At the end of Jesus ministry he said the following to his disciples:
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 (New King James Version)
At the time His disciples were together in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4), Judea was the nearby province, Samaria was a province farther north, and the end of the earth was as far as could be imagined.
The message was simple:
To those who believe in Jesus for salvation from their sins, God will give you the Holy Spirit to enable you to witness to those near and far from you. This could apply to relationships and/or geography.
I’m a firm believer that everyone has influence with their family, neighbors and community…the question is what type of influence you will be, and what impact you will have.
I live in Upland, some of the nearby cities are Ontario, Pomona and Rancho Cucamonga. A little farther out to the east is San Bernardino, about an hour away to the west is downtown Los Angeles.
I want to introduce you to one of the ministries near me:
Lifepoint Church (Rancho Cucamonga)
Though a small church of about 200 they help provide a meal for homeless three times a month, one meal in Upland, one at the church, and one in San Bernardino. They have also helped build multiple loft homes in Mexico (by partnering with Hands of Mercy)
The Church calls the local outreach ministry soul food, it was stared with much prayer and the idea of doing something to show Gods love to others in a tangible way.
The Motto is: “Will you see and say SO, or will you see and SOW SEEDS”
Jim and Debbie from the church many years ago went to the Fred Jordan Mission in downtown Los Angeles to help prepare a meal for the homeless…the experience impacted them.
They later asked their bible study group if they would help them feed the homeless in their area…what started as one small group providing one meal has grown into a food bank in Ontario.
They now distribute food most saturdays from 8 AM – 10 AM at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Ontario
Foodbank in Ontario California
About ten years ago Bernie from Lifepoint Church was praying for a tangible way to outreach and share Gods love to others…while he was having work done on his house one of the supervisors was a man named Henry who also pastored at True Vine Church in San Bernardino.
Henry invited Bernie to help serve a meal to homeless/low income at True Vine Church in San Bernardino. The meal provided a tangible way to show Gods love to others, a friendship with the Pastor and church formed. Bernie now organizes the meal for the 4th sunday of each month.
True Vine Church provides a 20 min message and a meal each sunday of the month starting at 2pm.
NOTE: It was about 3 years ago that I met Lifepoint Church at this outreach and an Alumni Worldracer named Mari, that is how I found out about the Worldrace.
Serving a meal in San Bernardino
Marvin (left) and Bernie (right) serving at Church in San Bernardino
Mari From Lifepoint did the Worldrace in 2010 (Mari – WR Alumni ), came back and went to build a loft house in Mexico with a ministry called Hands of Mercy. Her and a friend named Annie helped get Lifepoint involved with Hands of Mercy, the church now has helped build multiple loft homes on weekend build trips to mexico. (Mari also started a nonprofit to help children in Africa it’s called luvway)
Lifepoint Church Building Loft house in Mexico (the house on left is where family lived before)
Inside Loft house just before Church prays for Family, Mari with backpack and bible.
There are many others…Llemont has a ministry to the homeless and has advocated for helping them for many years. (I hope to write about him in another blog)
So why am I mentioning this?
Because God has given you the greatest gift, the opportunity for salvation from your sins through Jesus Christ…and this gift will change everything. (John 3:16, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:6-8, Romans 10:9)
Its not about doing good works to earn heaven, because we can never earn it, thats why its a gift. (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 6:23)
Its grace, Gods unmerited favor toward us…yet accepting Jesus for Salvation is not the end of the story. Gods all about the Journey, of drawing you, changing you and opening doors to meet and serve others.
Many people say “show me and i’ll believe”
I’m finding its the other way around (Hebrews 11:6)
“Believe and God will show you”
Gods in the business of taking ordinary people on extraordinary life journeys (This life is not just in some far away place, but rather in reaching out and caring for those around you).
It’s the greatest commandments in the bible “Love God, then Love others” Mark 12:30-13.
“I am only one, but I am one, I cannot do everything but I can do something” – Unknown
Its a simple prayer:
“God help me to Love you and Love others, show me what to do, but help me to be obedient to do it even when it doesn’t make sense.”
Everyone is on a journey, everyone has a story, everyone can do something…
Whats your something? Whats your story? Where is your journey taking you?
