Home

'Seeking the Lost' Focus of Opening Message

By Stan Friedman

KEYSTONE, CO (June 21, 2005) - Pastor Craig Groeschel stirred the audience during tonight's opening worship service of the 120th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church, exhorting his listeners to fall in love again with seeking the lost.

Groeschel is the lead pastor of Life Covenant Church in Edmond, Oklahoma, which has grown to some 13,000 worshipers since being planted 10 years ago.

"When was the last time you had a lost person in your home?" Groeschel asked the gathering. He recalled hearing that question asked of him and realizing that it had been a long time, adding that it is too easy for people in the church to become isolated from people outside the church.

Loving the lost transforms the lives not just of those outside the church, but inside as well, Groeschel said. "Love transforms the ordinary into extraordinary mission-minded evangelists" . . . "consumers into contributors" and "safety seekers into risk-takers."

Drawing from Acts 4:13, Groeschel noted that it was ordinary people who had been with Jesus. Jesus chose "no one from the traditional religion establishments of the day." Having been with Jesus, the disciples could not help but speak about Jesus, he added.

When congregations love the lost, church members no longer look just to get what meets their needs, but become willing to give up their personal preferences. "The church is not here for us," Groeschel noted. "We are the church – and we are for the world."

Love for the lost also will lead churches to stop playing it safe and to begin taking chances. "There's nothing safe about this," Groeschel said, holding up the Bible. "Rather than focusing on making churches safe, we need to let God make them what he wants them to be."

One highlight of the service was the installation of Jerome Nelson as superintendent of the Central Conference. President Glenn Palmberg and others prayed for Nelson as the gathering celebrated the historic moment. Nelson is the first African American elected to serve as a conference superintendent.

(Editor's note: to view other moments from tonight's service, please see Opening Worship.

News Comments

Who We Are · Local Churches & Conferences · Denominational Ministries · Institutional Ministries · Support Ministries · Outreach Ministries · Inicio Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. 5101 N Francisco Ave., Chicago IL 60625. 773-784-3000. Privacy Policy & Terms of Use.