July 4, 2008 by Matt.

Wow, not a single guess. I bet there are some people out there that know the answer, but just chose not to post a comment. Just in case any of you didn’t know the man in our story is Moses. That’s right, Moses was adopted by Egyptian royalty, grew up in there home as one of their own. Then one day as Moses was walking he saw an Egyptian beating a Israelite. This enraged Moses and he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand to hide his crime. This is the same Moses that went on to lead the nation of Isreal out of captivity, recieve the 10 commandments, part the Red Sea and write the first 5 books of the bible.

So, God could take a man that was not even rasied by his biological parents, infact raised by the very people that had enslaved his own people; a man that would later become a murderer, and turn him into one of the most influential people in the world. The influence of Moses is still felt today; whether it is the 10 commandments hanging on the wall in the Supreme Court, or his writings in the millions upon millions of bibles that have been printed.

If you think you see an emerging trend in Story Time, you are correct. The Bible says, in Romans 3:23, “…for ALL HAVE SINNED and fall short of the glory of God.” I hope that through Story Time you might see that not only can God save you, regardless of how you have sinned, he can use you to do a mighty work. Many people would rank murder among the top of their bad list, Christian or not. Yet God took a Murderer, Moses, and used him to do such increadible things. The enemy would have us believe that there are certain sins that can’t be forgiven. That we have, somehow, been to bad for God to even forgive us, much less use us. And even if we don’t feel our sin is too bad to be forgiven, the enemy wants us to believe that we could never be used by God.

My goal here is to show that while the people in the Bible did amazing things for God, they were just normal, flawed people like me and you. And, if God can use them, he can use you and me as well.

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July 2, 2008 by Matt.

Ok, here we go again. Today our story is about a man, we’ll call him Steve. Not long after birth Steve was adopted by a very rich and prominent family. So, Steve grew up as a member of this family. However, he knew all along that he did not belong, he was from the other side of the tracks so to speak. One day while walking through town, he saw someone from his old neighborhood being beat up by someone from his new neighborhood. Enraged by this Steve killed the man.

Do you know who this man is?

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June 30, 2008 by Matt.

Ok, so what exactly do I mean by that? Shouldn’t our churches be full of light? After all Jesus said in Matthew 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world…”. So, since our churhes are full of the saved, then shouldn’t they be places of light, not darkness…

 Well, I want to challange that thought. Jesus did indeed say that we were the light of the world. However, I don’t think that means our churches should be completely filled with light. After all, when Jesus said we were the light of the world, he was referring to those that had salvation. So, if there is no darkness in our churches, we are missing the mark.

If you are still not following me, here it is. If Christians are the light of the world, then a church service filled with the saved would be very bright. However, when we introduce some lost people into that same service, then things begin to darken a little. If we are not bringing lost people into our churches, then how can they ever come to know Jesus. Yes, I know that some will come to know Jesus without ever stepping foot into the church. However, I think that most will accept salvation through the influence of the church.

So, I ask again, is your church dark enough? Are there enough lost people in your church? If not, what are you doing to get more lost people there. I must admit that I don’t do all that I feel I should to get people into my church, but I am making a fresh commitment to do so. My goal is going to be to invite at least one person per week.

I have heard it said that the way to bring lost people into the church is to “Invest and Invite”. What this means is that we are to invest in people and then invite them to church. After all, noone cares how much you know untill they know how much you care. So, we should invest in relationships with lost people, showing them that we love them, even as God loves them. Then when we invite them to church, they are more receptive. I have also found that when I have invested in this manner that it often becomes easier to invite them to church.

So, Is your church dark enough? If not, what are you doing to bring more lost people in?

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