This passage captures the truth of how God uses his people to carry out his purposes of bringing new life - and he often does so incrementally.
A few Sundays ago, we invited Lewis Brown to share about those who planted and watered the gospel in his life and how God used their influence to bring the gospel’s effects to fruition in his soul.
Good morning, I am Lewis Brown. I’ve been coming to Trinity Grace since May. Although I came here from FL, I’m really a native Georgian.
Even though I attended a mainline church as a kid, the gospel was not apparent. I heard from the pulpit that Buddha, Muhammed and Jesus were all the same. At this same church, I remember some black guests trying to attend and they were turned away at the door. Not long after this, my family left the Church. Unfortunately, not just that false local church, but the Church of our Lord. From that point on, I thought Jesus was a fable that unintelligent people used to justify their miserable existence. The last thing I wanted to be was a Christian, but God had a different plan for me from before the foundation of the world.
Later, I began hanging out on the Strip, which was Atlanta’s version of the hippie counter-culture. I was immersed in that lifestyle. I even spent 1 year living in a commune. After about 5 years of crazy living, I realized that my lifestyle could only end badly and decided that I wanted to work hard and start a family. I fell in love and married a girl who would have nothing to do with that lifestyle. We started a family and I went to work for my dad. I thought life was good and had a purpose. This illusion did not last long.
Next door lived a guy I had known for over 20 years named Fred. He had suffered a brain tumor that left him partially disabled. I was told that he was very depressed, and they were greatly concerned. I thought about what I could say to him, but I had nothing as he wasn’t able to work or have a family. I saw him in his backyard one day and he wasn’t making much sense. As it turns out, I was the last person to see him alive. Later, I heard the shot. My illusion crumbled. If I had been in his place, I would have seen no other option either. Besides the unrelenting guilt, I would close my eyes and feel myself falling in darkness, not knowing when I would hit bottom. Even though I went to a compromised church as a kid, my 7th grade Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Greene, helped me memorize Psalm 100. It was at this time, that scripture came to my mind: “ Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
I finally prayed “God if you’re real, reveal yourself to me”. Over a period of weeks, I read and reread a gospel tract that someone had left at my parents’ house. I closed my eyes and felt as though I was falling ever faster. I started thinking about the people that tried to point me to Christ in the past.
First, there was my Grandmother. She was a shouting Baptist that prayed for me every day. When I stayed with her, she would lay hands on me and cry out to the Lord to save my soul. As no one loved me like she did, she could do what I would allow no one else to do.
Then there was the street preacher who approached me one night on the Strip and told me why I shouldn’t be there. The reasons he gave were the reasons I came, so I flipped him off. Instead of anger, I saw hurt.
One Sunday afternoon, I was sitting on the Hill in Piedmont Park when a honey bun landed beside me, and I heard “Jesus Christ will save your soul”. Honey Bun Man walked along with a basket of Honey Buns showing the love of Jesus with a much appreciated Honey Bun to a bunch of self-medicating stoners trying to fill the God size hole in our hearts.
One of my best friends, Tater, told me one day that he wasn’t going to party anymore because he got saved and I needed to get saved as well. His life changed and he continued to witness.
Another night, while standing outside a theater to see a movie, my group was approached by a Jesus Freak named Brad. I turned my back to him as he spoke to my friends. I overheard him say “Before I came to Jesus my life was empty”. The word empty began echoing in my empty heart.
Jesus the loving/patient Savior had been revealing Himself through many people the whole journey. After many nights with little sleep, I realized that I was not worthy of the sacrifice that Jesus had made. I turned from my sin and trusted in Jesus. I fell asleep, falling in darkness, and woke up on the Rock.
God used my 7th grade Sunday school teacher, the honeybun man, the Jesus freak at the movie theater and others to bring me to Christ. In fact, by God’s providence, the preacher I flipped off on the Strip was a man named Ron Long who, 10 years after our initial meeting, became my pastor for over a decade.
So, pray! And then plant and water the seed while waiting for God to cause the growth.
