From the Pastor

Dear Friends,

This fall, our worship theme is “Choose Love” and for the past several weeks in worship, we’ve been reading the book of James, which challenges us to put our faith into action, to “be doers of the word and not just hearers.” We’ve been invited to take an action item, a “love note” that gives us a specific way we can choose love in the coming week. Here are some of the action items:

• Pick up some extra non-perishable food to donate to the One Step Further Food Pantry.
• Make a meal for a neighbor.
• Buy some food for the Cone Elementary Backpack program, which provides food for hungry kids on the weekends.
• Make a donation to Week of Compassion to help those impacted by the hurricane. Learn more at www.weekofcompassion.org.
• Do a random act of kindness to a stranger.
• Call one of your lawmakers and advocate for an issue you care about.
• Send a card to someone who is hurting.
• Learn about Church World Service and the work they are doing to support refugees. Visit www.cwsglobal.org.
• Volunteer at an organization doing good work.
• Invite someone you don’t know well over for dinner.
• Read about the New Poor People’s Campaign and see how you can get involved.
• Next time you’re at the grocery store, let someone go ahead of you in line.
• Write a note to someone who has made an impact on you in the past week.
• Do something unnecessarily generous this week.

What would you add to this list? How will you choose love this week?

Lee

P.S. Some of you have asked about helping with hurricane relief efforts. Right now, your donations to the Week of Compassion are one of the most helpful things you can do. In coming weeks and months, there may be more hands-on opportunities. Are you interested in organizing First Christian’s hurricane response efforts? Let me know, or talk with Lisa or David Barnette, our Outreach Team leaders.