life right before our eyes. But other times its springs up out of the ground in another row in God's garden. Yet, the key is the growth of God's Kingdom, not necessarily only the growth in our row. Remember: We're commissioned to make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:18-20), and we're empowered to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (see Acts 1:8).
We need to ask God to help us to always be "Kingdom" minded. We're interested in seeing God's Kingdom grow! While we constantly sow the seed and ask God to cause growth to spring up so we can be a part of discipling people directly, the reality is that God's Kingdom is advancing, and it's our privilege to a part of it whether we see it flourish in our row or not.
So let's rejoice in this great truth! Let's not grow weary in doing good because God is causing a harvest to grow. Remember: He's the Lord of the harvest (see Matthew 9:36-38)!
Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven...
No comments:
Post a Comment