I saw THE CHURCH this past weekend.
I saw her rise to the stature she’s been redeemed to reach. It was beautiful and life-giving and heartwarming.
Different churches from all over Tennessee brought the women in their congregations together on a Friday night and Saturday to worship and dive into God’s Word together. It was a energetic time that put smiles on all of our faces.
But when the conference “ended” at noon on Saturday. . . it began. Bus loads of homeless women, that had just been scooped up from underneath the downtown overpasses they call home, piled into the sanctuary to join us. And then. . . THE CHURCH kicked into full gear.
The women who’d attended the conference exchanged their high-heels for flip flops and went to work – washing and styling their guests hair, helping them rummage through donated clothing for their sizes, feeding them, giving them medical checkups, praying with them and so much more. The hallways were abuzz with women serving other women. Their sisters.
A couple of trailers, outfitted with shower stalls and laundry machines, pulled into the parking lot prepared to serve those in need.
No one left untouched and unchanged . . .
. . .especially us – the ones who had the opportunity to be exactly what we’ve been redeemed to be.
THE CHURCH.
It’s dawning on me that I feel more alive, more complete and more full when I’m serving someone who can never do anything in return, than almost any other time in my life. I think it’s because this is what following Christ was meant to encompass. It is what my redemption was meant to inspire.
So, I’m committed to looking for more opportunities to do it over and over again.
Somehow I think I won’t have to look long or hard.
What about you? Tell me about a time you participated and/or watched the church be THE CHURCH and it touched you in a profound way?
You are loved today,
Priscilla
