Last January we started Samaritan’s Cupboard, a food ministry to those in need in our community. We started with 19 families and 40 some people in attendance. This past Saturday night, we distributed food to 65 families with 100 people in attendance. We also served a hot thanksgiving dinner as an extra special gift. (This was not announced beforehand.) Fred Andrews and his wife Sonnie shared the evening with us as Fred brought the devotional. Here are some things I have learned from this ministry…

• Generosity breeds more generosity, and more opportunities. “In the same way, he will give you many opportunities to do good, and he will produce a great harvest of generosity in you.” (2 Cor. 9:10) In one year we have gone from serving around 20 families to nearly 70 families. Where will we be one year from now? 200 families? 300 families? “His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Matt. 25:21)
• We can’t do it on our own.This is a church of about 35 people and we are near capacity of our giving. It is time to invite other churches, the district, and other organizations to partner with us. Feeding the hungry is not just Iva First’s job, it is the work of the Kingdom.
• Church health should never be measured by how many people attend a meeting, but by how many needs are being met. If all churches ever do is talk about meetings, then you have a meeting focused church. Focusing on meetings produces passive spectators who have little time for ministry.
• Being missional requres sacrifice. We had about a dozen volunteers give up their entire Saturday afternoon and evening to make this happen. Some of them gave up the entire day. More than half of these volunteers didn’t attend Sunday School yesterday morning. Which would I rather have as a pastor? People show up for a meeting on a Sunday morning, or meeting needs on a Saturday night? What do you think?
•  People are not just showing up for the food. I led the congregation that night in “He Knows My Name”, and several people were actually weeping. Six people made a decision to rededicate their lives to Christ and one man came back and visited our church yesterday morning. People are not only physically hungry, they are spiritually hungry as well. God is bringing them to our service for a reason.
• Discipleship is the next step. We must take the next step as a church as we seek to disciple these folks and connect them to the body of Christ. Feeding the hungry is God’s work, but if they never receive “the bread of life” what difference does it make?
• God is challenging assumptions. Some of our people won’t donate or participate because they think “those people could work if they wanted to.” Our data is showing this to not be true. Many of the people who come are not on any kind of government assistance,  and if they are, they are severely disabled. As one of our leaders put it yesterday, “Their ability to work or not to work has no bearing on my generosity.”