Well, it seems that I am having trouble posting pictures of "Mt. Coatmore."
And that's a shame because I wanted to show you how generous some people in our congregation can be.
A few weeks ago, in the Gospel reading at church, Jesus reminded us that if we want to serve Him we can help the hungry and thirsty, reach out to strangers and the sick, clothe the naked and remember those imprisoned.
Since then, generous folks at Life in Christ have given hundreds of pounds of food and water to food banks. People have called the church office to get phone numbers and addresses of those in our church who are ill. Last night one person told me that she is keeping one dollar bills handy in her car to give away to people standing on street corners. She said, "They're strangers to me. What they do with the money is up to them. I'm just happy to provide a little help."
Our members have also been writing Christmas cards to the young women imprisoned at the juvenile center. The chaplain there told us that we needed to collect 40 cards to ensure that each young woman got one card. Our folks have done much better than that.
I also suggested that we could collect old, unused coats for those living on the streets. My dear, sweet wife has made some good contacts at the Phoenix Rescue Mission who said, "We'll take the coats. Bring 'em on down!"
Are they going to be surprised!
It seems that many of our members have been cleaning out their closets. Piled up on a table in our narthex is a huge stack of coats. All kinds of coats. For men, women and children. Light jackets and heavy outerwear. Two more huge piles are begin kept in our office work area. Our little effort ends on Sunday so I expect more coats will be brought in this weekend.
Since arriving at Life in Christ almost 10 years ago I have always marveled at the generosity of so many of our members.
But it's the Word of God that fuels their generosity. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me."
Thank you, Jesus, for giving us the opportunity to serve You! Thank you for the opportunity to serve those You love!
