CoinLuke 15:8-9 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’

I have read this scripture more times than I can count and have heard many messages over the years about it and how it speaks to different people different ways. The Word of The Lord is amazing in that it is always speaking to those who spend time in it, and the revelation we each receive is different but is truth for our current situation.  Two weeks ago, my wife Sheridan, and I were traveling and we stopped at a gas station. It had been snowing and the roads were in bad shape. I opened the car door to get out and as soon as I looked down I saw a coin in the dirty slush where I was going to step. Normally, I would have picked up that coin but this time it was so dirty and I would have had to put my hand in the slush that who knows what was in it or who had stepped in it. So, I walked on by and left it there. As I stood in the gas station waiting to pay, I felt like the Lord told me that that coin was like many of those that we help at Teen Challenge. They have been stepped on, they are dirty, and everyone else has just walked right by and left them in their dirt. My eyes filled with tears and I could not get that thought out of my head. Many times in my years of ministry I have had God speak to me through situations just like this to remind me why I do what I do at Teen Challenge of the Upper Cumberland.

For myself and those that serve in the ministry Teen Challenge of the Upper Cumberland it is about rejoicing with those residents who were once lost but are now found in Christ. Our graduation services are like the woman in Luke 15, finding her lost coin and inviting friends over to celebrate. Our purpose for the ministry we do is not for personal gain but for the value of those children of God that have been left in the dirt because of choices they have made. We are the hands and feet of Jesus, sent to find those that were lost, pick them up, wipe them off and teach them how precious they are to God. Will you rejoice with us right where you are? Pause and think back to the day of your salvation. Think about a loved one that was once lost but has now been found. And pray for those who have not yet been picked up out of the dirt, that someone will find them and share the love of Jesus with them. We are all valuable in God’s eyes. I will never look at a dirty coin, or a lost soul the same again. Benjamin Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” How much more valuable is a soul saved?

Thank you for helping us reach those that are hopeless with the hope that is in Christ Jesus and teaching them to be productive disciples for the kingdom of God.

God bless you,
Pastor Tim McLauchlin, Executive Director