Why are we always serving the poor? People with money have problems, too, you know.
As I said in the response to yesterday’s question, I don’t think we get to choose who we will serve. We are humanity’s slave. That applies to where people live and it applies to their economic standing. We are called to serve the poor, serve the rich and everyone in between. A few thoughts to consider:
-University City Fellowship serves primarily the wealthy on Sunday mornings. Some of you would not necessarily agree with that, but nearly everyone who comes drives to get there in a car that they (or their family) own. That means they are “rich” from the world’s standpoint. Our messages and style are more focused on reaching out to those in the top 25% of the world’s wealth, mainly because if you live in this geographic region then you are in this category.
-I realize that money doesn’t solve problems and often it creates problems for people. That is one reason that we are doing life here in the Charlotte area and not in the streets of Calcutta.
-God does direct us to give to and serve to poor. It doesn’t take too much effort to find God’s heart for the poor in the Bible. One verse that I especially like is Proverbs 19:17, “If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD – and he will repay you!” It is kind of different to think of what we are doing as “lending” to God. I also simply love Jesus’ words that “when you have done it to the least of these, you have done it to me.” I don’t know about you, but I want to serve Jesus and one of the best ways to do it is to serve and give to the poor. We will always be this kind of place with this kind of focus.
-I think God does a renovation in our hearts (with our attitudes and motives) when we serve the poor. Sometimes this renovation is a little trying and painful. Try it and see.
Showing posts with label Sundays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sundays. Show all posts
4.27.2009
ReJesus :: Penetrating Conversations - Missions
This post is in response to a group learning activity that we had during out Neighborhood Gathering on April 26. I said I would post responses to the penetrating questions we used here so you could know what I think. There are five questions and I will create a new post for each question.
Why are we so concerned about people in Ethiopia and Mexico when there are lots of people with needs right here in America?
First of all I will address the question and then I will address the real reason I think people ask it. As followers of Christ we, don’t get to pick and choose who we will serve and who we will not serve. We are “humanity's slave” which is actually our next mini-series in the ReJesus series. We are servants of everyone, everywhere. There is a blindness in the church planting / new church movement AND IT IS THE LACK OF FOREIGN MISSION ENGAGEMENT. Lord willing, we will never fall into this blindness. Most of the focus and money that comes into a new church is spent on the ministries of that church itself. This is especially true if that church is focusing on purchasing land and building buildings. The lead team at UCF is wrestling with what it looks like to love people around us as much as we love ourselves when it comes to finances at UCF. Currently we probably give/spend about $100,000 per year on our missional projects in Ethiopia and Mexico. The majority of this is outside our regular operating budget. We also provide one full time salary for a ministry leader in Ethiopia for every full time staff position we have at UCF through our regular operating budget.
In my history of leading ministries, I have seen a lot of models of engaging the world around us. I think Matthew 28:19-20 among many other verses in the Bible, lays out a strategy that involves local AND global engagement. Our strategy of investing in a few global areas over a long period of time has come about through much seeking, much experience and much prayer. Currently these areas are Ethiopia and Mexico. I realize there are needs everywhere around us in this country, but the scale of NEED reaches entirely different levels when you travel out of our country into places where people live on $1-3 a day, have no access to clean drinking water and little or no opportunity to hear the message of Jesus Christ. The bible continually urges us to serve those in need and we cannot confine that to just those “in our country.” And still the large majority of our focus is spent on reaching out to people right hear in our own city and our own neighborhood. We serve a weekly meal to our homeless friends and have for the last five years. We throw a neighborhood party for families called Movies in the Park and we have a staff that serves – children, middle school students, high school students and college students. When you think of it like this we do more for our own country than we do for other countries.
