Reflecting Christ to the World

I know Scott has given a message a few weeks ago on preparing you for the Kingdom of God seminars. I want to follow up on that with some thoughts as well today, because this is a major project in terms of evangelizing and outreach for the church. But really, as I've said, it's getting us back to our spiritual, biblical, historical roots as a church.

And the focus on the Kingdom of God is really central to the mission of the church and to our calling as we invite people to come and hear the message of the Kingdom of God and teach that in a personal way with people coming in the door and inviting them to be a part of our congregation, at least for a Sabbath, and we hope as God wills it for a longer period of time. We're saying come and learn about the Kingdom of God, and let us share with you the good news of a better world and a better way, and let us show you by teaching, and also by example what God's love, His great love for mankind really, really is.

That's what we're saying. And so as we do so, all of us need to put our minds, I think, onto some of the examples and the teachings of Jesus Christ to make sure that we are looking at this opportunity from a personal perspective as well and learning some things in regard to that. You know, someone might say, in so many other words, this has already been voiced to me in some conversations, preaching the gospel is all fine and good, Mr.

McNeely, some would say, but how can we model the Kingdom of God if we are so imperfect? We can't even get along among ourselves. We divide, we split, just like so many other denominations and religious groupings. How can we model the Kingdom of God and why should we be going out and inviting people to come in when we ain't got it all together ourselves? And that's a fair question.

That is a fair question. My short answer and my best answer is that you are the Church of God. Stand tall and be proud of your heritage. Be proud of the calling God has given to you because it is a noble and good calling and heritage that we have. No apologies. No apologies. Need be made. We have to move through and move ahead, just as well.

At the same time, we learn lessons from all of the experiences that we go through individually and collectively, but the work of God, the Church of God's history is one of continuing to move forward. And I think the best way to do that is to look at the gospel accounts and again just understand what it is that we are being called to do because whoever walks through the doors of our congregations at any given time, we hope that they will meet Jesus Christ in us.

I can be so bold as to say that. And if we can get our minds to thinking about that and live that to whatever degree for any short period of time and hopefully incrementally longer periods of time, we will can be successful and we can expect God's blessing on that. And so we need to, we should look at how to deal with those who come as a result of the preaching of the gospel at any given time. John 6 and verse 44 is a good place to begin. John 6, 44. Christ said, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Christ knows that only the Father can call people to the kingdom of God. We know that. We can't forget that. We don't, we can't call anyone. We cannot convert anyone.

That doesn't mean we don't have a job to do. But we understand that as the seed is sown, the gospel is preached, God is the one who flips the switch in a person's mind at any given moment when he decides to do it to where their mind and heart is open to the truth. And we begin there.

In verse 45 it says that it is written in the prophets, Christ said, They shall all be taught by God. Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. And so Christ knows that those who are called will come to him and the Father will do that.

And there is every intent of Christ and the Father to stay with and to raise up those who are called to the knowledge and to the understanding. In verse 35 here of John 6, Jesus said to the disciples, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out.

For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of the Father who sent me, that all he has given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Christ intends to raise up those who are called at the last day. He's not going to cast away anyone.

This is how Christ relates to the world. How do we relate? How do we relate? Do we follow in the example of Christ as the Master, the method that he had in working with people? When we look at the gospel accounts, we can learn a great deal as to how Jesus related to people, and how he taught them, how he answered their questions, how he perceived them.

We see in these verses here that it is his intent to raise them up at the last day, not to cast them off, not to make it so hard and so difficult that they fail. His intent is to help people succeed in salvation. That is Christ's intent. To that end, he has given the church with all of its functions, and even with all of its imperfections, or may I coin a word, imperfections, that we have.

But he does use the church. Look, Ephesians is a very rich textbook for the church in that way, but it is toward the end of salvation.

So how does he relate to people? How does he expect us to? The best way for us to answer that question is to look at how Jesus dealt with people in his time and learn some lessons. Let's go back to John 1. Let's notice a few examples here in this few minutes that we have together this morning. John 1. This is where Jesus began to call his own disciples.

Beginning in verse 35. Again, the next day John stood with two of his disciples, and looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. So they kind of peeled off from John, began to follow Christ.

