Reach Out and Touch Someone 
by Pastor Jeff Blain

[Jesus says,] “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses…”  Acts 1:8a

Do you remember when the phone company used the title above as their “line” to get us to make more phone calls.  (Remember!  I’ve got that song going through my head as I write these words!!!)  The idea was that by picking up a phone and making a call, that you could make a difference in people’s lives.  And that is true!

I suspect that on more than one occasion you have experienced this yourself – both by making some of those calls as well as receiving some.  And even with that being true, how much MORE of a difference can we make when we apply the same “jingle” to inviting others to come and worship with us?!

While making a phone call can brighten someone’s day, inviting them to worship – or, better said, -- inviting them to Jesus can make an ETERNAL DIFFERENCE in their life.  

Did you know that surveys have shown again and again that THE MOST EFFECTIVE way to get people connected to Jesus is when a friend or co-worker or relative or neighbor issues the invitation to “come and see?”  (The same is true for getting someone “re-connected” to Christ!)  And while you have to pay the phone company to make that call, Jesus promises that He will EMPOWER us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  

Look again at the verse above.  Jesus doesn’t say, “Look, if the Holy Spirit happens to drop by your life, why don’t you tell someone about me.”  No indeed!  Jesus says, “WHEN the Holy Spirit HAS come” – emphasis added – “you WILL be my witnesses.”  It simply goes with the turf, so to speak.  It’s not a “maybe” kind of promise; it’s a down payment, a guarantee, a done deal.  (See 2 Corinthians 5:5!)

So I urge you to act.  To reach out and take the risk to touch someone’s heart with the best news of all – and there’s not a lot of good news these days!  Pray today for God to 2 things.  First, to get you ready to share some aspect of your faith or invite someone to worship.  Second, to open a door into somebody’s heart that you know, so you can reach out and touch them.  Believe me, it will make an eternity of difference.

Dear God, keep me thinking about what You mean to me and how I might say that in a simple, non-threatening way.  And then open a door this week into somebody’s life that I know, so that I might share my faith and/or invite them to worship.  This is not an easy thing for me to think or pray about, but I know it’s what You want me to do, and I hear Your promise that the Holy Spirit will empower me to do that.  So here I am, Lord.  Use me.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.