{"id":31006,"date":"2022-09-21T10:03:41","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T14:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=31006"},"modified":"2023-06-12T14:12:56","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T18:12:56","slug":"pastors-ponderings-set-free-to-do-kindness-9-21-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=31006","title":{"rendered":"Pastor’s Ponderings: Set Free to Do Kindness (9\/21\/22)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastor Jim emailed the following thoughts on 9\/21\/22…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Friends:<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0
\nPLEASE READ:\u00a0Psalm 82:3-4<\/a><\/span>,<\/p>\n

\u201cGive justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0
\nPLEASE READ:\u00a0Zechariah 7:9-10<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the foreigner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

PLEASE READ:\u00a0Micah 6:8\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cHe has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0
\nMany years ago I saw on the TV a news program featuring\u00a0a 79 year-old Roman Catholic nun by the name of Sister Emmanuel. When most folks would like to think of retiring to a warm weather state during the winter and traveling around the world during the summer, this woman fell on her knees and prayed that God would send her to the most desperate place on earth. She prayed that God would send her to the most needy of people that she could help. She said in the interview, \u201cBe careful what you pray for as your prayer might be answered.<\/em><\/span>\u201d Her prayer was answered and at the time of that particular interview this French nun was serving God in the \u201cCity of Garbage\u201d\u2014an impoverished area which was located in Cairo, Egypt. \"\"<\/p>\n

\nShe would rise everyday at 4:30 a.m. to begin her work among the ten thousand so-called \u201cuntouchable residents.\u201d At 9:00 a.m. she would be in her own hut teaching forty Christian and Muslim children how to read and write. She has also worked as an advocate for the people trying to have the government provide better housing for the poor. In her quiet ministry of serving, Sister Emmanuel has helped improve the living conditions of many children, youth, and adults. It is ironic and even appropriate that her name was, Emmanuel. Scripture reminds us that “Emmanuel” means \u201cGod with us<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d God was certainly in the midst of all that she was doing by helping and offering support to the needy, the poor, the immigrant.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nAt one point the interviewer asked the Sister if there might be a reward for her work. The older nun pointed to a painting hanging on her wall. It was a picture of angels with hands joined dancing in Heaven. \u201cOne of these days,\u201d said Sister Emmanuel, \u201cthey will offer me their hand and I will dance in the kingdom of heaven with them.”\u00a0\u00a0I would like to think that today, God\u2019s servant, Sister Emmanuel, is dancing in Heaven as one who\u00a0shared her fruit of the Spirit with those who were in need. When we have been set free by Christ, we have been set free to serve others.<\/p>\n

.\u00a0 \u00a0 .\u00a0 \u00a0.\u00a0 \u00a0 .\u00a0 \u00a0 .\u00a0 \u00a0 .<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere are many people from a number of churches who are on the receiving\u00a0end of these emails.\u00a0\u00a0Let me ask, what are we doing individually as God’s people to bring help, hope, and encouragement\u00a0to those who are in need?<\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 What are our churches doing to carry on the work of Sister Emmanuel and bring relief, help, and hope to those in need, those who are poor, the immigrant?\u00a0 How can we be creative and bold in the name of Jesus to make a difference in our communities and in the world?<\/p>\n

Shalom,<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pastor Jim<\/span><\/p>\n

+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+<\/span><\/p>\n

To read other Pastor’s Ponderings articles, click this button:\u00a0 Pastor’s Ponderings<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What are our churches doing to bring relief, help, and hope to those in need, those who are poor, the immigrant?\u00a0 How can we be creative and bold in the name of Jesus to make a difference in our communities and in the world?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-ponderings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31006"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31013,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31006\/revisions\/31013"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}