By looking carefully at a familiar word like opportunity, we can sometimes see clues to its origin. For example, notice the second syllable of that word: op-PORT-unity. There’s a nautical reference there, having to do with ports and ships and voyages. In the ancient world, ships were often the only way for trade and travel to occur between continents, and sailing the high seas began early in history. The ancient Egyptians were plying the waters of the Red Sea a thousand years before Abraham. Their vessels were made of planks or of bundles of reeds lashed together. The first known ship bearing a name was a vessel known as Praise of the Two Lands, a majestic Egyptian boat that voyaged up and down the Nile about 2600 B.C., from Upper to Lower Egypt, hence the reference to “two lands.”

The Mediterranean, Atlantic, Pacific, and Polynesian seas became highways for our ancestors. In Northern Europe, Vikings took to the seas to raid, trade, and expand their boundaries. Old World explorers sought new worlds to colonize. Migratory patterns followed the currents of the oceans, and nations built fleets for the protection and expansion of their empires. Traders navigated global waterways in search of commercial routes for financial profit.

All that explains the background of “opportunity.” The term comes from an old Middle French term, opportune, which, in turn, hails from a Latin word, opportunus, which literally means: “toward the port.”

Imagine you’re the captain of an ancient ship preparing to sail beyond the horizon. Your ship—let’s call it Turning Point—is at the dock, taking on tons of cargo and a full crew of eager sailors. Now we’re ready. The cargo is loaded. The sailors have stowed their gear. The larders are stocked. Winds are favorable. Loved ones have gathered on the pier. But the ship can’t sail yet because the tide is too low. Because of the weight of the cargo, the ship rides low in the water. But you’re a wise mariner and you can read the signs of the tides. At the moment of highest tide, you shout the command, the moorings are cast off, and the ship leaves the harbor and sails safely into the open channels. It’s the moment of op-PORT-unity for Turning Point.

Remember the old saying, “Time and tide wait for no man”? I believe the tide is rising in today’s world, and we’re looking at the greatest opportunities we’ve ever seen in our lifetime. We have clear sailing ahead when it comes to exporting the life-changing Gospel to millions of lost souls in distant ports all over the world.

Jesus said in Mark 16:15, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (KJV).  We’ve selected that verse—Mark’s rendering of the Great Commission—and put the message into nautical terms:

• The crew? That’s the “ye” in Mark 16:15—you and me.
• The course is clear. We’re going to all the world.
• The cargo is the Gospel message.
• The contacts are described in the last two words of the verse: “Every creature.”

Here at Turning Point, we believe the tide is rising. Opportunities are opening. People are responding. I’m dedicated to asking the Captain of our Salvation to pilot this ship called Turning Point, and we’re blessed to have you on board with us. Together let’s take the cargo of the message of the Cross from pole to pole and from shore to shore.

We dare not miss our moment when the tide is rising, the world is waiting, and the winds of opportunity are blowing in a heavenward direction.