I love my church. You know that. But I especially love my church this time of year when we work together all over our city to do what I’m teaching my kids this month.
1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
LOVE Week 2012 begins tomorrow. For eight days, we will work together all over the Charlotte area to share God’s love through our service. Two years ago we served 10,551 hours. Last year, we partnered with 25 churches to serve 34,257 hours. This year, we believe in the unifying power of Jesus to bring 50+ churches together to serve 50,000 hours.
There are more than 350 opportunities to serve all over the Charlotte area. And it’s amazing, but there are more than 50 opportunities Saturday alone! Most of the events are family friendly, and some of them you can even do from home. But I love how we can get out and serve with our family alongside others in our church so we can be living out that John 3:18 lesson together.
You can sign up at LOVEWEEKCHARLOTTE.COM – but if you find the list daunting, I asked our outreach team to point out a few great opportunities you’ll love.
SERVE OUR CHILDREN AND SCHOOLS: Link arms and serve with neighbors from Elevation and other churches to have fun painting and landscaping at Martin Luther King Middle School. Saturday, February 11 10am-1pm
ENHANCE AND BEAUTIFY OUR CITY PARKS: Just the best way to spend a Saturday morning – head to the park with the kids! Serve at the same time when you join us at Reedy Creek Park to spruce up this beautiful natural area. Saturday, February 11 9am-Noon
eKIDZ INVASION: DADDY/DAUGHTER DATE NIGHT: Our eKidz staff is knocking LOVE Week out of the park this year as they “take over” Ronald McDonald house. There are opportunities to serve almost every day. From home, you can create “Welcome Boxes” for parents and children facing serious illness. My favorite is Daddy/Daughter date night. Monday, February 13 6:30-8pm
There are only 20 slots left, so Dads get signed up now.
DELIVER MEALS TO THE HOMEBOUND: Amy Corbett and I have been delivering meals on a Friendship Trays route for years. It’s great because it only takes about 90 minutes and the kids develop relationships with the neighbors we visit twice a month. You can try out a Friendship Trays route any day during LOVE Week. Click the link above to sign up on Valentine’s Day. Take flowers with you and really brighten a homebound senior citizen’s day! Weekdays, 11am-Noon
HONOR A TEACHER, POLICE OFFICER OR FIREFIGHTER: Here’s another great opportunity you can do from home. My husband is huge on “honor” – we want to restore honor to our generation by freely giving respect and honor to those around us. Make a gift basket with an encouraging card and some special items to honor the people who serve us in our city. Bring them to any Elevation Church location on February 19.
PREPARE AND DELIVER A MEAL TO FAMILY FACING CANCER: If you love to cook, you can bless a family with your gifts and deliver to their home. Hope Cancer Ministries offers us this opportunity at dinnertime all week long. Weeknights 5-7pm.
GIVE SHOES, GIVE BLOOD, GIVE ANYTHING: Spend an extra hour right at church serving. At every location, we’ll bring the opportunity to you. Bring a new pair of shoes to help our outreach partner Samaritan’s Feet recover from a recent theft at their Los Angeles warehouse. Or help us give away more than a thousand pairs of shoes in the Druid Hills neighborhood on February 18. Give blood at every location on the weekends and all week long at Elevation Matthews. Package essential items for homeless children served through “A Child’s Place.” Bring books, school uniforms, gently used clothing, furniture, or household items as we “stuff a truck” at every location to bless our outreach partners.
From February 11-19 we will impact more than 50,000 lives through our service. Don’t miss out on this opportunity. Click one of the links above, or go to LOVEWEEKCHARLOTTE.COM. I look forward to sharing the LOVE Week experience with you!
Monday Morning Commentary
This weekend we continued in our series, Living a Better Story and if you have not heard any of these messages, you are missing out. This series has been so helpful for me and so many others.
My husband opened up the message in Jeremiah 1:5,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
He said something (something that was not necessarily new, or all that profound, that is until I took it to heart) that I hope will stick with me for a long time... "God chose me before I ever did anything wrong AND before I did anything right!"
If you really take this to heart, it will change your life. I can cancel the audition because God has designed me for my part, and I never really had to try out. I realize that I can stop auditioning for my friends, my family, my church members (hello PWs), my critics, and even my children because God custom designed me for the part He wanted me to play.
This message was so powerful. You can listen to the message at the Elevation Network, in our archive and on our podcast. You can also download our Elevation iPhone app and have the messages in your phone each week too. Have a great Monday!