What a Week!

The church I have the privilege to serve embarked on a pretty audacious task last week.  We called the week PowerPlant as we sought to see a power display of God's power take place through His people planted right here.  Here is a limited look at the highlights of the week:

In just one week, 230 different children attended REC Camp.In just one week, 15 children attended a Community Bible Club.In just one week, 84 individuals served at REC Camp and 42 served in schools.In just one week, 14 classrooms, 4 stairwells, a few bathrooms and a couple teachers' lounges were painted.In just one week, businesses were fed and served.


This happened in just ONE WEEK.  Imagine what could happen in 4 weeks!  What if one week (or one weekend) each quarter was devoted to continuing the efforts of PowerPlant Week.  Truly my heart is for PowerPlant Week to be a catalyst for future acts of service. 
Why do it, though?  Why invest the time and resources in serving in this way.  Below you will find my explanation of the four-fold purpose for undertaking a major work like this.

FIRST: We love our community and our world and we want to demonstrate this in tangible ways.  We are not serving to see individuals trust Christ.  We are serving because we have trusted Jesus Christ who served us at the point of our greatest need.  While our desire is ultimately to see individuals receive new life through Jesus, we are not serving just to get converts.

SECOND: We want to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ visible here.  Jesus Christ gave His life to rescue us when we had absolutely nothing to offer in return.  He served us when we had nothing to give. His serving was beyond generous. We want to serve our neighbors and our world to show the generosity of Jesus Christ so others can see the good news, not just hear it.

THIRD: We desire to build relationships with our neighbors and community.  Jesus is about people.  He spent time with people.  He healed people, taught people, etc.  Relationships for Jesus and the Church are huge.  People matter to God and therefore they must matter to us.  Our desire is to build relationships for the long haul in our community.  We want to leave no doubt in anyone's mind that they matter to us!

FOURTH: We hope a fire is lit in the hearts of believers.  Our times of worship and the ministry that happens within this facility is vastly important.  However, not all the great ideas and the great acts of service will be done here.  Through our week of service, I pray there is a fire lit in the hearts of believers to engage our community through serving in order to make the good news visible and something our community can touch, see, and experience.  That through this week new leaders would emerge to serve and lead.

Now the week of PowerPlant may have ended, but the work has just begun because the need still exists.  May this be the beginning and not the end.  Our lives are to be lived to make the gospel visible as we speak the gospel audibly.  Through service we do just that!