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Is anyone beyond the reach of God?

Our pastor raised a good question on Sunday morning in talking about the conversion of Saul of Tarsus: "Is anyone beyond the reach of God?" He went on to talk about overlooking the possibilities of reaching out to people that we think are unreachable or, perhaps more realistically, that we are uncomfortable reaching out to. He commented, "Do we spend too much time reaching out to people like ourselves?"

Why do we restrict those to whom we reach out? Perhaps they just make us uncomfortable because of their lifestyle, appearance, or actions. Then maybe we feel inadequate because we perceive that they are smarter, better dressed, or more affluent that we are. Could it just be that we are afraid that we will make fools of ourselves?

The pastor suggested several groups that should be considered for outreach--families with special needs children, senior adults who are becoming less independent, and those who are intentionally single.

Who would you add to that group? I think I would add college-age young adults, especially those who are openly antagonistic to organized religion. Another group would be environmentalists who tend to distrust Christians who have talked a better game of being good stewards of Creation than in actually doing something about it. There is also members of the artistic community who could add so much to our experience.

Can you think of others?

Comments

Jim Whitaker said…
Interestingly enough, I felt lead to write about Pastor Mike’s sermon in my blog Corner Stone (http://jmwhitaker.blogspot.com/). I think that the most important part about what Pastor Mike had to say was that Saul (Paul) who was thought to be someone that God could not even reach was reached by Jesus. If someone like Paul was reached by Jesus and used for good, then we should be able to look at anyone with an eye to Paul. Jesus spent his ministry teaching and healing to the people that most of first century society would consider to be people that not even God could reach, but He did it anyway. Jesus proved that there was more to ministry than just talking about it. He did something about it. Yet, it is more amazing to think that He did something with Paul even after death. Paul is an example of have the resurrected power of Jesus could change and transform anyone.

As for another group, I think that we need to remember those people who do not think that there is even a God and people of other religions, especially those who are persecuted for their beliefs because of the actions of a few.
10:07 AM
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