God used imperfect people to reach me with the gospel. Be encouraged as my testimony reveals the impact of evangelism. God’s call is “There is still room for more at the table.” 

<p>God used imperfect people to reach me with the gospel. Be encouraged as my testimony reveals the impact of evangelism. God’s call is “There is still room for more at the table.” </p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

South Bay SDA Church

Jack Philips

There is Still Room for More

Father, Lord, we just want to come before you and we want to thank you for this time to open your word and to share.

I'm looking forward to sharing your story in my life and the story of your servants in my life, in my experience with you.

So as we do that, we want you to be glorified.

So we ask for your Holy Spirit to be here with us.

That as I speak, your Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts, changes my words, do whatever you need to do, Lord.

But we pray that it is you that is heard today, Not me.

Lord, we pray your blessing in this time.

But as I was sitting there, I started to think.

And as I started to think, I had a moment.

And since we're in our Bibles already, Luke 15, the very next chapter in Luke 15, There's several parables of lost items.

We don't have time to do sermons on those today.

While I recommend reading them with a book called Christ Object Lessons, you will not be disappointed.

Going on over to the parable of the lost son down in Luke 15 verse 17 it says, but when he came to himself, but when he came to himself, he was there he lost everything.

He wanted to eat what pigs ate and he couldn't.

And he had this moment where he comes to himself.

This is what my life has turned out to be.

This is what leaving my father's house brought me to.

And he remembers in the rest of the verse, how many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and a spare, and I perish with hunger." He remembers, hey, it's good even for the workers in God's house.

Well, it is good for the workers in God's house.

But it's incredible for the sons and daughters in God's house.

And he has this moment of clarity and he heads home.

Well, I was sitting there and I had a moment of clarity where I realized just what I had become.

And to be very honest, I was not what I had hoped to be when I was sitting around dreaming of what life would be like.

I never envisioned that as any part of my future.

And that's because it wasn't anything I would have ever hoped or wanted for myself or anyone else.

6 years before that, no not 6 years, a few years before that, I had wrapped up an experience with church and an experience with God that did go about 6 years.

I had went to church for about 6 years and I was done.

I walked away from the whole thing and I told God very Clearly, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I told God that I hated him.

And I said, get out of my life, I want nothing to do with you anymore.

I walked away from him and church, everything.

And I just wanna say, my life became less than stellar after that it wasn't something to be desired.

In that kind of decision, it became worse.

I surrounded myself with people who didn't care about me.

They cared only about the things that drew us together.

I had given my willpower over to addictions in that experience.

I had led a life that was directed by demonic forces rather than allowing God to direct my life.

I was more miserable than I had ever been in my entire life at that point.

And I was staying so busy, so I didn't have to think about it.

I didn't have to realize what I had become, and who I was, and how I really felt in that moment and in that life.

And that's when I saw clearly just who I was and where I was.

But I also was reminded not just of, man, this is no good.

But man, it is better in my father's house.

And I didn't have the greatest experience in church.

I didn't have the greatest knowledge of God, but I knew 1 thing, it was better there.

And so I got up and I threw all those people out of my house.

I put some stuff in front of the door, and I fell down on my knees, and I started crying, and just pouring out my heart to God right there by myself.

And I just spent the whole night in that place.

And the next day was not a lot different, but it was different.

But I was still the same guy, but with a little difference that you couldn't quite see, but it was happening down inside.

And I started at that time to read my Bible Yeah, I had a Bible as shocking as that is I had a Bible My dad had given me a Bible when I was 16 years old.

It was the first Bible I had ever held in my hand.

When I was 16 I had got this Bible and I was so excited when he had given it to me because at the time I had been watching a lot of movies about the end of the world and if you watch a lot of movies about the end of the world.

It isn't long before you're watching movies where the devil has defined what the end of the world looks like.

But in those movies, they quote the Bible Periodically.

And so I'm like, yeah, this is great dad, let's read the Bible together.

Well, he said, yes, that sounds like a good idea.

And I was so excited to see the stories I had watched on TV and in theaters unfold in the Bible.

And as you know, I found out That didn't, that wasn't there at all.

I couldn't, I didn't understand anything I read in Revelation, but it sure didn't look like those movies.

And I'm sure my dad didn't understand anything he read in Revelation either.

So that was that, you know, We did it, we gave it a good shot and we gave up.

Let me say I gave up, say that's enough of the Bible, but I've got it and I had carried it with me all of this, all these years, I'd carried this Bible with me from place to place like some sort of good luck charm, but I never opened it up.

And at this moment, this place in time, I was reminded of that Bible.

Back to Menu

There is Still Room for More

Transcript

Description

Sponsor

Recorded

Sound Doctrine