Milestones

Have you ever noticed that there are certain times, events, places, things, and people that just seem to stand out from the rest of life?

"Milestone" is a good word--a perfect word--for them... Don'tcha think?

Recently, we passed one of those milestones in our church, and it really stood out as a significant event!

For years, our church has been changing our focus: we want to be a church that people are proud to bring their "unchurched" family, friends, co-workers, etc. This may sound like a no-brainer to you (it may even be a no-brainer to you), but this has been a tremendously-difficult and arduous process! This battle has not been without innocent victims, nor without sacrifice or heartache.

To be honest, it has totally sucked at times.

But last Sunday, a guest came up to me after church that made all of the struggle worth it.

Bob (not his real name) came with a friend. He's been trying to get his friend, Derek (not his real name, either), to go to church with him for years. Unknown to Bob, Derek started coming to our church recently & God is doing an AMAZING work in him & it's affecting his whole family!

That in and of itself is ample reason to celebrate, but the story doesn't end there!

Anyway, back to the story...

Bob called Derek on Saturday evening & asked, "You wanna go with me to church tomorrow?"

Derek answered, "Well, actually... I've been going to this church I found for a while now... You wanna come with me?"

Bob managed to cough out through his stunned stupor, "What?! Yeah, Dude... If YOU found a church that you like, I DEFINITELY wanna check it out!"

So, he did.

And God met him!

That, too, is ample reason to celebrate, even if there was no more to the story!

But there IS more!

Bob came up to me after church (this is where I started this story) & told me that he was SO touched, that he felt like he just HAD to come & tell me the story I just related to you.

But then Bob continued, and this was AMAZING!

He said, "Pastor, I've got ALL these unsaved friends I've been wanting to bring to church, but I have not been able to find a place where I could bring them..."

TIME OUT! That statement breaks my heart every time I hear it! I don't understand how we can call ourselves followers of Jesus if we are not broken hearted over the things that break His heart... And He WEEPS for them!

Bob continued, "...I have not been able to find a place where I could bring them... UNTIL TODAY! This place is PERFECT for them!!"

My heart went from sunk to sky high in those 7 little words!!! THAT is what we've been working so hard to hear for SO LONG!!

I hope that this is just the first of MANY times I hear this... And I am confident that it is, because I shared this story with our church this Sunday and they were ecstatic! They went NUTS when I told them.

That's not just a great sign, it's a milestone! And a BIG ONE at that!!