The church left the building… and the community was glad they did! Our Sunday of Service was AMAZING! 

I was blown away by how our church rallied to support a special day of community service – 90% of our regular attenders came to worship and glorify God by meeting needs and serving others.  Our people saw firsthand that serving others is something simple, and something anyone can do.

We took our faith to the streets and put our faith into action by transforming our regular Sunday service into an opportunity to practice “kindness with a purpose” throughout the community.  Volunteers from Jubilee went door-to-door collecting food for the local Food Pantry… A group washed cars for free… Another team picked up trash in the community park and along state road 18 in both directions and along Main Street…  The “elders” team painted the fire escapes at Carroll Manor… Our younger children visited the nursing homes, taking flowers to the residents of the Manor and St. Elizabeth’s Healthcare in Delphi… One construction crew began rebuilding a porch for a local family, while another did indoor carpentry work and laid flooring for a single mom… Our amazing lunch crew stayed at the church to prepare a great meal of soups and sandwiches!

The day produced some great stories – I can’t wait for Melissa to tell everyone about the lady who told her, “There’s something wrong with you people!” – and some unexpected service opportunities:  The kids who went to the house across the street from one of our projects and raked leaves for a man with a broken collar bone, and the donated, brand new recliner we were able to give to the single mom – her old one was held together with duct tape.

Sunday of Service also kicked off our new community service initiative called “Second Saturday.”  Each month on the second Saturday of the month, we will send teams into the community to serve and help people in any way we can.  But we don’t just want to serve our community, we also want to serve with our community, and so our Second Saturday projects will be open to anyone in our community who wants to participate and give something back.

Next Sunday will conclude our “Taking it to the Streets” message series, with a time of celebration, some stories from yesterday, and some vision for the future.

I am so proud of everyone who participated, and I’m about to BUST with excitement over what God is going to do through this church, and ANY church, that is willing to love their neighbors as they love themselves!

Have a great week!