The last Sunday of January 2008, my Sunday morning sermon challenged the congregation to develop a more global view of God’s work and interests around the world. I urged the church to pray about things beyond our little circles of knowledge and interest.
That afternoon, an email came with news of a devastating fire that had occurred early Sunday morning at Southwestern Christian College in Terrell, Texas. SWCC had a long heritage of service in the kingdom in the face of tremendous challenges. The College, which served a primarily black student body, had survived only with much sacrifice from a limited donor base.
The email requested prayers, so I immediately contacted several Christians who maintained and distributed lists of prayer requests, brothers and sisters in Christ from whom I regularly received prayer requests. To my surprise, some of those I contacted did not bother to pass on my request for prayers!
One of the prayer lists was maintained by an elder in the church where I was preaching. He had a global view of God’s work. He regularly went on mission trips; he supported mission works financially. He had a big heart for a big world. He sent out the prayer request to his distribution list almost immediately. And God’s people prayed—about something bigger and grander than their local situation.
It does a preacher good when he sees his sermon come to life!