It was a cold and dreary Sunday morning – but the Son was about to shine! Our second annual “Sunday of Service” joined us with churches around the nation to break out of the walls and take the church to the streets. We were hit hard by sickness and the cold weather didn’t help – but an amazing number of folks showed up in work clothes to labor for our neighbors:
- A big “KUDOS” to the Friction youth group, who braved the elements to do another free carwash along the main highway through town.
- Another crew collected bags of food for the local food pantry.
- The “Trash Collectors” picked up litter along the highway, Main St., and in the downtown area.
- One of our “skill teams” finished some plumbing work for an older couple in a neighboring town.
- The “Paint Crew” worked on painting two senior citizens apartments.
- The “Running Rakers” roamed the town looking for yards to rake.
- A group of our younger children and adults visited the nursing homes, taking flowers and visiting with residents.
And let me tell you a little more about one of our projects… Bill is in his eighties, lives in assisted living. His wife is in a nursing home. Due to health issues and some other factors, Bill’s property had fallen into disrepair, particularly the yard. The situation came to our attention because Bill’s insurance agent is a member of our church – the insurance company was threatening to cancel the coverage on Bill’s property if something was not done. We agreed to take the project on. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a true “before” picture – but I’m a witness that it was pretty unbelievable. Picture #1 below is AFTER about 20 hours of work had already been done prior to this morning.
#1
12 of our folks worked on the property today and about 20 people total have put some time in there.
A few blessings of the day: The lady whose yard was raked, who with tears in her eyes (and after being told that she could not pay for the work), exclaimed, “There are still good people in this world!” The lady at the nursing home who was so overcome with joy by the visit that she began to weep, and another who gave away some of her stuffed animals to the children. The opportunity to invite dozens of people to church.
We do this – not because we want to be a “cool” church, or get our names in the paper – but because the church has developed a reputation of being “takers” rather than givers. We want to help change that in our community. The effects and benefits go far beyond a single Sunday – our folks now actively look for ways to help people year round. We are creating a culture of servanthood that will do more to spread the good news of Jesus than anything else.
Praise be to God for letting us be part of it!
