Editors Note: Steve wrote this blog post after their Thanksgiving and Christmas outreaches in 2021. There are principles within this article that are timeless. Pastors, church leaders, and outreach teams, I encourage you to read, get inspired, and then take action.
So many great stories from our outreach!
During our feedback session, our teams spoke about people crying as they received their Thanksgiving Dinner and as they received prayer.
One family prayed, “Holy Spirit, where do you want us to go?” One of their girls had an impression of a number. So they began their adventure. They found the number and told the family how they prayed, asked for guidance, and now they were at their home. The mom cried when they told her how much Jesus loved her and her family.
School Counselor
Good deeds are like pebbles thrown into a quiet pond.
Ripples emerge after the stones of kindness are thrown.
The Monday after the outreach, we dropped some dinners off to a school counselor. She was very encouraged by what we were doing for her families in need. Our team had a great talk about some future possibilities. She was so grateful!
The Monday after the outreach, we dropped some dinners off to a school counselor. She was very encouraged by what we were doing for her families in need. Our team had a great talk about some future possibilities. She was so grateful!
Christmas!
The first weekend all of the envelopes for several local agencies were taken from our Giving Tree. This past Sunday, we launched the outreach partnering with the Tipp City Schools to reach needy families. Most of the envelopes were taken. People will bring the filled gift bags to Upper Room by Tuesday, December 14th. We then sort and deliver the Christmas gifts to the school counselors. The counselors will make sure the families receive their presents.
Creating consistent on-ramps into our community takes time, patience, and faith.
Through Faith and Patience, we inherit the promises.
For most of our lives, Pattie and I have been encouraging churches to take steps to reach out to their community by serving, giving, and praying.
Three things happen as we continue to love and serve our communities by faith:
1. People who consistently serve their community attract others who want to make a difference in their community.
Recently Pattie had a conversation with a lady who met Jesus due to an outreach many years ago. She mentioned the impact the small act of kindness had upon her life. She came to our church, where she met Jesus, then participated in our varied outreach opportunities. As she reflected, she mentioned she loved how we consistently reached out. Serving our community was the reason she met Jesus and stayed.
2. People in our communities are helped.
The people of our comminutes are encouraged as we serve, pray, and give away what we have received.
3. Our faith community begins to find favor through our love and service as we re-present Jesus to our cities and towns.
We become lights to our world as we reflect His love and goodness.
Remembering the “so that’s” helps us continue.
(I want to write two books. The But’s Of The Bible, and The So That’s In The Pastoral Epistles.)
Titus 3:1 Remind them… to be ready for every good deed,”
3:4 when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared. He saved us.
Jesus is the kindness and love of God who appeared.
8 This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things (one of these things, being ready for every good deed) I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for all men.
Being careful to engage.
Engage means to attract and hold by influence, or to hold the attention of, and to continue to do.
Context: Be ready, engage, and continue to do what is good.
Continue is a keyword.
Continuing, or to continue means: to maintain a course of action without interruption, to endure, to keep going.
My advice…keep engaging, keep going, keep loving, keep serving, and continue.
Never give up. Never Surrender!
Galaxy Quest
