If you are reading this page you have certainly lost a few of the 3900 Sundays that were discussed on the home page. So what about the 3900 Sundays? Where do they fit in?Approximately one year ago, I heard a sermon preached by a good friend of mine. His name is Pastor Chuck Schlie. He gave an illustration about not wasting our time here on earth with things of little or no eternal importance. The story went that a man calculated the number of Saturdays left until his 75th birthday. For each Saturday left until that birthday, he placed one marble into a jar. Each Saturday he removed a marble and discarded it. The jar or marbles served as a reminder not to be wasting the limited time we have here on earth. Pastor Schlie unveiled a very large jar of marbles and stated that he was using his jar of marbles for the same purpose, a reminder not to waste the time we have. At that point I had an idea of how this could be something used as a reminder of the responsibility we have to share the Gospel with the world.
About a week later, I had a jar with 1912 small stones inside. Each week, now on Sundays, I remove a rock from the jar and place it into my pocket with my loose change. The rock serves as a reminder to me to share my Christian witness with somebody through the week. It cold be as simple as offering God's blessings to the cashier at the gas station. Share a witness, get rid of the rock. What happens if I don't f I don't share a Christian witness with someone during the week? The rock stays in my pocket until I do share Christ with someone in some way, yet each week still taking another rock from the jar. I admit that when I moved to West Des Moines last July I had 13 rocks in my pocket. Accountability makes a big difference.
The Witness Rock Initiative is based on the same principle. It involves not a jar, but a small bag containing 52 rocks, one for each week of 2007.
On December 31st, 2006 the congregation members who decided to participate received a bag of "Witness Rocks". Each member found a person to be their accountability partner for the year. Each agreed with the other that they would the other accountable for sharing a witness with someone each week. Each took a rock from their bag and put it in their pocket, coin purse, or somewhere that it would be a reminder to share Christ with someone during the week. If they share their witness this week they drop the rock in the designated container at the church on Sunday. Each Sunday they take another rock from the bag and place it in their pocket even if they still have a rock from last week.
If one half of the members of the congregation who attend worship services each week would take faithful part in the initiative there is a great potential to share the message of God's love through Jesus Christ. In fact if that many members take part in the initiative faithfully, about 10,400 witness opportunities we are given this year will not be regrets for not sharing Christ. Think about the increased potential if we add our children into the initiative as well.
The Witness Rock Initiative is partnering with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Ablaze! Movement. To learn more about Ablaze! click on the button below to be rediredirected to the Ablaze! website.
To his glory, and not for ours, do we undertake this initiative to reach out to the world with the message of his love. It is upon the rock of our own confession of Jesus as our Savior, that God will build his church.