Jesus turned and seeing them, the following, said to them, What do you seek? Or what do you want? What do you want? They said to him, Rabbi, which is to say, when translated, Teacher, where are you staying? Now, Jesus saw these two as they came, and all he did was ask him, What is it that you want? Which was, What do you seek? What are you looking for? Which is a good place to begin with two people who are coming to him. In this case, we could say, two people come into the church, or two people begin to show initial interest in the church. What are you looking for is a good place to begin. Christ didn't start with his own full-blown agenda. He didn't dump everything on them. He wanted to know where they were. What do you want? What are you looking for? And from that, you can ask other questions and spend the time. But it's a good lesson to learn in working with people who are being called. And I need to remember that, and every minister needs to remember that, and then every member needs to, as we will find people coming through the door.

You will have people who come because of an invitation to something like what we're doing, coming from many different perspectives. We cannot always assume that they are where you and I are after all of our years of experience in the church. In fact, they're not there. And I can tell you, from my own experience, as I field telephone calls, emails from people who want to know more about this, and they find out about us through our website, through our magazine. They call and they get a telephone number. You've got to begin, you've got to find out what do you want. Because people may call, and they want to know where the church is, but that's not what they want. That's not what they want. But that's their first question. Now, I could say, well, we, you know, I can, and would tell them, 1030 North Coldwater Road, 13121, whatever it is here on North Coldwater Road, and that's the physical location, and certainly you're invited. But really, I also, I want to know, where are you? What is it you're looking for? And I can't ask that question right away, because over the telephone or the Internet, you have certain limitations, and you just have to kind of gently begin to talk. I had a lady called yesterday who had received the letter that we sent out already here, and she wanted to register, reserve her seat. We'll have plenty of seats. But that's part of our, I guess, the marketing that we, you know, reserve your seat now. So we want to get a commitment from people. And, you know, I don't know where she, I don't know what she's looking for. All I know is that she wanted to reserve a seat, and she wanted to attend. But I suspect that she's got a lot of other issues and matters and details of her life. And for her to get our letter and pick up the phone and call some total stranger and reserve her seat at a seminar, you have to wonder, well, what is it you're really looking for? And I would like to find that out, and God willing, we'll get a chance with her or someone else. But we have to be patient, because people may be looking for a church home. What does that mean for them? They may be looking for a Sabbath-keeping church. Okay, you've come to the right address for that. But what else are you looking for?

What else are you looking for? Money? Are you looking for solace? Are you looking for answers?

All of these things are things that need to be answered, and sometimes people don't even know that themselves. The point here with Christ is, He began where these people were, and then He gradually led them to Himself, is what He did. And so, for you and I, as we interact with people, just be yourself. Be inviting, be warm. But also, as you engage somebody over a cup of coffee or a snack, just ask them questions. I mean, just treat them like a neighbor over your back fence, and don't always assume that they're where you are. And, I think, realistically, we have to also understand that people are coming for different reasons. I'll tell you this. As we preach the Gospel, we should want people to come to the Church for the right reasons. And we have to make sure that as we preach the Gospel, we are preaching the heart and the truth of the Gospel. Some of the things that over the years people have come to the Church for have been interesting for us to note. We, to this day, will get our largest responses when we do a television program or an offering on prophecy. People will respond to that. Now, that's not...that can be good.

It can also have a downside. Certainly, our history, prophecy, has been a big part of the message. And people came, and some of you came, because of your initial interest in a prophetic message. But I think one of the lessons I hope you've learned, and we should have learned, is that you don't stay in the Church of God just because of prophecy.

If you do, I mean, I'm not here because of prophecy. We should stay because of the Spirit of God, manifest in the lives of people, and not just because of a prophetic message. Over the years, some people have come to the Church because of a message about food, diet, or health. I mean, that, for some people in today's world, that is where they are. Now, is that where they will always be? Maybe not, but they may be at a certain time. They get piqued by message. At one point in the past, we had a very, very strong message, a lot of articles and even programs about evolution. And I don't know how many that drew, but, you know, when you look at the messages, and we have to do this, and we are doing this a great deal on an ongoing basis with Beyond Today as we spread a broad canvas of seed out there, are we really preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God? And not a gospel just about prophecy, or a gospel about some other aspect of the message and it's too narrow a focus. That's a challenge. And I think as we recognize that prophecy will always be a hook for people and pique people's interest, that we make sure that we measure that and we carefully use that message just in the same way that Jesus did. That's a whole other subject. But again, it comes back into the matter of where people are, finding out where they are. And then just be patient and let God draw them. But remember that. When you strike up a conversation with someone here that may come or shows an interest in who you are and what you believe at work, in your neighborhood or whatever else, seek to understand where they are. What is it you really want? Try to find that out in a case where you're not going to be able to find that out in a casual, unobtrusive way so that you understand them. Then you will be better prepared to answer, to give an answer for the hope that is within you. Because then you can kind of measure out information and explanation that's not too much, not too heavy. Well, you need to know about three times. And you need to give up that pork.

