"Are You Ready?"

Saturday I was asked to preach once again at our local Nursing Home ministry (yes, I know they are called "Assisted Living" now, but I still think "Nursing Home," Lol!!)

Now, I did not have much advance notice this time so I was not able to prep a brand-new sermon as I'd done previously (see my June 8th blog).  However, I prayed about it and the Lord led me to rework the contents of one of my old tracts into a 10 minute message. Here is that tract:



https://mwtb.org/products/pmt-jfk-fifty-years-later-nkjv?variant=27602372871



Obviously, I tweaked this tract a bit (it is now 55 years since JFK was killed, not 50, for example.
And I reworked the title of the message to be "Are You Ready?," rather than the title of the tract.)



So, on Saturday, there were only two others from our church besides myself able to make it, and only 6 sweet little old ladies (average age of 80-plus) attending the service.  As I rose to speak I must confess I wondered if the message was appropriate, considering the frailty of the audience.  I certainly did not want to needlessly alarm anyone, but this message was the one God laid on my heart.  I spoke as gently and softly as possible, while at the same time making sure my elderly listeners could HEAR me (Lol).  I was surprised at how attentive they were once I mentioned JFK, and the message concluded with the exhortation to make sure that each of them were ready, trusting in Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins should death come unexpectedly like it did for JFK (and, I might add, for a friend of my son's who died suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack that very week.)

I must admit, I secretly wondered if I'd pushed them too hard but I chatted with each one afterwardv and everyone seemed fine.

That's not the end of the story, though.

On Sunday morning at church, our pastor asked prayer for that same Nursing Home because fire trucks and other emergency vehicles were headed to the scene.

As I prayed silently for all of  the residents to be safe, I was thinking of the faces of those six sweet, elderly ladies and hoping each of them has trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

I was praying each of them would be Ready, you see, in case the worst occurred.

Thankfully, the problem was not as bad as feared and no one was hurt in the incident.  And I'm glad now that I brought the message that I did, because a preacher never knows if the appeal he brings will be the last appeal his hearers ever hear.

In that spirit, I close with the question "Are YOU ready, dear reader?" If not, seek the Lord TODAY because none of us knows what tomorrow may bring.