Day 22: Pastoral Excellence

Hebrews 10:24
“Let’s also think about how to motivate each other to show love and to do good works.”

For a couple of years I volunteered to be an adult mentor to children in a local elementary school. Many of the children I met with on my weekly visits lived in the Settle Court housing project, which used to be one of most dangerous places to live in Nashville. Every Tuesday I would leave my office and drive to the school and spend two hours talking with children and reading to them.

One of the children I met each week was a little boy named Daniel. Daniel had unruly blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and an unpredictable personality. Daniel could be cheerful or he could be angry and disagreeable; he was often sent to the principal’s office for misbehaving. But over the weeks of meeting with him we developed a bond of trust.

One Tuesday Daniel bounced into the office, saw me and said, “I knew you would come; you always keep your promises.” There were many Tuesdays when I was too busy to go to the school and I would start to make mental excuses for staying at work, but I would hear Daniel’s voice in my head saying, “I knew you would come.” Those words always motivated me to get in my car and drive to the school.
The world in which we live is broken and in need of healing. The world is in need of the transforming love of Jesus Christ. The world does not need a church that is perfect; the world needs a church that can be counted on to show up, a church that is motivated to show love and do good works.

Prayer reflection: Pray for the places in your neighborhood that could be transformed by the love of Christ. Consider a prayer walk through your church’s neighborhood.

The Rev. Ken Edwards
Chairperson, Order of Elders-TN Conference

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REFLECTIONS FOR THE DAY | Use a program on your computer, a traditional journal, or feel free to use the comment section of this blog post to record your reflections as a conversation with others…
READ – What spoke to me as I read today’s meditation?
REPENT – Where is God showing me that I have failed to be obedient to the call to discipleship today?
RECEIVE – What words of redemption and grace is God offering to me?
REMEMBER – Who and what is God calling me to remember in prayer related to today’s reading?
RESPOND – How is God calling me to respond today?

RESOURCES:
> DOWNLOADS – 40 Day Walk prayer guide (.PDF), 40 Days of Doodles kids journal (.PDF)
> CLICK HERE for sermon starters/suggestions