Tuesday, December 23, 2008

who we're after

Luke 19: 1 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost."


There's that word "notorious" describing the people Jesus had supper with. I've got to ask my son, Glenn, to do a word study on that. I'd like to know what the root word is in the Greek. It just amuses me that there were people who were famous for being sinful. That's just a concept that is foreign in our society, culture, & world.

When I read verse 10, it was like God whispered, "that's what's supposed to happen at The Warehouse - seeking out those who are lost & wandering in their lives, who need to know the saving, grace-full relationship that He offers.

I've tried to help people understand that The Warehouse is about reaching out to everyone who is in our neighborhood.

There seems to be a concept floating around that The Warehouse is some sort of homeless ministry. One thing I've noticed about downtown, as I've gone there on Thursday nights when "The Group" from Harvest Cathedral, is that there's not a lot of homeless people (where have the homeless people of Macon gone? Were they all shipped off to Key West, or something?!). There is a healthy amount of poor & hungry people.

One thing I've noticed over the last year is that God keeps telling me to not just think aboutside the box, but to throw away my box - in short, quit have preconceived ideas & expectations about how The Warehouse & it's focus & impact will shape up. There's lots of 20/30somethings that HOG & a 30something ministry will connect with, specifically. But there's lots of other types of people around, too - workers, shop keepers, churches, local/state/federal government officials & workers, lawyers (!), doctors - to name a few demographic groups - in short, there's lots of people who can, at any time, walk thru our doors at the Warehouse.

For a long time, I thought The Warehouse was about 20/30somethings. Then one day, when I was doing something random, God seemed to whisper, "What about the people who work downtown? Whatcha gonna do for them?" It was like God opened up another wing of ministry about the size of the Pentagon.

ALL of these people are who we're about at The Warehouse. ALL of them need something very simple - someone to love & care about them as individuals & simple point the way to a relationship with our Abba Father, provided by Jesus, & empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Some of you may feel a bit intimidated by such a mandate. It really quite simple (notice I didn't say "easy"). All we have to do is simply point people to Jesus by saying something along the lines of, "Look, here's what He did for me. If He can do that for a 'notorious' sinner like me, He can do it for you."

That's what we're gonna be about at The Warehouse - people who point people to Jesus, in how we act, how we treat people, how we love & care.

(As my son, Jacob, would say, "Holy smokes!" That sounds like a mission statement!)

(I think it's amazing, as well as pretty hilarious, how God just keeps talkin' & talkin' to me about downtown, usually at some pretty random moments. I have to constantly be alert, or I'll miss something.)

I love y'all - don't miss "Christmas Eve @ The Warehouse" - 7pm - bring someone who needs to hookup with Jesus

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