IT'S NEVER TOO LATE!

This evening, we had Bible study at church and choir practice.  Two women were baptized before the Bible study began.  The pastor has told people that he would be available to baptize them any time they wanted.  They do not have to wait till Sunday and do it before a large congregation.  I like that about him. 

There were a couple of meetings going on when I came in, one was for the adults who will be going on the youth retreat this weekend.  The young people will be going to a camp in Saint Anne, IL leaving Friday night and returning Sunday.  It will be their first.  I remember when I was a child and we would go away to camp for a week in the summer.  It was a really great experience and much of my growth as a Christian came from those camps.

When we began the Bible study, the pastor shared many references about going out into the world to evangelize and how he plans to grow the church in that way.  It had been many years since I have heard any pastor put such an emphasis on evangelism and we wonder why our churches are dying.  He did point out that we have to make sure that we are living a positive Christian life, (not perfect because we are all sinners) before we can share the Gospel with others and have it bear fruit.  Many Christians are afraid to witness because their lives are not much better that the people they would be trying to witness to and they would be labeled hypocrites.

But, my thing was always that I have never been through what others go through, so how could I say to them that Jesus can deliver them with the assurance of 

my conviction.  What do I say when they ask how do I know?  All I can say is that if it had not been for His grace, I may have been in the same condition  I can share what He taught me to keep me safe.