This congregation's conscious goal is to be caring and supportive. How
caring? How supportive? Our goal is the level of caring and support seen
in Jesus Christ. Jesus did not say that he was the great rejecter. He said
he was the great doctor. He healed the sick and the diseased. He restored
healthy bodies to the lame, the blind, and the paralyzed. He threw the
demons out of people whose bodies, actions, and minds were demon controlled.
(See Matthew 4:23,24.) He offered living water to a divorcee living with a
man (John 4). He told a known prostitute, "Your sins are forgiven" (Luke
7:48). He invited himself into the home of a dishonest tax collector by
declaring, "Today, salvation has come to this house ..." (Luke 19:9). He
associated and ate with Jews who collected taxes for the Romans (Luke
5:29-32).
He invited the struggling and burdened to come to him for rest (Matthew
11:28-30). He declared that he came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).
He said that He came to call sinners to repentance (Matthew 9:13). In his
genuine concern for such people, he revealed that all heaven celebrated when
one sinner repented (Luke 15:7).
We seek to be Christ's church. That is more than a determination to keep
words on a sign or a building. We want to follow Jesus Christ doing the
things he did, caring about all people as he cared, showing his concern and
compassion.
Our desire to be Christ's church involves two basic commitments. The first
is to bring people to Christ anywhere we can. The second is to help those
in Christ spiritually grow and mature.
A part of this commitment is seen in our understanding that Jesus is the
world's Savior. Each year in November we have "Missions Sunday." We
collect a special contribution to help fund our mission efforts in such
places as Laos, Thailand, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Guyana, Romania, and New
Zealand. These funds support evangelistic teaching, medical missions,
missionary training, the training of indigenous teachers/missionaries in
their own country, and supplies. Our mission committee takes excellent
initiative in its constant activity.
Remember Sunday, November 14: "Missions Sunday." Remember the special
contribution. In recent years, the contribution for missions exceeded a
hundred thousand dollars on that Sunday.
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