We now have over 30 yellow bags packed full of groceries in our Mosaic Campus! I am soo very proud of how GENEROUS the people in this church are and there are still many bags coming in yet! Praising God for you!
Thank you all so much for your love and kindness towards those who are in need in our community! I know God is proud of us and will bless each one of you tremendously for your generosity!
I am so very excited about our upcoming opportunity to show God's love in practical ways in a VERY HUGE way!
I know that this is totally a 'GOD-THING' being led in the direction that we have been led recently and having the doors of opportunity fly open like they have!
The manager of the Phillip's Village low-income housing apartment complex in Webster has been so wonderful & appreciative towards us! She says the need there is so great, we can expect at least 200 people OR MORE to show up!
Yesterday, Barb and I met with a representative from Foodlink in Rochester who have generously agreed to drop of 5 or 6 skids of food for us to distribute along with all we have personally collected! Sounds like we'll be needing ALL OF IT!
None of this would be happening without us and this could become a very big new beginning for our church to reach out and show God's love in practical ways. What's more important than people receiving food is the fact that what we are showing them is that God is a God of love & generosity and that His church is about giving and loving others in Jesus' name!
The man from Foodlink tells us there is a lot more opportunity for us to partner with them in various places throughout the county and beyond in the future if we decide too. They serve 11 different counties and one of their biggest challenges is getting help to distribute the food in each area.
In harsh economic times like this, there has never been a greater need for food assistance. I know we are doing exactly what Jesus would want us to do....feed the hungry and let them know that God loves them and cares about ALL their needs!
Some people have said to me, "Don't you think many people will just take advantage of your generosity?" Sure, maybe some will; but so what? It's not our job to judge others. Our focus is to be followers of Jesus Christ and when we do this for those in need, it's the same thing as if we're doing it directly for JESUS Himself.
Think about it friends, we will be LIVING out these scriptures:
Matthew 25:31-46 (Words of Jesus)
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
So you see friends, when we do this for our neighbors, we are doing it for Jesus and a day will come when He will say: "WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!"
So here's where we need YOUR HELP NEXT WEEK:
On Friday, July 17th, the foodlink truck is dropping off their food. We need a good size crew of volunteers to meet us at the office at Phillip's village at 9:15 AM Friday morning. We will carry all the food into the community room in Phillip's village. I have no idea how long this will take, it will depend on the number of volunteers. Please let us know if you will be there.
Then, On Saturday, July 18th, we need a LARGE crew of people to show up around 9:30am. We will open the doors at 10am and expect a HUGE crowd to flow in. (Of course we don't know for sure but thinking it's likely!)
I personally would love to see every single BHCC member there...men, women and children! I do realize that some people have to work of course and can't be, but everyone else....MUST COME!!! :-) And you don't have to be a BHCC member to volunteer either, this is a great time for all of us to invite our friends, family and neigbors to help as well! Even if they belong to another church, so what. We're doing this with no strings attached in Jesus' name!
It's more about all the love being given away than it is the food!
We'll need the most people there for the first couple of hours so please stay at least two hours if you can and stay longer if you can too! We will have to clean up everything and possibly carry stuff out.
There will be a sign up sheet on the welcome table tomorrow to sign up! Please let us know if you are bringing more volunteers to help as well. Tell everyone you can think of what we are doing so that they will also be impacted to know we are doing this in Jesus' name to love our neighbors just as Jesus has told us to do! Not that people would look at us, but that they too can know how kind and loving our God is...to Him be the GLORY forever and ever!
And friends, continue to look at the people God has put in your life and ask Him, how can I show this person Your love in practical ways? How can I show them what a kind and loving God you are?
See the face of Jesus in the people around you friends, and don't judge them, just show them love & kindness and it will be the same as if you are doing it FOR JESUS!
Thank you all so much for your love and support in every way! Please don't miss this opportunity next week to show Jesus that you are truly His follower!
Peace in Following Christ;
Pastor Lin :-)