This past Sunday the Experiences switched to be 1/2 hour later than they used to be.  On Thursday night the band worked really hard and really late to get the 1970’s medley ready for Sunday morning.  As practice was wrapping up, they asked if on Sunday mornings we were now going to begin our practices 1/2 hour later than usual.  I said yes eventually, but for this week let’s stay with the normal time so we can run through the medley a few more times.

Now Sunday rolls around and practice goes smoothly and wraps up 45 minutes before the 1st Experience is to start.  What to do with my time?  I figured well I can go down to my office and one more time look through my notes for that mornings sermon.  Now realize this is something I’m never able to do on Sunday mornings…in other words to be sitting in my office on a Sunday morning is a rarity.

While there, the phone rings.  Knowing I’m the only one in the office area, I answered it.  On the other end was a guy who randomly called our church saying he was in need to speak with a pastor.  I told him I and the other pastors were getting ready to conduct services, but that I’d be willing to meet with him at 12:30pm when we were done.

We did indeed meet and he was hurting in a lot of ways, but I was able to share the Gospel with and he prayed to ask Jesus for the forgiveness of his sins and to be the leader of his life.  Here was a guy that had no church background and until I gave him a bible had not touched one in along time…in fact, I’m not sure he ever had.  We met again on Monday and he had already read through most of the book of John.  He’s still got a lot of pain and hurt to deal with but his hunger to have God direct his path from now on you can tell is very real.

Now some would say it was coincidence that I happened to be in my office at the right time on Sunday, but I believe that God’s hand has been orchestrating this for quite some time.  Consider…

1. We decided back in May of this year to do the REWIND series.
2. It was in June then that we decided to kick it off with a medley of songs from the 70’s.
3. Had it not been for the medley and the amount of time it took us on Thursday night to practice it, I would have allowed the team to come in 1/2 hour later on Sunday morning.
4. If the team came in 1/2 hour later, I would have not been in my office to answer the call.
5. Honestly I thought about just letting the phone ring, but then thought no maybe someone’s confused about the new times so I’d better answer to help with a simple question like that.
6. Normally I would have insisted that he attend church and then we’d meet afterwards, but “for some reason” I felt not to ask him to do that.
7. Now consider his life…for months, if not years now, the trouble in his life has been brewing to the point it all came to a raging boil this past week.
8. Even though he’s got friends and family he could turn to, he instead decided to pick up the phone and call a church of all places to ask for help.
9. He “just so happens” to call our church, where I’m “unexpectedly” sitting in my office and decide to answer the phone.

Now I truly believe he could have called other churches and gotten just as good of help, but there is a part of me that wonders did God think…”I’m sending him to Gilbert because I know Gilbert won’t try to solve his surface problems but will get right to the heart of the issue ,which is his sin problem, and will share my Gospel message.

I guess what I’m getting at is we are all players in a much bigger master plan than what we can possibly comprehend.  So it’s neat when you can look back like in a situation like this to see the hand of God each and every step of the way nudging things towards the ultimate conclusion He wants for all of us, which is the forgiveness of our sins and an eternal relationship with Him!

So be as faithful as you can be today…you never know what chain of events you’re setting off that down the road will help bring soomeone to Christ!