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Good Deeds Sow Seeds
Good Deeds Sow Seeds
First Presbyterian Church is kicking off a new ministry entitled "Good Deeds Sow Seeds."
It is basically doing random acts of kindness for others and being deliberate about giving
God the credit. It's based on the Matthew 5:16 verse "…let your light shine before others,
so that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven."
Norma Hale recently gave a great analogy of this ministry. If a delivery person brings you
flowers sent by a loved one, do you hug/thank the delivery person or your loved one?
Think about it. Well, God is the originator of all our gifts. We are just the delivery persons.
Let's give the praise to the rightful donor.
We have printed calling-card-size cards to help with this ministry. The front side of it will
have a simple cross and says, "This act of kindness is because He cares." On the other side
it will have the Matthew 5:16 Bible verse. These cards will be available at areas where
other church information is located (around the church offices, in the narthex, outside the
Session room, etc.). The cards also can be picked up at a table set up in Courtenay Hall
between services on June 12.
One can leave this card either anonymously or in person after a good deed has been carried
out. This ministry's intention is to bring people to Christ, not specifically to FPC or even to
Presbyterianism. It is simply an outpouring of His love, regardless of the denomination.
Acts of Kindness are innumerable. Most are probably actions you are already doing. Please
use common sense (no unsealed food to strangers, don't scare people by delivering items in
the middle of the night, etc.). Some other suggestions are:
Deliver cards/decorations to hospital patients who don't have flowers in their room (or
can't have them due to chemo sterilization reasons)
At a drive-thru window, pay for the person's order behind you.
Let the person behind you in line at the grocery store go ahead of you.
If someone in your neighborhood leaves on a trip and forgets to stop the newspaper, pick
them up and put them in a safe out-of-view spot.
Leave a pot of flowers on a neighbor's doorstep.
Hand out bottles of free water to the homeless on a hot summer day. Or water at a kid's
ballgame on another hot day.
Mow a neighbor's grass.
Write a note to the boss of someone who has helped you, praising the employee.
Leave a gift on the desk of a colleague at work with whom you don't normally get along.
Offer to return a shopping cart to the store for someone loading a car.
Our own mission statement is "To know Christ, to make Him known, and to exhibit His
love through worship, education and service." We've all had acts of kindness done to us.
Why? Was it because the giver loved Christ? Or was it because they were just raised to be
kind? Will we ever know? Let's make Him known!
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