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The hustle and bustle of preparing for Vacation Bible School and Day Camp is full of the "A" in our real faith. "A" is Abundant Acts of love and service. From a pre-schooler to a few grandmothers, people have been streaming in and out of the doors getting ready for this highlight in youth ministries. And if that wasn't enough, the following week brings another highlight in youth ministry as we send a mission team to Maumee, OH.
This is part of the ebb and flow of congregational ministry that our lives together make possible. Our acts of abundant love can be small (the pre-schooler kept out of his mother's way!) and one of the grandmothers was delivering food for next week while another grandmother was helping put up decorations with a soon-to-be-high school student. They can be big (like the doctors in our congregation working to heal broken bodies and beat cancer). No matter how big or small the act of abounding love, God is with us, in the midst of our service, and even giving us the holy nudge to act.
The Scripture for Sunday is the story of the Good Samaritan. Pastor Katie will help us understand this parable from several perspectives. You will be invited to join in the worship service and speak, with the lector, the words of the lawyer. Do you identify with any of the characters? Perhaps you are the person barely hanging on to life. Maybe you are the Levite or the priest. Are you a Samaritan, despised by society, yet willing to live with the heart of gold? Maybe you are Jesus being the prophet and urging others on to a God-centered life. Maybe you are the crowd hearing this from Jesus and trying to make sense of it all. Wherever you are in life, there is a place for you in this story. Be in the story and grow your faith, your R.E.A.L. faith.