My favorite Christmas movie of all-time has always been, “It’s A Wonderful Life.” I love everything about it – the storyline, the characters, the second chances. George Bailey, the main character, has gotten into deep financial trouble and feels there is no way out. An angel named Clarence arrives to show him what the world would have looked like without him and he begins to see how valuable he is. In the end, the entire community comes together to help George and bail him out of his financial situation. Even as a child, I remember crying every time I watched this scene. Seeing an entire town rally together for the sake of their neighbor is incredibly moving to me.
This Christmas season, we as a church have the opportunity to rally together for the sake of our neighbors as well. Our Impact Team has spent the last few months creating this year’s Christmas Impact, a chance for you and your family to give and serve generously this Christmas season, and we couldn’t be more excited for what God is going to do through it.
Give:
Life Choices is a sexual health clinic working to provide medical services to those in our local community. They share the love and hope of Jesus in incredible ways. When one of their clients has a new child, they provide them with a gift basket full of goodies for the new baby. We’re collecting things like diapers, wipes, baby socks, etc for these baskets.
Watered Gardens is a gospel rescue mission that exists to help the local church in their mission to serve the poor. Each year, they create a Christmas Worth Shop where parents can go and shop for gifts for their kids. Instead of paying with money or receiving the gifts as a handout, they work a certain amount of time for each item and earn them. This is an incredible way to empower and restore dignity to these parents.
Serve:
We have created a Christmas Impact Serve Experience based on each of our four Impact values. You will watch a short video, participate in a prayer experience, and serve each of these four ministries in a hands on way. Each serve experience is designed with the whole family in mind so we encourage you to serve with your kids!
Church-planting: Hear from Tanner & Delaney Salva and Tyler & Sevie Davison as they prepare to move to Japan to plant churches in Japan with Mustard Seed Network.
Unreached People Groups: Partner with Con Mis Manos, located in Northeastern Mexico, as they use education and evangelism to serve the Deaf and their families.
Mercy: Serve with Fostering Hope, a local non-profit serving kids in foster care, foster families, and agency workers, as they seek to support those families in our community taking in new children.
Next Generation: Connect with Campus Christians, a campus ministry of Pitt State University that uses a holistic approach to discipling college students.
All of the information for both our “give” and “serve” opportunities can be found at the Christmas Impact station in the main lobby, or at cco.church/christmasimpact.
This year as I watch my favorite Christmas movie, I won’t only be filled with joy at the thought of George Bailey and the people of Bedford Falls. I will be overwhelmed with gratitude knowing that our Christ’s Church family is doing the same thing – giving generously for the sake of our community, serving sacrificially in an effort to support our ministry partners, and loving intentionally for the expansion of the Kingdom and the spreading of the Gospel.
