We had a full team on our visits Saturday. Forgot to mention last week, we had new folks joining us from Grace Methodist. They have heard about our outdoor friends, so they wanted to see for themselves what it was like. They enjoyed their time with us so much, they came back and some brought their children.
While our visits were going on, we continue to walk the streets of our neighborhood, meeting new friends, picking up trash and letting others know, God is here. So good to see young men of the neighborhood, laughing, learning and sharing what is on their hearts.
To end our Saturday, we attended two funerals. One for a long time friend from Grace and the other one, was our friend Ms Dororthy. Both churches were packed, with friends and family wanting to share their love. We had the honor to get up before the church at Ms Dorothy's funeral and share a few words about why we lvoed her.
After dropping off Joey at his house, I ended up behind Ms Dorothy's funeral procession. Don't know where the tradition of pulling over as the family passes, but as I followed the procession, I thought how appropriate for others who did not know Ms Dorothy to pull over and honor this lady, who lvoed Christ and lvoed us.
In Sunday's newspaper was a nice article about feeding the hungry. The reporter and photographer attended several of our Thursday meals to gather the information. This is the link to the article: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/section/hunger#part1
Our afternoon activities have started back. Come and enjoy the blessing of teaching our young children. Times are 4:30 - 5:30 Monday and Wednesday.
Tuesday evening, Brother Elbert led the men's fellowship as he read from Phillippians 3: 1-21. Paul continues to encourage us all to follow Christ, don't get distracted.
Also on Tuesday, we attended our third funeral of the week, as we remembered another long time friend of ours.
Thursday evening was started off by Ms Abbie and our community choir leading us in song, then Brother Bob, Beth's dad, shared the Word. A 95 year old man, a lover of Christ, sharing his wealth of knowledge and understanding in how to live our lives, doesn't get any better than that. Nice to have Sarah back from her sickness, as she and Scott led children's church. We had an old friend join us, Pete Bollinger was back and hopes to start coming on a regular basis. A great meal, lots of help, opening up of the clothing room, a good night.
Don't forget, this Saturday at 8:30, January 18th will be our breakfast. Biscuits and all the trimmings will be there for you. Come and enjoy the food and fellowship.
Continue to prayer on God's direction for a women's Bible fellowship circle. Prayers for all who are nursing a cold or recovering from the flu. Prayers for the possible opening of the chapel on other nights allowing the Spirit of Christ to come into more lives.
We are planning a memorial service for Richard next Saturday, January 25th at 12:30 at his gas station! The gas station is located on the corner of Texas and Linwood Ave. We could not think of a better place to come together and share our stories about him. Please let everybody know. For those of you who do Face Book, please post it. It will be simple, reading of some scriptures, sing Amazing Grace, time for sharing your stories about Richard and a closing prayer. Let Joey know if you have questions.
Monday on MLK Day, we will be hosting a group of students from Centenary. Abbey has various projects planned for them and we could use your help to help lead the young people. The fun starts at 9!
Attending 3 funerals this week, kind of puts a different perspective on life. Looking around the packed sanctuary's, I started to think, everybody there had some sort of relationship with the person. Some knew them from work, others through extended families, some through volunteering, some were neighbors.
I started to think, what is the one constant in all of those relationships and it is their lvoe of Jesus. If we had not turned our lives over to Christ, we would have not crossed paths. We would have missed out on all the blessings we have experienced over the years knowing these people. Our lives are not about the goals or the stuff we accumulate but about the relationships we build as we go through life.
There is something unique in a bond between Christians. As individuals, with our pride and selfishness, we can fight, alienate each other and even loose those relationships. But for those who keep focused on God, when we face those challenges, we learn it is not about us but about God and our relationships continue. We learn to accept each other in all our sins and faults. In a community where God is the center, we are accepting of everybody. We even learn to accept folks from Tonga!
In this new year, may we learn to keep our focus on Christ, not on ourselves. May we learn to lvoe each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. May we remember it is not about the stuff, but about the hearts. Amen
Have a great week. May God continue to bless you and your families.
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