On a walk last week I encountered three interesting things in one block: a mailbox sitting on a terribly deteriorated stand which was propped up by a metal pipe, a man doing yard work who suddenly fell, and some beautiful flowers poking up from an ugly crack in the sidewalk. In this week’s Message About Purpose and Strategy, I’ll tell you what my impressions of these observations have in common and apply the lesson to what we are doing here.

The mailbox sits precariously on a platform of inadequate strength to support it, but the necessary stability is supplied by an adjacent steel pipe. It doesn’t look too good, but the mailbox is serving its function with the help. When the man fell, I hurried to his side to see if he needed a hand. Had he just lost balance, or was it something worse? I didn’t know, so I offered help. And the flowers bloom despite their surrounding. Apparently enough water flows through the crack in the concrete that the little plants get what they need. We can be that prop. We can lend a hand. We can channel the life-giving water. We are the church! We have a role! Our community needs us! Do the work of God where it is needed most - right on the street where you live!