The Birth of the Church Demonstrates its Purpose
In his book People of Spirit: Exploring Luke’s View of the Church (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), Graham H. Twelftree examines the church from the perspective of Luke through his Gospel and Acts. In the second chapter of this very interesting book, Twelftree asks when the church started. Is the origin of the church found at Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit? Twelftree says, “No.”
In considering Luke’s view of the origin and purpose of the Church, two points can be made. First, an unavoidable conclusion to be drawn from this chapter is that from Luke’s perspective the Church has its origin in the ministry of Jesus and is recreated by the risen Jesus to be the renewed people of God. In the simple unaided call of the apostles and the collection of them around Jesus, the Church had its origins or birth..
We can say that Luke would not call Pentecost the birth of the Church. For him the origins of the Church is in the call and community of the followers of Jesus during his ministry. Perhaps Luke would say that what was born in hope in the ministry of the earthly Jesus was given the ‘breath’ (pneuma) of life and power in the promised coming of the ‘Spirit’ (pneuma). This means that, for Luke, the Church does not occupy a period in history separate from that of Jesus. Rather, the Church was called into existence by him and is a continuation of his ministry. (p 28)
Twelftree bases his conclusion on several pieces of textual evidence. First, Luke writes in Acts 1:1 that his previous work (the Gospel of Luke) was about “all that Jesus began to do and teach.” It follows, then, that the Book of Acts is about what Jesus continued to do and teach. Thus, one of the connections between the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts is found in the ministry of the earthly Jesus and its continuation in the life of the church.
Also, Twelftree demonstrates that Luke uses the twelve apostles as characters to connect his Gospel to Acts. In fact, as the first people who were called to follow Jesus in his earthly ministry, the apostles form the core of the church after Jesus’ ascension. However, not long into the Book of Acts, Luke demonstrates how the ministry of Jesus which had been continued by the twelve apostles, was then further continued by others.
Thus, while the twelve apostles connect the Gospel to Acts, and while the twelve represent the birth of the church and the continuation of Jesus’ ministry, the importance of the twelve soon diminished, being replaced by the importance of all believers as they continued what Jesus did and taught. Twelftree writes:
In eventually promoting Barnabas and particularly Paul to the rank of apostle, Luke is able to show his readers that the purpose of the Church portrayed in his Gospel and the early parts of Acts is to be the same as for the Church in the life of the readers. There is no closing of one age (the apostolic) and the initiating of another (post-apostolic) period. The kingdom, inextricably bound to the notion of mission, is conferred on the apostles, and experienced by them and expressed by them. The kingdom is also the subject of Paul’s attention as Acts closes. But this closing is the opening for the readers to continue experiencing and expressing the kingdom in their lives. (p. 29)
I’ve always considered Pentecost to be the birth of the church. But, I think that Twelftree’s arguments have merit, and that his conclusion warrants consideration. In fact, while studying the Gospel of Matthew in the last few months, I’ve recognized that Jesus called his followers to continue his ministry, especially when he sent the twelve out two-by-two in Matthew 10:5 (compare to Matthew 4:23, 9:35).
If the church’s origin is found in the ministry of Jesus, and if the church’s purpose is to continue the ministry of Jesus, what should we be doing today as the church? How should gathering together (the focus of this blog) aid in this purpose? How can gathering together distract from this purpose?
What if they thought of the church?
Two years ago, before our family started spending time in “The Neighborhood“, I wrote a post called “What if they thought of the church?” The post was about some of the people that we already knew who lived in that government assisted housing development. I wondered out loud what would happen if the people in that neighborhood thought that the church cared enough to help them…
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What if they thought of the church?
Last week, I published a short post called “Missional Christians in 360 AD“, commenting on the how Emperor Julian recognized that Christians took care of the poor and needy, even the poor and needy who were not Christians. Last Sunday evening, as I met together with some brothers and sisters to pray and discuss service opportunities, I thought about Emperor Julian again.
One of the ladies who meets with us on Sunday morning lives in government housing in our town. When we first met her, a man was living with her because he needed medical attention. He had been in the hospital, and when he was released, no one would take care of him, so she took him in. As I’ve gotten to know here, I’ve found that she is one of the most giving and caring persons that I know – even in the very difficult situation in which she finds herself.
