This past weekend the call went out to “Celebrate Differently” in order to stand in the gap for the poor, the marginalized and those that have no advocates in our community. It was beautiful to see our church respond with such excitement and fervor. The patio was full of families gathered around Christmas trees (yes, in the first week of November) choosing how to serve our community.

The response on last Sunday’s launch weekend was larger than all six weeks of the campaign in previous years. We had more people than ever choose to serve – a 40% increase – by picking serve opportunities through our “Serve Tree.” Your financial generosity and commitment to our outreach efforts has also been amazing, and I’m quickly beginning to understand that in order to build a great church, we must have the foresight to help build a great city. This six week “Celebrate Differently” Outreach campaign has come at an interesting time in our country. At a time when our nation is divided down the middle, how are we to respond as the church? It is easy to get caught up in the emotions of either side, but I’m reminded of the Sunday message from a couple of weeks ago where Nehemiah tells the Israelites to go and celebrate in the truth that “the joy of the LORD is your strength.” The people had started to mourn and grieve after listening to the Word of God for six hours straight because they were sad that their identity as the children of God had been taken from them for so long. But Nehemiah would not let them stay in their grief, they had great reason to celebrate. And so do we.

It is because “the joy of the LORD is our strength,” that we will continue to Celebrate Differently. Over the next five weeks, we have an opportunity to make an incredible impact in a variety of ways in our community. I’m excited to see how God will bring transformation to our lives and the lives of those we serve.

See you on Sunday,
MaherOnFire