Here’s your weekly update.

We just had our 2016 Homecoming celebration, and it was great to see so many come to be with us.  Linda and I got stuck in traffic and missed the first part, but I know Priscilla was going to share from the experience of her mother’s passing and I have no doubt that we missed something good.  I’m sorry that also means we don’t have the podcast to share with anyone who missed the service.  Anita’s son Sean Hooks was our guest speaker for the day.  He shared with us from the story of Bartimaeus.  That we do have online.  As always, the food was great!  Thanks to everyone who helps make that happen.

During this service and any time we have new visitors, Pastor David takes a moment to explain the history of the church and why we do the “Victory March.”  We are a unique church with a unique mission to people affected by disability.  Linda and I are delighted to be a part of it.  I was thinking about that this week.  I was thinking about what we do and what we have done in the past.  In a couple of years, we’ll celebrate our 60th year of ministry.  David’s father went home long before Linda and I came along.  We would have liked very much to hear from the man himself the vision he had in founding this church.  That vision lives on thanks to Pastor David and all of you who have given so much for it.

Why do we do it?  What drives us to keep going even when things get messy?  I think there is genuine compassion and a desire to give, to comfort, and to love.  I also think that from time to time we need to remind ourselves that there’s a greater mission than what appears on the surface.  We can get caught up in all the good things we do.  Pastor David rightly exhorts us to go out and do something good for someone each week, but why?  We can and should spend ourselves doing good for others, but we dare not forget the greatest good.  Our objective is ultimately that people are led to the place where Jesus becomes Lord and savior of their lives.  If we miss that, we’ve wasted everything.  We’ve provided a bit of temporary comfort in the place of eternal salvation.

So are good works important?  Absolutely yes!  On Sunday, we’ll read from Matthew 5:14-16.  There we find that it is our good works that should lead others to glorify our Father in Heaven.  But it is not the works themselves.  Many well-meaning people do good works but they don’t necessarily point to God.  It is the light, illuminating the good works, that draws them in.  The reasons why we do what we do are more important than the works.  When we reach out in compassion for the broken bodies, let us not forget that it is the broken souls that we really must reach.  Sometimes a doctor can heal the body, but only the Holy Spirit can heal the soul.

Linda also has a special guest lined up for the Sunday school time.  I look forward to seeing you there!

In His love,

Larry