A few weeks ago, another unit opened up in the government housing facility. They allowed the man to move out of her apartment, into the open apartment. However, he had nothing for his apartment – no furniture, no kitchen utensils, no dishes, etc. Nothing. Our friend asked her brothers and sisters in Christ for help. They responded by providing everything he needed plus more.
As we were discussing possible ministry opportunities last Sunday evening, I thought about this lady and her friend. What would happen if other people in the government housing facility heard about the generosity of the church? What would happen if they began to think about the church when they were in need? What would happen if they asked our friend if we would be willing to help them as well?
This may sound like a never-ending cycle of giving and giving and giving… perhaps to some people who would take advantage of our generosity.
But, would it not be amazing for people to begin turning to the church again when they were in need? I hope the church would be willing to trust God to provide for those needs.
Put your money (and possessions) where your mouth is
Last week, in a post called “The Good Samaritan meets Health Care Reform,” I said the following concerning the early church:
They would take care of the poor, the orphans, the widows, those in prison, etc. And, they wouldn’t simply throw money at some program to care for “the poor,†they would take care of poor people.
The Roman world first noticed Christianity because of the way that Christians cared for other people.
If the church still acted in this way, there would be no reason for “health care reform.†In fact, if the church still acted in this way – the way that Jesus prescribed – we could do away with all of our “evangelism programs†as well.
It is easy to say that the church should take care of people. It is much more difficult to actually put this into action. Here are two recent examples of how the church is “putting its money (and possessions) where its mouth is.”
Last week, a brother in North Carolina found out that a coworker in Pennsylvania was having car problems. When our brother talked to his coworker, he found out that it would be very expensive to fix the car. Our brother decided that he was going to drive his car Pennsylvania and leave it for this coworker to use as long as necessary. It turns out that some other coworkers checked the car out and found out that there was a simple, inexpensive problem. But, even though my brother did not give his car to someone else, he was willing to and ready to.
A few weeks ago, a young man was injured doing martial arts. Several of us know him, and he has helped many of our children work on their Tae Kwon Do skills. In fact, he was helping Jeremy (my son) when he was hurt. At the emergency room, we found out that his injury was not as serious as we thought, but as with all ER visits, there was still a substantial bill. This young man does not have health insurance.
I told the church about this need, and several people volunteered to help this young man pay his medical bill. He is not a “member” of Messiah Baptist Church. But, we know him, he is our brother, and we know of his need. So, we are responsible to help meet this need. More than knowing that we are responsible, we are acting on that responsibility.
While I write often about ecclesiology (the study of the church), I also like to move things out of the realm of theory and into reality. It is possible for the church to actually help people who are in need.
stories: Helping others serve
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
As most of my regular readers know, my family spends time with some people in “The Neighborhood” – a government assisted housing project. Not only has this given us the opportunity to get to know and to serve some wonderful people, it has also given us the opportunity to help others serve.
For example, on most Saturdays when we go to the Neighborhood, one or two people go with us. Sometimes, these friends will end up spending alot of time in the Neighborhood. Sometimes, they’ll only go with us once or twice. Either way, we are able to help them learn to serve others and to help them learn how God wants them to serve.
Also, recently, several families that we know have started giving us vegetables to take to our friends in the Neighborhood. When we started going last Summer, we would buy fresh produce from a roadside produce stand. We divided the produce into small bags and gave a bag to each family that we talk to in the Neighborhood.
Starting last month, three different families have started giving us produce from their own gardens to take to our friends on Saturday. They’ve given us cucumbers, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and peppers. Plus another family has offered to give us more vegetables, but our schedules haven’t worked out yet.
We’re grateful not only for the free vegetables to give to our friends, but we’re grateful that others are learning to think about how to serve others. Giving away part of the blessings that God has given to us is a great way to serve!
Finally, we have been completely surprised the last couple of weeks. When we went to our local produce stand, the lady that runs the stand offered us some baskets to deliver our produce in! This was great! The baskets are much better than the plastic grocery bags we’ve been using. Plus, she gave us some banana peppers to give away.
