A Community Transformed

As we have spent time over the last few weeks delving into the Meals with Jesus Series, we have had an insight into the kind of community Jesus was living in during his time on earth. Jesus ate with a whole array of people including those he loved (his disciples, his friends, his followers) to those the rest of his community despised (tax collectors, sinners, prostitutes). We have examples of him eating with individuals, Simeon, Levi & Zacchaeus, with small groups and with even larger groups like the 12 disciples all the way up to the 5,000. 

It was his compassion for these people that drove Jesus to seek change not just in the lives of individuals but in entire communities.  

In Salford we are so thankful to God for the generous provision of a building. After 15 years of venue hopping, we are preparing for the next season – a permanent base and a home. But our sights are not set on the building per se, but on a community – the local community. We are asking God to fill us with a ‘Jesus’ compassion for those people that live in the local vicinity. We don’t just want this building to bless us (although it very much will), we want it to bless the community around it. We want see community transformation whereby this building provides opportunity for a ‘Jesus’ compassion to touch the very heart of the community. To genuinely see people’s lives change. To see physical circumstances improve. To see justice. To see people set free. 

Isaiah 61:1 says  

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, 
    because the Lord has anointed me 
    to proclaim good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 
    to proclaim freedom for the captives 
    and release from darkness for the prisoners 

Will you partner with Jesus to reach those that society rejects, those that society overlooks? Many people in our communities are living in poverty. There are households, families and children that are facing disadvantages due to their circumstances. There are those who are experiencing homelessness, those that are bound up by all kinds of addictions, those that are fleeing other countries and seeking refuge. There are those struggling with their mental health, and those grappling with their identity in all kinds of ways 

The poor.  The brokenhearted. The captives. And the prisoners. They live in our communities waiting for compassion to set them free.  

We are excited about moving into our new building but, we are more excited about seeing a community transformed!