This is the church being the church; the bride of Christ being the hands and feet of her groom. It's awesome to hear on CNN and other major news outlets about the Christian response to the deadly tornado that hit Joplin. I am proud to be a Christian and to be affiliated with the men and women in the city where I found Christ nearly eleven years ago. Joplin was my home for about five years, but even though I am in Oswego, KS now that was the WalMart and Aldi we shopped in every other week. It's a horrible thing to happen it a town that you love, but it's fantastic to see the relief efforts that are going on in Joplin. We may not realize it, but there are disasters going on all the time in the lives around us week after week. It may not be the extent of Katrina or the Joplin tornado, but it is very real and devastating to the individual or family that is afflicted by a tragedy. Sometimes we may not respond because we don't want to be nosy or we don't want to embarrass them by asking if they need help. Whatever the case may be, often times, we do not respond to the seemingly minute disasters that happen to people in our own communities throughout the year.
In speaking about the separation of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, Jesus reminds us, "The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"
The church has food pantries, counseling ministries, clothing ministries, benevolence budget, and other disaster relief ministries, but I have seen the mighty power of God working through the church and this power is like no other, I know that the church can do so much more to respond to personal disasters in our community day to day. There are teen issues that become semi-disasters that need godly wisdom from parents or mentors, divorce, sickness, drugs, dating, friendships, teen pregnancy, etc. God has prepared us to do respond to these disasters that come up in people's lives around us.
We should pay attention to the words that Paul told the church in Ephesus, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
There are five things that we can do to be better enabled to carry out the good works Christ prepared for us:
1. Relationships- keep in touch with friends even if things seem to be a little shaky; we never know when the Spirit will use us to reach out to them or perhaps they could end up ministering to you.
2. Love- whether it is tender and compassionate love or tough love that involves discipline. Unconditional love is how we are supposed to respond to one another. Love will cover a multitude of sins.
3. Listen- two ears - mouth equals more listening than sharing time. We need to pay attention to what our friends and family are telling us. Empathy is when we try to walk in the shoes of someone else. Before making conclusions about one's lifestyle, ask, "How would I respond to that situation if that happened to me?"
4. Know the Word of God-b. Know the word of God enable to pour out wisdom to a loved one who is troubled.
c. Know the word of God so that you can encourage and rebuke in all righteousness.
5. Have Generous spirit with friends and family- send "thank you's," spontaneous gifts, drop in just to say hello, and take a family out to eat once in a while.
These acts of kindness will definitely open up more opportunities to share the gospel message with others in your community. I hope and pray that we can be a beacon of light in a world of darkness each and every day and in each and every community!
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