Reach

Reach!—meaning “to stretch.” It implies an inconvenience. It involves movement. You can’t lean back, relax, get comfortable—and then reach, without giving up some of the comfort (at least for a moment). Reaching involves a little extra effort to get to something you want. How much extra energy you are willing to spend depends on how badly you want what you’re reaching for. The more it means to you, the farther you are willing to stretch (even if it hurts).

REACH UP TO GOD.

1. A toddler trying to walk often reaches up for help.

A. For Stability.

B. For Security.

2. We should reach up to God like a toddler trying to walk.

A. Should not be like those trying to build Tower of Babel (Gen. 11) – Reaching God so they will be noticed.

B. Should do it to Honor and praise God.

C. Should do it cause we love him.

3. How do we reach up to God?

A. Through Prayer

B. By Studying the Bible.

C. Supporting fellow believers.

D. Reaching out to others.

4. What do we receive by reaching up to God?

A. Stability.

B. Security.

REACH OUT TO OTHERS

A young woman was in a bookstore and saw a book entitled, “How to reach men, to hold men, to win men. It Has Been Done.” Excitedly she picked up the book, paid for it, and hurried home to read it. At home she looked at the title again. “How to reach men, to hold men, to win, men. It Has Been Done: A Manuel For How To Build A Men’s Bible Study.”

Sometimes we are so eager to find out or reach out to others we fail to see the big picture in doing either one.

1. When reaching out to others we need to remember.

A. Jesus died for everyone! No is to be excluded, by race, gender, background, or college basketball team they root for.

B. Everyone needs Jesus!

C. Jesus saves the people we don’t, we simply tell people about Jesus.

2. How do we reach out to people?

A. Meet them where they are. (See Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch – Acts 8:26)

You never know till you try to reach them how accessible men are; but you must approach each man by the right door. --Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887)

B. We do it for Christ not ourselves.

C. We do it in love.

D. We do it by example.

It’s not convenient to “reach” up to God to find the hand He lovingly extends to us; or to reach out to other people who so desperately need to know someone cares. It’s not even easy to reach within ourselves to find our true feelings and values. But there is no more important way for us to spend our energy than to reach for a life that is pure, clean, and faithful to God. It may seem like a lot of trouble—but it’s worth it!