Beyond These Walls

Jesus spent time at the Temple, but more often we find Him on the mountaintop teaching the crowds, somewhere feeding the multitude, or working His way through the press of hurting people that tried to get a glimpse of His face or a touch of His garment. How did Jesus find people with needs? He went beyond the walls and reached out where the people were.
Lately, we've tried to focus more intensely on this ministry of Reaching Out. Our recent "Rock the Block" community event was a success the day of the event as we provided food and fellowship to the neighborhood around our church building. Equally rewarding was the arrival of three new visitors at our Daily 180 Show a few days after Rock the Block. Reaching Out brought people in and we were able to share the life-changing message of Jesus Christ with them. Going beyond the walls of a church building and becoming the Church to the community around us is rewarding and it mirrors the ministry of Jesus.
If you want to help or encourage someone this week, you won't have any trouble finding them. Just go where people are and let God's Spirit increase your sensitivity to the needs around you. God bless you as you reach beyond the walls!

Rock the Block - Success

We fulfilled one of our primary purposes this weekend--we got together and ate lots of food! Just kidding. While we did have a great dinner, the greater accomplishment was our first "Rock the Block" neighborhood cookout/block party. Part of our goal is to Reach Out in our community and Saturday gave us an opportunity to do that. We enjoyed meeting new people, grilling and eating good food, and passing out balloons to the children that attended. Overall, Rock the Block was a great success. We're already looking forward to the next one. Thanks to everyone for your hard work in putting this event together!
You can check out some of the event photos in the "my pics" section of the church myspace page: www.myspace.com/jlmrichmond Just click on the Rock the Block photo album.

It Came a Long Way Baby

In our Wednesday night Word On Life Bible Study we set up a Bible Museum as a tribute and look at what it took to get the Bible into our hands. The story of the Bible's passage through time is an amazing narrative of how God's hand led people in history to get involved in the development and continuation of the great Gospel message. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to men like Gutenberg, Wycliffe, and many others who risked and ultimately gave their lives to get the Bible to the "common" people. Our museum looked at the Bible's development from parchment, papyrus, scrolls, and illuminations to the printed pages of Gutenberg's amazing converted winepress, to the mass availability that exists today. How many Bibles, and translations, do you have in your home?
The summary of our museum? People went through enormous risks and dangers to get the Gospel message to us. Let's not allow their efforts to be in vain for our lives. May we have a renewed love for the Bible and a greater appreciation as we read it each day.