Keri On: Lord's Gym

Current Memory Verses

1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.[a]
3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit,[b] as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood,[c] the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which[d] is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Lord's Gym

On Friday afternoons, after Tea Time, most of the family heads to the Lord's Gym. (Gregg, Benj, and Em are employed til after 4:30, so they join us then!) This is a very interesting place. A church actually meets here, but on Fridays, it is joined by others in the community and is the 3rd largest food distribution place in Clark County. Beginning at 3:30, produce and bread is handed out to needy families/people. The twins manage the potato and onion bin, James works w/ the fruit, Grace hands out bread, and Z works where ever he is needed in this room. Sarah, Rachel, and Joshua head to the kitchen to help prepare food for the dinner that is served at 6pm. I must mention that we do NOTHING but show up to help. The work actually begins in the morning and by the time we get there, we are just extra hands. The meal begins w/ prayer, and the gospel is presented at the end of the meal. During the meal, we help serve the food, gather the trays, (which need to be washed and reused) and begin cleaning the preparation dishes. At this point, we take our family home for a dinner together - pizza/movie night. But the Lord's Gym is still opened! They hand out frozen and canned food after dinner!
It is a ministry that we've enjoyed participating in. For many years, we wanted to do something that our entire family could do together, and this fits the bill well for now. One friend that we met grew up in Scotland. Our children love to visit w/ him. There are many Russian folks there that don't speak English. Benjamin likes the opportunity to try to communicate w/ them, and they appreciate his effort. We've really benefited from participating in this local ministry and have been able to see God working in a way that we've not witnessed first hand before.
What's going on in your neck of the woods?

(I did have some pictures that Eman - our Scottish friend took, but haven't been able to upload them - will try to post them later!)