Local Community Outreach
Christ Community Church serves a hot lunch at the Good Shepherd Alliance Walk for the Homeless Shelter in Leesburg, Virginia.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Matthew 25:34-36
Christ Community Church reaches out into the local community regularly to help others. We try to see where God is at work and we join Him in that work. We have served hot breakfast and brought warm clothes to homeless folks in the middle of winter snowstorms in downtown Washington, D.C.; we’ve collected donations for local pregnancy centers; we’ve gathered Christmas gifts for the residents of local homeless shelters; we’ve participated in the Walk for the Homeless in Loudoun County with the Good Shepherd Alliance, and in the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Our outreach events are typically church-wide efforts, with opportunities for service across all ages.
CCC joins GSA in the Walk for the Homeless Shelter in Leesburg, VA.
We connect with many local agencies to serve others. Please check the links to the right to connect with our “Partners in Service” for more information about these agencies.
In January 2012, CCC focused on the sanctity of God’s gift of life in us all. Read more below.
~ L i f e ~
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:13-16 (NIV)
In January 2012, Christ Community Church will celebrate Life month and support the March for Life, recognizing God’s gift of Life to us all!
The context for CCC’s approach to the life issue this month is from Micah 6:8:
“What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”
To do justice and to be “pro-life” has varied implications in our world in a number of areas, all of which are significant (the poor, human trafficking, infanticide, murder, and abortion). During January we at CCC are choosing to focus on the aspect of being pro-life that deals with the varied aspects of the abortion issue. We acknowledge that this is not a simple issue; in fact, it is an issue that evokes high emotions, amongst the secular society and Christians alike. Our CCC Outreach focus guidance includes:
- theologically, the justice and rightness of not ending a life that is of God’s creation;
- the encouragement of women in a crisis pregnancy to keep the baby or consider adoption;
- the need for long term care for the men, women, and children in these situations, through local churches or pregnancy care centers;
- the need for compassionate, mercy-filled, care for men and women in post-abortion situations;
- the need to deal with this spiritual issue with spiritual warfare, through intercession and prayer for all involved;
- some will want to participate in efforts to change the laws of this land
Here’s what Christ Community Church Outreach will be offering for your choice of participation during Life month:
- Pastor Jeff will lead a prayer vigil at the church on Monday Jan 23rd.
- CCC will coordinate a gathering place for anyone who wants to go downtown to Washington D.C. for the March for Life on January 23rd.
- Draft letters will be available at the Life Table for your use, if you desire to petition your elected representatives.
- A 15 minute video, “Volition,” by Tim and Matthew Morgan, will be shown in the sanctuary with discussion afterwards on Life Sunday, January 22nd, following the CCC business meeting and lunch. Child care will be available during this time. The film can be seen here for those who wish to preview it or cannot make the viewing at the church:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcPpeHJX3Ik
- We collected contributions during the church dinner in December to support Life Line, Inc. women’s health care center in Landsdowne, a not-for-profit community organization that helps women facing unplanned pregnancies and strives to meet their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs from a Christian perspective. Additional contributions are certainly welcomed (please see Jim Baratta or Patrizia Shinn for more info.)
http://www.pregnancylifeline.org/
- There will be a “Life Table” in the church foyer with literature and resources on the issues of life and adoption.
We realize that not everyone at CCC agrees on many aspects of this issue; no one is expected or encouraged to participate in any aspect that is beyond their level of conviction.
Please sign up at the Life Table for any of these activities, so we can plan ahead!
