Pastor Keith shares his thought for the week; no one is too far gone for the gospel!

I was struck by something – a phrase in Scripture that just leapt off the page at me this week. I don’t know if that’s ever happened to you, where you’ve read a passage over and over and over, and then you’re reading it again and the Lord just drops something into your heart. Well, that’s what happened to me this week.

I was reading Acts chapter 15. Acts 15 tells the account of when the church were debating what to do with all the Gentiles who were becoming Christians. But that’s not really what struck me. In Acts 15 verse 5, there’s a little phrase that says,

“The believers among them who belonged to the Pharisees.”

Acts 15:5

And I just had to stop there. I thought, “Wow, hang on a minute.”

Now, we all know that the Apostle Paul was a Pharisee, and we centre on him sometimes and think, “Wow, this is amazing – that’s what it took for him to get saved, the Damascus Road experience.” But actually, this whole group of Pharisees became Christians. And these are the people, remember, who conducted the religious trial of Jesus, who brought in false witnesses, who beat him and spat on him. And yet we read in Acts 15 that a number of them believed.

And here’s what dropped into my heart: who do you know that you think is never going to respond to the Gospel? Who do you know that you think is too far away, too far gone, too religious, too irreligious, too atheistic, too identity-confused – whatever it is? I want you to know this morning that the Gospel is for everyone. There is hope for everyone, and God can still touch the hardest of hearts.

So don’t give up praying for that family member, that friend, that work colleague – that person you know who you think is too far gone – because one day they could be in church with you.

God bless. Have a great week.

Every week one of our members shares a short thought aiming to inspire you for the week. You can watch previous Thought For The Week videos by clicking here.