The majority of the times I have heard this question, it comes mostly from a person who isn’t very engaged in serving people around the world or in this country. And honestly, the question comes off pretty empty to me. Conviction comes when we present needs and many people try to deflect this conviction by pointing out other needs that we aren’t doing something about. They present this as if to say, “If we were serving people in say Texas, THEN I would jump in and help!” The problem is when we do go to Texas (like we did this month) they don’t seem to jump in there either. If you have a passion for serving people we currently don’t serve and are willing to lead us to engage in new places, we are ready to listen and help you plan. Like I said, we are “humanity’s slave” and the more people we can serve the better. It takes a lot of persistence and tenacity to forge new works that consistently serve people around us but we are better when everyone is engaged. Jesus said something like, "the harvest is huge but the workers are few, so pray to God who controls the harvest to send more workers." Pray and then join the work.
Some people at UCF are currently working on a new idea to serve people all over the United States called U.S. I-27. Ask me about it.
Why are we so concerned about people in Ethiopia and Mexico when there are lots of people with needs right here in America?
First of all I will address the question and then I will address the real reason I think people ask it. As followers of Christ we, don’t get to pick and choose who we will serve and who we will not serve. We are “humanity's slave” which is actually our next mini-series in the ReJesus series. We are servants of everyone, everywhere. There is a blindness in the church planting / new church movement AND IT IS THE LACK OF FOREIGN MISSION ENGAGEMENT. Lord willing, we will never fall into this blindness. Most of the focus and money that comes into a new church is spent on the ministries of that church itself. This is especially true if that church is focusing on purchasing land and building buildings. The lead team at UCF is wrestling with what it looks like to love people around us as much as we love ourselves when it comes to finances at UCF. Currently we probably give/spend about $100,000 per year on our missional projects in Ethiopia and Mexico. The majority of this is outside our regular operating budget. We also provide one full time salary for a ministry leader in Ethiopia for every full time staff position we have at UCF through our regular operating budget.
In my history of leading ministries, I have seen a lot of models of engaging the world around us. I think Matthew 28:19-20 among many other verses in the Bible, lays out a strategy that involves local AND global engagement. Our strategy of investing in a few global areas over a long period of time has come about through much seeking, much experience and much prayer. Currently these areas are Ethiopia and Mexico. I realize there are needs everywhere around us in this country, but the scale of NEED reaches entirely different levels when you travel out of our country into places where people live on $1-3 a day, have no access to clean drinking water and little or no opportunity to hear the message of Jesus Christ. The bible continually urges us to serve those in need and we cannot confine that to just those “in our country.” And still the large majority of our focus is spent on reaching out to people right hear in our own city and our own neighborhood. We serve a weekly meal to our homeless friends and have for the last five years. We throw a neighborhood party for families called Movies in the Park and we have a staff that serves – children, middle school students, high school students and college students. When you think of it like this we do more for our own country than we do for other countries.
The majority of the times I have heard this question, it comes mostly from a person who isn’t very engaged in serving people around the world or in this country. And honestly, the question comes off pretty empty to me. Conviction comes when we present needs and many people try to deflect this conviction by pointing out other needs that we aren’t doing something about. They present this as if to say, “If we were serving people in say Texas, THEN I would jump in and help!” The problem is when we do go to Texas (like we did this month) they don’t seem to jump in there either. If you have a passion for serving people we currently don’t serve and are willing to lead us to engage in new places, we are ready to listen and help you plan. Like I said, we are “humanity’s slave” and the more people we can serve the better. It takes a lot of persistence and tenacity to forge new works that consistently serve people around us but we are better when everyone is engaged. Jesus said something like, "the harvest is huge but the workers are few, so pray to God who controls the harvest to send more workers." Pray and then join the work.
Some people at UCF are currently working on a new idea to serve people all over the United States called U.S. I-27. Ask me about it.
6.20.2008
A homeless man... a buffalo nickel... and God's plan!
First I want to introduce you to someone who has been to UCF twice. His name is Nans Bay. In the picture, Nans (on right) is standing with Joe Pelham, a regular at UCF. Joe met Nans in uptown Charlotte on a Sunday afternoon several months ago. 
