Read this today from Tabletalk Magazine. In an effort to generate discussion among my new blog's MANY readers (ha!) let me know how you think our (or your) church is doing on this issue. Should it be a priority (and how high)? If you check out the article in it's entirety Rick Phillips gives suggestions for implementation, etc.:
"...any church that fails to minister the merciful love of God is failing in its witness to the merciful heart of God. Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). Likewise, a church that is little interested in works of mercy is not pleasing to our Lord. The Christians that Jesus will commend on the Last Day are those to whom He will say, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.… Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matt. 25:35–40).
So how do churches lead their members to recognize the necessity of merciful deeds? What causes Christians to act spontaneously in the kind of mercy Jesus commends?"
=) I've always been impressed with RCG on this one, though I'm sure we still have room to grow...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, our pastor sets a great example for us, regularly attending to the ill...
The church does a great job feeding hungry new mommies, too! =)
Sharon -- do you have any good ideas of how we can expand in our mercy?
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I'm so glad that you finally have a blog. I am in need of your wisdom and thoughts about life and faith. :)
As for the issue at hand . . . I think that our little teeny church is off to a good start in this area. Maybe because of our small size, we are pretty aware of needs within the congregation, and members are really great about picking up the ball and running with it. I also think that we are made aware of the needs because the pastor is great about keeping watch over his flock, and then asking if he can communicate needs to the rest of the church. I was sick a lot after Wes was born, and he (along with other members of the church) kept in touch with me, and made sure that everyone knew how I was doing. When we are open enough with each other to admit when we could use some help, I've found that those in our church really do respond spontaneously. Meals, phone calls, trips to the park for my other kids, all came without any 'official' prompting.
I've seen this play out in other situations in the church, as well.
- Steph
Steph, that's encouraging to hear that your church stepped it up for you. (and good to hear from you, period!)
ReplyDeleteI agree, Christina, that we're on the right track here too. I guess I'm more curious about what our involvement could/should be with other "ministry"-type endeavors (soup kitchen, tutoring kids, ???). I guess what we really need at RCG are some deacons!
Also, I think giving to others is hard! It's often all I can do to keep up with the needs of my own family (and myself)! Anyway...maybe we can all just encourage eachother to do more for those who might be in need?
I definitely know what you mean as far as "keeping up with your own needs..."
ReplyDeleteI think it's safe to say that we're pretty busy right now... And us helping others often puts the burden on others to take care of our kids in the process!! (I'm thinking of yesterday, when I wanted to help clean up after the kids from Bible Study and in the process, I lost track of one of my own dear munchkins!)
So... right now, I'm constantly praying for creative ways to help others and remembering them in my prayers above all! As some wise women in our church often say, "It's a season in life!"
But deacons would be helpful!! =) *Remembers to remember deacons in prayer*
I'd say teach the next verse in John. If people are growing in their love for Christ it will necessarily be reflected in love for other people.
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