Several years ago an active member of the church I was in shared a story from which he had discovered a spiritual reality. As we worship the Lord on weekend with communion I want to share this story with you and relate it to a video clip we will be showing.

For three years Ralph's grandson had been selected to play on the All-Star Team. It was not just grandpa's subjective opinion that Andy was a good baseball player, the statistics indicated that it was true. That particular year Andy's batting average was considerably over 500, much better than most, but when the All-Star-Team was announced, Andy's name was not included.

Why? Grandpa suggested that whom you knew made a difference. While many of the other players had fathers attending the games, talking to the coaches, and influencing their choices, Andy's father was not involved in his life. Ralph was disappointed for his grandson.

Well, it happens again and again, not only in local sports, but also in college and professional sports, too. You know it also happens in our work places, over and over. A person gets a higher position passing over people with higher qualifications and we exclaim that he or she must know somebody at the top. While we often think of this from a negative perspective because we don't happen to be the one who knows the right person, I want to share a positive perspective of the "Its who you know principle."

Each one of us here today has the opportunity of knowing the one at the very top. Taking advantage of this opportunity will change our lives. Of course, I am talking about knowing Jesus Christ. He offers abundant and eternal life to all who know Him personally.

I am not talking about merely knowing about God. I am not talking about being a religious person. I am not talking about knowing the O.T. Law. I am not talking about attending church, being baptized, or taking communion. as important as these practices are.

In the eyes of the religious community of His day, the apostle Paul was highly respected. He had been circumcised on the eighth day; he was of the tribe of Benjamin; he was trained in the O.T. Law as a Pharisee, and as he knew it, he kept the Law well. But He did not really know the one at the top until his conversion on the road to Damascus. Read v.7-11. The Paul really knew the Lord personally and that made a great difference.

For the Christian, who you really know makes the difference, and all of us have the opportunity to know Jesus Christ, the one at the top. We are a privileged people. This wonderful privilege of helping others know Jesus Christ has been entrusted to us. Jesus granted this privilege to His first followers and it has been passed down through the generations to us. How well are we passing on our Christian heritage for the generations that will live after us?

(Show video clip)

I am excited that God has entrusted the good news of Jesus to us. What happens when a person we may not know comes to worship with us? Will we ignore them, shun them, make fun of them? Or will we personally make this person feel like an invited guest whom we and others warmly welcome like final portion of the video clip? Will they want to return and perhaps want to become part of God's family and our local family of God?

Think about persons with whom you know and spend time. If you sense that they are not involved in a local church, do you care enough about them to invite them to come to worship with you. You may help them get to know the One who makes all the difference in the world. Let's have open hearts, open minds, open doors and help others get to know Jesus. Who you know really can make a great difference.

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