Bus Ministry

Mark and I have been very convicted about church events for church people...

We don't want to do VBS exclusively for "the club." Typically, we want the community to come out so we can share Christ and love on them. Let's pray about being even more radical than that. Let's pray about going to them.

This was a discussion we had during the planning stages of "Trading Places" in 2007 and we want to revisit it with fervor this year. We had talked about doing a registration event at a nearby apartment complex and then offering a shuttle from that complex each evening of VBS. It only takes a moment to come up with a million objections or barriers to this plan...cost (buses are expensive), liability, crowd control, etc.

Dave Ridder preached yesterday about the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan went out of his way to show mercy to someone in need. He was the neighbor who obeyed the Law to "Love your neighbor as yourself." We are not good neighbors if we only show kindness, mercy and love to the one who is next door. We are neighbors in the spirit of Christ if we GO OUT OF OUR WAY to show kindness, mercy and love. Let this challenge be at the forefront of our prayers in these weeks where we are dedicating our resources and developing the character of our program.

Let me rephrase that...
Let challenge be at the forefront of our prayers
EVERY DAY
as we dedicate our resources and
developing our character.