Hats and Scarfs in action donated by the generous people from Cordova Neighborhood Church!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Christmas in the Park
We will be meeting in Caesar Chavez Park Christmas morning to pass out Hot Chocolate and Cookies. We also have some amazing Hats and scarves that were made by some ladies of Cordova Neighborhood Church to hand out. If you would like to come join us we would love to have you. We will be meeting at 10:00 am. Please feel free to come hang out, Sing some songs and show The amazing Gift of Jesus to those living on the streets. This is what Christmas is all about. Take an hour or 2 to step away from the tree and the presents, Come experience the Presence of Our King with those in need....
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Why we do Justice
Why We Do Justice
(It's not because we feel guilty.)
Rick McKinley posted 9/08/2009
When we think about justice, often guilt starts settling over us like a dense fog. We see unfairness and injustice, and we know what we don't do. So we feel guilty.
It is easy to see the victims of injustice as "those" people who have a need. We have a resource. We believe that if we use our resource to meet their need, our guilt will be removed. This means we have a need too—the need to not feel guilty. Are our efforts toward justice really about loving others, or are they about alleviating our guilt? Or perhaps we are both using each other to have our own needs met.
In truth, justice isn't about guilt. Guilt is too easy. Justice is about God and what we believe about him. If we are going to move away from guilt-driven efforts, we must root our hearts and our imaginations in the deeply significant theology at the heart of the gospel. There is a question that we have to wrestle to the ground: How are we to see the "other"?
When Bruce started working with homeless people on Saturdays, he learned all kinds of theology lessons. Here was a population that most people pass by with little thought or notice, but Bruce was compelled to show up each Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and serve them meals, since most aid programs were shut down on Saturdays.
Bruce quickly learned that the people he was serving were really amazing. He recognized his story by listening to theirs. He heard stories of sin and redemption and lives in need of grace. Through these homeless people, Bruce came to see that before the cross all humanity stands on a level playing field.
The only way a person comes to God is by the atoning work of Jesus Christ—from the highly religious to the deeply screwed up. Before the cross there is no chasm between those with a need and those with a resource. There is no differentiation between "us" and "them." Before the cross there is only "we." And "we" all come to Jesus the same way: confessing we are sinners in need of a Savior.
The right way to see the "other" is as ourselves. "We" are "them," and "they" are "us." Serving the least of these means standing in solidarity with, rather than above, suffering people. In doing so we learn to love our neighbor as ourselves.
One day Bruce told me about his time with the homeless.
Before the cross there is no chasm between those with a need and those with a resource. There is no differentiation between "us" and "them." Before the cross there is only "we."
"I am the one being blessed by them," he said, his eyes moist. "They are the most amazing people I know. I am so humbled that God would let me be with them."
Bruce wasn't blessed because his service among the homeless was alleviating his guilt. And his service wasn't being driven from a desire to fix "them." He was blessed because through the homeless he came to see the reality of the gospel—"they" are "we." We all need God's grace, and before him we stand as one humanity—fallen and desperate.
(It's not because we feel guilty.)
Rick McKinley posted 9/08/2009
When we think about justice, often guilt starts settling over us like a dense fog. We see unfairness and injustice, and we know what we don't do. So we feel guilty.
It is easy to see the victims of injustice as "those" people who have a need. We have a resource. We believe that if we use our resource to meet their need, our guilt will be removed. This means we have a need too—the need to not feel guilty. Are our efforts toward justice really about loving others, or are they about alleviating our guilt? Or perhaps we are both using each other to have our own needs met.
In truth, justice isn't about guilt. Guilt is too easy. Justice is about God and what we believe about him. If we are going to move away from guilt-driven efforts, we must root our hearts and our imaginations in the deeply significant theology at the heart of the gospel. There is a question that we have to wrestle to the ground: How are we to see the "other"?
When Bruce started working with homeless people on Saturdays, he learned all kinds of theology lessons. Here was a population that most people pass by with little thought or notice, but Bruce was compelled to show up each Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and serve them meals, since most aid programs were shut down on Saturdays.
