Irony

Tonight I am speaking at Frontline. After much deliberation and a lot of back and forth I finally landed on something that I really felt like God was putting on my heart for the kids. Tonight I am speaking on ministering to the poor. It's a foothold message. Soon we're going to ask the kids to come in with ideas for monthly service projects. Before we do, we want to be sure they understand just what we are aiming for and what our responsibility as THE CHURCH is. Some of the verses I'm using are:

Proverbs 31:8-9 "Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy."

Pvobers 14:31 "Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honour him."

James 2:15,16 "If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?"

2 Corinthians 8:12 "For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have."

2 Corinthians 8:13-15 I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written,
‘The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little.’" [I listed these separately because I am using them to illustrate two different points.]

James 1:22 "But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves."

So. I am nervous. Not going to lie. It's an important message and I don't want to screw it up with my own humanness.

Ironically, while serving in Uganda this morning my grandpa broke his ankle very severely. He has to have surgery and several screws placed in his ankle. So. Yah. Oh missions.