The next week, once again, she gave us some baskets, plus several cantaloupes and watermelons. In fact, we think she gave us more produce than we bought last Saturday.
We do not know the people who run the produce stand very well – not yet anyway – but we’re excited that they are also serving others through us. Plus, our friends in the Neighborhood have been very excited about the baskets. We also have the joy of telling them that our friends and the people who run the produce stand helped provide the fruit and vegetables.
So, when you are serving others, think about ways that you can include friends in your service. Allow your service to be a time for discipleship as well as service.
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If you would like for me to include your story in this series, please send me an email at aknox [at] sebts [dot] edu.
Socioeconomic Significance of Houses in the NT
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m reading through the concluding chapter of Roger W. Gehring’s House Church and Mission: The Importance of Household Structures in Early Christianity. (See my posts “Church and Meals” and “Architectural Significance of Houses in the NT.”) Remember, Gehring does NOT argue that the early church ONLY met in houses, nor does he argue that the church today MUST meet in houses. Instead, he examines the scriptural and historical/archaeological evidence to determine the significance of houses in the early church.
In his conclusion, Gehring discusses three significant aspects of houses for the early church: the House as Building (Architectural Significance), the House as Community (Socioeconomic Significance), and the House as a Church (Ecclesiological Significance).
Gehring says that it would not have been unusual for the early Christians to meet in houses. In fact, many other religious groups met in houses including “members of the cult of Mithras, the mystery associations, and particularly the Jews in their house synagogues.” (pg 291) These house meetings were socially and legally acceptable.
However, there was something different about the social makeup of the Christian meetings. Gehring explains:
Simply gathering in a house did not automatically lead to the reconciliation of individuals from diverse backgrounds in the church. Meetings in a house Mithraeum (the cult of Mithras) were exclusively for men; the members of the collegia were most often from the same social level. The membership in house synagogues was a bit more socially diverse, but even here there was the tendency toward community formation according to profession and nationality, which also led to exclusiveness. As a rule, Christian house churches integrated a large diversity of individuals from a variety of backgrounds. This is primarily related to, and grew out of, the inner structure of this new faith (Gal 3:27-28). Christ had enabled salvation for everyone; consequently, a diversity of people was supposed to live in loving unity one with the other. (pg 295)
If we look around at the Christians with whom we generally spend time and if we notice that they are primarily from the same ethnic, social, economic, professional, or national background, then we should also recognize that the early church meetings were much more diverse.
The social diversity also helped the early church in their mission. Gehring says:
Another socioeconomic factor in early Christian missions was patronage. Most scholars agree that the role it played in missional outreach and church development cannot be overemphasized. By making their houses available for Christian assembly, householders provided and guaranteed the material and organizational foundation for church development. Early Christians took advantage of the social network in the household, profession, guild, and association of the householder to promote missional outreach and congregational development. The contacts of the pater familias with powerful individuals in urban government and society were often quite useful (cf. Jason, Acts 17). The publicly respected householder was able to provide legal protection and a certain social legitimacy for the faith community that met in his home. The extended family, including slaves, clients, and friends, as well as the contacts of the householder with his professional colleagues and business partners offered an entire network of relationships. Once accepted by the householder, Paul, his coworkers, and many other Christians became trusted insiders within this network of relationships and as a result were able to quickly reach out and touch the lives of large numbers of people for Christ. (pg 292)
According to most research today, when a person becomes a Christ as an adult, within a year or two they lose all connections with their unbelieving friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family. Why? Because the new believer is pulled into an already existing network of Christian relationships. The new believer does not have time or opportunity to foster existing relationships, and those existing relationships with unbelievers are soon replaced by relationships with believers.
If Gehring is correct, then the early church worked differently. Instead of only pulling the new believer into the church and relationships with other followers of Jesus, the church also reached out through the relationships of their new brother and sister in Christ. The new believer introduced and encouraged relationships between their old unbelieving friends and their new believing friends.
Thus, evangelism and mission worked primarily through existing relationships. And, since the church was made of a diversity of people, these relationships began to reach through all sectors of society. (By the way, this process is very similar to what the authors recommend in “The Rabbit and the Elephant.”)
