LOST!

Time is short this morning as I am at the Bishop's Convocation on Evangelism in Fort Wayne. It's promised to be a busy day with keynote addresses, workshops and an evening working in one of the missions in Fort Wayne. I'll be thinking and praying how to continue our evangelism efforts at COFS and ask that you help me do the same. God is working among us and we must be ready for the people God is directing toward us and us toward them.

I find it interesting that in Psalm 78 (today's passage)the very people of God, who saw all that God had done in their history, who experienced the blessings of God, would still turn their backs on God and refused to believe or trust. Yet their story effected Egyptians to follow God and continued to draw non-Israelites to trust God. The same is true with our efforts in the church today. There are people coming to see the goodness and grace of God, experience the very love of God while many in the church look right past what God is doing and want to "go back to Egypt!"

It's disheartening when that happens especially when the goal of the church has never changed. Evangelism has always been the goal of God, to take the good news of God and share it in word and deed. God told Abraham that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Israel's job was to reveal God to the world, in how they talked about God and how they lived their holy (set apart) lives. And God is still doing the same in the church.

It's not about us, we're the sheep in the pen. We've made it. Now it's about those who don't know the dangers outside. God is trying to gather the sheep and has called us to help in this endeavor. Evangelism is going out and gathering in, helping the lost find their way.

I was found, so were you. Now it's time for us to do the finding along with God!

Peace ><>
pc