One By One

Not that long ago my dad sought to encourage me by reminding me that “the Kingdom advances one person at a time.” I have to admit, I didn’t want to hear these words at that time. I had big plans and a big vision. It included so many more people than I thought my dad had in mind. But, as I have labored at the work of planting and growing a church, I have learned that he was so very right. This Sunday I plan on preaching a sermon on John 1:19-51. It is interesting to note the fact that there is an emphasis in the text on day-by-day, individual-by-individual discipleship. John the Baptist points his disciples to Jesus one day; then, the disciples of John point their relatives to Jesus the next. This is instructive for us as individual Christians seeking to be faithful one day, and one individual, at a time. Spurgeon noted: “We shall not speak of the universal triumph of the Gospel but of its victory in single hearts, nor shall we deal with the efforts of an entire church but with the pious fervor of individual disciples.” May God give us the resolve to seek to advance the kingdom one individual, one day, at a time.