Pastor’s Pen: [ April 15 - 16 ] CHURCHNET ANNUAL GATHERING FBC Lee’s Summit
[ April 24 ] MISSION JC 8:30am South Lawn of Capitol
[ April 27 ] QUARTERLY BUSINESS MEETING 5:45pm Fellowship Hall
@fbcjc @fbcjcmo FBCJC FBCJC
Through the years, I have made it a practice to give some of my personal time to an area outside the sphere of church. Full disclosure here: I do this partly to make a difference in the world, but partly so that I won't go stale, living my whole life in a church bubble. Lately, I've been volunteering with Bread for the World (BFW), a nonpartisan Christian organization committed to ending hunger in our lifetime. While food pantries and benevolence ministries are wonderful, they deal with symptoms. BFW focuses on causes, trying to impact policy and legislation. I recently took part in a "fly-in" to Washington, D.C., a cooperative effort with BFW and approximately 50 other faith organizations. Our expenses for this event were paid for by two grants, one from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the other from the Henry Wallace Foundation. We had meaningful conversations with our congressional delegations and/or staff members around the topic of poverty and justice. We reminded these decision makers that compassionate policies are not antithetical to fiscally responsible ones, and that a robust humanitarian approach that focuses on health and development is in the best interests of our U.S. security. That D.C. trip was on my mind as I thought about our recent Imagine If conversation which reported our congregation's audacious, God-sized dreams. One of those dreams was a radical commitment to our community's transformation. It states, "Spiritual, emotional, mental and physical needs are met through innovative efforts and active partnering with churches and community organizations." Yes! What a wise and healthy church, one which does not believe in the false dichotomy of secular-sacred. Our roots go down deep into the Hebrew prophets and our Messiah, Jesus, who believed that "justice" and "righteousness" are synonyms, that God cares about the total person. And so do we. This month's Mission JC (April 24) is yet another opportunity for us to love our city. More congregations join us each year as we care for the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs around us. On this Sunday, we suspend our regular worship and Bible teaching schedule. Our service is our worship. I hope you will sign up today and join us on the Jesus Way. Grace,