Why did this work for the early church? Because they considered one another family of the same household (“oikos“). The household of this time period was composed of more than a nuclear family. The household included extended family and slaves as well as business partners and social relations. When the new believer became part of God’s family, his new brothers and sisters in Christ immediately were part of his family along with those “extended” relationships that he brought in with him.
Today, society works differently. But, I do believe that the church can do a better job of helping new believers maintain relationships with their unbelieving friends. I also think that the church can help new believers through Christian community involvement with those existing relationships. Thus, new believers should be encouraged to introduce their existing friends and acquaintances to their new brothers and sisters in Christ.
stories: Maël’s grandmother
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
Maël (pronounced like Ishmael without the Ish) from “The Adventures of Maël and Cindy” is one of my best friends, and has been for over six years now. We both have engineering backgrounds, and we both went to college at Ga Tech, although we went at different times.
Our family has spent alot of time with Maël and Cindy, and they are like close family to us. Since we’ve known them, Maël has asked us to pray for his family back in Europe. You see, Maël is French, but he was born and raised in Italy. He is the only believer in his family. He only heard and receieved the gospel after moving to the United States for college.
In the last couple of years, Maël has especially and urgently asked us to pray for his grandparents. They were both in bad health. He has had several times to talk to them, to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to them, and to implore them to follow Christ. While his grandmother seemed interested at times, she would never move beyond interest.
A few weeks ago, we heard the bad news that Maël’s grandfather had passed away. Maël and Cindy’s passports had expired, so they were not able to travel to France for the funeral. The family asked Maël if he would write the funeral. He did, and someone read his words expressing his desire to see his family understand and accept the gospel.
After the funeral, Maël and Cindy received their renewed passports and flew to France to spend time with his grandmother. She was not doing well after her husband passed away, and the family did not think she would live much longer.
A few days after their flight, we received this email update from Maël:
We have some encouraging news. We had several opportunities to talk to my grandmother. I asked her if she was ready to die, and she answered that she was ready, meaning she wanted to, but when I asked her, she was not sure if she was in a right relationship with God. So, I shared the gospel with her yet again. We talked about having a relationship with God and being adopted by the Father. I asked her to think about it.
The next day, I asked her if she had thought about it, and she said that she had and she thinks that she believes what I believe. So I asked her if she wanted to have a relationship with God and be adopted by the
Father. She smiled and said yes. We then prayed with her to receive Christ as her Lord and Savior.At her age, and with her physical and mental condition, I pray that it was a sincere desire. I made sure that she understood this was not about pleasing me, but about her relationship with God, and that God knew if she really believed it in her heart. I have come to learn from my European brothers and sisters, that in this culture, we have to put much faith in God as to the outcomes of the sharing of the Gospel; whereas this is true anywhere, the reality of it and the need to draw comfort from that fact is much more striking here.
Maël told us that he and Cindy planned to fly back to the United States the next day. However, when they got to the airport, their flight was full, and they were not able to leave. That evening – the day after Maël’s grandmother had expressed interest in “having a relationship with God and being adopted by the Father” – we received another email from Maël:
My Grandmother just went to be with her new found Lord.
Yes, Maël’s grandmother had died the very next day. We don’t always understand God’s timing. But, I’m thankful for his patience, and I’m thankful to have a friend like Maël who was always loving and consistent in his proclamation and demonstration of the good news of Jesus Christ to his family.
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If you would like for me to include your story in this series, please send me an email at aknox [at] sebts [dot] edu.
stories: I love you, and I’m glad you’re not dead
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
Ms. Jennie has had a rough time lately. She is the 85 year old lady from New York who lives in a local nursing home and who my family spends time with each week. About a month ago, she developed pneumonia. She had not been sick, but she woke up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. She has been on oxygen off and on for the last several weeks.
She’s also had hip problems. Her hip has been hurting her alot, and she’s been taking pain medicine that makes her groggy. She has to shift positions often because of her hip.
During the last few weeks, when we’ve visited her, we’ve been unable to stay for very long because of her breathing problems, or because her hip was hurting, or because she became groggy from her pain medicine.
