What would it take for us, as Christians, to be people of intentional hope—starting right where we are, with what we have?
As it turns out, we can reach others near us with simple acts of hope. This type of outreach simply isn’t out-of-reach. This summer, learn to be intentional through this type of loving community engagement. And you don’t have to figure this out alone.
Learn from Pastor Noe Garcia through his testimony of his church’s work at North Phoenix Baptist.
When I became the pastor of North Phoenix Baptist Church, one thing I quickly realized was that God has blessed us with so much square footage. In fact, we have over 350,000 square feet.
I’m here today at our Hope Center. Here, we took part of our building and turned it into a place of hope for people in our community. We’ve taken 15,000 square feet and now offer resources to people in need.
We didn’t just want to be a church in the community, we wanted to be a church for the community. We want to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.
So we have dedicated these 15,000 square feet to give people hope. It’s a place where they can come in and get food if they need it. They can get resources. They can get clothing. We have refugee services, and services for fostering and adoption. We have all kinds of stuff here for those in the community.
Here’s our desire: we just want to be a place of hope.
Here’s more truth: you may be saying that you don’t have this much square footage or this size of a church. That’s okay! Let me tell you, you can turn your living room into a place of hope. You can turn your office space into a place of hope.
Whatever God has given you as a follower of Jesus Christ, you can use it.
You can use your backyard, you can use what God has given you as a place of hope for those in your community.
Let’s not wait.
This week, challenge yourself, your friends, or your family to pray. What has the Lord equipped you with that can help spread hope to those around you? Don’t wait for tomorrow. How can you start today?
As we each take steps right where we are, we spread the hope and joy of Christ to those around us.
To learn more from Pastor Noe Garcia (on topics such as depression, pastoral ministry, anxiety, and more) or to view his resources, check out lifeway.com/noegarcia.
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