“A Letter Of Intent”
Mt 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
(KJV)
Look at your neighbor this morning and tell them “Were on a mission from God” “Were on a mission from God”
Every so often I come across a story that touches my heart and hits close to home, and a loving and compassionate God affords me the opportunity to come back to the Heart Of Worship. Church we all need to come back to the Heart Of God.
As a Christian; and see if you will agree with me on this, its so easy to get caught up in the work of the ministry or the “Call” so much so that we can become out of touch with the “Caller” We can become so focused and driven to build the “Church” that we become desensitized to the Purpose and the Will of God.
Church growth campaigns, district meetings, conferences, church services, worship services, Sunday school, pot lucks, staff meetings, and so on and so on and before you know it “The Work” of Christianity clouds the purpose and will of God in our lives! At least that’s how its happens for this Pastor, who is here, by the way, but by the grace and mercy of God!
You see I am ok with admitting that I don’t have it all figured out yet, I have come to understand the scripture where it says working out my own salvation with fear and trembling.
And If I am still working it out that means I am no expert yet,
I have a long way to go and a lot to learn.
Is it ok if we can just be real for a while this morning? What do you say? Lets put our pride on the shelf, and lets believe That He is and He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek, Hallelujah I feel like seeking Him this morning, I want to experience Him today in Power and in Signs and Wonders.
I want to taste of Revival, I am tired of Playing Church I am ready to be the Church. Ooooh and if us Pastors could just lead by example and stop trying to be superstars and start being real!
If we could just be real it would allow the Spirit of God room in our pulpits! And I don’t know how you feel, but I would much rather have the Holy Spirit preach a message THROUGH me then me try to preach a message ABOUT Him. Can I get an Amen?
I am surrounded all the time by people talking “About” Him. We hear all “about Him” but I want to “EXPERIENCE” Him. Church it’s time we get back to the basics, its time to refocus. Its time to get rid of all the busyness and the church stuff and get back to heart of God.
If our ultimate goal is to find out the Will of the God we don’t have to look any further then Mathew 18.
Mt 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
(KJV)
The way that God reels me in from time to time, the way in which He gets my attention and gets me refocused is usually through a story of courage and love. If I could I would like to talk with you this morning about
“A Letter Of Intent”
I want to share with you today a story about a young boy who was picked on and made fun of because of his appearance. This young boy grew up an outsider with next to no friends, but the one or two friends that he did have were also outsiders and outcasts. The kind of kids that everyone poked and made fun of and pointed their fingers at because they didn’t fit in or look like everyone else.
You see this story hits home for me because I was one of those kids growing up, I had little to no friends but the ones I had, we were the Geek Squad for sure. I was picked on and made fun of every day at school because of my weight. Kids can be cruel. And the people that say sticks and stone can break my bones but names can never hurt me, were full of it. Names do hurt and the hurt sticks with you and I am not sure it ever really goes away. Thank God His grace and mercy have helped me deal with it over the years.
Back to the story, this young boy makes it to his senior year in High School and one day at the end of his rope and with no hope in sight he comes to school with a gun and proceeds to take his life. But right before the horrible tragedy unfolds another young man approaches him. This boy had been one of the only childhood friends of the young man who commits suicide. Right before he takes his life the young man tries to reach out to him but the Boy says to his one time childhood friend “Its too late, you didn’t care”
That my friends is why I am a pastor today. Because I never want to hear the words, “Its too late, you didn’t care”
The fact remains that I have lost friends over the years, to overdose to suicide, many friends to be exact but it wasn’t because I didn’t care and that’s what keeps me going that’s what keeps me doing the will of the Father, because I don’t want to see another one of His little ones perish!
Because the truth is; its not too late and God does care.
And there are people out here that care too.
The problem is we are so busy doing the work of the Church that we miss the Heart of God and miss out doing His will. God help us Church. Lets get back to the Heart of Worship and lets get busy saving some lives.
God cares so much that He sent His only begotten son to die on a cross for us, to take the place and to pay for the sin in our lives and to remove that pain of the words that people have spoken against us. And that whosoever will believe in Him will not die but will have everlasting life.
Remember the Gospel Church? Why have we tried to make it so complex? We have tried to pretty it up and make it palatable. It’s the Gospel that saves lives. It’s the Gospel that brings people back from death’s door and the gates of hell and we need to be preaching and sharing this Gospel, the Gospel that saves lives! A Jesus that Saves people from death and hell. A Jesus that gives us life and life more abundantly. A God that has a plan for our lives and a plan for good not a plan to harm us but one of prosperity a hope and a future. Its time we get back to the basics church. Get back to the Highways and the Hedges and the street corners and shout it out loud the Gospel of Christ.
Why? Because right now as you are hearing this message there is a young boy, with a gun pointed to his head, that has no hope, has no friends and He’s going to take his life because he thinks its too late and nobody cares and were not there to help.
