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Good Neighbor Serve Week Tag

February 26 Newsletter

Unleashing the Hope of Jesus in

St. Charles County


Devotional: Love That Moves

“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” — 1 John 3:18

February is often centered around love. Cards. Candy. Flowers. But Scripture reminds us that love is not simply something we feel — it’s something we do. Jesus didn’t just speak about compassion. He lived the fullest meaning of compassion: TO SUFFER WITH. He moved toward people. He touched the untouchable. He fed the hungry. He welcomed the outsider. He made love visible.

As a church, that is our calling too. When you move dusty furniture on a cold Saturday morning, you are making Jesus’ love visible. When you deliver packed food backpacks to school staff who may be too busy to even acknowledge you, you are making Jesus’ love visible.  When you serve overnight at the Warming Center with folks who may not experience the same reality as you,  you are making Jesus’ love visible. When you organize what seems like the same school supplies for the 50th time, you are making Jesus’ love visible. When we act and live and serve as one saved by the blood of Jesus, we make the love of Christ tangible for the world to see. You are putting hands and feet to the gospel.

This month, ask yourself:

  • Where is God inviting me to move toward someone and suffer with them?

  • What would it look like for my love to be visible?

  • Who needs to experience hope through action?

Love is more than a feeling. It’s a response to the love we’ve already received in Christ. Let’s be people whose love moves.


Prayers

Please join us in praying for:

  • Our unhoused neighbors to find safety and security and a compassionate community.

  • The ministry partners who serve families facing food insecurity

  • School staff and administrators navigating mid-year challenges

  • Volunteers who faithfully show up and serve behind the scenes

  • New leaders emerging within our outreach crews

Prayer:
Father, thank You for loving us first. Give us eyes to see needs around us and the courage to respond. Strengthen our ministry and community partners. Protect the vulnerable. Raise up compassionate leaders within our church. May everything we do unleash the hope of Jesus in our community. Amen.


📅 Upcoming Serving Opportunities

Date
Event/Program
Leaders
Ministry
3/1
Warming Center Celebration/Reflection Lunch
Mike Coumerilgh
Michael True
Emergency Weather Response
3/2
LO/GS Gathering #1- Safety Focus
Brendon & Carissa
All Local Outreach & Guest Services
3/5
Monthly Pray & Prep
Katy Pursell
School Outreach
3/7
Operation Restoring Calm Exercise
Leader Needed
Natural Disaster Response Team
3/21
Sharing Shed
Lisa Rogers
Alleviation of Poverty
3/24
City Life Serve Day in Food Pantry & Food Backpack Ministry
Carissa Figgins
Susan Nash
Food Pantry and Food Backpack Ministry
Ongoing
Food Pantry
Jane & Steward Topper
Denise & Ken Sabo
Linda Beeler
Food Pantry
Ongoing
Food Backpacking
Shelly Swart
Susan Nash
Food Backpack Ministry
Ongoing
Broken & Beautiful Ministry Pen Pals
Leader Needed
Mental Health Support
3/25
YAM Sharing Shed
Stephanie Lake
Alleviation of Poverty
4/1
Monthly Pray & Prep
Katy Pursell
School Outreach
4/7
Election Polling Place
Leader Needed
Local Outreach
4/18
Sharing Shed
Lisa Rogers
Alleviation of Poverty
4/24-4/20
Carissa on Vacation
4/27
Extra Pray & Prep
Katy Pursell
School Outreach
4/30
LO/GS Gathering #2- Discipleship Focus
Brendon & Carissa
All Local Outreach & Guest Services
SAVE THE DATE!
Good Neighbor Serve Week is July 12-18th!
Look for more information this spring!
Mark your calendar now!

🌟 Volunteer Spotlight

Do you have a serving story to share? When we highlight your story, it isn’t about drawing attention to you — it’s about honoring God and helping others see how they might step into serving too. If you’d be willing to share how God is working through your local outreach involvement, we’d love to connect with you.


New to Local Outreach?

Not sure where to start?

  1. Pray about where God may be leading you.

  2. Click here to take the SHAPE assessment and familiarize yourself with your spiritual gifts.
  3. Explore current serving opportunities.

  4. Try one opportunity and see how God works through it.

  5. Consider stepping into leadership if you sense God nudging you.

There is a place for you.