Bruce quickly learned that the people he was serving were really amazing. He recognized his story by listening to theirs. He heard stories of sin and redemption and lives in need of grace. Through these homeless people, Bruce came to see that before the cross all humanity stands on a level playing field.
The only way a person comes to God is by the atoning work of Jesus Christ—from the highly religious to the deeply screwed up. Before the cross there is no chasm between those with a need and those with a resource. There is no differentiation between "us" and "them." Before the cross there is only "we." And "we" all come to Jesus the same way: confessing we are sinners in need of a Savior.
The right way to see the "other" is as ourselves. "We" are "them," and "they" are "us." Serving the least of these means standing in solidarity with, rather than above, suffering people. In doing so we learn to love our neighbor as ourselves.
One day Bruce told me about his time with the homeless.
Before the cross there is no chasm between those with a need and those with a resource. There is no differentiation between "us" and "them." Before the cross there is only "we."
"I am the one being blessed by them," he said, his eyes moist. "They are the most amazing people I know. I am so humbled that God would let me be with them."
Bruce wasn't blessed because his service among the homeless was alleviating his guilt. And his service wasn't being driven from a desire to fix "them." He was blessed because through the homeless he came to see the reality of the gospel—"they" are "we." We all need God's grace, and before him we stand as one humanity—fallen and desperate.
Friday, July 24, 2009
July Outreach
The next outreach will be on Saturday, July 25th at 5pm - we meet at the Vineyard parking lot at 2225 19th street in Midtown Sacramento. (That's just where we meet up - we head out from there.)
If you want to bring things to hand out, here are some suggestions:
Hope to see you there!
If you want to bring things to hand out, here are some suggestions:
- Bottled water
- Non-perishable food
- Personal hygiene items
- Clothes
Hope to see you there!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
June Outreach
The next event for our group will be on June 27th at 5pm.
We meet at the Vineyard parking lot at 2225 19th street. Down town Sacramento.
We gather and then head out from there.
Everyone is welcome to Come out and connect with Homeless on the streets.
If you would like to bring things to pass out just remember it is getting hotter by the day so bottle water, non perishable food items, and personal hygiene items are always needed.
Hope to see ya there.....
We meet at the Vineyard parking lot at 2225 19th street. Down town Sacramento.
We gather and then head out from there.
Everyone is welcome to Come out and connect with Homeless on the streets.
If you would like to bring things to pass out just remember it is getting hotter by the day so bottle water, non perishable food items, and personal hygiene items are always needed.
Hope to see ya there.....
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
May Event
Just wanted to Share some of our Pictures from the "Rally for Safe Ground" last month with you. There was a pretty good turn out and hopefully brought some awareness to the problems that the Homeless are having without any safe place to camp....
May's Event
will be taking place on Sat the 23rd at 5pm. We will be meeting at the Vineyard Parking Lot at 2225 19th street Downtown Sacramento. This Month we are going to be passing out Ice Water and Otter Pops. It will be a good time to share something cool on a hot day and be able to connect and spread some love to the folks on the streets Downtown. If you can make it we would love to have you. If you can contribute that would be great as well....
See you There.........
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Upcoming Events for April
Just wanted to get the word out for this Month. There is a rally taking place on the South steps of the Capital on April 21st at 2pm. This is a "Rally for Safe Ground" To bring awareness that the Homeless in Sacramento need a permanent Tent City Location and access to Toilets, a place to dump there Trash and Clean Water. If this is something you would be interested in participating in Please Join In. We also will be meeting as a group on the 25th of April at 5pm at the Vineyard parking lot at 2225 19th street. If you would like to join us in spreading some love and Hope to the Homeless in the Downtown area, Please join us for that as well.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Tent City Relocation Bedding Needed
The Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency is working with the Tent City relocation project this week. They are looking for donations of new sheets, pillows, and blankets for the relocation shelters that are being set up for homeless that are being moved out of tent city.
Donations of NEW twin-sized bedding may be delivered to 600 I Street Suite 120, Sacramento, CA 95814 this week through 4-10-09.
