Eyewitness

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. Acts 4:32

I had the privilege of being an eyewitness to one of the most beautiful acts of kindness that happened in the world today. Today, our pastor preached on giving. I know some of us grow to dread the "stewardship" sermons that come up once a year, but our preacher did it with his typical freshness and authenticity.This was a sermon in a series of 3 about giving. One thing I love our pastor is that he preaches biblical truth, sometimes truths that are hard to swallow, but preaches them with an amazing attitude of brokenness and grace.
As he preached about giving to others, he said we are responsible for the downtrodden-the widows, orphans, poor, etc. etc. He went on to say that in this economy, we have many that are struggling to make it without jobs. He pointed out 1 family in particular, and showed a video of this church member talking about the journey through unemployment. This particular man is a true servant of the church. You constantly see he and his wife serving diligently, with much passion. He has been without a job for many months, and has 2 children. In the video, he spoke of how good God is. He spoke of how independent he was of God before (when he had financial security) and how dependent he is on God now (with no financial security). This has caused a radical tranformation in him. After the video, our pastor, with much grace, (as usual) asked for an offering for this family. Now I have never been in a church that this was done. I've seen some wonderful behind the scenes stuff, but never an open asking for offering of an individual. And some of you might be critics as to whether or not it was appropriate. But I would tell you that the Holy Spirit was moving so strongly in the room, appropriate-ness was not even a question. This family has needs, and the church wanted to move. And oh, did they ever move. I was on stage helping with the music, and to observe this action was one of the most humbling experiences I've ever had. Very quickly and enthusiastically, people got up from their seats and started laying money at the altar. As they went up, they either layed hands on this family, prayed with them, or hugged them. This wasn't just 25% of the church, 50% of the church, or even 75%. This was the majority of the church on their feet, moving to bless this family.
I don't believe I'll ever forget this day at church. I can't wait to see all of the ways God wants to move, if we'll only step out from behind our pride and let Him.