Nans is one of our friends who doesn’t have a home and lives on the street. Joe picked him up for church back in May for his first visit and this past Sunday he came again with Joe.
At the end of this Sunday’s neighborhood gathering, I had planned on challenging everyone to give to two areas of need. The first was to Mike and Amy Rodgers (UCF’s missionaries to Ethiopia). They have just finished 9 months of language training and moved last week to their long-term home at Lake Langano. They have about $10,000 worth of one-time needs that are related to their move (things like furniture, generators, solar power system, etc). The second area of need was the UCF update we are planning for the Fall that includes all of our environments with particular attention to K-12th grades.
I challenged people to give $210 to each project. Why $210? Well, it costs $210 to provide for all of Mike and Amy needs for a single day and I thought I would mention that as well. Besides, $210 just seemed right. I have challenged people of the last few weeks to give a portion of their economic stimulus check that everyone has been receiving lately. After all, I believe it is simply God’s way of getting the US Government to fund mission work in Ethiopia. All it takes is our cooperation.
I think I was bolder than I have ever been, because in the middle of my challenge I simply thought, “if anyone knows a church that is doing more to reach out to the world around us with less, I want to know!” But instead of just thinking it I said it out loud. (That happens a lot in my world!) But the more I thought about it, the more I believed it. We are doing a great job of maximizing the money that comes into this place. And if there is another place that is doing more than we are with the same amount or less, I want to know so that we can learn from them how to do better. Bottom line, sometimes it isn’t about getting more for less, it is about challenging people to give more to places that are getting God’s work done! And right now, our mission needs to expand financially!
The service ended and I went to the Respond Area to spend some time with anyone who wanted to talk about the message. The first person that came up to me was Nans Bay. I greeted him with a hug because it was great to see him again. He said he needed to talk to me and he had a serious tone. He reached down and grabbed my hand and began to put something in it. As he was doing this he said, “now I don’t have $210, if I had it I’d of already gave it to ya. All I got is this nickel! Now it isn’t just any nickel, it’s a 1934 Buffalo Nickel. Now, I’m sure it’s not worth $210 but it’s all I got and maybe it can help your friends over there in Africa!” With a stunned silence, I looked down at the buffalo nickel he put in my hand. I was speechless as my eyes started to water a bit as I looked at Nans. He said, “I’ve been carrying this with me for a while now, but this is definitely where it needs to go!”
The story that immediately raced through my head was of Jesus and his disciples watching the widow give her only two coins to the offering in Luke 21…
While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people putting their gifts into the collection box. 2 Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two pennies. 3 "I assure you," he said, "this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. 4 For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has."
In one of my favorite books of the bible, James writes these penetrating words…
My dear brothers and sisters, F5 how can you claim that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people more than others? 2 For instance, suppose someone comes into your meeting F6 dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in shabby clothes. 3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, "You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor" – well, 4 doesn't this discrimination show that you are guided by wrong motives? 5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? 6 And yet, you insult the poor man!
I started to say to Nans, “thanks man, but you need this more than Mike and Amy.” But then the Spirit seemed to stop me. What I heard in my mind were two things,
“Don’t insult his faith by robbing him of the blessing of giving”
“I have a plan for that nickel.”
I thanked Nans and assured him that God has a plan for his nickel. He walked away and my mind immediately began churning on what to do with Nans nickel. Sunday afternoon I prayed and thought about it and here is what I sense the plan should be.
We are going to hold a Nans Bay Nickel Auction with all of the proceeds going to help Mike and Amy Rodgers work in Ethiopia. And here is how the auction will work, from now until July 6th we will be taking bids. All bids must be submitted in the form of a check made out to “UCF” with “Nans Nickel” in the memo line. The top bidder on July 6th will be awarded the nickel. The big difference in this auction is that all bids will be cashed! When you submit a bid by check, your check will be cashed and be added to the total. So let the bidding begin and check back here for updates!!!
You guys need to make this happen so that I can go back and tell Nans what God did with his buffalo nickel and his faith. Make it happen!