💬 Final Encouragement

Serving our neighbors isn’t a one-time event that we check off when we are done. It’s a rhythm of life that honors what Jesus did for all of us. It’s choosing compassion when it’s inconvenient. It’s showing up consistently. It’s believing small acts can create eternal impact. Thank you for being a church that doesn’t just gather — but goes.

Together, we are unleashing the hope of Jesus in St. Charles County.

With gratitude,
HCC St Charles – Local Outreach Team


As we move into Good Neighbor Serve Week please join hundreds of Harvester Christians as we pray for our neighborhoods, communities, and city.

Good Neighbor Serve Week Prayers

Heavenly Father, we ask for your presence in families in our neighborhood. We pray

for strength and understanding between the marriages in our neighborhood. We ask

for loving, strong bonds between the children, teenagers, adults, and grandparents.

We pray that each branch of the family will demonstrate love for one another.

 

God Almighty, we ask for healthy, thriving relationships between neighbors. We pray

different cultures will be able to understand and care for one another in our

neighborhood. We pray that the diversity of your people will be celebrated by all

neighbors, just as you affirm and love each one of us.

 

Father, we pray for the teachers and local principals who devote their days to

shepherding our students. Please be present as district and state leaders make

impactful decisions. We ask for guidance and patience for the parent volunteers as

they serve our neighborhood schools. We pray that our schools will be a safe, positive

community for our students.

 

Lord God, we pray for guidance for our local pastors as they nurture Your

congregation and seek to serve those around them. We pray Fieldview Church and

Harvester Christian would welcome neighbors with open arms. We hope for residents

to find a place to experience community with the body of Christ as they grow

spiritually.

 

God we ask for your presence in the streets and homes of our community. We pray for

local law enforcement and first responders, for their safety and wisdom and

compassion in all circumstances. We pray for your comfort for those who have

experienced violence and destruction, and we ask your protection for all our

neighbors.

 

Father, we ask you to give our state and local leaders wisdom make decisions affecting

our city and county. We pray they will be thoughtful in their decisions and listen to the

voices of the community. We pray for courage to stand up for our community and to

live with grace and dignity in our city.

 

God, we ask for a flourishing community, where neighbors learn to love each other

and come to know Jesus. We pray that we can be good stewards of Your love to each

one of our neighbors. We ask that You help us to learn from our community, and it

may be a place where all are welcomed.

 

Dear Lord, we lift the lonely people in our community to you today. We pray that you

will bring them comfort, companionship, and hope. Please surround them with your

love and care. Let them feel your presence in their lives. Make us instruments to seek

out the lonely and give them comfort.

 

Lord, we pray the body of Christ rises to the needs of our neighbors. In our city, if

someone is hurting and in need, we pray your people will step in and minister to their

needs. Teach us to provide both the physical and spiritual needs serving as the hands

and feet of Jesus.

 

Lord, there is much work to be done in our city. We pray that You will guide us as we

address these challenges and bless our efforts to create a community where everyone

feels valued and supported. We rebuke the lies of Satan as he comes to steal, kill, and

destroy. Open the eyes of our churches so they see this as spiritual warfare. Bring our

city to their knees to fight the battle against Satan’s efforts.

 

We pray Father God that you will unite our community in a spirit of generosity, justice,

and hope. Help us to see that we are part of Your family and we all have been

commanded to Love You and love others.

 

Heavenly Father, help us to listen to our neighbors, to seek common ground, and to

work together. Give us the wisdom to recognize the needs of our community and to act on

those needs with creativity and innovation. Remove all fear and apathy from our

hearts. Create in us a clean heart. Pour out your compassion, empathy, and kindness

through us.

 

Lord dissolve any prejudices or biases within our community and replace them with a

deep understanding that you have fearfully and wonderfully made all of us to glorify

you. Help us to work together to build a community of unity, understanding, and

compassion. Sweep our community and bless us all with the eyes and heart of Jesus.

May the Holy Spirit sweep over our city, resulting in a true revival where actual change

occurs inside and outside the church walls.

 

Heavenly Father, We come before You with grateful hearts for the nonprofits and

schools in St. Charles County that serve our community with dedication and love. We

lift up every leader, teacher, volunteer, and staff member who works tirelessly to meet

the needs of others. Strengthen them with wisdom, patience, and compassion as they

fulfill their roles.

