If you ever begin to think, “I really don’t matter,” or if you think your church attendance on a Sunday night or Wednesday will go unnoticed (“Nobody knows if I’m there. I’m just one person”), consider the value of “one.” How much is one vote worth?

• In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England.

• In 1649, one vote caused Charles I of England to be executed.

• In 1845, one vote brought Texas to the Union.

• In 1868, one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from  impeachment.

• In 1876, one vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic.

• In 1876, one vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the Presidency of the United States.

• In 1933, one vote gave Adolph Hitler leadership of the Nazi Party.

• In 1960, one vote change in each precinct in Illinois would have denied John F. Kennedy the Presidency (March Fong Eu, California Secretary of State, 1984).

One person is important because the church is a body that needs all its parts functioning to be healthy (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). If I choose to be with the church every time it meets, I am “casting my vote” for the success of the congregation and expressing my partisanship to God.

“...joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance” —Luke 15:7