Nans is one of our friends who doesn’t have a home and lives on the street. Joe picked him up for church back in May for his first visit and this past Sunday he came again with Joe. At the end of this Sunday’s neighborhood gathering, I had planned on challenging everyone to give to two areas of need. The first was to Mike and Amy Rodgers (UCF’s missionaries to Ethiopia). They have just finished 9 months of language training and moved last week to their long-term home at Lake Langano. They have about $10,000 worth of one-time needs that are related to their move (things like furniture, generators, solar power system, etc). The second area of need was the UCF update we are planning for the Fall that includes all of our environments with particular attention to K-12th grades.
I challenged people to give $210 to each project. Why $210? Well, it costs $210 to provide for all of Mike and Amy needs for a single day and I thought I would mention that as well. Besides, $210 just seemed right. I have challenged people of the last few weeks to give a portion of their economic stimulus check that everyone has been receiving lately. After all, I believe it is simply God’s way of getting the US Government to fund mission work in Ethiopia. All it takes is our cooperation.
I think I was bolder than I have ever been, because in the middle of my challenge I simply thought, “if anyone knows a church that is doing more to reach out to the world around us with less, I want to know!” But instead of just thinking it I said it out loud. (That happens a lot in my world!) But the more I thought about it, the more I believed it. We are doing a great job of maximizing the money that comes into this place. And if there is another place that is doing more than we are with the same amount or less, I want to know so that we can learn from them how to do better. Bottom line, sometimes it isn’t about getting more for less, it is about challenging people to give more to places that are getting God’s work done! And right now, our mission needs to expand financially!
The service ended and I went to the Respond Area to spend some time with anyone who wanted to talk about the message. The first person that came up to me was Nans Bay. I greeted him with a hug because it was great to see him again. He said he needed to talk to me and he had a serious tone. He reached down and grabbed my hand and began to put something in it. As he was doing this he said, “now I don’t have $210, if I had it I’d of already gave it to ya. All I got is this nickel! Now it isn’t just any nickel, it’s a 1934 Buffalo Nickel. Now, I’m sure it’s not worth $210 but it’s all I got and maybe it can help your friends over there in Africa!” With a stunned silence, I looked down at the buffalo nickel he put in my hand. I was speechless as my eyes started to water a bit as I looked at Nans. He said, “I’ve been carrying this with me for a while now, but this is definitely where it needs to go!”
The story that immediately raced through my head was of Jesus and his disciples watching the widow give her only two coins to the offering in Luke 21…
While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people putting their gifts into the collection box. 2 Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two pennies. 3 "I assure you," he said, "this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. 4 For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has."
In one of my favorite books of the bible, James writes these penetrating words…
My dear brothers and sisters, F5 how can you claim that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people more than others? 2 For instance, suppose someone comes into your meeting F6 dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in shabby clothes. 3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, "You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor" – well, 4 doesn't this discrimination show that you are guided by wrong motives? 5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? 6 And yet, you insult the poor man!
I started to say to Nans, “thanks man, but you need this more than Mike and Amy.” But then the Spirit seemed to stop me. What I heard in my mind were two things,
“Don’t insult his faith by robbing him of the blessing of giving”
“I have a plan for that nickel.”
I thanked Nans and assured him that God has a plan for his nickel. He walked away and my mind immediately began churning on what to do with Nans nickel. Sunday afternoon I prayed and thought about it and here is what I sense the plan should be.
We are going to hold a Nans Bay Nickel Auction with all of the proceeds going to help Mike and Amy Rodgers work in Ethiopia. And here is how the auction will work, from now until July 6th we will be taking bids. All bids must be submitted in the form of a check made out to “UCF” with “Nans Nickel” in the memo line. The top bidder on July 6th will be awarded the nickel. The big difference in this auction is that all bids will be cashed! When you submit a bid by check, your check will be cashed and be added to the total. So let the bidding begin and check back here for updates!!!
