We had something really awesome happen in the service this Sunday and it didn’t hit me until I was getting ready to receive two people into membership. We had 2 awesome young men join Out Of The Box yesterday and in the 33 months we have been in existence, these two people made 98 and 99.
Wow, think about that…
Are you thinking???
Luke 15: 1-7 NLT
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
Jesus says it’s awesome that you have 99 but we need to focus on the one that is missing, the one that is lost, the one who without Jesus will die and go to hell. We have to focus on that one. Any by the way, Jesus says when you find the next one, have a PARTY!
We don’t party enough in the church. You know what I mean, I’m not taking about getting drunk and and doing all kinds of stupid things. I’m talking about CELEBRATION. We have forgotten how to celebrate in the church. We have forgotten how to party.
If we start celebrating the Great things God is doing and stop focusing on the things we don’t like, we could change the world.
If we start celebrating the life change that is taking place at OOTBWC and stop focusing on what we don’t like, we could change the world.
If we could start focusing on how to throw the next BIG party and stop arguing over our comfort, we could change the world.
Heck, we are changing the world. One person at a time, one family at a time, one community at a time. Come and join us, get involved and see what God is going to do to surprise the watching world.
Remember, God will spit you out of his mouth if you are lukewarm. If your things mean more to you than God does then you are lukewarm. If you don’t trust God with 100% of your things, your money, your life, then you are lukewarm. Jesus said pick up your cross and follow me. Do you know about God but you don’t really know him? Do you know God but not very well? Or do you know God intimately and live for Him wholeheartedly?
We may just have number 100 who joins us next week. What are we going to do if that happens?
Pastor Ronnie
