How Everyday People Live Out Their Christian Faith

Illustrating how men and women display their love for Jesus in their day-to-day lives.
Little things that may have an eternal impact. Might these stories motivate you to use your talents?
  • Church Activities Food Loving Your Neighbor

    THE LOVE IN ACTION FOOD BANK

    My wife and I have run a local food bank for over 20 years. We are both 80 years old and I’m on oxygen, but the Lord hasn’t told us to stop, so we just keep going. The Love In Action food bank is not just about the food; it’s really about showing and spreading the love of Jesus. It’s become a pretty big operation that is all a labor of love since no one takes a dime. Our food bank helps people going through a difficult stretch in their lives—someone that lost a job or came down with an illness. It takes anywhere from 40-50 volunteers to run this food bank. We distribute food one Saturday every month to about 75 families. We give them each about $500 in food. But the main reason we do this is to make sure those families are exposed to the Gospel. We give them a daily devotion magazine and a special Gospel message every month that my wife types up. We are made up of volunteers from four different local churches. These churches supply the financial help needed to purchase some of the food. The people receiving our food have to be “qualified” by one of these churches. If the church knows they’ve experienced a temporary financial setback, they receive a card that makes them eligible to receive our groceries for several months. They simply drive up with that card, and a couple of our volunteers load bags of food into their car. We have 10 freezers, 3 coolers and a number of huge shelves,… Read More

  • Church Activities Unique Ministries

    ENCOURAGING MINISTRY STUDENTS

    To me, it didn’t seem like I was doing very much, but even the littlest things can make a big difference if we rely on God’s timing. The idea came to me when I saw their photos in the back of church. Our pastor had laid out vocation prayer cards with pictures of people studying for the ministry. I thought to myself: these are people giving their lives over to God as ministers. That couldn’t be an easy choice and required real sacrifice on their part, so I pondered how I could support them on their journey. My house was full of greeting cards from my service as Chariman for the welcoming committee, so I thought why not extend the welcome to those future ministers. As part of the welcoming committee, I would send cards and welcome baskets to families new to the church. This ministry extended to newly married and newly baptized Christians as well. Naturally, this volunteer work meant my house was filled to the brim with greeting cards. After I returned home from church, I searched through my cards for ones to send to the students. When I found one that fit, I set to work writing a friendly message and then sent the card on its way. Some of the students wrote back and some didn’t, but I wasn’t expecting any response. I just wanted to give the students a friendly note and a taste of home. It became part of my routine. If there was a holiday or a birthday coming up, I’d look for… Read More

  • Adoption/Foster Care Overcoming Obstacles Special Needs

    MY INJURY WILL NOT DEFINE ME

    I was a college football player. As a freshman, I was on the kickoff team. I sprinted downfield and saw the opening for a tackle, but I mistimed my jump by a split second. My head collided with the ball carrier’s legs. In an instant, I lost all feeling and movement from my neck down. At first, I thought it was stinger, but it turned out to be a spinal cord injury that left me a quadriplegic. I was told I would never be able to walk again and given just a 3% chance of ever regaining any movement in my arms or legs. In the hospital, I was scared. What will my life look like? Will I ever be happy again? As a kid raised in church, I kept thinking back to Jeremiah 29:11, that God has plans for me to prosper. And I thought “God, that’s quite a stretch. How can that possibly be with the condition I’m in. I’m paralyzed.” I found myself at a crossroads. I could reject God since I didn’t see how this could possibly come true, or I could rely on Him 100%. I remembered learning that faith is believing in something you cannot see or totally understand. So, I chose to go all in on God. I dove into that hope and fought that fear which was so present. I was in the hospital for several months. When I got home, I battled through the dark times and started to learn how to live as a quadriplegic. My close friends visited often and helped… Read More

  • Children Church Activities Labor

    TEACHING THE PARABLES OF JESUS

    I never dreamed I’d go from delivering the U.S. mail to delivering boxes of miniature, wooden parables of Jesus to the doorstep of families at my church. I retired from the post office and began serving at my church. I work with children who learn about Jesus using a Montessori-style of learning. Everything is hands-on, and experiential. For example, through the use of a hand-painted, wooden Jesus figurine, a dozen sheep, and a green pasture with a fence, the Bible story of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is discovered by children through play manipulation of the materials. Many other parable stories, such as the mustard seed and the leaven, are in this same format. When Covid-19 hit, our church classrooms were shut down. Parents were calling me asking how to continue their child’s faith learning at home. I took it to prayer. The Holy Spirit inspired me to design a home-delivery program which included all the materials a child would work with in a classroom setting, but now I packaged them up in a box and delivered them on a rotational style basis to the families to use at home. I sanitized all of the pieces once they were returned and delivered the pre-packaged parables to the next family eagerly waiting for their box to arrive. Whole families were engaged in the lesson. Children who were familiar with the parable from earlier experience were teaching it to their parents. God brought significant faith transformations in parents and children through these efforts. Belief in God was deepened in many homes and… Read More

  • Labor Loss Of Loved One Loving Your Neighbor

    PUTTING COMPETITION ASIDE

    Television news is an extremely competitive business, with stations trying to capture as many viewers as possible, each and every night. But sometimes even the biggest competitors in business can show a heart like Jesus to one another. On June 12, 2021, Christopher Sign, the news anchor for WBMA in Birmingham, Alabama died in an apparent suicide. It shocked the entire community and was especially traumatic on his co-workers. It was almost impossible for them to do their jobs, but the news had to go on. The day of his funeral was especially difficult since they all wanted to show their support to Christopher’s family. And that is where the other stations did something that is rarely seen in business. The news directors at the three other stations (WIAT, WVTM and WBRC) came up with a plan to do a lot of the work for them that day. They would cover all the news stories as well as share the video footage and notes so nearly everyone at Christopher’s station could attend his service. “We just wanted to give them a little bit of a break, so they could take their foot off the pedal and go to the funeral and not have to worry about work,” said Hunter Stone, assistant news director at WVTM. “It was the right thing to do. We’re competitors on a day-to-day basis, but we all go through the same things and when something this tragic happens to somebody, we want to lend a hand. We just wanted to do anything to help them get through it.” “We’re all… Read More

  • Children Overcoming Obstacles Recovery

    GOD’S GOT THIS

    God has blessed me with a burning desire to help people, especially the bruised and broken-hearted who feel unworthy and unlovable. Maybe it’s because I used to be standing in their shoes. Although I was saved when I was young and grew up in a Christian home, college happened. In an attempt to study longer hours and drop a few pounds, I tried meth. Over the course of eight years, I found myself not only addicted, but pregnant too. Desperate, I tried to contact an abortion clinic but got no answer so I went to a counseling center that turned out to be a prolife organization. I knew it was God. As I went to crawl back to Him, I realized He had never left. Today, I serve the Lord with all my heart, not because I have to but because I want to. I know what it’s like to be on the edge of despair. I know the joy of being pulled out of the mirk and mire and want the same for others. My daughter is now 12 and next to God, she is the most important and precious thing in my life. A few years ago, we moved from Texas to Tennessee so I could take a job in the ministry working with young ladies with issues like unplanned pregnancies and addictions. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the job abruptly ended which was scary, being a single mom. But, God told me, “I’ve got this.” Looking back, I can see how He turned the curse into a blessing.… Read More

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