Pastor Cecil A. Thompson January 21, 2015 “THE COST!” Luke 14:28-30 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’” My wife, Joyce, always enjoyed entertaining. Among the many guests we hosted over the years, there were church leaders, seminary professors, and returned missionaries. Today I was recalling the dinner we once had with a General Superintendent who had just returned from his mission assignment in a very politically explosive region. That evening he began to talk about what it meant to count the cost. Church growth in his mission field had been slow and difficult; people just did not seem to be interested in giving themselves to Christ. He related how a communist regime took power and forced the missionaries out. Not only that, they made it a crime to become a Christian and join a church. It seemed that all of the labor for Christ was at an end. If the people would not join the church in the good times, what would happen in the times of trial? It was several years before the communists were ousted and the missionaries returned. To their amazement the churches had more than doubled in size -- not just in attendance, but in spiritual depth. When the new believers were questioned, they said that they saw believers willing to die for their faith and wanted to be a part of something that real. There was a cost, but it bore fruit. Are you willing to pay the cost in your own life? May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions! - - - Pastor Cecil
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 19:54:28 +0000