Monday, March 11, 2013

Going the extra mile...

Sorry that I haven't been blogging lately, kind of been a little behind with church stuff and have been playing catch up all year so far. A young man got saved this past week and it really just stayed on my mind and I wanted to share about it.

We have a Discipleship Ministry at our church on Wednesday nights, WednesdaysOnPurpose. The ministry consists of discipleship classes that last about 90 minutes. Right now we have 4 different classes going on, to learn more about the ministry, visit our site: WednesdaysOnPurpose.com

Right now we are in the 2nd round of "Man Up", a men's class. Well the teacher of this class and his two sons took a first time visitor (who I'll refer to as Young Man) out for pizza after church. The class, as far as I know, went just fine and was engaging and interactive as always. The men of our church just love the class. Steve Gann, the teacher is one of the best we got. I digress, back to the heart of the story, Steve and his sons took this young man out for pizza after church and continued to minister to him, speaking life, testifying about all the great works that Christ had done in their lives, and the importance of living for God. 

The young man obviously was looking for God to show up in a big way. I met him before church, very polite and pleasant, I shook his hand, said hello, and moved onto what I had "going on" that night, I was too busy or caught up in my own schedule to really take the time to realize what God was about to do in this young man's life. But these guys, Steve and his 2 sons...they went the extra mile...the young man sat in church that night listened to the message God had for him, then some "church people" asked him to come join  them after church for some fellowship time. 

They continued ministering to him, outside the walls of the church, after church was over, probably past a time that was convenient for their "schedule". Long story short, that night, at the pizza place...they led this young man to the Lord. He accepted Christ, came to church Sunday Morning, came to my Sunday school class (new believers class), and as far as I know came to church Sunday night and I'm pretty sure is planning to come back to church this Wednesday. 

Steve and his family are continuing to lift this new believer up and encourage him. I'm praying God continues to show up in this young man's life in a new and awesome way.

My whole reason for posting this is to encourage any of you who might read this, to realize that Christianity isn't just coming to church, sitting down, clap a little, put a tip in the offering plate, then go home. Christianity goes beyond the walls of the church, it goes beyond our personal agendas, it takes us outside of our comfort zones sometimes. We need to daily be praying that God helps us to recognize the opportunities he gives us to minister to the hearts of those who are searching for Him.

go the extra mile...