Who have you been praying would be brought closer to the Lord and His church? Who have you invited to church lately?

I believe these two questions are the key to our desire to become more effective in reaching out to our local community. And we have several things that will help here.

• The Fishers of Menprogram begins this coming Tuesday evening. It is not too late to sign up and commit to coming to these training sessions that will be a good opportunity to develop some confidence in sharing your faith, as well as concentrated and focused Bible study.
• Our Shepherding Groups begin Sunday, Sept. 18th. This will provide smaller group settings that will allow each of us to become closer and more involved with some other members of our South Fork family, but will also give us a setting that we can invite others to in order to let them get to know some of our church family and ministry as well.
• This Sunday is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001. While Joyce and I were at the airport in Charleston this week sending our kids back to Texas, we were interviewed by one of the local television stations about our thoughts on flying in this post-9/11 world. There have been lots of news stories building up to this important day for our nation and our world, and most everyone has spent some time considering this significant time. What a great opportunity to invite others to our South Fork service! If you are reading this before Sunday, then call someone right now and invite them to meet you at our worship assembly Sunday, or perhaps offer to pick them up and bring them with you. My lesson will consider this important part of our history, present, and future. If you are reading this in our worship assembly on 9/11, then listen closely to the message, and consider prayerfully who you could give a CD to from this morning’s lesson, and open that door for a relationship with our church to be started with someone you care about.

One of the Scriptures that I will mention in this sermon is 1 Timothy 2:1-6. It is a reminder to all of us that the only salvation for our nation and for our fellow human beings throughout the world is Jesus Christ.

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.