And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. ~ I Corinthians 6:11 (ESV)
READING: I Corinthians 6:9-11
One day during the planting of my first church, I met a young woman named Mary (not her real name) and asked her if she would be interested in our new church. In reply she asked me a question: “What would you think if prostitutes and homosexuals and drunks started coming to your church?”
“I think that would be great,” I said. “We’re starting a church for people just like that.”
Mary then explained that she worked as a bartender in a topless bar. She and her husband were friends with the kind of rough people she had mentioned. Within a few weeks I started a Bible study with Mary, her husband Bob, and two of their close friends. All of them turned from their sins and trusted Christ to save them! Our young church welcomed Mary and Bob, loved them, and helped them to grow spiritually. Mary quit her job in the bar and eventually became my secretary.
In I Corinthians 6, Paul lists a whole series of sinful lifestyles that are incompatible with the kingdom of God. But then he gives praise to God’s saving grace by saying: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
We start new churches to reach people who desperately need the Savior. And those are the people Jesus saves!
Father, Thank You for Your amazing grace! Please help our church to reach the lost, the forgotten and the desperate, to Your glory. Amen.
