4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior...
Our response to God's kindness is to reach out to Him and allow Him to be in charge of our lives. We can do nothing to save ourselves; human change efforts cannot produce the character of God in us. But, He promises to renew our lives, to give us a new heart, and to enable us to discover new power in order that we may walk in His freedom. His resources are abundant; His love is unlimited; and He is reaching out to each of us to bring hope and the capacity for change in the way He would intend.
The Bible proclaims to us that we can be made new through Christ - if we're in Him, we are new
creations, 2nd Corinthians says - the old is gone, the new has come! Colossians 3 states:
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him...
The power of the gospel has the potential to completely change lives. That concept permeates the teachings of the Scriptures - we are incredibly sinful people, separated from God, but through the power of Christ, we can come to know God and experience true heart and life change.
We see that in so many ministries, and there was a spotlight shone recently on the Christianity Today website about a ministry that is reaching out to pregnant moms in crisis. It's called Carried to Full Term, and is located in Haymarket, VA. The article describes it as "a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing long-term residential support to pregnant mothers in crisis."
It's housed in a seven-bedroom home and there is a program, built on a number of "strict but often-personalized covenants," and it is described as "boot camps for moms." Frances Robin, or “Franie,” the executive director of CTFT, says, "The guidelines are there to facilitate change...”
The article states:
Frances Robin says, "This house is God’s hand and feet,” adding, “We get to do the legwork. So he gets to do the hard work.” The story points out that, "CTFT was recently honored by local magazine Prince William Living with its Giving Back Award for positive contributions to the community."
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The Bible proclaims to us that we can be made new through Christ - if we're in Him, we are new
creations, 2nd Corinthians says - the old is gone, the new has come! Colossians 3 states:
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him...
The power of the gospel has the potential to completely change lives. That concept permeates the teachings of the Scriptures - we are incredibly sinful people, separated from God, but through the power of Christ, we can come to know God and experience true heart and life change.
We see that in so many ministries, and there was a spotlight shone recently on the Christianity Today website about a ministry that is reaching out to pregnant moms in crisis. It's called Carried to Full Term, and is located in Haymarket, VA. The article describes it as "a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing long-term residential support to pregnant mothers in crisis."
It's housed in a seven-bedroom home and there is a program, built on a number of "strict but often-personalized covenants," and it is described as "boot camps for moms." Frances Robin, or “Franie,” the executive director of CTFT, says, "The guidelines are there to facilitate change...”
The article states:
The guidelines that Robin enforces come from a similar shelter in Maryland and have been adjusted to fit CTFT. Since the average age of a resident is 27, and many have aged out of foster care or come from broken homes, abusive backgrounds, or families that lacked structure, implementing these guidelines is often difficult.There are six categories in which goals are set: spiritual goals, financial goals, employment goals, volunteering in the community, living skills, parenting skills, and health and mental well-being goals. Joanna Tang, the resident coordinator at CTFT, says: “...from day one, we help a resident set their goals for the first two weeks. They have to apply for jobs, take care of household chores, make their appointments with local health providers, sit with our in-house therapist, [and attend] our in-house classes.” For the first month, they give up their phones.
The CT story highlighted a young lady from Ethiopia named Biru: "In October 2017, while pregnant with Fabia, Biru moved from Ethiopia to Virginia and was living in the US on asylum when she found herself homeless. She moved into CTFT before giving birth...Even if she’d been able to return to her native country, says Biru, she wouldn’t have gone. She wanted to stay in the US and build a new life."
This is a challenging story that can inspire us to consider what it is that we are known for. In an age when you have many trying to define the Church in various ways and characterize it negatively, here is a positive story that can help restore our focus - we are, as the leader of this ministry underscores, to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
We can be known for the compassion that we demonstrate, obeying the Lord and showing people what He has done in our lives. We can also display conviction to do what is right for those who are in need. God will give us direction, and we can exhibit determination, fueled by the Spirit, to do what He calls.
Finally, we know that change is possible through the power of Christ and the principles of Scripture. When a person has grown dissatisfied with his or her life and hopelessness has set in, the hope of the gospel is present - to communicate that Jesus came to earth, He became like we are, so that we might have His new life, so that we might become new creations in Him. In that newness of life, we can discover the power to change.
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