Ep 81: I Hope My Friends Show Up!

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Topic:

• ​What can the hopes of a little boy teach us about our commitment to the Lord's harvest?

Discussion Questions:

• Why do we tend to have hopes regarding bringing others to Christ rather than attempts to do so?
• Do those that you long to be with in heaven know that you care?
• What is something you can do this week to reach out to them and do more than JUST hope?

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, good morning and welcome tothe show.
I'm Daniel Dowell and this is for your Sunday morning drive, a
short podcast with the goal of providing some motivation, some
drive and encouragement on your way to worship and to help you
recenter your mind on those spiritual things on hectic
Sunday mornings. We are brought to you by the
Ministry League network of podcasts.

(00:20):
Ministry League offers some wonderful resources for your
spiritual growth and other greatpodcasts.
Those are all made available to you through ministryleague.com
or you can download their app. I hope you're having a wonderful
day. I also want to thank you for
listening for making us a part of your Sunday morning routine
or or checking us out whenever you listen.
If you don't mind, give us a share with someone that you

(00:42):
think might enjoy the show. If after this episode is over,
you can send them a text or sendit to them on social media.
I'd really appreciate it. You can also find ways to
support the show and more information at for your Sunday
morningdrive.com. All right, well, let's get the
show on the road this morning. This is episode 81.
I hope my friends show up. Let's go to church.

(01:08):
Are we there yet? If you take a look at the album
artwork for this episode or you check out the corresponding page
on our website, you'll see a picture of my son in silhouette

(01:29):
standing in the doorway of the Hawesville Church of Christ
where I serve. It's obvious he's looking for
something. But what you can't hear is what
he said while he was staring outat the parking lot on that
particular Wednesday evening. He said, I hope my friends show
up. Yeah, it touched my heart, too,
because he wasn't just talking about his child playmates.
He refers to everyone at that congregation as his friend.

(01:52):
I'm sure there's a lesson there somewhere, maybe for another
time. But the rest of that story is
that yes, his friends all showedup.
Dorian was overjoyed. We gathered as the church, we
praised God, we opened up His word together and all was well.
From his perspective. Why wouldn't they?
The simple result of childhood innocence and pure unbounded

(02:14):
hope. From a three-year old's
perspective, people come to Jesus and by extension are added
to the church because that's simply what people do.
It's the right thing, no effort required other than good
intentions and a sincere wish. Ah, but friends, we know in
reality it takes more than that.But I do think we tend to have
sometimes the same outlook or expectation that my three-year

(02:37):
old son has concerning the lost and the church.
Sometimes we sit back and we stare out at the parking lot and
we say, man, I hope my friend shows up.
That would be nice, wouldn't it,if we could face the certainty
of judgement with the boldness and just hope that our friends
will be there. But we need to be honest with
ourselves. It takes work to bring the lost,

(02:58):
those that we know and those that we don't know yet, to God.
Jesus himself said in Matthew 937 and 38, the harvest is
plentiful, but the workers are few.
Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out
workers into His harvest. You see, Jesus recognized that
more workers and by extension more work was needed to

(03:20):
accomplish push the will of God.Many times it seems that we have
this, build it and they will come mentality about soul
winning and evangelism. We build buildings, we make
programs, we run events, we do service projects.
And there is nothing wrong with any of those things.
They're all good, even necessary.
But let's go back to what Doriansaid.

(03:41):
I hope my friends show up. You see, that implies a
relationship and that is what weneed to build.
That is what we need to foster because people are largely not
going to care about a savior whose people don't care about
them. The moral of the story is we've
got to put in the work and don'tgrow weary in doing it.

(04:02):
Galatians chapter 6-9 and ten. Let's not become discouraged in
doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not become
weary. So then, while we have
opportunity, let's do good to all people, especially those who
are of the household of faith. Yes, we should want our friends
to show up spiritually, both those who are saved and those

(04:25):
who are lost. Yes, we should want them to know
Jesus. But we can't just want it.
Nothing removes our personal responsibility that we have to
the lost. Not a program, not a hired
evangelist, not a wish, not a hope.
If you have a friend that you can't imagine not being in
heaven with, let me encourage you to reach out to them this

(04:47):
week. Invite them to assemble with the
church. Maybe you just invite them the
talk over a cup of coffee. Be planning for the future.
Invite them to sit around your table at Thanksgiving.
Grow those relationships. Because showing up, it's great,
but it's just a start. But it's the start of something
purposeful and important. Because I'm right there with
you. I hope my friends show up and I

(05:08):
hope yours do too. Well, those are my thoughts for
your Sunday morning drive. Now it's time to hear yours.
Our discussion questions for this week are why do we tend to
have hopes regarding bringing others to Christ but lack
attempts to do so? Do those that you long to be in
heaven with know that you care and what is something you can do

(05:29):
this week to reach out to them and do more than just hope.