A Bridge Story

A Bridge Story
 
One of the most beautiful words I hear every week on Monday is, "Welcome to Moe's!" Yes, Milo Wilson, John Mauldin, and myself have made a habit every Monday of taking advantage of the Moe's Monday lunch special. I usually get the "Joey Bag of Donuts." Anyway, a thought occured to me this past Monday morning. The previous week at Moe's when we finished our lunch I noticed one of the employees was cleaning the bathroom (the one I was trying to enter). The thought I had was this: Why not after we finished our meal on Monday clean the men's and women's restrooms for them? So, here's what I did. I went over there around 11 am and asked if I could talk with the manager. A young female named Hannah said she was the highest one on the food chain at the time. So, I told her that we ate at Moe's regularly on Mondays and would it be okay if we cleaned their restrooms around 1 pm after the main lunch crowd was gone. She looked at me strangely and asked, "And you want to clean our restrooms?" She told me that would be fine.
 
Later that day John Mauldin, Milo Wilson, and myself came over to eat our lunch. I saw the Moe's employee Hannah again and she told me her manager wanted to speak with me. His name was Steve. I approached him and told him every week before our church staff meeting we do some act of kindness in our community to show the love of God in a practical way. I gave him a card from Ridgeview that says "Just wanted to show you God's love in a practical way, no strings attached." He asked me to be careful as we cleaned because he didn't want us getting injured and sue him. I promised we wouldn't. He took the card, looked at it, asked me again about our church, smiled and said, "Thanks." Off I went to get our cleaning caddy out of the car and we knocked two restrooms out in record time!
 
Each week at Ridgeview I do the very best I can in the proclamation of the Word of God. I promise this Sunday as we start this new message series in the book of Micah entitled, "Blazing new trails," that it will be a powerful Easter message. But, I also want you to know that just as important in the proclamation of the Word is the demonstration of the Word! People do not care how much you know (or how many Bible verses you can quote) until they know how much you care. This Easter, my challenge to you before you walk through the doors on Sunday morning, is to show those around you that you care about them. You see, our purpose as a church is to "be a bridge of God's love to all people so they may experience His purpose for their lives." We want everyone to experience God purpose for them: a saving relationship with Christ and growth in that relationship. In order to see that happen, we must embark in good deeds because they become the "bridge" upon which the gospel can travel.
 
So, let me state again, this Easter week let me challenge you to be a bridge of God's love to someone your path crosses. You don't have to be a Pastor with a Master of Divinity degree. Just look for a way to show God's love. You'll be amazed how that can open doors for you to invite them to church and better yet, share Jesus! It's so easy, even a Pastor can do it like me!