Service Weekend – January 29-31
TLC’s “Service Weekend” starts this Friday, January 29th and goes through Sunday the 31st.
Service to our community is a command from Christ, but also shows that the church isn’t just concerned with itself. Our name, “The Living Church”, is derived from the idea that the church is people, the followers of Christ, and that we are to be more than just observers but rather soldiers enlisted for action!
On Friday, we’ll have a team working at the Hartsville Soup Mission feeding 50+ homeless/disadvantaged individuals and families. This is a great ministry to directly answer the issue of hunger, even if it’s just for a meal everyday.
From there, we’ll be working on a Habitat for Humanity project in Hartsville this Saturday. While Habitat is not a “ministry”, it is a great non-profit organization that wants to give the poor a “hand-up” than just a hand-out. The recipient/buyer of the house has to participate in the building process along with the volunteers (most come from local church groups!).
Then on Sunday, we’ll have Hartsville Mayor Mel Pennington in house at our worship service to speak for a bit on how the church community can be more involved with the local community and why it’s not just important, but a necessity!
All of these are “baby steps” in creating a culture of service-over-self within our church body. We have a vision for this area of ministry becoming bigger and bigger as we grow in number and in spirit! Hartsville will never be the same!
We sometimes hear from those that say “they do enough just by paying taxes”. However, I’ve always said that the church can do a better job than any government entity could ever hope for. Why is that?
- Because throwing money at a problem doesn’t make it go away. We see this not just in government social programs, but in all areas of life. Kind of like when you lend money to a friend or family member that you know to be irresponsible and will just probably "blow it" on something they didn’t need.
- Because work without a purpose is just running around in circles. This is similar to my example from the other week regarding practicing basketball. You can shoot around for two hours, but you won’t make any progress unless the practice is directed and has goals to meet.
- Because human-kind was created for community. Faceless charity is impersonal and these people need to see that someone does really care for them and their well-being. This is best done in person, rather than afar. They need to interact with good Christian believers to see that God’s love is real and is oftentimes shown through the enacted response of His children.
So join with us by: 1. Participating by volunteering (although spaces have become limited!) 2. Praying for us that people on both sides (those giving and those receiving) will be impacted and 3. Worshiping with us at the Center Theater this Sunday!
If you are interested in helping with either project or would like to get more information about TLC, e-mail us at: info@thelivingchurch.tv