 

Lord Jesus, may Your peace, protection, and provision cover every organization and

school, and may their work reflect Your grace and mercy. Help us as a community to

support and encourage them in their mission. Unite us in our efforts to care for the lost

and wounded and to unleash hope to our community.

 

Holy Father guide us to be instruments of your love and mercy, showing kindness and

compassion to all we encounter. For those living apart from Jesus, please open their

hearts and minds to the truth of Your word and the gospel message. Help them to see

the beauty and power of your love and to experience the transforming power of your

grace.

 

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the unity we have in Christ. Just as Jesus prayed for

His disciples, we also lift up those who believe in You, and for those who will come to

know You through our witness. May we be one, just as You, Father, are in Christ, and

Christ is in You. Let the unity of believers reflect Your love and truth, so that the world

may believe that You sent Jesus. Help us live in harmony, united in purpose and love,

so that Your name may be glorified. Bind us together in a spirit of peace, that our unity

may reveal Your presence to those around us.

In the name of Jesus, we pray,

Amen.

A Little Raw & Honest Truth: Do We Need A Serve Week?

I will get right to the point. I debated for a long time this year on whether it was a good idea or not to organize another Serve Week for our HCC family. Let me be clear. My ping-ponging in my head was not about whether it was a good idea or a needed thing much less a commandment to serve. The Bible is pretty clear on that one. If you need a list of biblical proof you can find a growing list here.  

My concern is if I was giving people a reason NOT to serve. I worried that if we focused all of our attention and energy on this one week would we be fooled into thinking we had done our duty for the year. That somehow there was a spiritual checklist that we checked off serving one time that we were good to go until next year. I debated on perpetuating the idea that serving in this day and age had to be convenient, it had to fit in between this soccer game, this trip to the lake, this business engagement, and these two birthday parties, and if it was a full moon, and if it was not too hot and not too cold and with the people I know, doing a thing I know how to do that wasn’t too hard or too strenuous or too involved or too messy or if it interfered with my work-life balance. We tend not to commit to something ongoing or even one time as we wait to see if something better or more enticing or entertaining comes along.

Did I mention this post was a little raw and honest this time? 

I am genuinely worried that we are selling ourselves short of all the blessings God truly intends for us by offering ourselves up as a living sacrifice obedient to Him. There are loads of “feel good” reasons to serve. You no longer feel guilty about sidestepping your Local Outreach Pastor (wink, wink). It makes for some very likable Instagram posts. Science also tells us that serving makes us healthier, it helps us live longer fulfilling lives because we have a sense of purpose and identity in something greater than ourselves.  Our service directly glorifies Him. Serving isn’t a clickable option for living as a Jesus Follower. God hard-wired us to serve. Serving others is a form of worship. It puts us in our proper place and posture to God. But it’s also messy, And it doesn’t always work out into a neat social media post. And the people we serve are not always dripping with gratitude. And the people we serve with are just as likely to be stinky, biting, obstinant sheep like us. Serving is probably going to test our boundaries and push us way out of our comfort zone. It usually takes place during a time that doesn’t fit the family calendar.

Serving allows us to experience God’s presence in a new way. If we stop relying on an annual serving event to remind us that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves and rather allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit to serve others we start to see that the small, cumulative intentional acts of kindness, gentleness, and love in God’s name are what are truly pleasing to God. When we are real and authentic about serving, the cost of serving, the reason why we serve, and WHO we serve, this is what will lead our neighbors to find and follow Jesus.

we start to see that the small, cumulative intentional acts of kindness, gentleness, and love in God’s name are what are truly pleasing to God.

 

So here’s the confusing part about being raw and honest. God has cleared the way for Serve Week. 🙂

Our Good Neighbor Serve Week is September 28-October 3. I hope you will take advantage of some of the serving opportunities we have lined up to use your gifts and talents for God, connect to other HCC members, meet our neighbors at Fieldview Church who are also serving with us, to unleash the hope of Jesus. I also hope you and your life group will seek God and see where He wants you to consistently serve your neighbors again and again.

But my ultimate prayer is that you will wake every day asking God how you can love and serve others in His name through the everyday seemingly small but intentional acts of love. I hope you can’t help yourself because of what Jesus has done for you.

Click the link below to sign up for one of our

Good Neighbor Serve Week

serving opportunities here ==>

https://harvestercc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/487/responses/new