God Acts for All of Us

“Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help.

“Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help. But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims, “A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!“ (Romans 10:14-15)

4 years ago, we opened the shower doors in order that we may proclaim the Love and Help that comes from Our Heavenly Father. It has taken some twists and turns, but there has not been one week in the last 4 years that those shower doors have been closed. Thousands of showers have been taken, and many people have found help and refuge and hope in an otherwise hopeless world. Just like the verse says, I looked around today and it took my breath away. What started as a simple shower program has blossomed into weekly health care and new partnerships for phone distribution and donations of brand new shoes and a room full of people sharing a meal of homemade smoked ribs. We’ve seen people get houses and people get jobs and people join community. As I said in my dinner prayer tonight, each of these tangible things points to a God who loves and sees and provides for those who would otherwise be forgotten.

It all takes my breath away.

My greatest pastoral prayer is that we as a community continue to declare the “good things of God” by the way we live with imagination, following the way of Jesus and being His hands and feet to a world that He is making new.