Blessed Portion Friday Update

Hello Everyone,

Friday evening was yet another cold and rainy evening downtown, it seems lately we need to be dawning on our wet gear to keep us dry every Friday. Maybe we will have a dry one for a change this Friday - fingers crossed !!! The last few Fridays we have put out a Bible challenge to encourage our friends to get into their Bibles so we can discuss the verse on the following Friday when we all get together again.

This past Friday our Bible lesson was from the book of Romans, Romans 5:8 to be exact. As we were finishing up our dinner time we dove right into the verse of the week. A small handful of our downtown friends had picked up their Bibles or their iPhones to research exactly what Romans 5:8 had to teach us. The question is " What does it mean that while we were still sinners Christ died for us ( Romans 5:8) ? I believe the answer is this - Someone who is willing to sacrifice his own life to save another person is considered a hero. But, who would be ready and willing to die for an enemy? Jesus proved Himself to be the ultimate hero by dying to save His enemies: " For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - or a good person - but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Sinner means " One who falls short of God's standard or misses the target. So, instead of loving God as we should as our Creator and Father, the sinner rebels against Him with a sinful nature. The apostle Paul somewhat paints a picture for us, saying that the ungodly are utterly powerless to help themselves. As sinners, we are kind of like bound up in a bunch of chains and totally strapped down - AND GUILTY !!!! But when Jesus stepped in to die in our place, and by this act of sending His Son to die for us, God proved how much He loved us. Again, While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. One of the reminders that we try to drive home on a Friday evening is that...... and the chronology is very important. Christ did not wait for us to clean up our so-called act'" He sacrificed Himself while we were still actively opposing Him. God completed the work of our salvation when we were in a state of open sin and rebellion against Him.

Gina and I are always encouraged by some of our friends who are willing, to dig into the verse of the week and it always sparks a little bit of hope in our friends while dialing into this. So, Gina and I would like to thank all of our friends who have come alongside us all of these past 12 years and who continue to believe in what we are doing downtown with our homeless friends, we could not do it without you and your support. Before I close we would like to mention a few of our friends who support us and to give thanks to them. Pathway Community Church, Grace Summit Church, Hamilton Church of Christ, Trinity English Lutheran Church, Yager Electric, Matt and Mandi Yager and their entire family, Jacquie Aldrich, Emily Burns, MJS Apparel, Joe and Renee for the amazing snack bags! Forgive me if I have forgotten anyone. Gina and I sure love you all. Have a wonderful New Year and may the Lord pour his blessings on all of you and your families.

Have a wonderful week,

Tommy