Every Family in God's Service

“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life.”

~Matthew 20:28

Jesus lived every moment, every hour, every day intentionally. On purpose. He was singularly focused on his calling. Nothing distracted him. Nothing slowed him down. Nothing took him away from his mission. To rescue. To save. To give. To sacrifice.

There are many, many examples of this kind of focused living and giving at Legacy. I hear about a bunch of them. I get to experience many of them.

We had an emergency situation in our church family this past weekend. Stephanie, a mother of four who’s currently enduring a horrible divorce process, was evicted from her house. She had no place to go. And no way to get there.

And when the call went out, God’s people responded.

I’m so grateful to the brothers and sisters here at Legacy who packed up Stephanie’s house Friday night. And into Saturday morning. In the rain. One of you leased and paid for the 26-foot U-Haul truck. Several of you cancelled dinner and movie plans. Some of you already had your plates full with VBS. One of you got your truck stuck in the mud trying to help. Another couple was leaving for a ten-day vacation Friday afternoon, but left the keys to their house. Stephanie and her kids slept there --- lived there --- for three days.

Three of you helped Stephanie locate a nice rent house Saturday. And more than 30 of you showed up in the driveway of that house yesterday afternoon --- in between Small Groups sign-ups and the start of Vacation Bible School --- to help Stephanie move in. I remember at one point yesterday trying to get a night stand into the master bedroom and seeing eight or nine people in there all putting Stephanie’s bed together. There were seven or eight others putting together the boys’ bunk beds. Two more hooking up the washer and dryer. Three more moving the refrigerator.

There were tears. And laughs. And prayers. And one minor injury.

Some of you know Stephanie. Some of you don’t. But you all sacrificed for her this past weekend. You were Christ-like in your selfless giving. You were the Body of Christ in the exact ways, I’m convinced, our Lord intends. And your service to Stephanie will have an eternal impact on that family. Forever.

Thank you for considering others better than yourselves. Thank you for looking to the interests of others. I’m grateful to belong to this family at Legacy. Especially as we learn to act more and more like our Christ.

In his name,

Allan