Chosen 300

Tonight I had the privilege to preach at a homeless ministry in down town Philadelphia. The ministry is called Chosen 300. Brian Jenkins is the founder of the ministry and the Lord is truly using his family to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of homeless people in center city Philly. See there website HERE.

It was an honor to be able to speak to the people there tonight about the love of Christ. To know that my God, loves people of all types and places. That He does not require us to be of any certain status in life, just to be willing to humble ourselves, admit and repent of our sinful nature, and to allow Him to take us in the direction that most glorifies and honors Him.

What do you tell 300 people that have nothing, no home, no job, no money about a God that will give them hope? Well I struggled with that this week as I prepared to speak with them tonight. God laid Romans 5:1-11 on my heart, and the meat and potatoes of this scripture is that God allows us as Christians to go through rough times.

Becoming a Christian in no way promises you a wonderful easy life here on earth. It actually promises the exact opposite. The Bible specifically tells us that life as a Christian is hard, and can get even harder. But in this scripture Paul tells us that struggles give us endurance and strength, and that endurance gives us character, and that gives us hope, and this hope does not bring about shame, but victory.

Victory in what??? If life gets worse how is that victory?? Well, the victory is the other promise that God gives us in the Bible, and that is if we believe with our hearts that God sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins, and we ask God to forgive us for our ungodly life choices, and turn our lives around and work to make choices that honors God, and believe that Christ came back to life, then God promises to allow us to live with Him in Heaven for eternity. Not only that, but He will give us a new life in Heaven, new bodies that do not hurt, die, get tired, but are perfect bodies.

This is our hope! This is also the same hope that I shared with the people I spoke to tonight. Tomorrow those people will wake up under the same bridge, in the same dirty and smelly clothes, still homeless and searching for a place to get a meal just like they did today. Becoming a Christian will not change there social status in the eyes of the world overnight, but what becoming a Christian does offer them is that if they do believe in Christ, tomorrow they will wake up under that bridge, in those same smelly clothes, but with HOPE that one day they will have a home, a new home, a new body, and socially accepted by their heavenly family in the presence of God Almighty!

We as humans tend to be so finite in our thinking in that we are so focused on this world as our home, that we try so hard to stay in it as long as we can. We worry about our health, our 401K's, and retirement, things in the future, a future that may or may not come depending on God's will for our lives, that we miss out on the hear and now. What can we do right now, that will impact someones life for the glory of God, and for their future eternal life? Does it even matter? Of course it does! People need Jesus! They need hope! And this world has no hope for anyone! It's only outcome for all of us is a certain death, be it today, tomorrow, or 50 years from now. Only Jesus can give us a hope that far out lasts yours and my time left on earth.

So look to Jesus! Jesus is so much more refreshing than anything that this world has to offer. This is what I told the homeless people tonight, but it is not just the message to homeless people! It is to the people that are comfortable with there nice cozy home, good job, the nice life. Well tomorrow you could be the one sitting in the homeless shelter needing a hot meal, and if you were, would you have hope?

Look to Jesus! Look to Jesus! There is HOPE in Jesus!