The kingdom of the rejected and a cookout with a Cause

 Be Careful what you name your Sermon!

This morning I mentioned that folks should come back for "The Cookout". I went on to note than the Cookout was going to be a message, but I was not real clear as I wanted to stir interest. Needless to say I created interest alright. One women and several teens who are new to our church took me literally. The teens took it to heart and actually showed up late with 10 people expecting a cookout. More on that later in this blog.

    My message title was actually "The kingdom of the rejected and a cookout with a cause". The main text was Luke 7: 36-50

   The point of the message was even Jesus attended many dinners with many sinners and outcast in order to reach lost people. I noted that we have such wonderful homes, yet we often only invite those who could invite us back and that we should consider inviting the poor, the distressed and the many who have far less than we do.
      I mentioned how people respond to food and fellowship and often enjoy cookouts and we should use cookouts to reach folks this summer.

    When the message was over there was still 4 teens left who waited until I was done to tell me what happened. Yes I was a bit embarrassed to say the least and my teenager daughter thought it was funny. The boys who stuck around let me take them out to McDonald's and then we planned a real cookout for a few weekends from now with a pool party as well.

   The lesson learned is I guess mentioning a cookout really does work, but you should be prepared to cook up what you advertise literally or it might backfire. After our time together after church I sensed God working through all my blunders in spite of me.


   I am amazing at how God can work through a Cookout with a Cause message as well as a messed up understanding of a sermon title.