I received this email from a member of our church family who had not been in worship the previous Sunday. Amy MacDonald is a school teacher in a local middle school. Reading it blessed me and so I share it now with you:
Dear Pastor Amy:
I want to share this story because it was a blessing to me, and I think you will agree:
I was driving down Bridge Street in Elkton this morning on my way to the Town Point service when I saw a man with a broken foot on crutches making his way down the sidewalk in front of Jake's Burgers.
As I drove past, I felt that gentle nudge that I should go back and offer him a ride. So (for once!) I immediately obeyed and turned around. He said yes, he would like a ride; he was going to crutch out to Route 40 and hitchhike to Rising Sun. I asked him where he wanted to go, and he told me Route 276 across from the Nazarene Church to his mother's house.
As we were driving, he asked me where I had been going. I told him that I was headed to church, but felt that God wanted me to help him instead. He then offered that for the first time in a very long time, he had attended a praise performance nearby in Pennsylvania a couple of weeks ago. When I asked him how he broke his foot, he said he had fallen off a ladder at work and had no insurance. He said he didn't have a car but he did have a scooter. However, he was riding his scooter without a license and got a ticket. We then talked about our children and realized that his youngest son goes to my school!
We drove in silence for a bit, then he said he had said a prayer that someone would give him a ride but he didn't really think it would happen. I told him that now that it had, I hope it would add to his faith that his prayers will be answered if he really believes that God loves him.
When we got to his mother's house, he thanked me profusely. I felt that gentle nudge again, so I gave him my weekly tithe to help while he is not working.
It is true ... it is SO way cooler (as my students say) to give than to receive :)
The other Amy
Showing posts with label Purpose of Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Purpose of Church. Show all posts
Monday, September 21, 2009
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Second Chance
Tonight, we had a movie night. Since Jacob's Well uses the High School auditorium, we decided it would be fun to make good use of the movie theater style seating, screen, and projector. We had dinner, dessert, popcorn, and candy. The worship band rehearsed/played for us. Then we watched a movie called Second Chance.
It has Michael W. Smith as a lead character, and it is about how his church planting father sends him to "observe and learn" in an inner city church plant that had been part of the father's early ministry and remained part of the overall organization as a mission outpost.
I was surprised by how well done it was. It seemed a bit long. But it really did a good job of raising questions about the nature of church, and what ministry really means. It was a not so subtle critique of suburban (white, wealthy) church losing its focus on the mission and turning insular. Basically, Smith's character loses his blinders and comes to see the "hood" as the place where Christ is present...among all of the drugs and violence is risky, selfless love.
It seems from where I sit, that Protestant Christianity is re-examining what it means to be church, and what really matters. How appropriate that tomorrow's gospel lesson is the temptation of Jesus. Luke's account in chapter 4 says that he was led into the wilderness by the Spirit. There he was tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread (to which Jesus replied "One does not live by bread alone"). Then he was tempted to have authority over all the kingdoms of the world (to which Jesus replied "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him"). Finally, the devil used verses of Scripture to tempt Jesus to throw himself down from a high pinnacle and prove God's protection (to which Jesus replied "Do not put the Lord your God to the test")
One of the important ways Jesus survived the temptations was by remaining focused on his mission, his purpose, and focused on God. Also, the wilderness formed him into the person he was created to be. It was after this wilderness time that he began preaching. His first sermon? "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Between the movie and the Scripture for tomorrow, the message I see is that keeping focused is vitally important...and that focus has a lot to do with the poor, captives, blind, and oppressed.
It has Michael W. Smith as a lead character, and it is about how his church planting father sends him to "observe and learn" in an inner city church plant that had been part of the father's early ministry and remained part of the overall organization as a mission outpost.
I was surprised by how well done it was. It seemed a bit long. But it really did a good job of raising questions about the nature of church, and what ministry really means. It was a not so subtle critique of suburban (white, wealthy) church losing its focus on the mission and turning insular. Basically, Smith's character loses his blinders and comes to see the "hood" as the place where Christ is present...among all of the drugs and violence is risky, selfless love.
It seems from where I sit, that Protestant Christianity is re-examining what it means to be church, and what really matters. How appropriate that tomorrow's gospel lesson is the temptation of Jesus. Luke's account in chapter 4 says that he was led into the wilderness by the Spirit. There he was tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread (to which Jesus replied "One does not live by bread alone"). Then he was tempted to have authority over all the kingdoms of the world (to which Jesus replied "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him"). Finally, the devil used verses of Scripture to tempt Jesus to throw himself down from a high pinnacle and prove God's protection (to which Jesus replied "Do not put the Lord your God to the test")
One of the important ways Jesus survived the temptations was by remaining focused on his mission, his purpose, and focused on God. Also, the wilderness formed him into the person he was created to be. It was after this wilderness time that he began preaching. His first sermon? "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Between the movie and the Scripture for tomorrow, the message I see is that keeping focused is vitally important...and that focus has a lot to do with the poor, captives, blind, and oppressed.
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