A California church mobilized members for a weekend of service that provided the community with over $2 million in billable labor hours and materials.
North Coast Church said their outreach benefitted over 100 locations in six cities in North San Diego County.
Pastor Larry Osborne told the Christian Post ahead of the event what kinds of things the church would be doing for the community.
“We’ll be making improvements at 50+ public schools, ranging from elementary to high school … We’re serving a wide cross section of organizations both secular and faith-based,” said Osborne. “The other roughly 60 locations include everything from resource centers to homeless shelters, community centers, a hospital, city parks, veteran and senior housing, and other non-profits that serve the community.”
Osborne said the church focuses on small groups which allows them to serve multiple parts of the community at the same time.
“The Bible says that faith without works is dead. This is one way we can put our faith to work and show our community the love of Jesus with no strings attached,” said Osborne. “We’re always trying to help our congregation understand that church is not something we simply go to. It’s what we are. There’s no better way to do that than to have a ‘Weekend of Service.’”
There may be efforts to take Christ out of Christmas in this world, but we have within each one of us, individually, everything we need to keep Christ in Christmas. He is in our every moment after all! When we see others, we can choose to beam the love of Jesus into them as we say those words… “Merry Christmas! “ We can shine with His Spirit! It is up to our hearts to show that Christ is still in Christmas!
Nobody can take that from us. And nobody ever will. Continue reading →
A 23-year-old St. Louis man is gaining attention for obeying what he says was instructions from God to clean up Ferguson.
Terrance Williams aspires to become a police officer. He said he was watching the riots on television and praying about the situation. Heartbroken, he cried out to God asking what he could do about it.
“My heart just began to cry out to God, and I just asked Him, ‘What can I do? What can Terrance do to go out there and make a difference?’” he told the Daily Signal. “Later that night, the Lord just put it on my heart, ‘Son, I want you to go out there and I want you to clean up.’”
“Originally, I was going to start at 9 o’clock and it hit 6:30, and my heart just began to [seem to say], ‘Get up! Get up! Get up!’” he explained. “And I got up at 6:30, and I went to the store. I bought some bags and a pair of gloves, and I just put my green boots to the ground and just began to walk and do what God put on my heart to do.”
Williams said that he’s been out working on the streets to clean up and people have been walking up to volunteer to join the effort. People from all walks of life have joined together to bring hope out of the hate.
“It’s not just about white or black,” Williams stated. “It’s about all walks of life. I met people who wanted to shake my hand just to say thank you for cleaning up. I’ve met business owners that expressed to me how they felt… It’s just been an awesome experience and it’s just been amazing.”
Williams says at the end, all he cares about is whether or not what he is doing pleases the Lord.