“Were on a mission from God Church”
“Were on a mission from God”
Back to our story, you see this one time childhood friend of the young man who committed suicide was the most popular kid at the school. He had the prettiest girlfriend, drove a nice car, had all the right clothes, he was most likely to succeed, he hung with all the popular kids, you know the type of person I am talking about, everyone looked up to him, He was the captain of the basketball team and he had a full scholarship to Louisville University. He seemed to have it all together.
That was until he heard the words that changed his life forever,
“Its too late you didn’t care”
The destiny of this young man who had the world by the strings was forever altered that day in the hallway of his high school, where the words of a onetime friend echoed over and over in his mind. “Its too late you didn’t care” This young man began to understand that the things he did care about weren’t the things he should be caring about.
God began to touch this young man, and the things that used to be important to him like his car, and the parties, and the sports and the fame and the prestige and the notoriety didn’t mean anything to him anymore, because all he kept hearing was
“Its too late you didn’t care”
This young man allowed God to begin to change him and he gave his life to Christ and for the 1st time he felt like he had a purpose and a destiny and that was to save as many people from the brink of disaster as he could, to go to death’s door and the gates of hell and to rescue as many young people as he could, he reached out to the two friends of the boy who committed suicide and made it his priority not to let what happened to their friend happen to them.
Something amazing happened at that high school, and it’s the same thing that happens every time we get serious about God,
REVIVAL broke out.
A move of God broke at that high school. And if you will get serious about the Heart and the will of God revival will break out in your life, and you will begin to live with a purpose and a destiny and a burning desire will be birthed inside of you not too see one more of Gods precious little ones perish and fall prey to enemy of our souls.
Prayer circles, prayer meetings, young people getting saved, and young people feeling like there was hope and all because one boy made up in his mind that he would live for God and more importantly he would live the rest of his life with the purpose of never hearing those words again “Its too late you didn’t care”
Were on a mission from God Church,
let me share with you a brief testimony from my life, while at Teen Challenge we would go on evangelism missions three days a week every week and we would travel sometimes for hours and hours to where God had called us to minister for that week, twenty on Fire men of God, all ex-drug addicts, all filled with the Holy Ghost, all packed into a 16 passenger van. We would always leave at midnight the night before and travel all night so we could be out on the streets early the next morning witnessing about the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. And before we left we would always play the song Mission 3:16. it was are battle cry, it was are purpose for being, it was the song that prepared us for the mission God had put in our lives, a mission of Hope.
Why are you sharing that story with us Pastor B? Why, because the leader of our missionary group, the dear brother that drove the van, and came up with the mission 3:16 battle cry died at the end of a hypodermic needle filled with black tar heroin, and I have made it my mission, my reason for existence, my purpose as a Christian and a pastor never to hear those words again
“its too late you didn’t care”
You see after you have lost friend after friend to the enemy something happens inside of you just like it happened to this popular young man at this high school. God’s seed of faith becomes stronger and it begins to grow and grow and become more steadfast and what the enemy thought he was using to take us down, it actually makes us stronger, and it brings us to the final point in my message today.
It brings us to the title of this message. “A letter of Intent”
What does a letter of Intent have to do with the story Pastor B.
Well just everything!!!
There will come a time where you will have to make the biggest decision of your life. The decision to follow God or Follow the World.
Now I am not talking about the salvation experience, this is deeper, much deeper. I am talking about leaving everything you know, everything that means something to you, all you hold dear, your hearts desire, to follow Christ and His will to save the Lost.
The story ends with the young man agonizing over this very decision in his life. He finds himself sitting on his bed, In his right hand he holds the Letter of Intent to Louisville University with a full ride scholarship attached to that letter of intent and everything that goes along with that road, and in the other hand are the words of an old friend echoing over and over in his mind “Its too late you didn’t care”
The young man takes the Letter of intent to Louisville University with his full ride scholarship and tears it into a hundred pieces,
And from that moment on he no longer has a letter of intent to Louisville University, but he has a letter of intent with Heaven.
God sent us His letter of intent, and His name is Christ Jesus.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God letter of intent is called the Bible and this bible is not written with ink as you may think but it is written with the blood of the lamb. Before you ever born God had a letter of intent written for you with you name on it.
Listen, He’s not mad at you he’s mad about you. He’s had you on his mind since the creation of the world. You occupy the thoughts of his heat.
My question for you today is “Do you have a Letter Of Intent”
If you want to sign your name at the bottom of your letter of intent to Jesus Christ raise your hand right where you are this morning.
If you want to live your life making sure that not one more of Gods precious little ones perish raise your hand right where you are this morning.
If you are willing to live your life to make sure you never hear the words “Its too late you didn’t care” raise your hand right where you are this morning.
