With summer winding down, the Mahomet Christian Church is already gearing up for the giving season. The church, which began a four-week sermon series on “Faith In Action” at the beginning of September, will give back to the Mahomet community during an afternoon of project-based service on September 28.
The service day, which will include all members of the church will begin with a sermon, which will be followed by a light lunch before church members go out into the community to help neighbors.
Pastor David Johnson said the basis for the series is spun from the Bible passage where Jesus defines “neighbor” for a lawyer.
“The lesson came down to the neighbor is anyone you can help,” he said. “We want this to stir our people to a mindset and a lifestyle of being aware of needs around us we pass everyday. There are so many opportunities that we could just stop for a moment to help somebody with. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive or days of time consumption, there are just people who need a hand, and we want to be the hands and feet of Jesus.”
Mahomet Christian Church has already made connections with the Glenwood, and will host the afternoon service for residents before socializing with them for the afternoon. Several hairstylists plan on being at Candlewood to offer free haircuts for residents. Several church members will also be at the Shell station to wash windows for people filling up their gas tank.
Church members will collect canned goods and baby items for Mahomet Helping Hands and It Takes a Village from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at the Mahomet IGA and Mahomet Christian Church.
The church has also worked with Village officials to identify projects throughout the community that need tending to. The Village contacted church officials last winter to help with residential yard violations. The Christian Church will also take care of some of these projects on the 28th.
Johnson also said if anyone in the community is in need of assistance, the church can do its best to help. Johnson and Youth Pastor Jeff Dyson said while the church event will be on September 28, they hope to continue to reach out into the community throughout the year.
The key is that this is not a push for a one-time big project,” Johnson said. “The whole series is gearing us up to become more and more aware that all around us there are opportunities to serve people. There are needs that we can be meeting.”
“(The church) has got to be more than just little places over on the corner on the weekends in some private building,” he continued. “We need to be out in the world.”
The sermon series focuses on how Jesus saw needs all around him, and filled them.
“It had nothing to do with salvation or having to join his disciples or the church,” he said. “It was just about meeting a need and helping people. He told us to do likewise.”
But the Christian Church is not satisfied with just going out in the community to serve, they also want to join together in fellowship with each other and the residents they help throughout the day.
Dyson leads a group of youth who go on a mission trip to help the elderly or to help with yard work each summer. He said at the end of the week, the youth reunite with those they have helped during a dinner to celebrate their time together.
“It’s their favorite part of the week,” he said.
The church will send a few photographers out on the 28th to take pictures of church members working throughout the community. When the group reunites for dinner Sunday evening, they will get to see what others worked on, too.
“It gives you a chance to see that I may be doing this one project;” he said, “I may be doing somebody’s yard work, and it doesn’t seem like much. But when we all get back together, and we see all the things that each person has been doing together, that’s much bigger. It’s good to know that I can’t do everything, but I can do something. And when my something gets put together with your something, we’ve really done something and made a difference. And that’s what we want to do, make a difference.”
