Dear Youth Group,
I miss you all already. It was an ok trip down here to San
Diego. We made it safely though it was a long 16 hour trip
to get to that point. I swear I have seen several of my
friends from Idaho. I have been here less than twenty four
hours and I am already homesick and I am hallucinating.
I will be attending Clairmont Emmanuel Baptist Church. I
like it very much. The preaching is just as good as Nampa
Bible Church and they have a College Bible Study I will be
attending every Tuesday night. They also have a wonderful
adult Sunday school class. I got a chance to talk to the
senior Pastor, Kenny Dodd, about my living arrangements and
church membership. I am hoping to become a part of the
church worship team.
The sermon this morning was wonderful. It was about Mark
1:14-20, the passage about Fishers of Men. The pastor
encouraged us all that it often feels that we aren't the
right one to bring people to Christ. That is the pastor's
responsibility or we lack the right talents that are
necessary to have if you want to be a light to the world.
But Christ called ALL Christians to be Fishers of Men. There
is no exception to the rule. We all have the right talents
and are fully equipped to be Fishers of Men. The other side
of being a Fisher of Men is that you have to be specifically
looking for opportunities to spread the Gospel or you won't
find them. The example the pastor used was that he knows
someone who collects the broken pieces of glass that you can
find at the shore of the ocean. But the pastor has never
seen them because he doesn't look for them. But his friend
has an extensive collection because they have been
diligently looking for those pieces of smoothed glass that
are so special to them.
What was really interesting about the end of the sermon was
that the pastor challenged us all to take ten minutes to
write a letter to the person(s) that brought you to Christ
and thank them for taking that risk in your life to bring
you to Christ. You don't necessarily have to send it as the
person who did this for you may be deceased or you may not
feel comfortable sending for one reason or another. But to
write the letter anyway. This is my letter.
Sharad, I need to thank you. I have loved Christ and known
that he died on the Cross for my sins since I was very
young. There was never a doubt in my mind that I was a
Christian. I knew that you couldn't earn your way to Heaven.
But I don't know that I truly "got it" until you started
teaching the Youth Group that close look at the Gospel-
Sovereign, Sinner, Savior, Summons. That's when I really
started learning, growing, and caring about my life with
Christ. I may have been in AWANA but I never really took
that seriously. And I didn't care about reading my Bible
every day. I thought the text of the word and the sermons
were boring. I never realized how much I really needed to
read that text.
Sharad thank you for choosing to do that study with the
Youth Group so that I would get it and really truly start my
life with the Sovereign Savior. Thank you for caring enough
for me and the other teens in the youth group at the tine to
show us what the Gospel really looks like. I needed that so
much and because of you I got it. I praise God that you were
in my life to point me in the right direction. I now have a
special mansion in Heaven just for me and I have a Savior in
my life who loves me more than anything despite my many
sins. This is because of you, Sharad. Because you were doing
just what you were called to be- a Fisher of Men. I was one
of those smoothed pieces of broken glass and because you
were looking for me, you found me and instead of throwing me
in the garbage where I deserved to be thrown, you treated me
as a precious find and put me on a special shelf, never to
be moved. This is exactly the love Christ has for me. I
praise Him for loving me this much and seeing how lost I
was, brought you, Sharad, into my life, pointed me out to
you and you took advantage of that. You decided to grasp it
and not pass it by. Thank you for doing that for me. Thank
you for caring about me that much. I can't say thank you
enough.
I encourage all of you in the Youth Group to send your
letter. Encourage the person who took the risk in your life.
Let them know that the risk they took was not in vain and to
continue to take those risks. Also, I encourage you all to
start taking those risks in other people's lives. You
yourself are living proof that these risks aren't in vain.
Even if that person doesn't come to Christ, it isn't in vain.
You're practicing for the next time. The more risks you
take, the more comfortable you will be in taking those
risks. You are good enough, talented enough, smart enough,
strong enough, godly enough, everything enough to be a
Fisher of Men because God is with you every second and won't
ever leave you or forsake you. Pray that he open your eyes
to those precious smoothed pieces of broken glass. And when
he does, seize them immediately. Don't let them pass you by.
Pray for me that Christ would open my eyes and lead me to
those who need to hear the Gospel. And that I would look for
them and not just wait for God to bring them to me. That I
would go out and look for myself.
I was extremely afraid of leaving Nampa Bible Church and
that there may not be a church that would help me grow as
much as Nampa Bible has. But God calmed my fears this
morning and greatly encouraged me. Hopefully it is just as
encouraging to you. If any of you would like a copy of this
sermon, I'll get you one. I am certainly getting one. I'll
be praying for you all.
Love you sister in Christ, Rachel
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