There once was a church that decided to reach out to the college campus located right across the street from the church. So, they printed up some brochures and placed them around the college campus inviting the students to worship with this congregation. Most of the congregation was skeptical, but went along with the idea.
Well, on Sunday morning the worship service started. People in the church looked around and just as they suspected, there were no college students. After the time of singing, the pastor started to preach and a young man, obviously a college student, walked through the back door. He was wearing tattered jeans and a t-shirt. He was scanning the room looking for a place to sit, trying not to disturb the service. No one moved to help or offer him a seat. Finally, he simply made his way down the aisle and plopped down on the floor in the middle of the aisle. The pastor wasn’t quite sure what to do, so he just kept preaching. Finally, after a couple of minutes one of the old elders got up. He was a long time member of the church and started down the aisle in his coat and tie. People in the congregation thought, “Finally, it is about time someone in leadership went and told the young man that this was inappropriate for a worship service.” The elder reached the front of the church where the college student was sitting. And, without saying a word, he sat on the floor with the young man and stayed there through the rest of the sermon.
I love stories like that because they are about unexpected love. So, how about it? Who could you surprise with your love this week? Who could you ambush with grace and kindness? Go for it this week. When you feel the prompting, say “yes.” You are never off track when you are expressing love to people.
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