You guys need to make this happen so that I can go back and tell Nans what God did with his buffalo nickel and his faith. Make it happen!
5.21.2008
Sunday and a man called, "Sam"
I think this past Sunday was an incredible wrap up to our UCF Backstage Series. I am in awe at God's providence and plan. I was excited going into the service because I knew the parts of the service that were going to be incredibly powerful - worship, parent-child dedication, the talk and the baptism video. Having a baptism video (that was shot at the baptism celebration on May 4th) at the end of the service was incredible. It is the capstone of all that we do because it is the outward expression of people choosing to trust Jesus and begin imitating Him. The baptism video was the planned part and a man who called himself "Sam" was the unplanned part.
Now regarding Sam, I know this may astonish some of you, but I believe that Sam was a person trying to scam our church and prey on the generosity of UCF. I did not know this at the point in the service when he stood up unsolicited and shared his story. For those who were not there, he shared that he was homeless, but had recently accepted Jesus as his Savior when someone shared Christ with him at a Burger King restaurant. He shared how God miraculously provided some clothes for him and that he had called his mom who had been praying for him. He stated that he was trying to get to Oklahoma to see his mom. I was stunned and felt compelled to let him tell his story. All I knew to do was pray for him and work out the details of helping him after the service. I prayed earnestly for him and thanked God for everything that we had been a part of in welcoming and showing love to Sam that morning. As soon as I sat down, during the closing song, I heard from a few people that this story was the same story that someone who called himself "Sam" stood up and shared at three other churches in our community recently. After a few seconds of thought and prayer, I asked Todd Murphy (part of UCF's Lead Team) to talk with Sam and decide how to handle the situation. There was a news report tonight on this scam taking place in several churches around the Charlotte area. Many of you handed me money to use for Sam's need. After talking with Sam and inquiring a little deeper into his story, Todd took him out to eat, dropped him at McDonald's to meet “his ride” and gave him a modest amount of travel money. He knew that we were on to him, but we still loved him and helped him.
Here is a few of my thoughts...
... the first thing that came to my mind when I realized what was probably going on was a verse in Genesis 50:20. Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers is now facing the challenge of forgiving his brothers as he is now the one in power in Egypt and they are at his mercy. And this is what he says, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done." Joseph knew that God is so powerful that He can work his will out through the selfish ambition and devious schemes of people. I believe that is what God did on Sunday morning. While "Sam" may have thought he was there to get some fast cash and pull off a scheme, he didn't realize that he was a part of a service that God had planned. He didn't realize that is words drove home the point of how important it is to love and serve people, no matter what their agendas are. We loved him, accepted him, put out a sign for him, set up a cafe for him, provided coffee and bagels for him, engaged him in conversation and generally loved him - even after we knew what he was about. He drove home the point of Sunday's message better than I could have and he didn’t even know it. What he intended for harm, God intended for good to accomplish what is being done at UCF.
... The message that many of you experienced on Sunday was real even though the motives behind the message from Sam was fraudulent. God genuinely moved in your hearts and you felt compassion for a man you didn’t know and you wanted to help. Do not allow the sin and selfishness of people to harden you to the real need that is all around you. The world is coming to us (19th fastest growing county in the US) and we need to meet them with generosity and compassion so that we can point them to the one that makes all the difference in the world – Jesus.
… Jesus said that we are sent out like “sheep among wolves” so we are to be “shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.” I think we were definitely this on Sunday. We were wise and shrewd. We didn’t fill Sam’s pockets with money and allow his scam to work, but we didn’t turn him away either. We genuinely loved him, prayed for him and gave modestly to him. Everything that was given to me to give to him wasn’t needed, so I am giving it to Patrick Shaunessy to purchase some bus passed for our friends in uptown Charlotte who are homeless and really need some rides. We have limited amounts of time, money and energy. We must be good stewards of all of these so that we can advance God’s agenda most effectively in the world. We have to evaluate and make a plan. We didn’t necessarily have a plan for this scenario going in, but we had leaders in place who knew what to do and initiated compassionate, wise, innocent action. That is the community of God at work.
