Christmas in July 2010

It may be 100 degrees and humid outside, but inside FCC, it's been Christmas for the last couple of weeks! Walking into weekend worship services, I’m sure you no doubt wondered why there were Christmas trees all around the gym. 

It’s Christmas in July! Last year, FCC collected many food items and pairs of shoes to go to Salem City Elementary Schools. This year, we took a leap of faith and expanded! We collected food items, socks and shoes for both kids and adults, school supplies and gift cards and other random things. The response was phenomenal! 2,692 total items were collected to go to Acts2 Ministry in downtown Roanoke, the Roanoke Rescue Mission, and Salem Elementary Schools.

After counting and sorting for the last two days, I would like to report on the generosity of FCC’s church family. The following items were collected-

CRACKERS- 110 BOXES

CEREAL BARS- 110 BOXES

POPTARTS- 166 BOXES

SHOES- 62 PAIR (kids) & 7 PAIR (adult)= 69 PAIR TOTAL

SOCKS- 51 PACKS

FRUIT SNACKS- 112 BOXES

PEANUT BUTTER- 132 JARS

CHEF BOYARDEE- 314 CANS

GIFT CARDS- $400 TOTAL

CALCULATORS- 29

PACKS OF PAPER- 97 PACKS

FOLDERS- 46

BINDERS- 62

NOTEBOOKS- 314

DIVIDERS- 70 PACKS

BACKPACKS- 86

GLUE STICKS-218 PACKS

BOTTLES OF GLUE- 43 BOTTLES

PENCILS- 253 PACKS

ERASERS- 32 PACKS

COLORED PENCILS- 75 PACKS

HIGHLIGHTERS- 32 PACKS

PENS- 11 PACKS

RULERS- 19

PENCIL SHARPENERS- 4

PENCIL BOX- 11

SCISSORS- 68 PAIR

CRAYONS- 158 BOXES

I spent most of this morning helping the different organizations load up all of their new items into their trucks. The response was one of great gratitude.

Salem schools were grateful to know they can depend on local believers to help those in need.

Acts2 was simply overwhelmed and as we loaded their truck kept making comments such as, “God is good!” and “Praise Jesus for His provision!”

The Rescue Mission loaded their big truck and thanked us for our support of their ministry. On the initial week of Christmas in July, the Rescue Mission's CEO spoke to our church family and gave many thanks for all of the support God has provided over the years.

I am excited to say that God is moving in the heart of this church to make a difference in our community and all around the world! I feel blessed that I can be a part of such a family.

Thank you, Fellowship, for all you to do reach outside of the church and into the world.

Thank You, Lord- for all that You do to provide for us so that we may love others like You love us.  May we continue to serve You faithfully.

Outside the Camp

Mission work is not limited to international trips and focus. You will never hear me say that you are only a missionary if you leave the United States, but you will hear me say that if you have the Gospel living inside of you, if you have been saved by the blood of Christ and choose to carry His cross-

YOU ARE a missionary.

Here’s a story of a 4 year old Grant’s perspective. The night before I left for my recent short 2 week trip Central Europe, I was at church saying goodbye to friends, one of them being his mom Renae. As Renae was leaving that night, we said our goodbyes, and for whatever reason, we were both slightly emotional. When she got home that evening, little Grant was asking questions as usual, one of them which involved me. He said, “Mommy, is Stephanie coming over to play soon?” Her response was, “No, Stephanie is going to the other side of the world for a couple weeks.” Grant continued to question, “but, why mommy?” With tears in her eyes, Renae responded, “She’s going to tell people about Jesus.” Grant, puzzled by his mom’s emotion and trying to grasp the concept replied, “You mean… there are people who don’t know about Jesus?” Renae’s simple response was, “Yeah, that’s why Stephanie has to go- someone has to.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself- I have to go live the life of Christ to those who have not seen it. I have to speak the Word of God to those who have not heard. I have to be the hands and feet of Christ to those who have not seen His work or seen the nail scars He bears. You have the same responsibility if you’re a believer. Being a missionary isn’t just international- all it requires that we step out of the church. It’s out of the camp. Think about it- we are in a war. A spiritual battle for the souls Satan so badly wants to claim. Soldiers sit in camp for rest and companionship, they go over battle plans and the like, and it’s their headquarters for receiving instruction. Soldiers leave the camp to fight the battle. Hebrews 13:12-14 says, “So, Jesus suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood. Therefore, let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”

John Piper makes a good point based out of this text. He says, “This is above all a missionary text. Outside the camp means outside the borders of safety and comfort. Outside the camp are the ‘other sheep’ that are not of this fold. Outside the camp are the unreached nations. Outside the camp are the places and the people who will be costly to reach and will require no small sacrifice. But to this we are called, ‘Let us go and bear the reproach He endured.’ It is our vocation.”

It’s our vocation. WOW! The vocation is to carry the cross- not in the same way Christ did. We can never carry the cross for our own salvation, but we are to carry all that accompanies the cross. My vocation is to be a missionary, no matter where I am at. I will step outside of the camp. A Czech man I met in the Czech Republic made a statement that will forever challenge the way I do ministry- “They won’t come to us. We have to go to them. People won’t come to the church looking for answers if they don’t know that the answers they are looking for are found in Christ. We must go to them.”

Because there are people that don’t know about the Greatness of God, we must go outside of the camp to meet them where they are. There is no better way to do that than to do as the Apostle Paul demonstrated- “For I have become all things to all people, so that by all means, we may save some.”

By all means- leave the camp and tell people what you know. Jesus.