outward focused thoughts:  best gift
by dave workman

Try something simple today.

 

Get a piece of paper out and tear it down to about the size of a business card. Write on one side of it: "This is just a simple way to say God loves you."  On the other side, write the name of your church with a street address on it, the phone number and the times of your services. That's all. Then try this: today when you drive through a fast-food joint, pay for the person's meal behind you... and ask the cashier to give them your note. They'll smile. Pay for both meals and then drive off. As you drive away, say a short prayer for the person behind you, like:  "Father, would you open up their heart to receive all you have for them? Would you touch them through this with your love? And make them thirsty for the real food and the real drink, the one that satisfies eternally."

 

Just think if that happened all over your city today? Perhaps the climate would change.

 

Sometime back we got a snail mail that read: "Dear Vineyard, I just got back from McDonald's in Fairfield. It's Christmas Eve and I literally counted change from couch cushions and my car to buy some lunch for my son. When I got to the window, the lady there told me that the man in front of me had paid for my food, and asked that she give me this card. It was a card from the Vineyard. That man in front of me didn't know that I was a single mom, or that I'm not exactly the best, most sin-free person in the world (I thought: Gee. Welcome to the Vineyard...) . He just wanted me to know that God loved me. I needed this more than he could have possibly known. Regardless of what I get for Christmas this year, I will consider that reminder the best gift of all."

 

Isn't it amazing when the best gift of the year is nothing more than a Happy Meal?

The reason why you should write the name of your church on the paper is not because this is some marketing scheme for your church, but only to give someone a possible next step to introduce the beautiful body of Christ to them: that powerhouse community of wounded healers through which God chooses to fulfill His plan.