“For this my son was dead, and is alive again;
He was lost, and now is found.”
Luke 15:24
I think we can all relate to this story, one way or another. I’ve been thinking about our topic a lot lately. We talked a lot about it at our home church yesterday. And we prayed about it. Side-note: this is the nice thing about very small and non-professional church. One member called an audible and we spent considerable time talking this topic through and praying. It was a tremendous help and comfort to me. So much so that I am still thinking about it this morning and telling you about it. We still had our regular lesson; we simply went longer. That was perfectly OK with everyone. In fact, we wouldn’t have had it any other way.
This isn’t the first time we’ve had life interrupt the regularly scheduled program of church. Sometimes people have issues that need everybody’s attention – undivided attention. This can’t be done in regular church. I don’t want it to seem like it’s all about money, but money is certainly part of the problem. You see, we hire professionals to prepare and deliver a message to us. We are entertained by their musical talent and captivated by pastor’s sermon. Interrupting any of this would only be allowed by a very elite few and then only under exceptional circumstances. Meanwhile, there are people in the audience that are dying inside, but nobody is the wiser. Let’s face it. The show must go on!
That’s not to say that the songs or message aren’t good, but there is no room to be flexible. The presenters spend a lot of time preparing, so they want to deliver. The audience pays good money, so they expect to be entertained. That’s just the way the system has evolved. In all fairness, people talk before and after the service – but not for long. There isn’t much time for any of that outside of coffee hour. Oh, that’s what Life Groups are for, right? These are better than nothing, but they don’t last.
Anyway, I’m grateful for our small home church.
Now, back to our topic of kids that seem to walk away from their faith. Last time we covered prayer. I had a guy reply to me, and got permission to share his email:
Scott, I have an experience that would help. I was introduced to the gospel at age 21 and loved the word for ten months. I then went back into the world for nine years. I thought about Jesus but thought that he would not have let me fall back into drugs if he was real. When I was ready, he revealed himself to me again. I have walked with God since then. I see three other scriptures that would help. One is the road to Emmaus. He hid himself to two disciples for a whole day in broad daylight. Two, he was mistaken for a gardener by the women who went to the tomb and three Isaiah 63:17-18 and Isaiah 64:5. Hoped this helped.
This is very interesting to me. I would like to hear from more people on this. In particular, I would like to know if you felt as if you were indeed saved and then what happened to change things. What then changed to bring you back around? What’s different now than before?
You can email me at scott@hislightshines.com
Father, help us understand. Amen.
Copyright © 2020 Scott Powers
Photo Credit: http://www.englishcompass.org/articles/the_prodigal_son