Putting it into Action

"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead"
James 2:17
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So most of you know that Illuminate Students spent last week at Seesalt. The reason we chose this camp was because it encompassed two things, the traditional youth camp along with mission work. One of my convictions as a Christian is that we show our faith by helping others. I don't want Illuminate to be about four walls or be a place to hang out with friends and just play. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with worshiping at the church or having fellowship with friends. Those two things are fine, but Illuminate is more than that. It's about serving those around us and teaching students what faith in action is all about.

Last week our mission project was to paint a house for a women who had eight children and lived in a single-wide trailer. I don't think any of us expected to see what we saw when we got there. The windows were all broken and they used blankets to keep the little bit of cold air they had inside. The roof leaked so bad that they had to put the mattresses outside after it rained so they could dry out. We were only prepared to paint, so we didn't have the tools to do much else. So paint we did. We tend to think about poverty as something you see in a third world country, but its right down the street. The team did an awesome job and what we were able to accomplish made a huge difference.

I challenged the students by asking them this one question. Would we be doing this if it weren't for opening up our conference schedules and seeing: 10:30 - 3:30 mission site? God gave us a 'conference schedule' and it says things like care for those in need and loves others. But there are no time limits is His schedule. He expects us to do these things anytime and anywhere. Take time to think about the people around you. Are you loving them as you should? Are you caring for those in need? Do you take for granted the things God has given you? I challenge you to ask yourself 'what can I do today, the next day, the day after that and so on, to show God's love to those around me?'.