True Giving

Posted in Serving on February 14th, 2008 by Administrator| | 0 Comments.

Jesus said, “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet, don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then, at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” Luke 14:12-14 (NLT)

When it comes to doing community acts of kindness, to me the greatest acts
of kindness are offered when you help those who can’t pay you back. We live in a world today where self promotion, networking, and the desire to achieve
have blinded us to what real giving is all about.

For the past five years the students of Kennesaw Mtn. High School have put on a dance for Cobb County’s special need students grades 6th-12th. My favorite part of the dance is watching the students of KMHS greet the special needs students as they get off the bus. They stand on both sides of the side walk and give the special needs students a standing ovation as they walk into the gym. Some of the greatest “Kodak Moments” that I ever seen are on the faces of those special needs children as they walk to the gym.

I will never forget the first time I witnessed the special needs children getting off those buses. I just kept watching bus after bus bring more and more special needs children to the dance. I never realized how many special needs children there were! I wondered why I didn’t see these kids more in the community. I never see them at ball games, parks, restaurants, or at church.

The reason why is because we haven’t invited them to the banquet. The students at KMHS challenged me as their community leader to help them find even more ways to invite these special children and their families back to the banquet. The challenge became personal when my wife Libby and I were told our youngest son Matthew was autistic. Matthew is one of over 14,000 special needs children in Cobb County. If my math is correct that is over 28,000 parents that need to be invited back to the Banquet, and shown God’s love.

On February 24 and 25, you can help show God’s love by volunteering to get involved with this year’s dance. The students at KMHS have asked NorthStar to help with providing cookies and drinks. On Sunday the 24th you can bring cookies and carton drinks such as Hi-C punch to church. The goal for NorthStar is 1500 cookies and drinks. We can also help the students decorate the gym that same Sunday afternoon from 2 p.m to 5 p.m. On February 25 you can help NorthStar serve hospitality to the bus drivers and their assistants. We will be serving lunch at 10:30 a.m. in the 400 hallway
at Kennesaw Mtn. High School. If you would like to help us show God’s love, just click on the community calendar and sign up.

I have the greatest job in the world being Community Pastor at NorthStar Church. I get to sit in the front row and witness the people of this church loving and serving this community to Jesus Christ. I want to thank all of the volunteers who have stepped up the past few weeks and helped us serve lunch to the teachers at Durham Middle School, provided hospitality at North Cobb’s Senior Night, and volunteered to work concession stands at Harrison’s Senior Night. I can not say thank you enough for 100 coats you brought to church to help Hayes elementary with their coat drive.

My prayer is that our church continues to show God’s love in such a way that people will turn their lives over to Christ and experience that Great Exchange…and that we run up a big tab for God to pay us back in Heaven.

Marlon

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LOVING BY SERVING

Posted in Thank You!, Serving on February 1st, 2008 by Administrator| | 1 Comments.

Jesus said in John 13:35: “Your love for one another will prove to the world you are my disciples.” (NLT)

Everyday I watch how Christians show their faith and let others know that they belong to Jesus Christ. As I drive in my car, I notice fish symbols and church magnets on the back of cars. I see people wear all kinds of t-shirts, bracelets, and cross necklaces expressing their faith. Jesus tells us the way you let the world know you belong to him is by loving one another.

Our mission statement at NorthStar reads:

We exist to show God’s love in such a way that people would exchange ordinary living for an extraordinary life through the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

I love that mission statement because it says show God’s love, not just talk about it. At NorthStar Church we serve our community through acts of kindness to let our community know that we belong to Jesus Christ. With each act of kindness - whether it is working concession stands at high school games, serving hospitality to teachers, volunteering for community events, feeding the hungry or visiting the sick - we want
to serve and love people so that they will ask us the question “Why?” The answer is because we want our community to see Jesus in us, so that they will make that great exchange.

On February 14 we celebrate Valentine’s Day. It is a day that is set aside for us to make sure to remember the ones we love. Every day, by serving and loving one another, we get a chance to let the world know we love and belong to Jesus Christ. In February we have a lot of opportunities for you to let the world know you belong to Jesus Christ. You can look at the community calendar and sign up for one of our many acts of kindness this month, or you can check our community website and look at the many ideas to try on your own.

My prayer is that you will love and serve and let the world know you belong to Jesus!

Marlon