Joseph Stowell
February 1, 1999
7:15 pm
Message Summary
Joseph Stowell delivered a challenging message on Monday night of Founder's Week. In his introduction of the passage from Luke 15, Stowell said that heaven does not get all excited when "good" people do "good" things. It is those people "whose guilt is kissed away by the love and grace of the cross," Stowell says, whose repentance creates an unbelievable party in heaven. The theme of joy and rejoicing is emphasized in Luke 15 through the stories that Jesus told of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.
Stowell says the point Jesus was trying to drive home is that "the worst people in our world desperately need to be found, for they are the lost." He encouraged believers to care for lost souls, emphasizing that they are "worthy of our aggressive pursuit" and when they are found righteous, that is when heaven has cause to rejoice.
Stowell noted that it is easy for believers to identify with the elder son in the Luke 15 passage, which "becomes a rather convicting look at ourselves." Rather than having the same anger as the elder son, and being absorbed in our own good behaviour, we must have the same focus of heaven—a heart for dying souls.
Student Response
Dr. Stowell's message affected me by the reminder of what is important to God. God does not rejoice when Christians grow in their walks with Him, that is simply expected. It is easy to get caught up in our performance as Christians, but that is not the real issue for God. We are supposed to be good, we have a debt to pay. Heaven truly rejoices when lost souls come to Christ. This was a challenge to me to be focused on lost souls and not to get caught up in the lesser things of life.
—Becky Scott, Sophomore, Communications major