Nathan Ivey is pastor and director of Seed - the mercy ministry of Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Churches notorious for excelling in either the words of the gospel or in good deeds - and rarely both. Seed seeks to not only see social renewal now in Louisville, but to reach their neighbors with the eternal mercy of the gospel.
Ivey writes at the Seed blog:
it is NEVER enough to address people’s felt needs (think Seed Projects). Seed Projects can be a good starting point because the gospel addresses the human condition in all its complexity – the whole gospel to the whole person. But, we need to move beyond people’s felt needs.
People (i.e. insert the name of your next door neighbor, co-worker, grocery store clerk) think they have ...
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Tags: nathan ivey, tim chester, jesus, cross, social renewal, good works, gospel, mercy, mercy ministry, sojourn community, seed
Mercy on the StreetsBy Pastor Scott Thomas, Acts 29 Director
“I have been in Seattle for ten days,” Eddie said. “I am looking for a job. I am a heavy equipment operator and I can’t find any work so I have to sleep here [points to the sidewalk].”
Men sleeping on sidewalk across from Union Gospel Mission
On Good Friday, a few of us went down near the Union Gospel Mission in Downtown Seattle to show mercy to the homeless. We were prepared to hand out sleeping bags that were donated by several readers of our blog. We weren’t prepared to be as impacted so meaningfully by the men we encountered. Our strategy was not to chuck the sleeping bags out of the back of my truck Kamikaze-style, but rather, to walk up to those who appeared to be homeless and ...
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29 Acts of Mercy
by Pastor Scott Thomas
Picto:Blog April 6, 2009
Marco is living on the streets in Seattle and needs a sleeping bag.
At church yesterday, Mark Driscoll mentioned that Mayor Greg Nickels has asked Mars Hill to participate in addressing the homeless situation in Seattle. He needs 500 team member volunteers and 200 team leaders to help with the City of Seattle’s upcoming survey on homelessness in Seattle.
I walked out of the downtown campus after the announcement and across the street to speak to a homeless man, Marco (pictured above). Marco was sitting in an area where men are normally picked up to do day labor. I asked Marco how things were going and he said that he was waiting for someone who needed work done but that it had been slower ...
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