June 26
Beloved of Good Shepherd Church
Grace to you and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!
The marginalized should always be on the minds and held close in the hearts of followers of Jesus. Jesus said, “When you did it to the least of these you did it to me.” Likewise, when we ignore the least among us we are ignoring Jesus. In the 25th chapter of Matthew “the least of these” are defined as people who need help, whether hungry, poor, homeless, sick, widowed,or imprisoned. Good Shepherd’s outreach ministries seek to serve Christ in those who need help.
Our definition of outreach is wonderfully broad. Outreach is any outward response toward another that springs forth from the inner movement of God and the love of Jesus in one’s life. Put another way - outreach ministry is service to another which is an outward response to an inner transformation caused by God’s love.
At Good Shepherd we keep a steady rhythm of providing opportunities for community outreach. In July we are engaged in two feeding ministries and the Run for Recovery which benefits the Shepherd’s House, a recovery center for people struggling with the disease of addiction. You can find out about these outreach opportunities and more here - https://www.gslex.org/community. Contact Julie Broderson, our Minister for Outreach, for more information.
Our pastoral care ministries are another outreach expression of our church. Having been interiorly moved by God’s love and the call of Jesus many of us feel drawn to reach out to the sick, the sorrowful, and the downtrodden. You can find out more about being involved in pastoral care work here - https://www.gslex.org/caring.Pastoral Care outreach also includes the joyful work of celebrating births and baptisms. Talk to Reverend Emily for more information about pastoral care.
Finally, I want to place a special emphasis on the Run for Recovery. We hope to have at least 150 parishioners sign up to participate in this fun and important event on July 26th. The Good Shepherd team is Team Grant Plummer, so when you register sign up to join our team. https://runsignup.com/Race/KY/Lexington/ShepherdsHouseRunForRecovery
Remember this always - God loves you, and I love you too!
Love is all,
Hendree+