"Whatever you do for the least of these..."

“Whatever you did for the least of these… you did for me.” -Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus had some great one-liners… short, to the point statements of great truth and challenge. None are more challenging than his statement in Matthew 25:40, “Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” The challenge in this statement isn’t in remembering it… it is one of Jesus’ more memorable statements. The challenge is in living it out daily. How are we to serve Christ? What does he expect of us? Who are we supposed to love? It is some of these questions and themes that we want to explore more fully on Sunday as we continue our series, “Vintage Jesus.” Some time this week take a few moments to read Matthew 25:31-46 again… and be praying about how God would have us as a church serve Him in our community in more ways than we are right now doing.

Some thoughts which immediately spring to my jumbled mind on this Monday… the TN Children’s Home will be here on Thursday (April 16th) to pick up our donations of food. If you haven’t already made a contribution to this effort, you might begin serving “the least of these” by picking up a few extra food items on your weekly grocery trip and dropping them by the church office for the Children’s Home. This is a great ministry which serves children all over the middle Tennessee area by providing a solid, Christ-centered environment in which they can grow physically, mentally and spiritually. If you can do so, please drop off your groceries by Wednesday afternoon so we can have them all ready for pickup on Thursday! Monetary donations are also being accepted. You might also be interested in assisting the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief ministry out of Nashville as they provide emergency relief and assistance to areas affected by natural disasters. With the devastation caused by the recent storms and tornadoes both in Alabama and in Murfreesboro they have been very busy lately. Information about both of these church-based organizations can be found on our website.

Also, here locally, we have an opportunity to support Junior’s House, Fayetteville’s children’s advocacy center. On Tuesday, April 28th, they are hosting “Andrea’s Walk”, an event designed to raise money for the agency and promote awareness in the community of the need to help children who have been affected by abuse. We have been invited to help feed participants who walk in the event. If you would like to help us provide 50 sack lunches, please call the church office or drop us an e-mail. If you would like to participate in the event yourself, call Carol at Juniors House at 438-3233.

As you can see, you don’t have to look very hard around us for opportunities to “do unto the least of these” in and around our own community. I’ve just named three, but there are dozens more! Please be on the look out this week for opportunities to bless those around you.