(The next entry of Why Wait for Tomorrow? will be posted later today, but I had to get this out first!)
I am currently reading the book of Acts. this morning I am reading Chapter 9 - Saul's conversion. Here's something that jumped out to me. I'm sure many of you have already seen it, but it hit me in a fresh way this morning.
In verse 27 of Acts 9 it says, "But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles." Saul (who is now called Paul in the story) had no one to turn to. From every angle he was hated, distrusted, envied, written off etc...
His old work buddies in the Jewish Synagogue hated him because he abandoned them for the renegade up-starts he was supposed to be squashing. The renegade up-starts that he was trying to join didn't trust him because last week he had Steven killed for teaching the very things he now claims to believe. But Barnabas shows up and decides to take him in. Barnabas by-passed all layers, took a risk, and brought Paul straight to the top.
That's what Small Groups do at Elevation. They turn outsiders into insiders. We are a church that is reaching people far from God. Many people coming to our church have burned every bridge they crossed to get here. the old comfortable circumstances they left behind, the relationships they ended, the lifestyle they abandoned are all starring them in the face every Sunday. Are we going to be the kind of leaders that step in? Are we going to overlook people's flaws where others can't seem to see around them?
14 years after Barnabas took this risk he and Paul started on a world evangelism tour that changed the face of Christianity. Who are you taking a risk on today that will change the world tomorrow? Get out there, we have hundreds of them at Elevation.
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2 comments:
Sometimes we forget where we came from. Not all of us were born in a solid Jesus loving, Word based enviornment. If you are like me and someone took a chance on you, remember that often! How God is using you to touch lives in your small group today is what someone in your small group will be doing down the road for someone else or for multitudes of people! Only God knows. Remember the wise saying...."fruit that will last!!!"
Help us to care as much for people as Moses did when he was leading the Israelites through the wilderness. He fell before the Lord for forty days and nights and pleaded with Him not to destroy them because of their disobedience. Oh, if only I cared for people that much!
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