Lessons from the dark

Funny how God chooses to speak to us. I find Him using every little thing He can to teach me valuable life lessons. Here's one I wanted to share with you today about poverty and justice.

http://kristen-arnold.blogspot.com/2011/12/lights-out.html

World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day. I wrote about it on my personal blog (click here) if anyone is interested in reading it.

In this first week of advent let's find to share the HOPE that we've been given in Christ.

Today's Advent reading:

Romans 1:1-7

"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, 6 including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Boy scouts are coming back!

The Boy Scout Troop from Chicago will be joining us this holiday season. But, we need your help. We need people to sign up and bring fruits and vegetables. So here's how you can do that.

1. Click on the Serving tab

2. Fill out the form

3. Select the "Boy Scout Luncheon" in the [event] field

4. In the comments field tell us what you're going to bring

Thanks so much for serving. Blessings!

Sheep caring for the Shepherd

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us of those who will "inherit the kingdom." He says in this passage of scripture that he will place the sheep on his right, and these will inherit that kingdom because they fed, welcomed, clothed, visited, and cared for him.

I often find myself wondering about this passage of scripture. There are so many implications within it, judgement, motivations, actions, etc. The list could go on, but this weekend what struck me was that Jesus called these righteous people "the sheep."

What I find odd about this is that sheep are cared for by a shepherd, and in this passage Jesus tells us that these sheep cared for him, the Good Shepherd. But, even beyond the oddity of sheep caring for the shepherd, it all happened visa-vie the sheep caring for other sheep.

It was this point where I saw something in this passage more clearly than I think I ever had before... the attitudes and actions of the sheep are the same as the two greatest commandments:

1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

When I saw these principles in this passage so clearly, I had three realizations.

First, I found it interesting that in many ways Jesus seems to spend much of His time reiterating these two commands, yet they seem to be so simple and straight forward. However simple the concepts may be, Jesus must have known the execution of them would be something that His followers would struggle with constantly. Thus, the reminders throughout His ministry that this is what the Kingdom of God is about.

Second, I realized that because "the sheep" didn't realize that they were doing all these things for "the Shepherd" (or King), they must have been doing them naturally out of love, not obligation or duty. This means that they were caring for others because they saw the Shepherd doing so and they were simply following His lead or rather becoming like Him, thus loving those whom He also loves.

Finally, I noticed due to my second realization that the two commandments are completely interdependent. In other words we cannot love our fellow man if we do not love the Lord, and we cannot love the Lord without loving our fellow man. I see this in the fact that as previously stated loving the Lord will naturally lead to becoming like Him, and if we become more like Him we will love people as He loves people. Likewise, we will not truly be able to love others from a pure heart if we do not first rid ourselves of selfish motivations, and the only way to do that is to love God and become more like Him.

I saw how in this passage Jesus gives us a clear blueprint for the Christian life and explains that when we live our lives in fulfillment of these two commandments we naturally serve and give to anyone who we see that has a need.

So, when I read Matthew 25 this weekend and reflected on it, I realized how important serving others truly is. But, not as the means of loving God and others, rather I saw how serving is merely the vehicle by which we know how deeply we do love God and love others.

In this way, I felt so blessed to be a part of a community of believers at Flowing Grace where our mission and core values are to...

• Love God
• Love Others
• Serve

Flowing Grace raises more han $1000 for Boyscouts

Today, Flowing Grace hosted the Boy Scout Troop from Chicago. this troop has been such a blessing to partner with and we look forward to more events with this troop in the future. Flowing Grace took a second harvest offering for the troop and raised more than $1000.00.

Pictures from Hammond, IN.

See the recap of the Do Something overnight in Hammond, IN.

Disaster relief and the lesson of waiting

"For everything there is a season..." I hear The Byrds singing "turn, turn, turn..." in my mind, every time I think about this fact. This is a lesson that I have been learning in so many areas of my life. I have even been learning that this lesson applies to the very things that God, himself, calls us to do.

In his letter to the Ephesians the apostle Paul tells us, "For we are his [God's] workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). I spent a good portion of my life searching out these good works, then just as soon as I think they are revealed to me I charge ahead, sometimes recklessly, in order to do them.

I have been learning that just because God has prepared good works for us to do, doesn't mean we need to, can, or even should do them all right away. I have been learning the art taking a good, long, deep breath, and waiting. This very important lesson has only just started to sink in from all the times I've banged on doors thinking that these were the doors that were supposed to be opened up to me; just to find that these very doors were locked for a purpose.

It may seem odd that the "DO SOMETHING" coordinator would speak against her attitude of charging forward to do good works, and instead say we need to wait. But, the reality is that everything in our lives has a time, and sometimes the best thing we can do for those who are hurting is to pray and wait for God's timing.

Sometimes there are lessons we need to learn before we can be effectively used by God in a certain place or circumstance. Sometimes it is just a matter of opportunities not being available at the time we think we're supposed to help. And, sometimes the waiting is necessary to make sure that the work continues when everyone has forgotten about those in need.

Heard anything about Haiti lately? What about Louisiana? or Myanmar (formerly Burma)? With the dawn of a new natural disaster every year and sometimes it feels like every month, we often forget about all those who are still in need.

Do Something is about to lead a trip back into Hammond, IN where almost three years ago a flood displaced thousands from their homes. This opportunity came to us as a result of the Adult Mission Trip this summer. We tried to get into Joplin, MO right after the tornadoes hit, but we couldn't get in without medical training. So we went to lend a hand in Indiana instead.

Coincidence or not, there was still plenty of work to do in Hammond, and only a small contingent of volunteers to help. So many had forgotten that there was even a flood in this area, others didn't realize any work left to do because the initial clean up was finished. The work is not finished. There are still families that need help to make their homes complete again.

Now less than a month before the 3 year anniversary of this flood we are headed back on August 19th - 20th to help finish the disaster relief that was started under LARRI (Lakeshore Area Regional Recovery of Indiana).

Please pray for our team as we prepare to continue the work in Hammond. Also please pray for those families still waiting for their homes to be restored completely after such a long wait. Finally, pray for guidance in what works God has prepared beforehand for you to do, and ask Him if you should still be waiting or if it is time to act? Only His timing is perfect.

On Mission in Our Own Backyard

When we think of natural disasters we think of the devastation in Japan, Haiti, or even Louisiana, we wouldn’t think of Hammond, Indiana.

But, this week our eyes were opened to the reality that so many families have been living everyday.

This year for the Adult / 20 something mission trip we volunteered with LARRI (Lakeshore Area Regional Recover of Indiana).

Our neighbors in the Lakeshore area lost their homes to the flood in September 2008, and so many have been waiting to move back in. LARRI has been working tirelessly to rebuild

the remaining 130 homes before their grant deadline of September.

We were so privileged to be a part of their efforts. During our week here we’ve helped rebuild three basements.

The first home we came to belonged to a family whose basement flooded three days after they moved in, and has flooded multiple times since.

After two days of mudding, sanding, painting,

and laying flooring, we were able to see the nearly finished product.

And, as much of a blessing as it was to see the fruits of our labor, the most fun part was to spend time getting to know the family that would use the space we were fixing.

Thank you for all your prayers and contributions to our trip, we grew so close together as a team and have seen Christ in our midst throughout the trip.

So many of us have said that we can’t believe how much work there is to do and so close to home. We look forward to a continued relationship with LARRI and hope that many of you will be able to join us for future trips with the Do Something Ministry.