“Empty Seats!”
“I Gotta Do What It Takes To Fill The Seats – Gotta Share God’s
Love With Whoever I Meet!”
“...'Go out...and urge anyone you find to come, so that the
house will be full.”
- Luke 14:23
This Week’s Main Focus:
We must do whatever it takes to bring others to Jesus!
Luke 2:7 tells us Jesus was born in a stable because there was no room in the inn. In Psalm 10:4 it says
that the wicked have no room in their thoughts for God. But in this week’s parable in Luke 14:15-24 we see that
there is plenty of room for more to attend the banquet. People had plenty of excuses for why their seat was going to be empty at the banquet. And so even more invitations went out, and yet there was STILL room because
not everyone came.
There is a seat with your name on it, boys and girls! And that seat is in the presence of God! You can
always have a place of being in God’s presence, of talking with Him, of having what you need passed to you from
His hand. How wonderful!
Have you ever invited anyone over to a party and they said “I’ll be there” and then when it was time for
the party, they didn’t come? You had a seat for them at the table, with the place setting for them and even a
party hat for them. Maybe you had a goodie bag with their name on it to give them to say “thanks for coming” but
they didn’t come. They were suppose to come, but didn’t. They missed out on a great party and you missed not
having them there.
God has so much planned for you and when you don’t come into His presence, you miss out. Don’t be a
“misser outer” but be in His presence all the time!
Have you ever heard the phrase “Standing Room Only”? That’s when all the chairs are filled in a room and
the only space left is for people to stand. Next time you come to church, count how many empty chairs are in the
room you are in. God’s heart is for all those chairs to be filled with people who need to know Him more and that
church would be “Standing Room Only!” Invite someone this week and be part of filling an empty chair! That’s
Between The Lines!
“Dear Jesus, Thanks for the invitation to know you as Savior and
to live for You! I say “Yes” and will keep saying “Yes” to your invitation. I want to
know You more, and the way to do that is to be with You! And I want to do my part in
filling the empty seats at church! Help me to be an invitation giver! AMEN!”
This Week’s Activity: There are people missing in your church. There are empty seats in
your church. Each of these pictures are missing something, too. Draw the missing item to
make each picture complete and then invite some one to church this week to fill the empty
seats!