Rock Church's mission is to Save, Equip and Send. Pastor Miles has been sharing this mission statement with the church and explaining the "how" behind the mission. We are surrounded by people who are searching for what Jesus has to offer and for every way that these people are searching, Rock Church wants to provide a way for them to be found.
On Sunday, January 7, Pastor Miles introduced the new "Text 2 Share" technology that gives us the opportunity as believers to easily share the Gospel with someone via text. Pauly Soriano, one of the pastors at Rock Church, knew exactly who he needed to share the Gospel with when Miles encouraged the congregation to participate. He had been in contact with an old friend of his from the East Coast who didn't have a relationship with Jesus and simply believed if you are a good person, you'll go to Heaven.
"I've been trying to reach out to my friend for the last year and recently stopped because he got mad," Pauly said. But when Miles encouraged everyone to try this Text 2 Share technology, Pauly knew God was asking him to "send it home".
"After I hit yes, I was a little distracted because I wanted to see what would happen. So I kept checking my phone for updates. It was cool because it even tells you if the person watches [the video] and to continue to pray, but I wasn't expecting anything." Pauly continued praying for his friend and hoping that his friend wouldn't get upset with him again. Not long after sending the text message Pauly received quite the surprise when he received the "BOOM" notification, which lets you know when your friend accepts Jesus as their Savior.
"I didn't believe it. I was like, no way. So after service I called him and I couldn't really talk to him because he was crying. He said he was in a lonely tough place and said if there was a God out there to come rescue him right when I sent the text. So I hung up and called him later that night and walked him through my own testimony and it was the FIRST time in a year after reaching out to him where he actually listened and asked great questions. In fact, he started watching the service online now since he is in New Jersey!"
Pauly has been in touch with his friend every other day, following up and checking in. Since this friend accepted the Lord, Pauly has sent the Gospel message to two more friends who both accepted the Lord. "This is crazy," he said.
"If you are thinking about sending it to someone who does not know the Lord and God puts it on your heart, do NOT punk out. I realized after my good friend got saved, it was not about my feelings of getting yelled at or made fun of, but was about the Kingdom and my friend's soul. He is going to heaven because of this text, which is way bigger than our feelings."
