Spring Hill Fall Festival

Experiencing and Expressing the Love of God…

That’s the Life Spring mission statement.

I think we do a great job at the first part of that statement. Week in and week out, we experience God’s love in a variety of ways. We experience it through some awesome times of worship. We experience it in times of intense study of God’s Word. We experience it in Life Groups, where we do life together.

It’s a little more difficult to measure our success in “expressing the love of God”. Whenever there is a need in our church family, we tend to respond quickly and generously. We usually see a great turnout when a plea for assistance in meeting some need in our community is made known to our congregation. I am sure there are numerous acts of concern for others manifested on the part of Life Spring folks daily.

However, this weekend we have an opportunity to Experience and Express the love of God in very visible ways right here in our own community. We’ll leave the confines of our building and the comfort zones of our routine to engage members of our community where they are.

On Saturday morning, we’ll continue a tradition that began even before our first formal worship service three years ago—participating in the Fall Festival parade. Our Worship team will declare the glory of God as dozens of Life Spring folks walk the parade route, handing out water bottles. This has become our “signature”, and some people in the community have already been asking me if we’re going to do it again this year.

It’s a small thing. Handing a person a water bottle. Saying “hello”. We’re not quoting Bible verses or engaging in theological discussions, but we are letting our community know that Life Spring is here, and that we care about the needs that exist among our citizens. Even if it’s just quenching a thirst in the middle of watching a parade.

We will again set up a booth at the Fall Festival, staffed all day by Life Spring people. We’ll have some information there about our church, but it’s not just a publicity gimmick. We’ll have games for kids. We’ll visit with our neighbors about their tomato crops and the mild summer weather and the Chiefs surprising performance against Baltimore (you knew I’d sneak that in somewhere, didn’t you?). I’d love it if someone accepts Christ as their Savior or decides to attend our church, but we won’t be doing much proselytizing that day, so those things may not happen. But at the end of the day, maybe we’ll have had the opportunity to give people a different impression of Christ and Christians than they may have otherwise had.

Sunday morning will start with a new event—the 5K walk/run. Life Spring is partnering with Grace Community Church to host this event, with proceeds raised going to the Spring Hill Multi-Service Center to help families with financial needs in our own community. Following the 5K, we’ll join other area churches at Spring Hill City Park for a Community Worship Service. What a way to cap a weekend of Experiencing and Expressing the Love of God…

If you attend Life Spring, and especially if you are a member of our congregation, I hope you’ll make an effort to participate with us in this weekend’s activities. No, it’s not the only way we experience and express God’s love. But it’s the best opportunity most of us will have for doing it this weekend!