Search & Rescue

What exciting days we are living in. Oh, I know it's a little scary, but yet it is thrilling to realize that the Bible prophecies concerning the "last days" seem to be unfolding before our very eyes. The peace we have as Bible believers is that God will protect and deliver us from the destruction of those end times. However, as the time of the end draws near, we should be experiencing some great evangelical results. Even though we are living in times when it seems that more and more people are becoming more and more agnostic or atheistic... people still need the Lord.

As the "church" we sometimes forget who the enemy is. We cannot expect people to act "saved" until they are! Lost people are not the enemy, Satan is. Our "Mission" is search and rescue, that is to search for and rescue the lost.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three separate parables illustrating this great truth. However, a major point is made before He ever begins teaching. In verse 1 it says that "tax collectors and the sinners" drew near to Him. In other words, Jesus attracted people who were not religious. In fact, it was in response to the criticisms from the religious crowd that Jesus responded with the three parables of Luke 15.

The point is simple... we are to be building relationships with people outside the "church" so that we can show them the love of Christ. I know we need intimate and personal relationships with fellow believers, but it shouldn't stop there. We need to be building intimate and influential relationships with people who don't believe, so that they can see our "light", taste the "saltiness", observe our "good works", so that they can see Jesus through our lives.

The days of door knocking are pretty much over. People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. Don't get me wrong, we should prepare ourselves to tell people the "good news", and we should pray for opportunities to share the gospel. But the greatest opportunities come by "receiving sinners and eating with them". See Luke 15:2

Whens the last time you wept and prayed for someone who was lost? How many times a day do you wonder about someone, where they will spend eternity? We have grown cold and insensitive to the LOST, and that's why we are Losing the battle.

So, I encourage you to volunteer again for Search and Rescue. Join us Sundays from now through May 3rd... or listen online to the series, Search & Rescue. May 3rd will be Search & Rescue Sunday, and we are praying that lost people will be rescued before it's too late. Not just here, but all over the world. Please feel free to join us by praying for someone you feel may be lost, and also ask God to here the prayers of our members who are praying specifically and intentionally for lost people over the next six weeks.

See you Here, There, or In The Air!
'cause Jesus is coming soon,
Pastor Mike