But, the last time that I visited with her, she was back to her normal self. Her breathing was back to normal, and they had taken the oxygen tanks out of her room. She had had a few physical therapy sessions, and her hip was feeling much better.
When I walked in the room she smiled at me and immediately began talking. She talked about things that had happened over the last few weeks – things she had not been able to talk about before because of her breathing and her hip.
She also wanted to talk about “religious things”. This is always somewhat funny to me, because she starts by saying that she does not talk “religion” with anyone but me. She says that she tells people, “If I want to talk about religious things then I’ll talk to Alan.” I asked her why she talks with me but not with other people, and she says, “Because I know you care about me”.
While we were talking about God, she started talking about her children again. She’s angry with God because “he took” her sons in separate automobile accidents when they were both twenty-one. She also has a daughter, but her daughter is not “good” like her sons, at least according to Ms. Jennie.
She was almost in tears when she told me that her daughter once threw hot coffee in her face and yelled at her, “I hate you! I wish you were dead!”
I told her that I can’t imagine the pain that that caused. I told her that I could imagine Miranda telling me that. It would break my heart.
Then I said, “I know that I can’t make up for what your daughter did and said to you. I don’t want to try to make up for it. But, I want you to know that I love you, and I’m glad that you’re not dead”. She smiled again in spite of the pain that her memories had caused.
I don’t know why God has chosen me to love Ms. Jennie. I pray that God will use my relationship with her and my words to her to bring Ms. Jennie to himself. Only he can do that. All I can do is make myself available to him and to her.
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If you would like for me to include your story in this series, please send me an email at aknox [at] sebts [dot] edu.
stories: Still serving Ethiopians
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
The following story comes from the blog of Dave Black. I mentioned Dave and Becky Lynn Black a few months ago in my post “stories: Loving and serving Ethiopians“. A few days ago, the Blacks returned from a three week trip to Ethiopia. They have already started writing about their trip. This is one of his stories (from Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 7:15 a.m.):
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To travel to Ethiopia is to be plunged headlong into more deprivation and hunger than most of us have ever witnessed. In my experience, only India comes close. I am very much aware that there are so many needs and so little I can do about them. This morning I would like to tell you the story of two forgotten people with whom I share this finite planet.
Zemete is a married woman in Alaba and the mother of 3 children.
When I first met her 5 years ago, she was in desperate need of fistula surgery. She could control neither her bladder nor her bowel movements. She was totally ostracized from her family and friends in her small village of Kuke. Becky and I were to able see that she got to Addis and into the excellent fistula hospital there, where she had a successful operation. That is not the end of the story, however. Upon returning to her home her husband forced himself upon her even though he knew he had to refrain from all intimacy with her for a period of several months. Since that time, the fistula has tragically reappeared. I met with Zemete two weeks ago. I am eager to have her return to the capital for another operation. But it would be senseless to do so without first getting her husband’s agreement that he will cooperate this time. He claims to be a follower of Jesus, but this is quite impossible in my mind. No man who treats his wife in that manner can be a true Christian. The elders are even now talking with him.
The other woman I want you to meet is Fatima Mohammed. She is a recent convert to Christianity. She lives in the hillside village of Galaye.
[S]he is blind in her left eye and partially blind in her right. I think Fatima is 15 years old, but most villagers have no idea when their birthday is. Last year she lost her parents to starvation. She now lives with her older brother, a simple farmer.
As I think of such suffering, my theologian brain tries to make sense of it all. On one level, all of this is the consequence of the fall. And, since God is absolutely sovereign, He controls the situation completely. That’s true of every person in this world. Nothing takes Him by surprise, including our illnesses and diseases. Whenever I go to Ethiopia I consistently realize the impact of sin in this world. But not only in Africa. There are no boundaries when it comes to heartache and grief. Life hurts!
On another level, however, I know that suffering has a purpose. At the very least, it is God calling me to get involved in the lives of others. He wants me to be like Jesus who left comfort behind to serve the lepers in society. In Ethiopian society, both Zemete and Fatima are absolute NOBODIES. But in God’s eyes they are huge SOMEBODIES. So, while there’s sadness and pain in joining in the sufferings of other people, there is also the joy of knowing that the God of all comfort, the Father of compassion, is right there with us all.
