We recently partnered with the Tim Tebow Foundation to host a “Night to Shine” for Filipinos with special needs. For the first time in their lives these forgotten, sidelined, and neglected men and women were celebrated and pampered with the royal treatment and lavished with love of God by the members of our congregation
These “honored guests” were chauffeured in luxury vehicles, escorted down the red carpet, ushered into the beautifully decorated ballroom for a catered banquet and sent home with a backpack full of prom favors, snacks, and personalized encouraging notes from caring Christian prayer partners.
Not surprisingly, every Sunday since the “Night to Shine”, we have had families of these “Honored Guests” coming back to attend worship services with us.
This all came about when we sensed the Lord leading us to direct the church into a foundational shift in mindset. I was reflecting on what Jesus said in about the motives behind loving and serving people in Luke 14:12-14
“When you put on a luncheon or a banquet, don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”
