God has certainly done amazing things in the life of this church. I am awed that once again we have seen a number of students saved. We had three saved recently on a Wednesday night when I preached about the second coming. Those three will celebrate baptism this coming Sunday.
I have been with our students on a youth retreat the past couple of days. We just rolled back into town a couple of hours ago. Last night we had our last session at a scenic overlook on the grounds of Mount Lebanon Baptist Encampment. We gathered around a bon fire. While it burned next to me I talked about hell and presented the gospel. A young man prayed asking to be saved at the end. We all celebrated his profession of faith.
This young man has come to mean a great deal to my family. He is a close friend of one my boys. He comes to our home after school with my son on Wednesday nights and eats dinner with us. He goes out to eat with us on Sunday afternoons after church. He is like part of our family. We love him and have prayed that he would be saved. Last night he was the young man who trusted Christ for salvation. How our family rejoiced along with the rest of the youth group.
When someone gets saved I am always reminded of what Jesus said in Luke 15:7. I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
I like to say that the angels in Heaven are having a party because someone else has been added to the kingdom of God. If Heaven rejoices shouldn't we?
I am humbled that God has used this church to draw multitudes into the Kingdom of God. We are not a large church and we have limited resources. We do not even own our own facilities. We gather in a warehouse on Sunday mornings and our students use the warehouse on Wednesday nights. We have limited resources but God continues to save the lost. Over and over again I get to step into the balmy waters of a hot tub or in the cool waters of a swimming pool as our church celebrates baptism again and again. It never gets old.
The gospel is preached and God uses it to draw people to the Savior. We have no gimmicks. No tricks. No slick presentations. We just have the gospel message. Like Paul I am not ashamed of this message. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. [Rom 1:16]
Heaven is rejoicing but not just because of what happened in our student ministry last night. Heaven is rejoicing because people are being saved all over the world. It never stops. The Kingdom of God K
keeps expanding and increasing. I am grateful to play a small part in that. While Heaven rejoices I rejoice too.
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