Spread the word to your friends, co-workers, neighbors and church environments. The more bedding that is donated the more the allocated funding will be left to provide additional services to those affected by this move.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
More Services for Job Support
Socks and Gloves and the Vineyard Downtown are reaching out with a new effort to prevent homelessness to support skilled workers as they strive to find employment or succeed in the jobs they have. If you or someone you know is looking for work, or for help in reaching the next step in their career this may be helpful to you. Read more about a 3-part pilot series of Job Support Workshops coming up this Spring at our JobSupportBlog here.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Let's March
Hello everyone.
1st I just want to Thank everyone who joined in last month and supported our efforts in connecting with are Homeless friends. Thanks to Mary and her gang who joined us for the first time. It was good seeing all of you and we are looking forward to this Months event. We will be meeting March 28th at 5pm at the Vineyard parking lot.
There are a lot of exciting opportunities to take part in the next couple months. The 1st is this week we have a chance to support Project 680 which helps with homeless kids in the Folsom Cordova school Dist. There is a meeting taking place this Wends at 6:30pm. If you are interested in taking part click on the Project 680 link to the left of this blog for more info.
Well Sacramento is really making a name for itself when it comes to the Homeless, unfortunately it is not in a more positive light. Today there was a story on the Tent City area on the Today show. You can check it out at http://www.todayshow.com/. Mike and I took the opportunity to go out and visit this area this week, It is pretty jaw dropping to see the extent of what is going on. We were able to hang out for a while and walk along the levee and talk with a group of campers. It was pretty overwhelming to see the needs and to realize the overflow shelter closed last night due to budget issues. That's another 200 beds that are no longer available. Tents are a huge necessity out there as well as tarps and tent stakes.
There will be a March on the 21st of April at 2pm at Cesar Chavez park. It would be amazing for all of us to gather as many people as possible in our churches and circles of friends and coworkers to be out there and take part. The Homeless in Sacramento need a voice and I think it is really our duty to be that voice. If we believe what we say we do, then we should be there advocating for their right to a permanent tent city location, access to Bathrooms, showers and water, as well as places to dump their Trash! There is one dumpster out there, but the Trash is overwhelming. So with all that said, I say Let's March !!!
Please feel free to blog about any of these things. Agree or not its great to have input.
1st I just want to Thank everyone who joined in last month and supported our efforts in connecting with are Homeless friends. Thanks to Mary and her gang who joined us for the first time. It was good seeing all of you and we are looking forward to this Months event. We will be meeting March 28th at 5pm at the Vineyard parking lot.
There are a lot of exciting opportunities to take part in the next couple months. The 1st is this week we have a chance to support Project 680 which helps with homeless kids in the Folsom Cordova school Dist. There is a meeting taking place this Wends at 6:30pm. If you are interested in taking part click on the Project 680 link to the left of this blog for more info.
Well Sacramento is really making a name for itself when it comes to the Homeless, unfortunately it is not in a more positive light. Today there was a story on the Tent City area on the Today show. You can check it out at http://www.todayshow.com/. Mike and I took the opportunity to go out and visit this area this week, It is pretty jaw dropping to see the extent of what is going on. We were able to hang out for a while and walk along the levee and talk with a group of campers. It was pretty overwhelming to see the needs and to realize the overflow shelter closed last night due to budget issues. That's another 200 beds that are no longer available. Tents are a huge necessity out there as well as tarps and tent stakes.
There will be a March on the 21st of April at 2pm at Cesar Chavez park. It would be amazing for all of us to gather as many people as possible in our churches and circles of friends and coworkers to be out there and take part. The Homeless in Sacramento need a voice and I think it is really our duty to be that voice. If we believe what we say we do, then we should be there advocating for their right to a permanent tent city location, access to Bathrooms, showers and water, as well as places to dump their Trash! There is one dumpster out there, but the Trash is overwhelming. So with all that said, I say Let's March !!!
Please feel free to blog about any of these things. Agree or not its great to have input.
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