Death & Life

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to preach the funeral of a man I've never met. A visitor of our church lost her father & he, nor anyone in the family, had a pastor to officiate, so she asked me. My schedule allowed me & I was glad to attempt to give this family the peace of Jesus & personal comfort. It quickly became evident this man was most likely not a Christian, which makes for a tough job, but incredible opportunity for me as a pastor.

I spoke briefly from Matthew 11:28-30 on Jesus calling all who are weary & burdened to come to Him. The service went well & I prayed only to make much of Jesus & let God do the rest. And He did...

The next morning in our worship service the daugther (who's in her early 60's) stepped out on the 1st line of the invitation song & gave her life to Jesus & truly experienced the peace I had spoken of the day before. It was an incredible celebration that morning & I baptized her the following Sunday.

I prayed by faith, as many others were praying as well, that God's Word wouldn't return void (as Scripture promises) but He gave us an almost immediate return on our investment. Many individuals heard a clear presentation of the Gospel at the funeral & my prayer is this is only the beginning of the lives touched by Jesus.

This new Christian is already actively involved in the ministry of our church. Everyday I can't wait to see how God's going to work in His Church. I'm so grateful to be able to be part of such a great move of God as we've already baptized 10 new Christians in 2010.

I'm reminded regularly, as I remind our church family...God's still in the business of changing lives!