Ray is PCC’s Senior Pastor.

Friends,

Well, summer is winding down. Where has the hot sweaty time gone? Hope you have made some time for enjoying friends and family!

Do you know that twenty years ago today an interesting thing happened? On August 15, 1987, Howard Schultz purchased a small chain of coffeehouses called Starbucks for $4 million. At the time, Schultz described it as “a case of the salmon swallowing the whale.” It seemed like an overwhelming undertaking, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Listen to what he writes in his autobiography, Pour Your Heart Into It. “This is my moment, I thought. If I don’t seize the opportunity, if I don’t step out of my comfort zone and risk it all, if I let too much time tick on, my moment will pass. I knew that if I didn’t take advantage of this opportunity, I would replay it in my mind for my whole life, wondering: “What if?”

On June 26, 1992, less than five years after Howard Schultz seized the opportunity, Starbucks’ stock went public. It was the second most active stock traded on the NASDAQ and, by the closing bell, its market capitalization stood at $273 million. Not bad for a $4 million investment.

Listen, no one wants to be or is remembered as the man or woman who missed the moment. No one wants to ends up in life asking What if. Rather we all want to be those who seize opportunities and make the most of them.

When writing to Christians about life and service to God and others, the Apostle Paul says, Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. [Ephesians 5:16]

Do you realize life is an endless series of God-given opportunities: opportunities to love, opportunities to learn, opportunities to serve, opportunities to share, opportunities to give. Either we’re going to have the courage to seize those God-given opportunities, or we’ll end up missing the moment.

Today and this week, you probably won’t have the chance to invest in a fledgling coffee business, but you may have the opportunity to invest in something far more valuable – people and the Kingdom of God. This is your moment. Seize the opportunities. Step out of your comfort zone and risk it all. Let too much time tick on and the moment will pass. Love, learn, serve, share and give – invest in the things of God and the return will carry eternal benefits!

Ray