I am really excited about a new initiative that we are going to be running here at TRINITY and I hope you will be too.
As part of ‘Love in Action’ we want to encourage everyone to get outside the walls of the church a bit more and reach out with God’s love to those around us. ‘Love in Action’ is all about sharing the love of Jesus in our communities in practical ways that actually meet a need or bless the community in a relevant way. So this term we’ll be hosting our first ‘Love in Action Day’ as part of our next Connect weekend, on 14 October.
The idea is for a one day event in the community, running 3-4 projects that meet a local need or bless the community in some way, with as many church members taking part as possible, of all ages!
I would love you all to get excited about this event and really think about how you could be a part of it, what could be done in your community for example?
Jeremiah 29:4-7 is a passage I’ve mentioned a few times recently, says this:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Basically – bless where you are, where God has put you!
So let’s think, what can we do as a church to really meet some local needs? We have a huge resource of people, gifted and skilled in many different areas – how can we put those gifts to use to put our faith into action and make a difference where we are?
More than that, this could really be the start of something, helping us to form new and better relationships with our communities. This will be so important as we develop the TRINITY Centre and the café, how can we start to form and develop relationships locally that might help us grow the building into a community hub? For example, if we want to reach young families is there a project we could do to start to get to know more local young families?
And let’s remember, this is for all of us! Let me encourage you ALL to get involved. ‘Mission’ and sharing God’s love are not just for the chosen few – we are all called to love one another and to love our neighbour. I know for some of us getting out and about can be tricky but you could still be part of the event by telling people about what we’re doing, suggesting ideas, and praying for all that is going on.
With all this in mind we would love to hear ideas for projects from YOU! You are the people best placed to know what the needs are where you are at.
Have you got a neighbour who needs their garden cleared? or know a family who needs a room redecorating? or got a passion to host a community lunch? or run a kids fun afternoon? We need you to get your thinking caps on and let us know where we could start and what we could do. We’ve got one day to run them but think big and bold!
Send your ideas and thoughts to Jules and we’ll get planning, and meanwhile put the date in your diary…
Jules Middleton
www.pickingapplesofgold.com