In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul writes, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." An ambassador is one who represents someone else. In our case, we are to be Jesus' ambassadors while here on earth. We are to represent Him in both word and deed. In Ephesians 6:20, Paul describes himself as "an ambassador in chains." He understood his role was to represent and carry the message of Jesus to those he crossed paths with. Another way to understand that is believers being the hands and feet of Jesus. Being an ambassador, or being the hands of feet of Jesus, should be viewed as both a privilege and a responsibility.
I am excited that we, First Baptist Church, have a few opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community. We have forged a relationship with Pinewood Elementary School over the past few years. They have had a change in leadership, and we simply asked them how we could serve them. They responded with three ways we can help them, and I hope you will consider how you help. The first is a one-time opportunity while the other two are a longer-term commitment. If you sign-up for the later two, you are only expressing interest to learn more. It is not a commitment. You can sign-up for any or all on the sheets taped to the office windows.
1) We have scheduled a work day to help them repaint the front office and do a light cleaning of the teacher's lounge on July 27. We need eight people to help paint and three to clean the teacher's lounge. I hope you would consider giving up a few hours of your time that day. Neither should take than a few hours that morning.
2) The school asked if any would be willing to be lunch visitors. You would volunteer to have lunch once a week (30 minute period) with the same assigned small group, or you can be assigned to the same grade to sit with every week. Men are assigned to boys, and women are assigned to girls. You will meet with the same group the entire school year. The goal is to build relationships so children can be exposed to a positive, caring adult.
3) Pinewood participates with ARKids Read. That is a central Arkansas initiative that places reading buddies in schools. You will have to attend a short training, and the commitment is one hour per week. You are assigned two children, and you spend 30 minutes with each child.
Again, I hope you will consider one or all of these opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I fully expect our church to give Pinewood the support it needs.
In Christ,
Mark Smith, Pastor of FBC Jacksonville, AR
