WRECKING?

Pastor Todd Christopherson
Mid American Stock Car Series
July 19, 2011

So I was writing, praying and thinking this morning and trying to think of a way to communicate the desperate need of those needing salvation in the racing community. Here is what God laid on my heart.

Have you even had just a bad day at the track? Like you unload and find out you forgot the war wagon (tools). Ok, more realistic something you need. You get out on the track for practice and you break, you fix it, go out for qualifying and slide up into the wall, fix it and start the race and wreck again. I know there have been guys that have had this kind of day/night. I just witnessed one like that.

So think of it like this. What if you wrecked and just kept on wrecking over and over and over like in a bad dream. It just did not stop. What if it was not a dream? What if it was a reality? No escape. Of course with that kind of wrecking there would be physical pain too, and no escape from it either. You would want to go tell others not to follow in your footsteps.

Do you have a clear picture? Does it make you uneasy?

The Bible speaks to this in Luke 16. Let’s read it.

Luke 16:19-31 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"

What do we learn from this? We learn that Hell is a real place. Here and in Revelation it is clear those that are in Hell, are there for eternity, there is no escape. We learn that it is a place of extreme torment. Now on the other side of this, there is hope. If we have accepted that we have sinned, if we have trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin, if we have called out to Him and are following Him in faith, we have salvation. We are saved from Hell but better than that, because we do not just want fire insurance, is that we get Heaven and the opportunity to worship God, to give Him His much deserved place.

I hope you consider this seriously and have turned to Jesus.

See you at the track soon and have a great day in the SONshine,

Todd

Feel free to contact me at:
torch_for_jesus@yahoo.com, 608-630-7301 or 512 Chippewa Court, DeForest, WI 53532