Hearing the Cries of the Lost and Perishing

Christina and Amy signing up for an Impact Group

New Covenant is preparing to launch a spiritual growth journey on Sunday, October 9 called, Impact ~ Connecting Your Community to Christ. Part of the journey will include participating in an Impact small group. We are praying for 125 small group Hosts so that everyone will have an opportunity to be in a small group. To date over 80 people have signed up to Host a group!

We are trusting that God will use this journey to impact our community for Christ. We are praying that the power and influence of Jesus Christ would be experienced in our homes and families, our neighborhoods, our work places and our church. We can't sit idly by as thousands in our community go into a Christless eternity.

Last week Pastor Bob asked us if we can hear the cry of the lost and dieing. He asked us to imagine the desperate cries of those outside the ark once the flood waters began to rise. The panic, the fear, the hopeless cries of those who are perishing. I asked God to give me His heart for the lost, his heart for the city of Cedar Rapids. Last Sunday I asked him to help me hear the cries of the perishing.

And then Monday came. The scenes and images I have watched this past week have pierced my heart. Peoples desperate cries for help. The helplessness and hopelessness. People rushing into a Christless eternity. I pray that I will never forget what I have witnessed this past week. I pray that God will give me ears to hear the cries of the lost and perishing.

My heart, my heart-I writhe in pain! My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still. For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets and the roar of their battle cries. Waves of destruction roll over the land, until it lies in complete desolation. Suddenly, every tent is destroyed; in a moment, every shelter is crushed. How long must this go on? How long must I be surrounded by war and death? "My people are foolish and do not know me," says the Lord. "They are senseless children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no talent at all for doing right!" I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless. I looked at the heavens, and there was no light. I looked at the mountains and hills, and they trembled and shook. I looked, and all the people were gone. All the birds of the sky had flown away. I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness. The cities lay in ruins, crushed by the Lord's fierce anger. Jeremiah 4:19-26 NLT