It was a super cold weekend at Grace and the temperature was falling. As I prepared for the morning services early that Sunday morning, God began to speak clearly to me at 4:30 AM. You see that is my normal time to get up on Sunday mornings. There was no one up at my home and I was looking over my message for the day. We were in the midst of a series of messages called "iLive." That day we were addressing what it means to give.
Well, I had been in contact with an organization that gave coats to homeless people in South Bend and Chicago. I was moved by them because they were fulfilling the Matthew 25 stuff. Because of that, God led me to ask my people in the morning services at the end of the message if they would give the coats on their backs to stop the shivering in Chicago. By the way they had no idea I was going to do this.
What happened next in all of our services can only be described as an act of God. Men, women, teens gave their Sunday best coats and walked out of the building without a coat, in single digit temperatures. We received so many jackets that a panel van would not hold all of them. We then passed them on the following week to the shivering, homeless people. We then showed updates the following week, with the homeless wearing our coats.
Oh yeah, some teens even gave their letter jackets. One guy, gave his belt, shoes, coat... and I am glad he stopped there. Some of our people stuffed the pockets with coupons to Burger King and McDonald's. Needless to say, it was a moment in time when my people got it! And once again a moment when I was so proud of my church! Thanks for being a church who gets it and doesn't need man's applause! Please God help us to always listen to your voice, and may we always be ready to give!
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