Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Summer of Service

Posted by Tyler-
When I read verses like Matthew 25:35-40 I find myself hard pressed to find ways to fulfill what Jesus is asking for. I wonder if Jesus is asking for us to have a mindset of selflessness or if he is truly asking us to get beyond ourselves and actually serve. Kind of a scary thought. Almost every part of my life caters to my comfort and I get accustomed to that...I almost rely on it.
When Jesus tells me that what I do for the least of all people I do to him, I find it hard to understand what he means. Nothing of that falls within my comfort zone. He is essentially asking me to do something I don't feel natural doing. Part of the problem is that it is so easy for me to simply give money to noble causes and yet I remain at a far distance from the problems the causes are addressing. The first step is releasing myself to allow God to take me places my mind won't let me go.

I'm hoping that this summer will be a step of forcing me out of my comfort zone. The launching point for something we are calling a "Summer of Service" at Sunset is Serves Up Day on June 21st. The worship and creative arts department is going to be partnering with the city of Vernonia as they continue to recover from the floods of last December.What We Will Be Doing:
  • Unskilled Labor help with landscaping and various road, community, and home clean up.
  • Working with sheet rock, walls, flooring, cabinents, and moving debris.
  • If we have any skilled plumbers, electricians, or carpenters we can have some special jobs lined up as well.
Our idea is for all of worship and creative arts to work together on this. In order to have the right number of jobs ready for us I need to know how many of us will be going. I hope you can take some time to think about your involvement and how you might be able to mobilize others.

Please contact me if this is something you hope be a part of.

Tyler Braun

tylerbraun@sunsetpres.org
tybraun@gmail.com
manofdepravity.com

2 comments:

Carrie Peeples said...

Mark and are will be there!! We don't have a particular skill but are able-bodied. Although I have done a fair amount of helping my dad with remodeling projects growing up, so...

Anonymous said...

awesome carrie. i put you and mark down.