April 5, 2011 I Don't Know You! 4

There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. Salvation Wednesday, a time in the middle of the week to first look in the mirror and talk to God about your own Salvation, to pray to God to have your sins forgiven, and to repent and get a fresh start. And then step out and travel to those "neighbors" whom we are to love and tell them about God, the only one we should love more than our neighbors. Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and for Sharon this morning, and also our grandson, Daniel Lehman, GO NAVY. Yes, it is Salvation Wednesday and the day we pray first for our own salvation and also to pray that God will use us to help bring in the lost to Jesus to be saved. Please remember all of you working for Jesus, it is our work to bring them to Jesus, it is Jesus and only Jesus that can save them. The Big Trip 16-3 I Don't Know You! 3 Luke 13:28 - There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. (NIV) Someday, down the road, there just might be a message in this next word I want to give you today, someday you might hear it in your own church, and maybe you have already... Brothers and sisters, it is time to "Glean" the "Pews". You know, years ago, and if I am not mistaken, there is still a group or two that still "Gleans" the orchards and fields. I think it might be a United Methodist Men Mission, but I am not sure on that... If you do not know how the term is used, it was like this. People would pick the crops when they are ready and some are even machine picked, then there are leftovers, so to speak, and the poor were permitted to go into those fields and hunt for food, or glean the field for food. Even in my own garden I would go and pick tomatoes and think I had them all, and later the same day would see some hidden down deep in, ok, the weeds. So now what am I talking about when I say it is time to "Glean" the "Pews?" Folks, I have visited in many churches over my life, Dolores and I would be riding motorcycle and would see people heading into a church on a Sunday Morning and we would pull up, park the bike and carry our helmets into the church. Many times we would sit through a nice service but never heard a word on or about salvation through our Lord Jesus, while in other churches we attended by just dropping in there would be a call for salvation. How long has it been since you heard a word at the end of your service about salvation? It should happen at every service, I think!! Take Dolores and I walking into a church with our leathers on and our helmets in hand, I would think a pastor would be thinking, WOW, FRESH MEAT, so to speak. But forget we visitors, what about the person sitting in the pew week after week and did not have his heart open to receive the word? What about the pastor, is your pastor saved? Bold, ain't I? Folks, if you really, really care about your pastor and your church leaders, why not ask them, are you BORN AGAIN, Pastor? I asked one of my pastors that one day, I said "Pastor, are you saved?" Weeks later he told me at first he was really hurt that I would question him about his salvation, then he said, wow, the man loved me enough to really want to know. Brothers and sisters, as we look at Salvation Wednesday this week, let's look around your home church and say to yourself first, how can we "glean the pews", where do we start? First, let me suggest that if you are not a pastor on the line, you start with your pastor and put out your suggestion, and then go from there. Even a message about salvation and "Gleaning the Pews" might get it rolling. Let's look at today's scripture again: Luke 13:28 - There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. (NIV) How awful would it be, to have sat on that hard pew all your life, Sunday, after Sunday, after Sunday and then when you get to the gate, you yourself would be thrown out? You look in and see your family, you even see Jesus, but you had no idea, maybe you slept through the messages each week, and maybe your heart never opened for the message, or maybe you sat in a church that never put out the word, and folks, there are churches like that. Some of those churches tell you that it is ok for a man to marry a man, or a woman to marry a woman, or to just live together without marriage or to say ok to abortion. Folks, yes there are churches and pastors of churches that are preaching their selves into hell and also working on their flock. Yes, you folks from the Bridges can look for a message soon on gleaning the pews. The best place to go to work for the Lord in all the corners of the world, is in the corner of the world where you live. You do not need to run to another country on a missions trip, you can just go across the streets, or in fact, start under your own roof at home. Maybe it is best to say, let's Glean our house instead of saying let's clean our house... Folks, if I did not love you I would not write like this to you. IT IS TIME TO GLEAN THE LINE, yes, I just want to ask you, ARE YOU BORN AGAIN... if you are, just send me a note that tells me this... BORN AGAIN!! AMEN!! No, I am not on an ego trip, I just want to do my job for Jesus... Amen. Dear Father in Heaven, it is time we glean the pews, and glean our homes and glean our places of employment for You. Forgive us of our sins, help us to repent and help us to get working for you. Help us to clean up what others miss... In the name of Jesus, Amen. Go forth now, gleaning the area around you, sharing your blessings, and loving others. And know this. I LOVE YA... Pastor Dan.