Beautiful Stinky feet - New Shoes ! – and More
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight O Lord our strength and our redeemer.
Reading
5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: ‘The person who does these things will live by them.’ 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”’ (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 ‘or “Who will descend into the deep?”’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’
12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’
Here's the true story of Bill Barnes, a creative Miami, Florida, pastor who resolved to stop staring at the homeless in Dade County and do something about them. Bill Barnes had an idea!
Since other people were giving them sandwiches, he decided to give them shoes or socks.
Few shoes or socks make it to a second life, much less a second-hand store. Dubbing it the "S.O.S." project (for "Shoes or Socks"), he found a donor who funded the purchase of new socks and another who gave free new sneakers to the church in assorted men's, women's and children's sizes. Barnes then contacted a local podiatrist to help out, since one of the biggest health problems of the homeless is their feet. The podiatrist enlisted some already overloaded med students at Barry University in Miami Shores, who agreed to donate some of their free time to assist with foot examinations and medicine.
Now Barnes faced his toughest customers: his own parishioners. He recommended to the church they implement their "S.O.S." homeless program with a foot washing service on Maundy Thursday. Would they commit to washing the feet of as many homeless as they could convince to come? You can imagine the yucks and grunts that followed. But one lay leader stood up and demanded of her brothers and sisters: "The question is, are we humble enough to do it?"
Those church members who weren't humble enough then, soon became humble. Just before the appointed Maundy Thursday service, a homeless woman was electrocuted on Biscayne Boulevard during a rain storm. She had stepped barefooted on a metal drain underneath which was a broken power line. The news reports stated that had she been wearing rubber soled shoes she would not have been killed. Unable to identify the woman, a local coalition of homeless ministries organized an interfaith memorial service. The date selected was Maundy Thursday.
They spread the word through Social Services, bread lines, mission houses, that there would be free medical treatment and sneakers available to all who attended. Many came and received spiritual and physical care that Maundy Thursday. The church conveyed to over 500 homeless, habitually downtrodden and despised (they gave out more than 500 pairs of shoes and many more socks - they only stopped because they ran out of larger men's sizes) that they cared about their bodies and their souls. To those with the most need, they did not hand out pious sops - they handed out sneakers. Instead of prayerful platitudes, they offered podiatry. These Christians attended to their brothers' and sisters' bodily needs as well as to their spiritual longings
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/beautiful-feet-gerald-roberts-sermon-on-good-news-210837?page=1
When I read this story – I was struck by the importance of what’s in our hands. For some it may be food, for others it may be prayer, for some it may be a passion for figures numbers etc – Whatever it may be lets bring it to God.
In our new centre – we ‘re going to need to doing stuff … we have Enable Ireland, Music Teachers, YMCA, Cocaine Anonymous, Lego Camps, Bible Study, Seniors Lunches, people using our playground, Slimming world and many other needs, Domestic Abuse Helpline supplies Sunday Morning Worship, Folk Dancers, Ballet- Cian today was talking about football
In Blarney we have al-anon, growth Group … and many others
How are our feet?
What are we called to do in Blarney for our community – for the least and the lost?
What about this vision of the river running from this building … what does that look like in the next 6 months? And beyond
When we aren’t as busy as we ordinarily can be? … how can we show love to those who are stuggling?
IN the midst of this pandemic how can we preach … how can we show people God’s love and his care?
I’m challenged by this at this moment … how do we love in the midst of this time and in this place?
Many many questions then move on in this
Beautiful Feet are beautiful because they have put on witness walkers I am a (witness walker) shoes you can actually buy “For How can they hear without someone preaching to them?
• Beautiful Feet are beautiful because you cover those feet with Good News Gospel Shoes
• Beautiful Feet Respect The Poor
• Beautiful Feet respond in love and compassion to everyone in need
• Beautiful Feet help the burdened they do not make or create burdens
• Beautiful Feet offer hospitality, clothing , shelter, and food
• Beautiful Feet offer fellowship and peace
• Make those feet beautiful by putting on traveling shoes, witness walkers, good news gospel shoes .
I’m really challenged by all of this – and want to challenge each one of us here – In terms of sharing our faith – how will people know
Becoming a world Christian means that, wherever you live, you “consider all other citizenship a secondary matter” (D.A. Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry [Baker, 2004], 117) and “reorder your life around God’s global cause" (Piper, Desiring God, 232–33). It means that even as you give yourself to making disciples on the tract of land to which you’ve been sent, you connect your efforts with the Global Cause, among peoples reached and unreached, and you pray and dream and give toward completing the task.
But becoming a world Christian not only leads to the resourcing and flourishing of ministries abroad; it also leads to vibrancy and fruit at home. “Becoming a world Christian cannot be an end in itself,” writes Don Carson. “The aim is not to become so international and culturally flexible that one does not fit in anywhere; the aim, rather, is to become so understanding and flexible that one can soon fit in and further the gospel anywhere" (Carson, Cross and Christian Ministry, 132).
As we continue to reach out
We do so sharing the good news of Jesus’ love in the communities and the neighbourhoods which we live and work
Here in Blarney – Over the next weeks I want to pick up some of the stuff that has been let go in the past few months – the connections with businesses and people
Please do pray as we go on – seeking what we can be doing within the guidelines as we are able to do what we can do.
During the interregnum I want to ask questions each week as part of my sermons
This week I want to challenge us with a question?
- What's in your hands that we can share to proclaim Jesus
