Blessed to be a Blessing: Love in Action
A central part of following Jesus is learning to love as he loves — with generosity, courage, and a deep concern for others. Everything we have is a gift from God, entrusted to us not to cling to, but to share. This year, at Christ Church, our Lenten project shifts our focus outward toward our neighbours in our city. Inspired by one of our youth, Nicholas Thyssen, and his class’s “reverse Advent calendar” to support their school’s student pantry, we will be doing something similar. Each week during Lent, we will focus on a different local outreach organization. On Sundays, someone from that organisation will join us for worship and we’ll hear briefly about their work. During the week, we are invited to pray daily for that organization and purchase specific high-need items they’ve requested. Our goal is to gather everything by Easter Sunday. The organizations we are supporting are: The Charles Spencer High School Student Pantry, Helping Hands, The Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation (Therapeutic Clowning), The Pregnancy Care Centre, and The Mustard Seed. Lent calls us to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. This project weaves all three together — praying faithfully, perhaps giving up something small, and redirecting those resources to bless others. Together, may we truly live into Christ’s call to put love into action. To learn more about our project, check out this Youtube video: https://youtu.be/1OXs3vXrUq0?