Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Change”
Our Bible verse for today: “Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “We should spend more time helping others.”
I read the results of a survey the other day published in a Christian magazine which reported that when asked what kind of career people would want if money didn’t matter, 42 percent of Americans answered that they would want to do something that helps others. Specific professions mentioned were nurse, social worker, human rights worker, philanthropist, and teacher.
The survey was directed at Americans in general, not specifically at Christians, but I suspect that if it were just Christians who were included then the percentage of those desiring to spend more time helping others would be much higher.
I find those results encouraging and to be consistent with what I believe to be true of most Christians. There’s something about helping others that we find personally satisfying and deeply rewarding. It’s also Biblical. James 1:27 is just one of the numerous passages in both the Old and New Testaments where God calls His people to intentionally and frequently help others in need.
However, although many people do have a deep desire to do more of those kinds of things, for a variety of reasons they don’t. I think the primary reason is that they just get so caught-up in the busyness of life that their good intentions never seem to translate into actions. Also, for many Christians, their churches are so internally focused on their worship services, Sunday school classes, fellowship events, and other internal activities, that there is little or no large-group humanitarian ministry taking place outside the physical walls of the church buildings.
In order to push back against that trend, at Oak Hill Baptist our model of ministry revolves around humanitarian ministry activities – most of which take place outside the church facilities. There’s never a time in our church life when we are not in the middle of preparing for the next act of helping some person or some group. By providing that structure and creating those opportunities, we have made it easy for our folks to be involved in a very active and meaningful expression of their faith by means of helping others. And in the process, they’re doing things that deep in their heart they want to be doing anyway.
If you live here in Crossville, TN and your church is not currently involved in those kinds of activities, then we invite you to participate in some of what we are doing. We’re not going to try to steal you away from your own church, we don’t do that. But we are happy to include people from other churches in our humanitarian relief projects. Here’s a few that are coming up:
On Saturday February 15th we will take the teenage girls who live in the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home to see a performance of the musical “Grease” at the Cumberland County Playhouse. Afterwards we will treat them to dinner at Ryan’s restaurant. These are at-risk girls who have been removed from dangerous and highly dysfunctional homes. We have found that fun fellowship with a loving church family in a relaxed social setting makes a profound impact in their lives and is good ministry.
On Sunday March 2nd we will prepare and serve the evening meal at the Bread of Life Rescue mission. We will also conduct an evangelistic service before dinner.
And on April 4-5 we will go on a short mission trip to eastern Kentucky to bring food and clothes to some of the poorest who live in a remote region of coal mining country. We work in partnership with a small church in the region which has a heart for helping meet the needs of some of the most impoverished people in their community.
These are the kinds of things most Christians really want to be involved in anyway, and it is what God calls for in the Bible. Many well-intentioned Christians simply need to have a structured opportunity made available for them. That being the case, we would be happy for you to join with us – no strings attached.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 