You Are Welcome, From Jesus Christ

Almost every week, one of the pastors extends a welcome to begin the service. It is a welcome on behalf of Jesus Christ to those who are weak and desire strength, to those who are weary and need rest, to those who are broken and desire to be healed, and to those who are sinners desperate for a savior—in other words—to everyone.

Everyone should hear that welcome and feel welcomed to enter in and to worship Jesus here. But each week, I am sure there are some of us who don’t feel that they can worship Jesus. Not because the welcome didn’t include us, it did. No, we feel we cannot worship Jesus because we have not brought enough with us. How can we come to worship God and not bring something with us. Something to offer. But we don’t have enough. We don’t have enough energy because we don’t have enough rest. We don’t have enough focus. We haven’t prayed enough this week. We haven’t read our Bibles enough. We don’t have enough faith.

I want to encourage you this morning, if that’s you, by reminding you that the God we worship here likes to do much with little. In fact, it’s kind of his thing. He likes to make wine when you only have water left. He likes to feed thousands when you only have a few loaves of bread and some fish. He likes to quiet storms with only words. He likes to bring forth all the nations, tongues, and cultures of the world from only two people. And he tells us that with faith just the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. Watch what he can do with the little that you brought.

Here’s where some might say, “I hear you, pastor. But what if I don’t have anything? What if I am completely empty? What if I don’t have any faith? What can God do with nothing?”

I’m glad you asked.

If the God we worship in this place likes to do a lot with little, then he delights to do even more with nothing! He said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. Out of nothing. He went on and on from there and created the universe and everything that fills it. And he didn’t just create things out of nothing, he created living things. Genesis tells us, “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

What if the living creature dies? The God we worship here has the power to bring life back to the dead. The Bible tells us of a man who died named Lazarus. Jesus called to Lazarus and told him to come out of the tomb and Lazarus came out alive. Jesus called Lazarus out by name and others have pointed out that had he not called Lazarus by name, all the dead may have been raised - such is his power.

It’s not just our dead bodies he can raise. He can bring life to our dead souls, also. Ephesians 2 says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Friends, he knows you haven’t brought enough. You can’t bring enough. He knows you’ve got nothing. It doesn’t stop him from freely giving. Giving strength. Giving rest. Giving healing. Giving faith. Giving forgiveness. So again, you are welcome here with a welcome from Jesus Christ.

This reminds us of our need to confess our sins.