First Baptist Family of Asheboro, NC

I’ve heard stories of who your One person is that you have been praying for.  It’s a wonderful thing to talk about together.  This one person is important.  We’ll be in Matthew 13 and John 1 today.  Let’s think about Matthew 18.  Jesus tells a story of a shepherd.  Think about a shepherd with 100 sheep.  99 are with him and one is lost.  Does he not go after that one?  Jesus said one is important.  It’s not the Father’s will that one should perish.  At some point in our lives we were that one.  Someone helped us connect with God.  Our one matters to God.  What’s the next step for us to help our one person connect to God? Commit to being and intentional witness.                         45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,  46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.                                                                                                                               

Jesus came to this world and met us right where we are.  He died on the cross for us to restore us to the Father.  We are to remember God loves us, cares for us and wants to make us whole.  Today we celebrated this in baptism.  We are made whole when we meet Jesus.  We are praying for our friends to experience this. Today, there’s a group of friends.  They want to get their friend to Jesus. These men had a mission. They wanted their friend to meet the one who can transform their lives.             And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,  Luke 5.18 (ESV) Jesus had been going throughout the region teaching.  We don’t think about this often, but Jesus was doing miraculous healings.  These friends wanted to see their friend made whole.  Having a mission changed their focus.             “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  Luke 19.10 (ESV) This was

My one is a guy who would say he is a Christian.  God has placed him on my heart to pray for this guy and see what God does in his life.  Maybe this guy will join us in worship soon.  We have resources for you today to take and pray for one person.  We should all be asking, “Who is my one?”  Who would you like to see connected to God?  Maybe the person you’re thinking of calls themselves a Christian.  What comes to your mind when I say, “pumpkin?”  Fall?  Pie?  Finally it feels like fall this year.  What comes to your mind when I say, “Christian?”  For us inside the church it is a positive word but it’s not a positive word throughout history.  The word disciple is used 281 times in the Bible.  A disciple is a follower of Jesus.  Jesus’ first call to the disciples is similar to the invitation God gives to you and I.  The passage we examine today is Jesus calling some of his disciples. Jesus doesn’t choose the best, He chooses the willing. As we look at these twelve, all a