… Think of the boldness that it takes to pull off a scheme like that. To interrupt a service and boldly tell your story even though it is false. That takes guts and it is risky! He comes into our church and stands up and speaks up. I wonder what would happen if we went into our world and loved people with that kind of boldness and risk. I wonder what would happen if we went out with pure motives and took major risks to communicate love.
… Sam knew that we were on to his scam and yet he still experienced love and generosity moving towards him. I hope that Sam would be genuinely stunned by how people served him, talked with him, sat with him, and loved him – before and after we found out what he was up to. I am proud to be a part of a generous, caring, God-orchestrated community – keep loving loud… Sam heard it!
Love Loud… Risk Often,
David
Now regarding Sam, I know this may astonish some of you, but I believe that Sam was a person trying to scam our church and prey on the generosity of UCF. I did not know this at the point in the service when he stood up unsolicited and shared his story. For those who were not there, he shared that he was homeless, but had recently accepted Jesus as his Savior when someone shared Christ with him at a Burger King restaurant. He shared how God miraculously provided some clothes for him and that he had called his mom who had been praying for him. He stated that he was trying to get to Oklahoma to see his mom. I was stunned and felt compelled to let him tell his story. All I knew to do was pray for him and work out the details of helping him after the service. I prayed earnestly for him and thanked God for everything that we had been a part of in welcoming and showing love to Sam that morning. As soon as I sat down, during the closing song, I heard from a few people that this story was the same story that someone who called himself "Sam" stood up and shared at three other churches in our community recently. After a few seconds of thought and prayer, I asked Todd Murphy (part of UCF's Lead Team) to talk with Sam and decide how to handle the situation. There was a news report tonight on this scam taking place in several churches around the Charlotte area. Many of you handed me money to use for Sam's need. After talking with Sam and inquiring a little deeper into his story, Todd took him out to eat, dropped him at McDonald's to meet “his ride” and gave him a modest amount of travel money. He knew that we were on to him, but we still loved him and helped him.
Here is a few of my thoughts...
... the first thing that came to my mind when I realized what was probably going on was a verse in Genesis 50:20. Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers is now facing the challenge of forgiving his brothers as he is now the one in power in Egypt and they are at his mercy. And this is what he says, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done." Joseph knew that God is so powerful that He can work his will out through the selfish ambition and devious schemes of people. I believe that is what God did on Sunday morning. While "Sam" may have thought he was there to get some fast cash and pull off a scheme, he didn't realize that he was a part of a service that God had planned. He didn't realize that is words drove home the point of how important it is to love and serve people, no matter what their agendas are. We loved him, accepted him, put out a sign for him, set up a cafe for him, provided coffee and bagels for him, engaged him in conversation and generally loved him - even after we knew what he was about. He drove home the point of Sunday's message better than I could have and he didn’t even know it. What he intended for harm, God intended for good to accomplish what is being done at UCF.
... The message that many of you experienced on Sunday was real even though the motives behind the message from Sam was fraudulent. God genuinely moved in your hearts and you felt compassion for a man you didn’t know and you wanted to help. Do not allow the sin and selfishness of people to harden you to the real need that is all around you. The world is coming to us (19th fastest growing county in the US) and we need to meet them with generosity and compassion so that we can point them to the one that makes all the difference in the world – Jesus.
… Jesus said that we are sent out like “sheep among wolves” so we are to be “shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.” I think we were definitely this on Sunday. We were wise and shrewd. We didn’t fill Sam’s pockets with money and allow his scam to work, but we didn’t turn him away either. We genuinely loved him, prayed for him and gave modestly to him. Everything that was given to me to give to him wasn’t needed, so I am giving it to Patrick Shaunessy to purchase some bus passed for our friends in uptown Charlotte who are homeless and really need some rides. We have limited amounts of time, money and energy. We must be good stewards of all of these so that we can advance God’s agenda most effectively in the world. We have to evaluate and make a plan. We didn’t necessarily have a plan for this scenario going in, but we had leaders in place who knew what to do and initiated compassionate, wise, innocent action. That is the community of God at work.