Don't do those things. And don't start talking about your history, your own example, and what you learned with jargon and terminology that they have no connection to. Oh, you should have been in Big Sandy in 1964. What does that mean? We're in a world where what is a Big Sandy? We can get into our own inspeak and our own stories real quickly because that's our life and we're comfortable with that. But to an outsider, they don't know that. We learn that every time we get together with our daughter-in-law, married to our oldest son. When we mention Y-O-U, Y-S-E-P, Big Sandy, or whatever, as we will normally do in our conversations about the church, we might as well be talking Russian to her. She can't relate to that and people and events of our whole life. And we have to thrive.

Follow that back real quick. We've learned that the hard way. Might as well talk to her in Swahili because she doesn't understand it. So understand that about finding out where they are and then draw them to Christ ultimately to the truth. In John 2, here's where Christ turned the water into wine, the wedding feast at Cana.

You know the story? They were there in verse 3. They ran out of wine. And the mother of Jesus said they have no wine. Now keep in mind, this is a wedding feast. And wine was a big part of life. And for the host to run out of wine, this was a major, major faux pas. How did he run out of wine? Didn't plan? Didn't buy enough? Tried to cut corners? Whatever. You don't, you know, if you're going to be a good host and invite people for a big party or a small party, you want to have plenty of whatever it is that you have. Food, drink, pepsi, diet, cokes, whatever it might be. Because you don't want to run out, you don't want to create any inconvenience. You want to be a gracious host. I remember a few years ago we were at my father-in-law's in Akron and they were hosting a 4th of July picnic.

And a lot of church members were there. We were there visiting for the time. Hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. You know, my father-in-law always in those days had the health and he was the cook and everything. He fired up the grill and slapped those burgers and dogs on there and ready to cook them. And what happened? Ran out of propane. This was 4th of July. You just couldn't even run out and get a refill of the tank. He was mortified. I've never seen my father-in-law really embarrassed. He doesn't embarrass easily. That day he was embarrassed. To this day we joke about, make sure, Joe, you got enough gas in the grill. For the grill. Well, everything moved into the kitchen and got cooked in the kitchen that day, as I remember. But he was really embarrassed. He ran out of propane gas. I couldn't do anything about that. I couldn't turn air into gas, I guess, for him at that time. Look at what Jesus did. We know what happened. We'll skip over his interaction with his mother. But he told him to fill the water pots with water, and they did that. And then they started serving it, and miraculously, water was turned to wine. And the feast went on. And everybody was happy.

What was a social disaster, a humiliation, Christ was willing to care for somebody's needs, even something as unspiritual as turning water into wine and providing alcohol, which for some religious people that would have said, well, that's an example in itself. You don't need any alcohol. You should have had it in the first place. What Jesus did was save the host from humiliation.

And he did it quietly, and he did it tactfully. He met the need at the present moment, and he did it with discretion. And he helped somebody, gently, quietly, discreetly, and moved on.

And it no doubt wild some who noted exactly what had happened and caused them to think. We were not told that part of the story. But Jesus, he just, he helped somebody through a moment and didn't think a thing about it, and the host didn't skip a beat in that sense. Oh, you saved the best for last, they said. That's what you've done here. And so they skated through that particular example. Let's go over to chapter 4.

This is the occasion of meeting a woman at the well in Samaria.

John 4. They were going through Samaria, came to the area of the well that was Jacob's well, and Christ sat down. The disciples had gone away into the city to buy food in verse 8.

A woman came to draw water in verse 7, and Jesus said to her, Give me, give me drink.

And the Samaritan woman, and again remember the Samaritans were kind of an outcast group of people among the Jews. They were looked upon by the Jews as second-class interlopers.

And Jesus, of course, was a Jew. This woman, since that, knew that. And she said in verse 8, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus said, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. And a woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with. The well is deep. Where then do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock? You see, the woman is very defensive. Why are you talking to me? I'm a woman, and also a Samaritan. Two strikes against me. Why are you talking to me?

You're a man, and you're a Jew. Okay, then Christ starts to give her a little bit of a spiritual lesson that moves away from just a mere drink of water to, you know, if you knew who's asked you this, you might understand something a little deeper. And she didn't catch on to that, and she said, Well, you don't have anything to draw with. And, you know, are you great? No.

She started to get into an argument. She's got kind of a contrary mind here as she engages in Christ.

And he answered her, and he said, Whoever drinks of this water, verse 13, will thirst again. Whatever drinks of the water that I give will never thirst. The water I shall give, him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. And the woman said to him, Sir, give me this water that I may not thirst nor come here to draw. And then he said, Go call your husband and come here. The woman answered, I have no husband. Christ said, You well have well said it. I have no husband. You've had five before. The one whom you now have is not your husband, in that you spoke truly. And then she perceived that he was a prophet, and that there was something going on here. Christ goes on to him. Finally, she came to the conclusion, verse 25, I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. And when he comes, he will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he. And so, if you look again just at how he approached this woman and how he dealt with her, she sought a quarrel with him about where to worship God. And he avoided the quarrel.

Don't get into an argument about religion with people. Never do that. I don't even want to do that with people who are in the church. We've done far too much quarreling even among ourselves about religion. That's just not productive in any situation. You know, rigorous teaching, and certainly come to understanding and meeting of the minds, but quarreling. She sought to, you know, be a bit contrary about where to worship God. And he sidestepped that. He rose above it.

He offered her water that endures from which she would never thirst again. He offered her spiritual water in that sense. He let her from where she was, focused on getting water from a well, which was an arduous task. We cannot relate all these to that. Sometimes, to understand this story, we should understand that getting water for a person in the ancient world, or even in today's developing world where they don't have a tap in their house that they turn on, then water becomes a job. This woman had to go to a well at least once a day for the day's water supply, and then carry it back. We can't relate to that. We get upset if our pipes freeze up in the winter, or if the well goes out. I've had a well go out in a house I lived in one time, and believe me, I know what a bother that is. You go out there and the well's not working, and it's hot, and you want to shower, or you want to drink water, it's real quick and easy to get irritated and upset. When we don't have that, we cannot relate to the fact that we would have to go to a well to get just a cup of water, much less enough to bathe or to do dishes in. And yet, that's still a reality in parts of the world today. This was a reality for this woman.

And maybe she was a little quarrelsome about it all, and had things on her mind. But Christ carefully led her from where she was to help her to begin to focus on a spiritual dimension and a spiritual side to the everyday aspect of life, to begin to understand Him as the giver of eternal life.

And, you know, there's so many different aspects of the teaching by which Jesus employed here with the water and drawing from that well that could have could be gone into. But the point is, He knew how to walk through the minefield of her mind and avoid the flashpoints where He could have challenged her on. And He didn't do it, and He gradually led her to a better understanding for the moment with where they were at the time that was allotted there on that morning in Samaria to teach her something about the spiritual dimension of life and the kingdom of God with Him at the center of it. And so, again, as you find out where people are, especially with individuals who are new, don't get caught up in contention. Don't let yourself get drawn there. And believe me, there are enough contentious ideas regarding the Bible and things that are an ongoing matter. It's a good lesson for us all to learn and to remember as we work with new people and as we work with ourselves not to get contentious and not to approach things that way.

Let's look in John chapter 5 very quickly at another example.

This is the healing of a man at the pool of Bethesda. It begins in verse 2, where it talks about this location of a pool of water that had five porches. And in these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water, that whoever stepped up first after the stirring of the water was made well of whatever disease he made. A certain man there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years when Jesus saw him lying and knew that he had already been in that condition a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be made well? The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no man to put me to the pool where the water is stirred up. But while I am coming, another steps down before me. Jesus said, Rise and take up your bed and walk. And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. And so he met a man, again with a particular need. This was a man paralyzed for thirty-eight years. And this was a great need, and it was at the point of his greatest need. And he said, Do you want to be made well? So he, the man responded, he rose to his feet, and his body became whole again.

Christ had a certain compassion for this man, and he initiated a contact with him to meet his physical need. Now, you and I may not be able to say to a person in that such a condition rise up and walk. Oh, that we could. Oh, that we would.

