The United Methodist Church is making a difference. The impact of 12.5 million United Methodists in 136 countries is being felt around the world. While extending help and serving abroad for the sake of the Great Commission is a real and important thing, so is loving our neighbor at home. We are called to both. In the 1800’s there was a British missionary named Charles T. Studd. C.T. Studd spoke words that have stuck with me: “The light that shines farthest shines brightest nearest home.” Human Relations Day is a powerful avenue to extend help and service to our local communities. It is about getting out of our comfortable social circles and offering love and care to those who need help in our neighborhoods and cities. It’s about walking with those who feel like everything in life is stacked against them.
Think about how Jesus walked with those in the margins.
• In Mark Jesus eats with a tax collector
Read these words in Luke: "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
• In Luke Jesus heals a woman from 12 years of hemorrhaging and calls her daughter
This is the spirit of Human Relations Day; helping those on the margins and offering a message of hope. Let’s continue the ministry of Jesus with a united front through the Human Relations Day Special Sunday. Together as a church, we participate in helping our communities and being a bright light at home. Will you support these objectives with me? Giving on Human Relations Day nurtures at-risk youth, strengthens communities’ self-improvement efforts, and advocates for the oppressed. Let’s become more comfortable with being outside our social circles than we are within them. Let’s be more like Jesus, together, on Human Relations Day
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