will work for free

On Oct. 16, our church (gatewaychurch.org) served the South Riding and Stone Ridge communities though what's been designated The Big Event. The Big Event was inspired by Texas A&M's Big Event that's apparently has been ongoing since 1983! Others have done similar things over the years and it seems like it's beginning to spread...

The premise of The Big Event is to go out and serve the communities that are in your area -- yard work, garage clean-up, car washing, etc. This year was our first inaugural event and we seem to have pulled it off with success! Our original plan was for our church body to be able to serve 20-25 homes -- we didn't know how many folks would sign-up to serve, nor did we know how many residents would sign-up. There were close to 150 homes that registered, and it turns out that we were able to serve 42 homes - nearly double our expectations!

We drew names of those registered... called them up and told them they had been chosen... and we geared to to go out on Sunday, October 16, and serve.

On the day, we met at church to get some final organizational bits and then we dispersed out in teams of 4-6 and spent a few hours serving. What a cool concept! Instead of meeting for a typical Sunday service, we went out and served 2 communities as an expression of our faith. It was a good reminder to me as to what we we're called to to do: love one another. Not in some mushy-touchy-feely kind of way... we're talking about the kind that says I'm willing to set me aside and give of my time, attention, and energy to you.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we
ought to lay down our lives for one another. [ 1 John 3:16 ]

We may never come close to he kind of sacrifice that Christ made -- dying on the Cross; but we can certainly make sacrificial choices for the benefit of others. Gosh! It sure does feel good to help others out! And how cool is it when I need help that others would be willing to give me aid? What good is being selfish?