Good morning church and happy Saturday. Can you believe that this is the last weekend in June? Yep, 6 months of 2020 is history. And what a year it has been. Can’t wait to see what happens next…maybe, kinda.
As you are aware, we serve in a wonderful and interesting community. The Lord has allowed us to have an incredible location at 75th and Nieman. It is a perfect place for a church like ours that is committed to reaching this community. It has great visibility and is conveniently located between a bar (sorry, a craft brewing establishment) and Dollar General. The doggie daycare and the liquor store to our north add to the ambiance of the area. Within the overall area, there is quite a variety of people wandering about. Because of that, we never know who will show up at our door. The homeless and nearly homeless have discovered that we often have some delicious homemade food available (ok, so that may be embellished a little. Nevertheless, it is edible…mostly). People stop by asking for gas money, gift cards, bus fare, money for cigarettes and the liquor store (yep, that happens), help with a hotel room, etc. A few people have been lost. By that I mean asking for directions to some other place. Others have been spiritually lost and seeking guidance. There have been salespeople (who went away disappointed), police officers, the fire inspector, contractors, and people looking for New City Church. It is always an adventure when there is a knock at the door.
The other morning, I was working on plagiarizing another message off of the internet (just kidding, calm down), when I heard a tapping on the glass door. Since it was early in the morning, I assumed it was likely Tim, our resident homeless guy. He comes by early sometimes to get one of my delicious hand crafted cups of gourmet coffee (Folgers at $ 4.99 per pound). Occasionally, he sticks around for breakfast too. Anyway, assuming it was Tim, I began to think of what food we might have on hand. Before I could leap to my feet and sprint to the door, I heard the tapping again. Being deeply spiritual, I thought, “Good grief, hold on a second.” As I emerged from the office, I was surprised when I didn’t see Tim, or anyone else for that matter, standing at the door. As I looked around, wondering why he left so quickly, I spotted something unusual. There, standing proudly in front of the glass, was one of the giant black birds that like to hang out in the parking lot. For whatever reason, it decided that pecking on the glass was a good idea. When it saw me walking toward the door, it decided that maybe it didn’t want to come in and have a deep, theological discussion, so it flew away. That kind of reminds me of some of the cars that leave right before service, but we will save that for another day. Anyway, I had to laugh at the whole thing. I really thought a person was knocking on the door and was very surprised to find the bird instead. As I thought about it, I was reminded to never be surprised who (or what) might show up at our door. Later that same day, there was another knock on the glass door. This time, there was actually a person standing there. Since Zeru was nearby, he answered the door. It was a lady that wanted to bless the church for what we are doing in the community. She handed Zeru a check, thanked the church for being a blessing, and then left. Not sure who she is or her connection to the church. Somehow, someway, she was touched by the ministry and the Lord prompted her to support the church. Rather amazing. Anyway, we will see who…oh wait, Lynae is knocking on the door. Gotta go. She is dropping some stuff off for Haiti….
You are loved. Hope to see you in person this Sunday as we celebrate regathering as a church.
Revelation 3:20
Love God. Love others. Impact our community. Change the world.
Pastor Larry
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