Why I am sharing this with you? I don’t really know. Maybe it’s because I’m feeling the post-trip blues. Maybe it’s because I just need to jangle. I think mostly it’s because I just want you to pray. Pray for your sisters in Christ, Zemete and Fatima. Missions is hugely demanding. The joyous frustration is constant and irrevocable. Personally, I wouldn’t want to live any other way.
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If you would like for me to include your story in this series, please send me an email at aknox [at] sebts [dot] edu.
stories: Working out with Bear
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
A friend of mine told this story recently. When he was working out one morning, he noticed that there was only one other person in the fitness center. The other man was large – “a bear of a man”, as my friend described him. So, I will refer to him as “Bear”.
While my friend was working out, Bear walked by him, very close to him as a matter of fact. My friend caught Bear’s eye as he walked by. Later, Bear walked by my friend again, and again they made eye contact. By now, my friend was wondering what was up. The fitness center was rather large, and there was no need for Bear to walk by so close to my friend.
A third time Bear walked close by my friend and made eye contact. This time, my friend said, “Hello”.
Bear stopped and began talking with my friend. At first, it was just small talk. It turns out that the two worked near one another, even though the fitness center was far away from there.
My friend could tell that something was weighing heavily on Bear, and the big man finally told him. “I hit my wife three years ago. Then, recently, I hit her again. Now my children are afraid of me. They cringe when I come near them. My family doesn’t want anything to do with me. I’ve destroyed my life.”
As Bear talked with an attitude of hopelessness and desperation, he began crying. My friend was amazed at this opportunity that God had given him. He gently shared with Bear about the hope he had in Jesus Christ. My friend did not “sugar coat” things – he did not say that following Christ would cause Bear’s family to accept him or smooth over other problems in his life. However, he did tell Bear that Jesus offered hope in a hopeless situation.
Bear was interested, but uncertain. My friend asked if he could meet with Bear for lunch since they worked near one another. He asked us all to pray for him and for Bear as they plan to build their relationships with one another, and hopefully help Bear seek a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
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If you would like for me to include your story in this series, please send me an email at aknox [at] sebts [dot] edu.
Saturday and Serving
Saturday has become a day of service for our family. Sometimes, its very busy, and sometimes we don’t spend as much time together as we’d like. But, we’ve learned (and are learning) to serve together as a family.
This morning, we plan to spend time in “The Neighborhood” as we do most Saturday mornings. A few months ago, we stopped taking fresh produce with us, because the roadside stands closed. Now, they’ve reopened, and we’re planning to buy some fresh vegetables and fruit before we go to the neighborhood. Some good friends gave us some money to buy extra produce this week. Some of the people that we normally spend time with on Saturdays are not going to be home today for various reasons. Hopefully, we’ll be able to meet some new people today.
I’m also excited because some friends are interested in spending time in the neighborhood with us. We don’t know who is going with us today, but that doesn’t really matter. We’ll go, even if it is just our family.
I think God may be directing us to do something different in the neighborhood. I’m not exactly sure what that is yet, but please pray for us and the neighborhood.
Tonight, we’re getting together with a group of friends again. We’ll share a meal and talk about our lives this week. We’ll study Scripture (right now we’re studying Exodus) and pray together. This has been a great time of fellowship over the last few weeks, and I’ve been very encouraged by these friends.
Later tonight, after the Bible study, a friend is bringing some high school football players into this area. This friend was once our neighbor, but he recently moved toward the east coast of NC. He now coaches football at a local public high school. He is bringing several players to visit one of the colleges west of here. He asked if some of us would be willing to host two or three boys so they wouldn’t have to drive the whole way on Sunday morning. We’ll be keeping two or three boys, while two of our friends are also hosting two or three boys.
We won’t get to spend too much time with them, because they’re not planning to arrive until after 10:00 p.m., and they’re planning to leave by 6:30 a.m. But, we’re excited about the opportunity to help out our friend and serve these high school students.
What opportunities has God given you to serve people?