This Sunday we will be wrapping up our sermon series “Love The Lord” by talking about Jesus commandment to “love our neighbors as ourself.” Jesus tells us that this commandment carries the same weight as his commandment to “Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” So, faith in Jesus Christ requires not only an inward commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, but also an outward commitment to extend concern, grace, and hospitality to our neighbors. It’s not enough to know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, we must share Jesus with the world around us through acts of compassion, justice, and mercy.

One simple way that we can begin to love our neighbors well is by having concern for their needs and a major need in our community is for food. Food insecurity is a very real need in Statesboro and our surrounding communities. As a congregation we support several food ministries including Rebecca’s Café, Backpack Buddies, and the Can-Do Spirit Food Pantry in order to help meet this need. I’m proud of our church for being a part of the solution, but we need your help to make sure our food pantry stays packed with food.

So, I want to issue a challenge to you (don’t worry, this will be fun!!):

From January 29 to February 26, Pittman Park will be holding a Community Canned Food Championship. Throughout these 5 weeks we will be collecting 2 key food items for our community—canned chicken and canned tuna. You are invited to be on Team Chicken or Team Tuna by dropping off these canned foods at the church office. Each week (February 5, 12, 19, and 26) we will report the score by letting you know how many cans of each item we’ve received. My hope is that together we can donate over 1,000 cans of high quality chicken and tuna to families in our community.

I’m excited for the opportunity to love our neighbors this February and to Be The Change in 2023.

God bless,

Jonathan Smith
For Jesus. For People. For Community.