Mensa Otabil - Gather the Souls (10/27/2025)
Welcome to day number 34 of our 40 days of power. We are in the last week of our time of waiting on the Lord and trusting Him, and I believe that it has been worthwhile. If you’ve joined us, if you haven’t been part of it, it’s time to join in and let’s close it out nicely to the glory of God.
This week, we are focusing on our theme for the year, which is Gathering. God wants to gather unto Himself all people, and we read that from John’s Gospel, chapter 10, and verse 16. «And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd.» Jesus positions Himself as a shepherd, and it’s a theme that He uses frequently. It’s not only Jesus; God is also called the Shepherd in Psalm 23, and throughout the Bible, God presents Himself as a Shepherd. So the theme of a Shepherd is important. The shepherd is one who gathers the flock, watches over them, and protects them.
Now Jesus is talking about His flock, and He’s talking to His disciples. His disciples are mainly Jews, but He says, «I have other sheep; I have other people that I need to gather. There are other people who belong to me who are not with me now, and I must gather them.» When He talks about other sheep, what is He talking about? Primarily, He’s talking about Gentiles, people who are not natural-born Jews. He says, «They also are my sheep; I have sheep amongst them, and I’m going to gather them.» The ministry of Jesus Christ is to reach out to everybody. So when we talk about Gathering, we’re not just talking about gathering substance; we’re also talking about gathering souls, bringing people to the true Shepherd, Jesus Christ, that He would shepherd over them and guide them.
So if you believe that somebody is your friend and they need a good life, then you have to introduce them to the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. And Jesus says that for these people, «I will bring them in.» You know my job, and the job of every preacher, if we’re doing it well, is to preach the Word of God, to share the Word of God. The one who brings people in is the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot save souls; we cannot change people’s lives. We can only point them to the true Shepherd who will bring them in, and when we preach the gospel faithfully, the Lord Jesus Christ brings people unto Himself.
So if you’ve participated in the spiritual exercise, you’ve spent time praying and fasting. I don’t know what you’ve prayed for, but as a church, we’ve prayed for the world; we’ve prayed for nations, we pray for every nation of the world, and we pray for souls. Apart from praying for souls to be saved, we must go out and share the gospel with them and share the love of Christ with them so that the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, can bring them in. One of the greatest things you can do in this time is to bring somebody to the Lord Jesus Christ, to direct somebody to Christ Jesus for them to have eternal life through Him.
I trust that of all the things that we will receive during this time, the greatest we will receive will be that we introduce somebody to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. When we do that, the Bible says there’s great joy in heaven because one soul has been saved. May the Lord make each one of us go out to be responsible soul winners, bringing people to Christ, sharing the love of Christ, and letting people know the true life that Jesus Christ offers to each one of us. I pray that we will all serve in this area for the Lord.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, you are the Good Shepherd. Use my life to bring others into the faith. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»