Acts 2:23 (NRSV) ...this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law.
This last Christmas season (2007) I had an idea. It came from a news program about soldiers returning from the war in Iraq. It was clear that the spouses and children of enlisted soldiers were bearing a huge burden. Part of the burden was the ever-present anxiety that their loved one would not come home. Part of the burden is the financial reality of the families of enlisted personnel. I wanted Southeast to do something, some small thing, that would help them.
We announced on a Sunday morning that we were going to collect gift cards, or money to buy gift cards, that would be sent to homes of deployed enlisted soldiers. We were not really sure how we were going to get that done, but we started collecting money. Our people were generous. These Christians are sensitive to the sacrifices that these soldiers’ families are making.
I went to the local bank and purchased 300 gift cards worth $100 each. We found a way to get these into the hands of a support group for soldiers at Fort Bliss near El Paso, TX. Howard Bryan found a contact for us. The folks in that office told us that they had soldiers returning from the war and had been working to help them but that their resources were running low. They had been praying for God to help them when our package arrived. They wept as they opened the bundle of Visa gift cards. God had been answering their prayer a month before it was spoken. Our intention to bless, to manifest the presence of God, hit its target.
You see, God knows what you need even before you ask. Peter was preaching at Pentecost. He was saying that a gift had been given. The One and Only Son was given. It was not an accident. It was not a coincidence. It was not plan ‘B.’ God knew that you had a need. God so loved you, that he gave.
This last Christmas season (2007) I had an idea. It came from a news program about soldiers returning from the war in Iraq. It was clear that the spouses and children of enlisted soldiers were bearing a huge burden. Part of the burden was the ever-present anxiety that their loved one would not come home. Part of the burden is the financial reality of the families of enlisted personnel. I wanted Southeast to do something, some small thing, that would help them.
We announced on a Sunday morning that we were going to collect gift cards, or money to buy gift cards, that would be sent to homes of deployed enlisted soldiers. We were not really sure how we were going to get that done, but we started collecting money. Our people were generous. These Christians are sensitive to the sacrifices that these soldiers’ families are making.
I went to the local bank and purchased 300 gift cards worth $100 each. We found a way to get these into the hands of a support group for soldiers at Fort Bliss near El Paso, TX. Howard Bryan found a contact for us. The folks in that office told us that they had soldiers returning from the war and had been working to help them but that their resources were running low. They had been praying for God to help them when our package arrived. They wept as they opened the bundle of Visa gift cards. God had been answering their prayer a month before it was spoken. Our intention to bless, to manifest the presence of God, hit its target.
You see, God knows what you need even before you ask. Peter was preaching at Pentecost. He was saying that a gift had been given. The One and Only Son was given. It was not an accident. It was not a coincidence. It was not plan ‘B.’ God knew that you had a need. God so loved you, that he gave.
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