Come As You Are

Tony preached a challenging sermon yesterday on John 1:35-51. He talked about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, particularly that disciples of Jesus call others to come and follow Jesus as well. If you're looking for some pretty awesome teaching, visit Clear River Church and podcasts are at the bottom. I highly recommend.

One of the points in the sermon was that we want people to come as they are. Broken, confused, addicted, lost, angry, etc. His phrase was "come as you are, but don't stay there for long." We want people to ask the hard questions, get connected in lifegroups, receive prayer, be honest about their lives, etc. and find out who Jesus is and what He means to them. I instantly thought of the Hope Program that Back2Back runs in Mexico. Knowing many of the house parents for these teens, I know they want the kids to "come as they are". They long for honesty about where the kids are in life and where they stand with God. I also know how deeply these house parents want their children to experience the living God. How their hearts break when the teens turn their backs on God, and how they rejoice when a teen experiences who God really is and commits to following Him. In recent months, many of the teens have committed to being disciples of Jesus and have been discipling other teens in the program. They came to the Hope Program broken and confused, but sure didn't stay there for too long!