Join us sundays at 8:00 & 10:30 AM

From The Pastor

From the Pastor
How do you sort through all the envelopes that you get in the mail? There are plenty that come to me at the church with the faces of starving children and needy people? So, what is our obligation to people who are in need? To look at it another way, as we try to navigate with limited resources in a world of boundless misery, what guidance does the Bible have for us?
In the Bible, the zones of moral obligation were like concentric circles, each with a different emphasis of help. Inside one circle was the family. Inside another circle were the people in need (including widows and orphans) right under their noses. And then, a circle was for the nation of Israel. And then finally, a circle for the people of other nations. 
For us, we have zones of obligation having to do with our professions. If you’re an attorney, you have a zone of obligation having to do with your ability to assist in the legal field, or a teacher with your students, or a store manager with your employees. Some of us have experiences in our background that open up a zone of obligation by giving us a heart for certain people and God leads us into caring for them in a special way. 
C.S. Lewis wrote, “Pain is God’s megaphone.”  Do you hear him calling you to help others? That is what we are going to be talking about this Sunday from James 5 as we discuss what it looks like to open our hearts as a church. And as a result, I hope and pray that you will open your eyes to the people inside and outside your circle, and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as you go through your day. 
Pastor John
Subscribe to our weekly sermon Podcast under the name “Chestnut Level” — and listen to the latest message as it becomes available. You can find it either on iTunes, or you can listen on your iPhone by clicking on the purple icon named “Podcasts.” 
Quote of the Week
“I had come to see that the great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor… I truly believe that when the rich meet the poor, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end.” Shane Claiborne
Shane Claiborne is a Christian activist and author who is a leading figure in the New Monasticism movement and one of the founding members of the intentional community, the Simple Way, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Claiborne is also a social activist, advocating for nonviolence and service to the poor.