yesterday's service

Yesterday was a lot of fun. Mainly because we talked about what our mission is as individuals and as a church----to help lost people get found!
One of the tendencies for people who have been "found' spiritually, is that they tend to have no "lost" friends. We distance ourselves from the Secular world to be sequestered into our holy huddles, because we don't want to be contaminated.
The only problem with that line of thinking is that it's not biblical! Jesus spent his time with lost people. He hung out with sinners. He was Relational, not Religious.
I shared about the best compliment about our church that I've ever heard. (What makes it even funnier is that it wasn't meant to be a compliment). A lady found out that someone went to church here. She was outraged, and said, "I can't believe you go to Foothills, that's the church where they let sinners in!!!!!!" WOW, what a compliment. I followed up by saying that I would love to let that lady know that Foothills is not only a place where we let sinners in, but it's a place where a sinner stands up every Sunday and delivers the message!!
My statement may have raised some eyebrows. A Pastor actually admitting that he sins? Yep that's right. I am totally dependent on the grace, mercy and forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ. In my humaness there is nothing good. Anyone who says that they don't struggle with sin is struggling with the sin of lying!
This morning I was handed a card that someone put in the offering basket. There was a note that said, "I have struggled with drug addiction for many years. Foothills is the only place I have been able to attend where I was love and accepted, and never once condemned. Thanks for being that kind of church." (That's what it's all about!! Foothills family, you are an amazing church! Keep it up!)