10 Ways to Serve Your Neighbors This Summer

By Sarah Austin

You know it's summer when LifePoint gets in a tizzy about serving. As a church this month, we're collecting food, giving blood, and serving the city of Ozark, but the serving doesn't have to stop there. With a little creativity, we can all serve our neighbors this summer, and here are ten ways you can start:

1. Babysit your neighbors' kids
2. Mow your neighbors' yards
3. Offer to check your neighbors' houses (feed pets, water plants, get mail, etc.) while they're on vacation
4. Visit with elderly or home bound neighbors
5. Support your neighbors' garage sales by stopping by, browsing, and maybe buying something
6. Share flowers and vegetables from your garden with your neighbors
7. Bring housewarming gifts (baked goods, plants, etc.) to neighbors who've just moved in
8. Invite your neighbors over for dinner
9. Volunteer at your neighborhood's polling place
10. Sponsor a neighborhood fireworks party

For me, it's easier to start a conversation and build a relationship when I have something in my hands or have something to do, which is why many of the items on the list above involve a gift or an activity. Did I miss anything? What are you doing to serve your neighbors this summer?

Humility Prepares LifePointers for July Servant Emphasis

by Sarah Austin

Have you ever heard the saying, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog?" True enough, sometimes smaller is better, but I was still reluctant to pick up C.J. Mahaney's book Humility: True Greatness, June's book of the month. Maybe I have an aversion to the pint-sized Michael W. Smith books I read when I was a teenager. Maybe I have a superiority complex about the size of the books I read. Who knows.

In his book, Mahaney discusses what it means to be truly great. In our world, greatness is often defined by business savvy and athletic skills, but when God looks for greatness, he looks for humble hearts. In the first two sections, Mahaney defines pride and explains God's opposition to it, and he redefines humility using Christ's example. Much of what he said was old hat to me, but one thing resonated: Pride is our greatest enemy. Humility is our greatest friend.

Mahaney uses the third section to encourage us to practice humility in our lives by identifying evidences of grace, encouraging others, inviting and pursuing correction, and responding humbly to trials. He also stocks one chapter full of ways he strives to practice humility every day. This one caught me by surprise: Before going to sleep, receive the gift of sleep from God and acknowledge his purpose for sleep. Sleep is a reminder to us that we need to be refreshed every day, that we are not the independent, autonomous creatures we like to think we are, and that for our lives to be sustained we must rely on God.

Chris Bryant's sermon this Sunday and LifePoint's July servant emphasis bookend Humility perfectly. CB spoke of getting to know God, and many of the love languages we can use to know God can also be used to practice humility. Acts of service is one of those love languages, and that's our focus as a church next month. If you haven't picked up a copy of Humility yet, it's not too late. Good things come in small packages indeed.

God's Big Backyard (June) Photos

Miss God's Big Backyard last week? Check out the pictures we've posted! Thanks to Ben Brendle for taking all those photos.

God's Big Backyard (June)

Book Review: In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day

by Micah Osborne

I do not want to live a life with regrets, instead I want to make the most of the situations that are in front of me—those that I still have a chance to effect. Even though this is the case, there are moments in my life that come to mind every once in a while that give me pause. The ones that stand out most vividly are those that are born out of my inactivity, the missed opportunities which will never come again. I have been thinking about this lately after reading a book by Mark Batterson entitled In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day. Mark believes that “the church has been fixated on sins of commission for far too long. We have long lists of don’ts.” He calls this “holiness by subtraction.” Mark also says “I think God is more concerned about sins of omission, those things that we could have and should have done.“ I agree with Mark, I tend to fixate on the things I should not do for God instead of looking for the opportunities God has carefully orchestrated in my life, the things I should do for God. These opportunities come, and if we are not diligently watching, they go.

Mark shares many examples from his own life, one where he planted one church that did not even make it to its first Sunday. He then picked up his family and moved across the country to plant a church near Capitol Hill in Washington DC. His new church, by God’s grace, is thriving today out of many challenges and struggles. Mark also uses many examples from the Bible including one obscure story out of 2 Samuel from which his book gets its title. In this story a man named Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it. This event is one of many events in Benaiah’s life that leads him to being selected as one of King David’s body guards and then promoted to commander and chief of Israel’s army. God is continually creating “opportunities” for his children to glorify him in spectacular ways; in the case of Mark and Benaiah those “opportunities” came in the form of a failed church and a 500 lb. lion. I don’t know about you, but most of the time, I purposely avoid these types of “opportunities.” But then I would miss out on what God has planned for my life and the opportunity to truly glorify him. And so my prayer is to be watchful and ready for the next lion that might come my way.

This reminds me of what Jesus said to Peter when he gave him his name. “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.” Gates are not used for offense; they are used for defense. Jesus is speaking of his church, which is the aggressor not the defender against the gates of Hell, and he promises they will not stop his church.

Updates from the Mexico SportReach Team

Our team to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, has been on the ground since Sunday. Check out what they've been up to on the SportReach site!

Our other partner Doug Millar is also posting updates on his blog. Check out his thoughts and photos here.

And it's not too late to pray for them. Download their prayer calendar here.

Pregnancy Care Center Work Night Photos

An album of photos from our Pregnancy Care Center work night is up. Check out how much fun we had! Thanks to Pastor Lane and Tracy Kelley for taking these great pictures!

Pregnancy Care Center Work Night

Other LPC photos

Hope

by Heather Myer

At times when life is overwhelming and hope does not extend past my present grief, I watch Schindler’s List. This is a movie about the Holocaust, portraying humanity at its very worst. I only watch it when I feel miserable or depressed. Nothing that I am experiencing can possibly compare to the despair of the Holocaust. Each time, I finish the movie cringing at man’s depravity but feeling alive and grateful. At the end of a very long and wretched week, I had every intention of watching Schindler’s List.

After work, I came to church for my turn of reading the New Testament during 24-Hours of Scripture. Andrea left off with Matthew 26. Seated in the light, far from the darkened corners, God revealed truths to me. My voice was small against the large empty room as I read aloud Christ’s last supper, betrayal, arrest, trial, torture, crucifixion and burial. My voice faltered as I recited Jesus’ last words, and his death, and the destruction of the temple. Then in Matthew 28, Christ arose on the third day! My grief was replaced with joy as Jesus greeted his disciples and offered the great commission. I left LifePoint feeling filled, at peace, and thankful. Perhaps this may become my new ritual when life is unpleasant: greet it with the ultimate suffering of our Lord, his arousal, and my own awakening.

"Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” —Matthew 26:64