Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. I trust in You, my God! Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord Point out the right road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me for You are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You. Remember O Lord your unfailing love and compassion which you have shown from long ages past. Forgive the rebellious sins of my youth…Archive for community
weaving in your marriage
It seems the new routine is an occasional post. I don’t desire to end this blog like I have for other things (especially due to the occasional interest in having an ‘outlet’) but there’s certainly a lessened interest most of the times. Anyway…
As of late we’ve been part of a marriage small group with our church family… it’s been great and involved a lot of really thoughtful and diverse discussion. I’m the ‘apprentice’/assistant and that means occasionally I get to ‘lead’/facilate discussion. Yesterday was the first and the topic already identified was Weaving. It’s part 3 (with part 1 being Leaving, and part 2 being Cleaving). The best part of the night wasn’t anything I had written unfortunately – it was the discussion. Alas, I don’t take notes well for that sort of thing… but I leave you with my entire plans for discussion if for some reason this would be of value to someone.
what others are doing…
I’m going to try to continue the theme of external focus. I was sending emails to the gal in charge of our external focus team, but I figured I’d just pile together several articles that I’ve come across lately:
“A collective effort” (Chesterfield Observer)
During the cleanup, which is hosted annually by the Ampthill Civic Association, close to 60 volunteers assisted seniors with yard cleanup, tidied a neighborhood park and disposed of excess yard trimmings. The JDA redevelopment committee hopes to see similar events take place in other neighborhoods along the corridor.
And there is plenty of work to be done. In a 2005 survey of 1,931 houses located in Jefferson Davis neighborhoods, 14 percent of them were found to have heavy wear and aging, while 37 percent were in moderate condition.
The Plans, The Hope, The Future (View from the Bridge)
Great vision thoughts; I’m sure I want to be part of doing something like this, especially this concept of whole families doing things – not separate divisions (kids, teens, mothers, fathers).
Richmonders Involved in Strengthening our Communities
The mission of Richmonders Involved to Strengthen our Communities (RISC) is to bring together diverse congregations in order to powerfully address the root causes of poverty and injustice in the Greater Richmond area. RISC’s member congregations are located throughout the Greater Richmond area and are diverse in their socio-economic, racial, denominational and geographic backgrounds. Congregations in RISC work together to build relationships, listen to common concerns, research community problems, and then to take action to see that systems in the community are held accountable to principles of justice and fairness.
Community Emergency Response Team Course Starts June 2
The course provides citizens with basic emergency-response skills to help themselves, their families and neighbors during that critical time before professional emergency providers can arrive.
The Environmental Engineering Water Quality Team and Friends of Chesterfield’s Riverfront hosted a community cleanup of Pocoshock Creek on Oct.16, 2004.
shelter for the lost and weary
Mustard seeds
Just reading through Mark 4, and some of Jesus’ parables and read the parable of the mustard seed:
Jesus asked, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed. Though this is one of the smallest of seeds, it grows to become one of the largest plants, with long branches where birds can come and find shelter.”
A tiny mustard seed. Not some huge seed that you simply cannot miss, but something tiny; something you would usually just skip over and ignore. Makes me think of the verse from Psalm 118:
“The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone”. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s all about the relationships!
Listening to God’s Word versus living God’s Word … or going to church versus being the church … served versus serve. Mark 10:45 makes it clear:
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Serving others and through that, loving others. Read the rest of this entry »
an external focus…
So that’s going to be the (attempted) focus. The community (as opposed to the internal being those that are part of the ‘church’. kinda divisive and separating but I’m sure there’s a better way to say it… anyway).
Last post covers a list of organizations relating to homelessness; but as Jesus outright told his disciples, “you will always have the poor among you” (Matthew 26:11). Clearly not meant to just ignore the issue… you know what I mean.
But, go back a chapter to Matthew 25 and read this:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’”
There’s more that we can focus on. Much more!