… Think of the boldness that it takes to pull off a scheme like that. To interrupt a service and boldly tell your story even though it is false. That takes guts and it is risky! He comes into our church and stands up and speaks up. I wonder what would happen if we went into our world and loved people with that kind of boldness and risk. I wonder what would happen if we went out with pure motives and took major risks to communicate love.
… Sam knew that we were on to his scam and yet he still experienced love and generosity moving towards him. I hope that Sam would be genuinely stunned by how people served him, talked with him, sat with him, and loved him – before and after we found out what he was up to. I am proud to be a part of a generous, caring, God-orchestrated community – keep loving loud… Sam heard it!
Love Loud… Risk Often,
David
4.07.2008
The Compassion Ripple
This Sunday was one of those days that we had a great plan and everything worked. I know that God is always present (when people say “God showed up” it is always odd to me) but there are sometimes when we are more aware or in tune with his presence than others. Today was one of those days for me. I knew that God wanted me to turn the focus of The Compassion Ripple on the ripple that is closest to us relationally. I look forward to hear the stories of life change as you move with compassionate love toward your spouse, your kids, your neighbors and co-workers. I know that many of you are at the end of yourselves and ready to all God to bring life beyond your wildest dreams into your life. One person who talked to me after the service simply said, “I am so there!” He meant that he is at the point of the end of himself and the beginning of God.
The video of how compassionate UCF is to the world around was incredible. The shots of houses being built in Mexico, homeless being fed in Charlotte and Omaha, houses being built for cancer patients in Hickory and a small party being thrown for 12,000 of our closet friends in Harrisburg… it was incredible. To think all of this took place in the last 20 days is even more amazing. The way that this community moves out into the world with compassionate love absolutely blows me away. That is why I didn’t have to spend much time today challenging UCF to serve the world more… all I had to do was celebrate it. This church is incredible.
We had 37 people at our “New to UCF” lunch. It was a great time of sharing who we are in a creative way that is distinctly UCF. I look forward to seeing how God uses each new person in our community.
A day at Ridge Church. Most of the staff went to Ridge Church on Sunday night. They are a new church (6 months young) that meets in Matthews. I was very excited about how much I knew we would learn from simply being in their environments and seeing how they create an amazing experience for people. We showed up at 2 pm to help them load in and set up for their service at 6 pm. Seeing a group of people who have planned and prayed for a few years to begin a church in itself is an awesome sight. The feelings of 20-30 volunteers doing something that significant with their time is incredible to be around. We are already making notes on what we learned and what it means for UCF. More to come.
The video of how compassionate UCF is to the world around was incredible. The shots of houses being built in Mexico, homeless being fed in Charlotte and Omaha, houses being built for cancer patients in Hickory and a small party being thrown for 12,000 of our closet friends in Harrisburg… it was incredible. To think all of this took place in the last 20 days is even more amazing. The way that this community moves out into the world with compassionate love absolutely blows me away. That is why I didn’t have to spend much time today challenging UCF to serve the world more… all I had to do was celebrate it. This church is incredible.
We had 37 people at our “New to UCF” lunch. It was a great time of sharing who we are in a creative way that is distinctly UCF. I look forward to seeing how God uses each new person in our community.
A day at Ridge Church. Most of the staff went to Ridge Church on Sunday night. They are a new church (6 months young) that meets in Matthews. I was very excited about how much I knew we would learn from simply being in their environments and seeing how they create an amazing experience for people. We showed up at 2 pm to help them load in and set up for their service at 6 pm. Seeing a group of people who have planned and prayed for a few years to begin a church in itself is an awesome sight. The feelings of 20-30 volunteers doing something that significant with their time is incredible to be around. We are already making notes on what we learned and what it means for UCF. More to come.
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