Paying It Forward

  

 

A few days ago, I was picking up coffee and breakfast from the WaWa. There was a young lady in front of me at the cashier’s line. She had her infant with her, as she was trying to pay for her items; suddenly, the infant yells, I need to use the potty. She looked exasperated, and desperate to get to the restroom. Obviously, she didn’t have time to find the change that was needed to complete her transaction. Understanding her desperation, I felt compelled to pay the needed change. As a result of my actions, the cashier didn’t charge me for my coffee. Wow, that one small act of kindness started my day off on a positive note and triggered another act of kindness. 

 

This incident reminded me of the movie, Pay it Forward. It’s definitely, worth renting, if you haven’t seen it. The young boy in the movie designed a plan: Pay it Forward, which is for his school project. His plan invites a person to help one person with an act of kindness.

The Rules for Pay it Forward:

It has to be something that really helps people.

Something they can’t do by themselves

I do it for them, they do it for three persons.

 

Each recipient of the act of kindness is invited to help three other people to Pay it Forward.  As the story unfolds in the movie, this entire community is transformed by one small boy and his idea of paying it forward. The community is impacted in a positive way.

  

This is what God did for all of us, when He gave us his Son, Jesus Christ.

 

It is through Jesus’ life, sufferings, crucifixion, and resurrection that we become the children of God. Through Jesus’ blood sacrifice, we have eternal life, forgiveness, joy, peace, salvation, mercy, grace and unconditional love. We could never repay God for His goodness and mercy, but we can pay it forward by helping others. This is what Christianity is all about, paying it forward, and making a positive impact in the lives of others.

 

Thank you for donating to local missions. Also, by paying it forward with our apportionments, we sustain our connectional church and missions around the country and world with these Four Areas of Ministry Focus:

· Developing principled Christian leaders;

· Creating new churches and renewing existing ones;

· Engaging in ministries with the poor; and

· Stamping out killer diseases of poverty by improving global health.

 

We also pay it forward through our local missions. Thanks to the leadership of Ann McNinch and all who support local missions and the pastor’s discretionary missions. There are many unknown faces that pass our way. The assistance is only a band aid to their larger problem, but people want to know if there is hope, and that God still loves them. I say, yes, God still loves them, in spite of their situation, there’s hope. Each person is respected and treated with dignity. We never look down on a person unless we’re willing to help them up.

 

They may never attend our church, but we are blessed in so many other ways. We fulfill the mandate of God’s commission, and God blesses us as a congregation and both collectively and individually. Are you in need of a blessing? What kind of seeds are you planting? Have you been blessed lately? Think about how you are supporting God’s house and its mission to spread the gospel. One thing that I’ve learned in my life, you can never out give God.

 

 

We have many opportunities to pay it forward: Each day we have an opportunity to bless someone. Oral Roberts coined the phrase, a lost opportunity to give, is a lost opportunity to receive.  How many opportunities have we passed by because we’re so preoccupied with our own lives? It’s up to us, if we want to take advantage of each opportunity.

 

This is the mission of the church, to pay it forward. We are called to be the hands and feet of God and to give hope to the hopeless.

 

The most fulfilling part of the ministry is when I’m paying it forward. What about you? How are you paying it forward? There are so many aspects of the church and the community that are in need of volunteers: Sunday School, VBS, missions, music, worship, food committees, ushers, outreach, nurture, etc. In the end, our lives will be measured by what we gave away, and not by what we keep. (Rev. Mike Shirley) What are you holding on to and what are you giving away?

 

I invite everyone to: Act, Give, and Stay Connected. Act, by doing something for someone else. Give of yourself, time, talent, and resources. Stay connected to your church. Stay connected through our weekly worship services, bible studies, Sunday school, and weekly programs. As Christians, are called to be a part of a faith community, sharing our joys and concerns, while staying connected to God. I would suspect that the loneliest people are the ones who are disconnected from their community and God.

GIVE AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN UNTO YOU. LUKE 6:38 (adapted from Bob Gass)

Mother Teresa wrote: One night a man came to our house and said, 'There's a family of eight children who haven't eaten for days.' I took some food and went to see them.

When I got there I saw the faces of little children disfigured by malnutrition. There was no sadness there, just the pain of hunger. I gave a sack of rice to the mother. She kept one half and went out carrying the other. When she came back I asked, 'Where did you go?' She answered, 'To my neighbors, they're hungry also.' I wasn't surprised that she’d given to the poor, the poor are usually very generous. But I was surprised that she knew they were hungry.

1. As a rule, when we're suffering we're so focused on our own problems that we have no time for others. That's the law of paying it forward! It teaches you that:

 2. The chain of blessing goes on and on. Jesus said: 'Give, and it will be given to you' (Luke 6:38 NIV). Every seed has potential for multiplication.

3. What you do for others affects what God does for you. 'Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he/she will receive the same from the Lord' (Ephesians 6:8 NKJV).

 4. Giving is vital to your future, but you must be willing to let go. ‘How?’ you ask. By finding a vision bigger than yourself and pouring your life into it! When you do that you discover two things: God can fill you with eternal joy, and your life will be fulfilled.

Colossians 3:2-3, ‘Set your minds on things above, not on earthy things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.’ (NIV)

 

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers: grandmothers, foster mothers, step- mothers, surrogate and God mothers.

 

Blessings, Love,

Pastor Jan