What Kind of Neighbor are You?

Read Luke 10:25-37.  In it a lawyer "tests" Jesus.  And Jesus turns the test back on the lawyer... by asking what the law says...and the lawyer responds... Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength and love your neighbor as yourself.  Then Jesus turns up the heat... "you have answered correctly, do this and you will live."

Wanting to justify himself, the lawyer asks another trick question...."who is my neighbor?"

And Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan.  After which, Jesus asks the lawyer, "which of the three was a neighbor to the victim?"

The lawyer is asking Jesus to define who his neighbor is so that he knows just who he is supposed to love.  But Jesus flips things a bit and wants to know what kind of neighbor you are.

So, here is the question... "would you want to be your neighbor?"   Think about that for a minute or two.  And if not, what do you need to change to be able to say that you would be a great neighbor to someone?

Blessing Others...

I should have posted this pic earlier in the week, but guess my mind was other places (like Bridgewater College!)  It is of the school supplies Community of Joy gathered to bless Pinehurst Elementary School with.

Free Yard Sale Was a Blessing

We decided again this year to go downtown Salisbury to a neighborhood where we might be able to be a blessing to others and have a FREE yardsale.  We gave away LOTS of good gently used clothing, mostly teens and childrens but some adult clothing as well.

About 98% of the people who came thanked us as they left with such a genuine heartfelt thanks you could tell it was a blessing to them.  And for us to be able to share the love of Christ with them was a blessing as well.

Tis a Season for Everything Under the Sun...

The writer of Ecclesiastes says that there is a season for everything under the sun.   That has been my source of strength in these days of transition! 

As parents we reaise our children with the goal that one day they will be independent and able to manage whatever life throws at them.  To get there, that means that there comes a time that we must let go.  That time comes in gradual stages and little by little independence comes.  A bigger step in that process is when the child leaves home for college, which is the stage we reached this week.  Sure I miss Caroline being arouind, but I have every confidence that she is able to SOAR HIGH in this next phase and that this time is a very helpful time in acheiving our goal of being totally independent.

Lots of friends of ours are going through this time right now and each one is handling it differently.  But for me, my strength comes in trusting her to the Lord and knowing that this is the time we have been working toward.  It is a necessary time and it is the time when we get to see how well we did as parents!

Another Milestone In Our Life....

Caroline is now an official College Student!  She is now moved in and actively participating in the Eagle Productions Team at BC.  This team plans all the evening and weekend events for students.  Quite an honor to be part of it and to be allowed to move in a few days early.  Now the adjustments begin!

Exciting...

Out of our Blessed to Bless Series, we are forming a team of folks to pray and explore ways to develope a transitional living arrangement and life skill coaching for homeless folks in Salisbury.  Seven people have expressed interest in begining the process. 

This is so badly needed in our area and when it happens, it will be all because God stepped in and guided the process.

Also exciting, is the Free Yardsale we are doing on Saturday where we will give away good, gently used clothing.  Have lots of great clothes to share. 

Further excitement is building as we move toward our 10/10/10 Faith In Action Sunday where we will leavet he building and BE the Church!  Praying for positive responses for projects where we can make a difference!

Words of inspiration....

Check out Jarrod McKenna's words about the Church of the Brethren.

Don't Go to Church, BE THE CHURCH!

Earlier this year, I preached such a sermon on stopping the practice of GOING to church and beginning the practice of BEING the church.  I am excited to announce that on 10/10/10... Community of Joy will NOT gather for worship in our ministry center, but we will GO OUT into the community to BE THE CHURCH.  Working out the details on some service projects we can send some teams out to do in our community on that day.  Looks like we will work from 9 a.m. - 12 noon.  Gather at the Ministry Center around 12:30 for a meal and time of sharing.

We are working on options for ALL of us to participate.  Not all options will be work related, some might include visiting folks who don't get out much.  In addition, we will work at options for infants and toddlers to be cared for at the Ministry Center so that everyone can participate.

This is an exciting step into new territory for us at Community of Joy!  My prayer is that it will go well!  10/10/10 is the National Faith In Action Sunday!

Church vs. Kingdom

Howard Snyder writes... "Kingdom people seek first the Kingdom of God and its justice; church people often put church work above concerns of justice, mercy, and truth.  Church people think about how to get people into the church; Kingdom people think aobut how to get the church into the world.  Church people worry that the world might change the church.  Kingdom people work to see the church change the world."

