The Apostle Paul had one over-arching goal; one prize for which he labored.  At the end of his life, possibly under house arrest in Rome, he said that he was ready to die.  He said that he was ready to receive the prize for which he had been working.  His prize was Jesus Christ Himself.  But up until the point twhen he would ultimately meet Jesus (which we have not yet heard Paul speak of, but I anxiously await hearing about once I get to meet him), it was people, changed lives, the church, and the salvation of his sisters and brothers that made it all worth while.

This past Sunday at Newspring, I preached a message called “Whatever It Takes” from Mark 2.  It centered around a need for urgency in ministry as we share the gospel, practice personal evangelism, and make efforts to get our friends close to Jesus like the friends who carried their crippled companion to Christ.  After preaching 4 straight sermons Sunday and catching an early flight the next morning, I was forced to ask myself, like I have so many other times…”Is it worth it?”

The answer is YES.  A million times yes.  It is worth it all, and there are so many reasons why.  But Sunday, I shared a story at the end of my message about a guy that I led to faith in Christ in high school named Buck.  I will not tell you the story here because you can watch it or listen to it for free here  http://newspring.cc/226312.ihtml?ResourceID=1258

After seeing 2,000 people give “Buck” a standing ovation Sunday and getting to see him again after all these years, I know now, more than ever, that it is worth it all.

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