The Tire Swing: dinner with downtown

Monday, December 26

dinner with downtown

"When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." Luke 14:12-14

poor Nate fell asleep during the service...

After a Christmas Eve service, we had "dinner with downtown." We invited the poor and disenfranchised of the city, served them, and ate with them. We all sat down to tables draped in white tablecloths, decorated with beautiful holly and magnolia leaves, pine cones, and candles lit in glass bowls and vases. Twinkle lights covered the ceiling above us. It was beautiful!!

A couple months ago, Randall and Ashley Rhodes had shared their desire to feed a meal to the the homeless. So after a few brainstorming sessions at community groups, the idea of a "Luke 14" banquet/feast was born. 2Cities folks volunteered to help decorate, cook, dj!!, bring in dishes/flatware, and even get some gift bags together for those that would come. And so that night, it all came together!

Venture Church, another small church plant, joined in our efforts and helped bring food, as well as worshiping with us at our service. And a local grocery store even donated the hams!

No paper plates and plastic forks were to be seen anywhere in the church! We ate off of our best china dishes, flatware, and glassware, enjoying ham, sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls, and chocolate cake. Yum!!

Gift bags filled with aluminum water bottles, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, socks, etc. A couple days ago, Brian took our boys to the church, and they got to help fill these bags...