A few weeks ago in D.C. Dava and I saw the thousands of graves at Arlington cemetery, the constant reminders of slavery, the horrors of the Holocaust museum, then returned home to news about human trafficking and the Las Vegas shooting.
What if God has already done everything needed to bring peace into this world? And then entrusted it to us?
So maybe the real question should be “Where are we?“ Perhaps the world isn’t such a dark place because God seems absent, but perhaps it’s because we are!
We want and need God’s power in our lives
Luke 10:19
Mark 16:15-18
But if we want to walk in God’s amazing power we must also walk in the power of love!
John 13:35
What is the purpose of God’s power?
We see several places in the New Testament where people wanted Jesus to perform miracles like parlor tricks. Surely this isn’t the purpose of God’s power!
Jesus gave His disciples power in Luke 10 (see above) when He sent them to prepare His way, to reach those who had not yet heard of Him, to bless and heal.
The power Jesus spoke about in Mark 16 (see above) was part of the Great Commission, it was about reaching the world!
The Great Pumpkin Bash on October 31st!
5 obvious whys…
Feed a hungry child
Give busy families a safe place to be together
Let kids see their parents laugh for the first time in months
Be the example to an abusive parent
Be Jesus to our community!
4 deeper whys…
1. This is who we are as 29:11, part of what we see as our unique calling. Most of the time in the church world we’ve done events for ourselves and invited the community to join us. This is an event we host for the community, for their needs, for their families.
2. This is what it took to reach us and it will take the same selflessness to reach others! If you are a Christian today it’s because someone put you ahead of themselves!
3. This is how Jesus did it. He didn’t just preach about & forgive sin. Jesus met people’s needs, sometimes by teaching, sometimes by blessing, sometimes by healing & sometimes even feeding them!
4. This selfless serving is the most effective means of connecting people with Jesus. Remember the old saying, “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”
Church 29:11 