But there is a lesson to learn in terms of just looking at a person's physical need and initiating a contact and if nothing more than to acknowledge where they are and to show compassion. And if and when necessary and appropriate, begin to help a person meet a physical need in the right time and manner and place. Again, a lot has to be considered there as we kind of apply certain principles. But all of us can be moved by compassion and initiate a contact to where we have an opportunity and the ability to even help them in some of their physical needs. If you're looking at how Jesus at least approached people without being able to without answering all the other inherent questions in an example in this particular story, just to look at how he initiated. He didn't ignore the need, and he certainly acknowledged it, and he offered what he could. Now, he offered a lot more than you and I can. We can pray for a person, and we can show compassion, and we can encourage a person. And for someone who may have been struggling with a physical infirmity for a period of time, that can be a great deal in and of itself. And it is not to be just passed over from our point of view. What he did was he began to address it. Do we begin, in our way, limited as it is, to even acknowledge and address those things as well? If we do, then we're acting as Christ did, and we're working in the way that Christ worked. Again, look at what we've learned.

He didn't tell the humiliated host at the marriage in Cana how to be born again.

He didn't get into a doctrinal treatise with him. He just quietly, discreetly met the need where he could. He didn't tell this paralyzed person about living water like he did with a woman at the well.

She had a different need at a different time and way. She was able to walk and carry her water.

He met this paralytic where his where he was. So notice how Christ's mind was directed.

He helped this man get up and walk. He did give a woman some pointed knowledge.

We skipped over the story of Nicodemus, who came with a question about being born again. But he gave him that answer. The question of being born again was not what this paralytic man needed.

He needed something different. He discerned it, and he was able to focus on that.

This got him into trouble. You go on in the story here, and the Jews couldn't believe that Christ performed a healing on the Sabbath day. They made an issue of it as the story goes on.

But those things happen. Let's notice in chapter 6 of John. John chapter 6.

One other example. This is the feeding of the 5,000.

After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias, and a great multitude followed, because they saw his signs, which he performed on those who were diseased. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. To pass over, a feast of the Jews was near. He lifted up his eyes and seeing a great multitude coming toward him. He said to Philip, where shall we buy bread that these may eat? He did this to test them, because he knew what he would do. But Philip answered and said, 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for all the people here. And then one of his disciples, Simon Peter's brother, said, there's a small boy here who's got five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they? I mean, that's not going to be enough. And Jesus said, well, tell the people to sit down.

They did. About 5,000. He took the loaves, gave thanks, distributed them, and did the same with the fish, and gave out. Everybody had as much as they wanted. They were filled. They gathered up basketfuls of what was left over. And when they saw this in verse 14, those that did see it, they said that this is truly a prophet who is to come into the world. Thousands of people on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, big need, big potluck meal. The disciples kind of wanted to send them off to buy food, but Christ insisted that they take care of the need there with what they had. He prayed over it. A miracle was performed, and a big lesson was learned.

Now, again, there's a number of lessons here. I mean, the one who provided the least was the little boy with fishes and loaves, and nowhere near enough for that many people. Those who have the least, Christ can take and do the most with. That's one major lesson there. And he fed them as a result of that. That's why I say, you know, sometimes people, and we can get down in the mouth about ourselves, and I had this leveled at me a few weeks back, why are we so involved in wanting to preach the gospel, somebody said. We can't even get along among ourselves.

We need to be taking care of ourselves, rather than essentially the upshot of it was we need to be taking care of ourselves and having socials, potlucks, camps, all these things that are inward and not be preaching the gospel. And the implied statement was, we can't even get along among ourselves. Why are we wanting to invite people into our midst? Yeah. Sometimes it's those who have the least in terms of even skills, people skills, Christ can do the most with.

Just like you did with this little boy who had the least amount of food for the need present at that moment. Just because you and I may have our challenges spiritually, be organizationally challenged, doesn't mean Christ can't use us as an instrument in the body of Christ to meet the needs of people where we are, where they are at this moment in time.

If we look at the example of Jesus, of these and so many other examples, there is enough lessons for you and I to learn to rise to the occasion and let Christ work through us. Let God do His work. He's going to be the one who calls. There's no rhyme or reason for you ever having been called to the knowledge that you have. Or me. Think about it, folks. Who were you 30 years ago, 40 years ago? Who were you to be called to the knowledge of the truth? You were nobody. And then you were somebody. You were going along in your life. And then you had needs. And in many cases, you were searching. And you found that need met. And God called you.

That work, that reality, is just as much alive today in our world in the 21st century, 2011, as it ever has been. There are people who have the same questions and the same needs that you did 25, 35, 45 years ago that led you to either reject the church that you are, the religion or the way of life, non-religious, religious, whatever it may have been that you were part of, and to accept the calling of God, as there are today. People are still looking for answers.

