A man once came up to Christ and asked him what the greatest commandment was. Jesus answered, "love the Lord thy God with all your heart and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself." The man responded, who is my neighbor? Jesus answered his question by telling the story of the good Samaritan. The story teaches that our neighbor is anyone who is in need. As Jesus has told us, when we serve the "least of these" we are serving him. If we desire to be like Jesus, we must become merciful and gracious servants of those around us who are in need. If we desire to be Christ's church, doing Christ's work, we must be active in the ministries of benevolence.
Probably nothing else we do as Christians reflects more clearly to the world the presence of Jesus than the works of charity. In the days of the early Christians, the pagans often wrote of them, "see how they love!" It was not uncommon for unbelievers to seek out the Christians when they were in great need because they knew they would find compassion and help without condemnation or judgment. Not all of these people became Christians (though certainly many did!) but these works of charity were not merely an evangelistic strategy; they were simply the natural outflowing of love and mercy which occurs in people when they themselves have received love and mercy from God.
There are many opportunities to become involved in benevolent work at Quaker Avenue. Please look over these and see if one of these ministries looks like something that you could enthusiastically participate in.
