Message summary: Some of you haven't opted-in. Perhaps you've been under the mistaken notion that you're automatically in. You may be relying on your religious heritage or good works. We urge you to receive Christ as Your personal Savior and place your trust in Him today!

Listen to our message on your audio player.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12).

For many years the terms "opt-in" or "opt-out" have been used in email publishing and marketing.

"Opt-out" describes a method where you receive email, usually completely unsolicited, and the sender will keep sending it to you unless you "opt-out". This is the method preferred by junk emailers and in some cases by sincere people who want to build up their email list. They simply add every address in their contact list to their email list assuming others will be interested in their materials, as well as "harvesting" addresses by collecting whatever email addresses they can find and adding them to their list.

"Opt-in" on the other hand, describes a process where you choose whether you want to receive email and then initiate the subscription by "opting-in" or "subscribing". That is the way our daily encouragement email list works. We have a page that allows those interested to sign-up or "subscribe" to receive our daily messages and of course a key feature is the ability to easily unsubscribe or opt-out as well.

"OK", you may be thinking, "what does this have to do with spiritual things?" Actually, there is a vitally important spiritual principle here. God's Kingdom is opt-in (although the word trivializes the seriousness of this decision). We must receive Christ.

But many live or are under the assumption that being part of the Kingdom of God is opt-out. In their faulty theology everyone is a part of God's family by default and goes to heaven except perhaps only the most wicked or those who purposefully reject God, those who have willfully opted-out.

The daily verse is one of many that teach the truth of spiritual opt-in. The great apostle John is writing late in his life and reflecting on the ministry of Christ in the prologue to his gospel.  He writes of Christ as the "true light" that came into the world God had made. Yet He was not recognized and His very own did not receive Him. "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12).

The word "all" indicates the marvelous extent of this opt-in offer. Regardless of one's religious, ethnic, economic, racial or any other background the offer stands. Our part is to receive, to believe in His name. "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name." To those who do so, "He gave the right to become children of God". We essentially subscribe to His lordship. Most certainly this itself is an act of grace. As an old hymn states, "I know not how God's wondrous grace to me He hath made known, nor why, unworthy, Christ in love redeemed me for His own."

But I do know my call is to receive Him, to believe in His name and today I again do so, reaffirming a decision to opt-in I made nearly fifty-five years ago as a teenager in August 1971 in the Municipal Auditorium, a large arena in Kansas City, Missouri. Brooksyne opted-in about fifty-seven years ago. Most of you reading this today have also opted-in (received Christ) and we welcome you to join us in reaffirming our opt-in.

However some of you haven't opted-in. Perhaps you've been under the mistaken notion that you're automatically in. You may be relying on your religious heritage or good works. If so, we urge you to opt-in and place your trust in Christ today!

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13.

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber