DIVINE DRAWING POWER
Romans 5:1-11 (Read later)
Purpose:	To encourage people with the knowledge of God’s prevenient grace 				regarding their unsaved loved ones.
Proposition:	God is working when we are not aware.
Introduction:
# How many have friends or family who need Christ?
# It’s easy for us to lose hope, quit praying and stop trying because our loved ones seem so far from God.
I.	Let me talk to you about the prevenient grace of God.
	A.	Read John 6:44
	B.	Read John 16:7-14
	C.	Read Romans 5:1-11
II.	God’s grace goes before salvation is evident through . . .
	A.	The Bible
# Larry and Maxine tell about their son, Marshall whose wife said, “Marshall is reading his Bible daily.” They were so encouraged about their unsaved son, because they knew the power of God’s Word to influence. 
	B.	The Church
# A lady from a Church of God in Oklahoma told me that her daughter had gone to a Nazarene Church one Sunday. While there a Sunday School class took up an offering for her.  Her daughter now in prison remembered that expression of love.  From her cell she speaks positively about God’s people.
	C.	The Unusual
# Marvin tells of seeing a television set in the doorway between his living room and kitchen with a picture of Christ on it. Two weeks later the same apparition appeared. This time Marvin dropped to his knees and gave his heart to God. 
	D.	The Random Thought
# A family in North Dakota had been eating popcorn before I visited their home. As our conversation turned to God, the mother told me she and her daughter had just been talking about miracles.  She reached into the nearly empty popcorn bowl and pulled out an unpopped grain.  “See,” she spoke enthusiastically, “It is a miracle how a hard grain of corn can be transformed into a light and fluffy bite!” God prompted the miracle idea before I met with them. The mother and her daughter were eager to give God their hearts in order to be transformed.  
# Vern worked in a saw mill outside Prineville, Oregon. We had talked about his relationship with God. He responded kindly, but with indifference. One day I heard him humming, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” I asked him, “What are you humming?” He said he did not know the name of the tune. I recited the words to him.  He grinned, “I learned that as a boy growing up.” God was working years after Vern as a boy in church sang this hymn. 

III.	God’s grace and you
	A.	Trust Him to keep on working even if you don’t see external evidences.
	B.	Pray for God’s prompting to continue.
	# The mom whose daughter is now in prison says that she was praying for someone to 	come across her daughter’s pathway.  A Nazarene church did.  Now someone else 	was needed. 											Be the answer to someone’s prayer.
	C.	Don’t let go of hope.
		1.	Hope is not a blind optimism.
		2.	Hope is the confidence of things known, but yet unseen.
	D.	Look for opportunities to speak in God’s behalf.
	# For five years I had tried to talk to Mel about spiritual things.  One day when he was 	complaining of chest pains and being fatigued, I commented, “Don’t you dare die until 	we get you ready for heaven.” He accepted my challenge as caring. 
	E.	Supply the Holy Spirit with raw material.
		1.	Your conversations can be used by the Holy Spirit to remind people of 				truth, what is right and to draw them to Himself.
		2.	Your kind actions, complimentary statements, listening ear can be used 				by God to bring people to salvation.
	F.	Listen for divine direction.
Conclusion:
# Amy, recently released from a criminal psych ward, started attending San Jose Church where Roy was interim minister.  Roy had previously ministered to her over 10 years ago when she was in county jail in another town.  Amy wrote me a letter talking about, “Our Church.”  In her most recent letter she said, “God bless you.”  For years I had prayed that she would simply have a few moments of consciousness where she might responsively turn to God for salvation.  Little could I have guessed that she would be attending church and be accepted by persons of integrity and love.