Melt continues his sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount.
His sermon this Sunday is: The Scum of the Earth - Part 2 – Blessed are those that mourn, for they will be comforted.
Reading: 1 Corinthians 4:12-14 and Matthew 5:4
A big, big thank you to all those who came out over the last week to help YK Vineyard clean up this city. To give a quick breakdown:
2 locations
22 people
83 bags of garbage
115 man hours
1 teenager
6 kids under 12
As much as part of this is about putting feet to action and expressing love for others by what we do in the community, I think it goes without saying that many participants got something out of this too. As one elderly gentleman that stopped to talk said "I used do this in Edmonton. I used to be homeless, and I'm on a different journey now." He continued to say folks see this, they see the kids sweeping, and it reminds them of when they did chores as kids around the house, and it plants a little seed that says 'I don't have to choose this path for myself anymore'. To hear such things said, to have such an encounter where it was laid out just how much of an impact this task can actually have on someone! Just, wow.
Aside from the many, many thank-yous received, several people would stop to talk, and in several instances told us about their faith, unprovoked, not knowing this was a church group. God is most definitely at work. It's interesting the things you learn when looking at the "underbelly" of a city. In a place with serious substance abuse issues, no safe injection sites and no needle receptacles, you would expect to find a fair amount of drug paraphernalia while cleaning the streets of the downtown core. Surprisingly (interestingly?), I can report all of one needle was found and virtually no drug paraphernalia. It's insight like this that helps reframe the picture and it makes it easier to better serve those that need to be loved on the most.
Thank you again to the many that came out, and I look forward to doing this with you again next year! Nicole
Look at these WOWS! So clean and so amazing to see our youngest out on every session working so hard! May God bless their precious hearts!
Grace and peace!