Remix: Student Devotionals

Becoming a Disciple - Week 2, Day 1

Every Person Matters to God (Caring for the lost)

Our church is sold out to the idea that every person matters to God, so reaching out to people and meeting them wherever they’re at is a priority of this church.

In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus described the purpose of the church.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The mission of the church is to help people who are far from Christ by helping them become fully devoted followers of Jesus. Unfortunately, we forget that, and so we have to remind ourselves from time to time of the purpose and reason that this church exists.

An exit survey was taken after Sunday morning church services across the nation to find out the number one reason “churched” people thought their church existed. 85% of the “churched” people that were surveyed said the church exists to meet their needs and their families’ needs. The only problem is, Jesus said, the church exists to reach people for Christ.

Every once in a while, I will hear people say, “You know Sagebrush is getting so big.” Do you know what really is too big? Hell is too big, and it is the passion of this church that by the grace of God, we would be used to increase the population of Heaven and decrease the population of Hell.

A few years ago, I got the chance to take my family to Disneyland. We had just arrived and had only been at our hotel for about three hours when my cell phone rang. It was my brother Jeff.

The last time I was in Missouri, just a few months earlier, my brother asked if I would start sending him the CDs of the weekend messages. The first one I sent him was from the “Hero” series, where we looked at the second coming of Jesus. Again, this was years ago.

Out of three services, I only mentioned in one of the services that I looked forward to going to Heaven because I wanted to see my oldest brother Teddy again. My brother Teddy died when he was five years old of brain cancer. This was the only service I mentioned this in, and it just so happened that this was the CD of that service that I sent my brother.

My brother called me on the phone, crying. He said, “Todd, yesterday I went to Teddy’s grave, and I said to myself I want to see Teddy again. Then today, I put this CD in, and you said the same thing.” And then my brother Jeff said this, “Todd, I don’t know if I will see Teddy again.”

I have waited for this conversation for over 30 years. I explained to my brother how he could ask Jesus to come into his life, and I prayed with him. Today, my brother has a relationship with Jesus, and I will spend forever with my two brothers in Heaven.

Since our conversation, my brother has read Luke, Matthew, James, and Genesis and has listened to every CD I have sent him. He said to me the other day, “I need to get to know who these people were in the Bible. I don’t want to be embarrassed when I run into them in Heaven.”

There are a lot more Jeff’s out there. If we really believe there is a Heaven and a Hell, then we have to pray and give and serve. Why? Because eternity is in the balance, my friends. Eternity is in the balance.

Time Out:

How does serving in the church help people who are far from God?

How does giving our tithes and offerings help reach people who are far from God?

How many Jeff’s do you know that need a relationship with Jesus? What are their names? 

If there really is a Heaven and there really is a Hell, and people really are going to one place or the other, what are you personally going to do to start to plunder Hell and populate Heaven?

"Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."

John 8:12