I happen to, I know that when my mother left her Methodist church in upbringing, and she was a good, solid, sincere Methodist woman involved in everything that they did, she was looking for, she was hungry spiritually for something that to satisfy her. And she was searching, and she thought she could find it at one point in her life by going from one Methodist church in town all the way across town to another Methodist church. And after a few years, that didn't satisfy her, and she realized Methodism wasn't giving her the answers that she was looking for. And eventually, God called her. That same need is there today. Our world today is going through changes, where people, even in the religious world, are challenging their long-held teachings, traditions, and customs. There's a turn and a firmet going on in the, let's say, the Christian, Protestant, evangelical world. That's every much a churn as it was at any point in the past, but especially even at the time of Jesus. The world of the first century was an interesting period of time. The ideas that had governed the world philosophically and religious-wise, and it was a pagan world, as we define it from our point of view. I don't think the pagans of Rome went around saying, it's going to be a pagan today. They didn't look at it that way.

But their ideas about life, the afterlife, had run its course, and they did not satisfy.

People were looking for answers, and that's when Jesus came, and he gave them the answers. And the church was in a right time and place. The time was fulfilled. It was the fullness of times, in one sense. The old ideas of the world at that time had run its course. A lot of that is going on today. I see Protestant scholars and Protestant pastors, Anglican theologians, evangelical megastars, questioning their most basic, cherished teachings of the religious world. They question whether there is a heaven. They question whether there is a hell. And they write books about it.

And they write them because there's a question. And their traditional answers don't give them satisfaction. Now do they come to... and amazingly, they come to certain scriptural understandings. I got books on my shelf I could read to you from an Anglican theologian and another one from an evangelical megachurch guy. And they skirt through the truth just as well as some of our literature about heaven and hell. The reason is, I think, is because those long-cherished ideas of going to heaven or going to hell or through bad or whatever, just in that area, they don't satisfy. There is a hunger. There is a spiritual hunger going on today in this world, and that hunger needs to be met. And it can be met. God is not calling anyone, or He's done calling people, just, I don't buy. Can't believe that. The truth still has a receptive audience. When Jesus went into, through the land, in His time, He really did three things as He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. He fed people, literally gave them food, as we've seen. He met them at their need at the moment and healed them in many cases.

And He taught them truth. He did those three things. He fed them, He healed them, and He taught them the truth of the kingdom. He met them where they were, and He gave them what they needed at that moment in every way. There are lessons for us to learn. That was His method of evangelizing, and that's where He reached people where they are. He touched them at the point of their need, and He gave them a glimpse of how life could be now, how answers could be given to their big questions and the gnawing concern that they have within them, and hope for the future of the ultimate goal of the kingdom of God. Our world is going through so many rapid changes today, and we're riding a roller coaster as a part of the church of God in the United States. The church of God in the midst of all of that. The long-held traditional theories and economies have been turned upside down. I remember when I came here to this town more than 28 years ago, I was right at the point where the big engine of commerce in Fort Wayne, Harvester, was shutting down its gates over here on the east side of town. Whoa, what's going to happen to Fort Wayne?

They said what they were saying 28 years ago. What will happen? And then over the years, a lot of other things have shuttered and moved out of town. Lincoln Life. And others have come in, but the and in most recent years we've seen whole economic sectors turned upside down. The things that companies, businesses, economic models, the government, the dollar, the world economy has gone through such change that it's shaken people to their foundation.

And concurrent with that, even within the church of God, spiritually, people's security and foundation has been shaken as well with each shake of the church.

And there's lessons to be learned from both as to what our ultimate foundation, hope, comfort, strength really is. We're riding a hurricane in many ways, challenges as we move along. God has been very gracious and He's been very, very kind. And it's our challenge to be humble, but also to go back into these scriptures and these examples and teach us and be taught from them as to how Christ, the head of this church, did His job when He walked this earth.

So that as we reach out to people today with the message that we have and perfect as we are, we do it in the same fashion that Jesus did. So that when people walk through the door, come into our midst, or talk to you, whatever venue they come across you and find out that you're a little different, a little bit odd, and they want to know why, that we do it in the same way we answer their questions, we meet their need, we preach the gospel to them where they are. And we do it the same way that Jesus Christ did it. If we can learn those lessons, then God can use our example, and God can call people, God the Father can draw people to Him through Jesus Christ, just as John 6 and verse 44 says. The challenge is up to us. Let's pray about that. Let's commit ourselves and our work to God's hands and expect His blessing. And in doing so, expect that it will come.