Welcome to
Trinity! I’d like to tell you a story that I hope gives you some
idea of why we exist as a church. About 11 years ago, I was at one
of the large malls in the Portland area with my two young children
on a Saturday in December. We had dropped my wife off at another
event near the mall and decided to get in a few hours of Christmas
shopping before having to pick her up later. As you might imagine
the mall was packed. We headed for Meier and Frank to find some
gifts for their mother. Within a few minutes, though trying to keep
my children right next to me, I noticed my son, about 5 at the time,
was out of view. He had developed a liking to “hiding” in the
display racks of clothes so I searched all the racks near me. I had
just seen him seconds before, but as I looked he was not to be
found. His little game was not very amusing anymore. My
frustration soon turned to panic as I discovered he was lost. The
more I looked for him, the more frantic I got. At first, I didn’t
want to draw any attention to myself or my children, but after a
minute or so of not being able to find him, I began to yell his name
louder and louder as my daughter and I ran through the store. I
didn’t care what people thought, I wanted to find my son! My heart
was sick. Was he simply lost or had someone taken him? I talked
with store personnel and began to pray. Some 15-20 agonizing
minutes later I heard a message over the loudspeaker, “would the
father of Cody Blikstad come to customer service on the first
floor”. My heart has never been so joyful and relieved as we walked
towards customer service and saw him sitting there on a stool. How
could I have ever forgiven myself if my young son had never been
found?
Why do I tell
you this story? It reminds me so much of a series of stories Jesus
tells us about His Father in the Gospel of Luke. Through these
parables, Jesus shows us His Father would do anything to get His
“lost” children back. Jesus describes Him like a shepherd who
having lost just one of 100 sheep, will go out and search for it
until it has been found. He is like the woman who having lost one
of 10 coins will do everything she can until she finds it. He is
like the father who joyfully welcomes his wayward, rebellious and
“lost” son home. Jesus, in that same Gospel tells us, “And I, the
Son of Man, have come to seek and save those who are lost”. (Luke
19:10) And Jesus has called His disciples to care about “lost”
people and to do the same. Jesus said to His disciples, “Go and
make disciples of all the nations”. The Apostle Paul says, “God has
given us the task of reconciling people to Him.”(2 Cor. 5:18)
Though we cannot save anyone, we can point people to the One who
can. That is why we exist. We realize that people have gotten
lost, separated from God by their own choosing, and yet God, through
Jesus, is seeking and saving those who turn to Him, and that He
wants to use us in the process.
The song ‘Amazing
Grace’ begins, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. That saved
a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I am found, was blind,
but now I see.” We have all been lost, but through the grace of
God, if we have placed our trust in Jesus Christ, are saved. Saved
from our rebellion against God and saved to a new life in Christ. It
is possible only through faith in Jesus and His payment for our sins
on the cross. We simply need to confess our rebellion and our
desire to follow Him, thank Him for His grace and provision in
Jesus, and ask Him to come and save us. He has promised He will.
I can’t even
imagine if I were sitting here today without my son. My heart would
be broken. You are like that son or daughter to God. Though He
doesn’t lose us, we do that on our own. He desperately wants you to
be “found”. He doesn’t care what other people think. He wants what
is best for you, and is searching for you even today. Though God
doesn’t get frustrated or panicked, He has done all that is
necessary to find you. Won’t you allow Him to find you today?!
We would love
for you to experience the joyful reunion with God. We would love to
be a part of your journey.
God bless you!
Steve Blikstad, Pastor (
stephen@trinityc.org
)
Trinity Evangelical Church
