FIA team member Mark Denyse of Douglasville’s Denyse Signs ran across this picture and created a poster that will soon begin appearing at FIA partner churches and ministries. The idea is simply to make us think about what our actions say to those around us, and to raise awareness within the local church about FIA.
When you accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the only means by which we are saved, there is no escaping the fact that following Him means putting your Faith In Action. Jesus told the disciples in Acts what their mission, and ours has to be: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8. Why do you suppose the Book of Acts is called . . . the Book of Acts?
John said this: “But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth” 1 John 3:17-18. This past weekend, FIA teams went from home to home in Douglas County, bringing a crib to a single mother, a bedroom suite to a family in great financial stress, a bed to a single mother who gave her children her bed to sleep in, two twin beds to children sleeping on air mattresses. At each home the Gospel was shared, an invitation to church was made, and prayer given. Most of the families we serve are part of the 150,000 who live within 15 miles of the center of Douglasville who do not attend church or have an active relationship with Jesus.
FIA is not the only way to put your Faith in Action, of course, and part of our mission is to serve other Christ-confessing ministries. But the question remains: as followers of Christ, what do our actions say about us? We hope that you will visit our web home for the next few weeks, as we share stories of FIA and how actions speak louder than words.
Most of the time the stories of Faith In Action center around the people Christ has brought us to serve. This past weekend we were privileged to meet Rob and Alison Long who worship at a Church of God, have lived in Atlanta all their lives, but will on Tuesday leave us for a new job in Raleigh, N.C. The Longs shared with us how this new job just seemed to fall in place so easily that they are certain it is the Lord’s will they relocate their lives. We were also told how they found us on the internet and how other ministries were unable to make a pickup that accommodated their moving deadline until they spoke with Tina of Faith in Action. Mark, Neil, Mike and I received many blessings from Rob and Alison during our visit. There was the washer and dryer, sofa, desk, chair and other items, Rob’s help in loading our trucks, Alison’s help cleaning, four Ginger Ales, the prayers they gave for our ministry, and the prayers we offered for their new life in North Carolina.