The Bible.

A great quote from Scot McKnight, "God did not give the Bible so we could master him or it, God gave the Bible so we could live it, so we could be mastered by it.  The moment we think we have mastered it, we have failed to be readers of the Bible."

Faith...

Eugene Peterson writes... "No matter how right we are in what we beleive about God, no matter how accurately we phrase our belief or how magnificently and persuasively we preach or write or declare it, if love does not shape the way we speak and act, we falsify the creed, we confess a lie.  Believing without loving is what gives religion a bad name. Believing without loving destroys lives, believing withoutloving turns the best of creeds into a weapon of oppression."

More thoughts on church...

N.T. Wright writes about the church... "The method of the kingdom will match the message of the kingdom.  The kingdom will come as the church, energized by the Spirit, goes itno the world vulnerable, suffering, praising, praying, misunderstood, misjudged, vindicated, celebrating: always as Paul put it in one of his letters - bearing in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed."

Way to Go Youth!

The youth did a GREAT job yesterday sharing their National Youth Conference Experience!  It was awesome to see them lead us in worship!

Portrait of the Church....

N.T. Wright helps us picture what the church ought to look like... "When the church is seen to move straight from worship of the God we see in Jesus to making a difference and effecting much-needed change in the real world; when it becomes clear that the people who feast at Jesus' table are the ones in the forefront of the work to eliminate hunger and famine; when people realize that those who pray for the Spirit to work in and through them are the people who seem to have extra resources of love and patience in caring for those whose lives are damaged, bruised, and shamed, then it is not only natural to speak for Jesus himself and to encourage others to worship him for themselves and find out what belonging to his family is all about, but it is also natural for people, however irreligious they may think of themselves as being to recognize that something is going on that they want to be part of."

Faith Based Partner

Jim and I met with the new principal at Pinehurst Elementary School yesterday and are delighted to be forging ahead with our partnership.  Looks like we will be able to bless the school in lots of ways, in addition to the school supplies and pants, socks, and underwear that we already give to them.

Expect it to be a great year!

Today... It got Bigger!

Today, Tri and I added length to the new play set that is at the Ministry Center.  It now accomodates 2 swings and soon will hold a third. And there is more space to get off the steps without getting hit by a swing!  Thanks to the Townsends for the donation of the play set and to Leadership Team for investing in reaching out to families with Children.  It has been fun to see families discover the set and enjoy it!

Blessing Others Opens Their Eyes and Hearts to God!

I've been on a blessing others kick!  I believe that we are blessed by God to bless others and that our actively blessing others will impact lives for the kingdom of God.

True story... A couple of weeks ago, the Ministry Center neighbor was in the hospital.  She was very sick and is having a hard time bouncing back.  Thankfully now she is doing much better.  I noticed that her grass had not been mowed for two weeks.  So, I decided to mow it.  The first mowing had to cover the yard twice and bagged about 32 bags.  And I ran out of daylight the first night, so I had to go back the next evening to complete the job.  When I did, Lee came out and thanked me for mowing the grass and asked about our service times at the Ministry Center.  He told me he would be there that Sunday... and sure enough he was.  I have mowed the grass 3 more times since then.  The next time I mowed, Lee came out and told me that "surely the Lord is smiling on you."  And yesterday he came out and said, "Pastor Martin, you are going to make a churchgoer out of me yet."  To which I told him, "we'd love to have you whenever you can join us!"

You never know what impact a simple act of blessing will have on someone... so BLESS ON!

More on the Floor Project...

We had another good day, putting the floor back together.  Actually doing what should have been done when it was first built!

Next on the list, new paint, drop ceiling, and carpet!

Never Know...

I am taking a break from preaching this week and have cleared the calendar to play carpenter.  Yesterday, three of us met at the Ministry Center to begin the challenge of determining the cause and fix the sagging floor in the lobby.  When we began, we had no idea what we would find.  That is always the case when you are working with an old building.

We began by looking again at the problem area from the crawl space below... but that proved not too helpful.  Then we pulled up the carpet and discovered the problem.  Seems that when the new addition lobby was built, they spanned the gap between new and old which was the old wall by only using a piece of 1/2 inch particle board and 1/4 luan.  The rest of the floor has 2  - 3/4 inch plywood and 1/2 inch particle board and 1/4 luan.  They should have known better!

Today we begin the task of putting it all back together!