My son darted back up the stairs before the bus came this morning. He had to change his socks. Upon realizing he was wearing nothing green, he guarded his life from weird pinches from weird girls by putting green striped socks on.

Oh yeah… today is St. Patrick’s Day. I forgot too. It’s a day of dyed fountains, green everything, and beer. That’s what St. Patrick’s Day is all about, right? Actually, there’s more to it than Green Eggs and Ham.

St. Patrick was a real brother who evangelized Ireland with passion and creativity. Patrick was put into forced slavery for six years after being kidnapped by Irish pirates. He later returned to give the life of Christ to the very people who took a chunk of Patrick’s life away. Patrick planted churches and helped lead many to Jesus. His mission was a thing of courage and love and large Kingdom progress that’s is now strangely and minimally venerated with beer.

Last night, Sherry and I gathered at a house in Smyrna with Kingdom folks focused on mission. If St. Patrick was really and all about mission, then this was a St. Patrick’s Day celebration with absolutely nothing green. We talked globally about Kenya, Greece, and India. Stories and passion were shared. It was such a rich time.

And now, on this St. Patrick’s Day, I’m mindful of mission. I’m reflecting on Isaiah 58 where God’s Word challenges us to go beyond one day of religion a week, and focus on a greater mission. Real fasting and real religion deals with injustice, the poor, the hungry, and the oppressed. This is mission. And when we give our lives to such, we tap into the very heart of God who then brings His light to our lives. With mission there is healing. With mission, the Lord promises to go before and behind us. You want real security for your life? Turn your life towards mission; Jesus’ mission of good news.

This is Missions Week at Cumberland. Our times focusing on global and local mission have been good. Tomorrow, I’m excited to hear our guest, Nanci Ricks, at a breakfast and afternoon Speakeasy gathering. This dynamic woman of God will also be speaking on Sunday. Nanci is President of Empart USA. Empart works with the unreached people of India. They are on mission to plant 100,000 churches by 2030! You should let Nanci’s mission fire ignite yours.

You can go to the Cumberland app to sign up for any of our mission gatherings this weekend. Don’t have the app? You can also send an email to nichellewalker@cumberlanchurch.org.

Hope to see you this weekend at 9 & 11 a.m. There’ll be no pinching nor green beer, but we will have black coffee to remind us of the darkness that Christ’s light can pierce around the world!

Blessings ya’ll,

p.s. – Get ready for our new service times starting April 2^nd. Our Sunday gatherings will be 9 and 10:45 a.m. Please tell friend or two!

Weekly Giving |3.12.17

$38,721.00

Weekly Need $39,700.00