People of love rise

Today is Sunday. Sunday = my last day of church at Crossroads!

It was an appropriate message to leave with. We are doing a series called "I Love Cincinnati" about being a witness in your community. Our speaker was a leader of the ministry OneCity and explained the purpose of being available. In this way, we can easily connect people with the resources they need, much like networking in businesses and the professional world. Businesses such as P&G, GE, Graeter's and the like are not the largest organizations in Cincinnati (though maybe the tastiest), but rather the body of Christ is. How encouraging is that, and additionally, we are fortunate to have so much infrastructure set up that we simply need to make our time, resources, and knowledge available to help people out of poor schooling, chronic poverty, and the like.

As the Word of our Lord instructs,

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

-James 2.14-18

This is always meaningful to keep in mind and motivate me to push forward with serving and ministry. I've learned in little ways this summer, such as the VBS I helped with, a nursing home I visited, and various Bible studies I've attended, learning and interpreting God's Word with people different from myself. I've learned a lot, but am looking forward to devoting the majority of my efforts to helping provide shelter while in Seattle. The interesting part for us, when we take the plunge and commitment to help others, is that it's such a great experience! One learns, grows, is challenged, and it's the friendships, relationships, and little conversations that are unplanned that make it meaningful. I'll strive to be more intentional and really get to know people. As Robbie Seay wrote,

People of love rise, give yourself away.