Jesus used signs to give people faith that they might believe in Him, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:28-29)
So, a sign bears a two-fold purpose:
First, it points people to Jesus.
Second, it helps people believe that Jesus is the Son of God so they can be saved.
Our church has been talking about a new church sign to put in front of our church that will promote our church name and location, and also display a message that will point people to Jesus. We received a generous donation from a local physician who believes in our church and our purpose to point people to faith in Jesus. Matching his donation, our church raised over $27,000 to purchase and install a sign that will do exactly what the Bible says a “Sign” should do. After much prayer, the generous giving from our members and friends of our church, along with patient cooperation within our fellowship and local government officials, our prayers have been answered. Our new Grace Baptist Church sign is standing and speaking to 22,000 vehicles passing our location every day.
People sometimes bugged Jesus about signs. They wanted Him to do things to show them what the future might be, or what the kingdom of God would be like. Jesus did not give them signs to please their expectations or ease people’s doubts. He said once, “…an evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three night in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:39-40)
Signs are not to be frivolous, or man centered. Signs are to point toward the truth of the gospel. Signs are meant to serve as a witness to Jesus, who rose from the dead and is now exalted at the Right Hand of God. So will our new sign be. It will be a sign that gives continuous testimony that “Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:11)
I want to praise God today for Phil Callahan, our Chairman of Deacons along with our Deacon Body for their prayers and support in shepherding this project to the point where we now have this beautiful Gospel Sign in front of our property. I thank God for all those who made contributions to the Making Christ Real on Mundy Mill Campaign. Every member and friend of our church who contributed has a stake in the ongoing ministry of sharing the Gospel every day to multitudes of people. Praise God for patient endurance and abiding faith that when we pray and believe, God will hear and answer our prayers according to His excellent grace.