Our Second Core Value: Reaching Out
Reaching out is perhaps one of the most Biblical of values. God was always the one reaching out. God did not remain a remote and distant deity. God's reaching out began with creation itself. God reached out from God's own self and brought something new into being. Next God reached out for a people through whom God would bless the world. The rest of the scriptures are a series of stories in which God reaches out through prophets, priests and kings to impact the world. The pinnacle of this reaching out was when God reached out through Jesus of Nazareth. Finally the Book of Acts and Paul's letters remind us of God's continual reaching out through the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Reaching out by First Pres-ers takes many forms. It has been as simple as letting people know that we exist and that we would love to have them come and join us in ministry and mission. It has been as daunting as reaching out by sharing our faith stories with those who do not know the love and grace of God in Jesus Christ. It is as humbling as serving communion to a shut in. It can be as rewarding as mentoring a child or youth through the Pontiac Project. Regardless of the form this reaching out takes we have committed ourselves to be a family of faith that remembers that we have been blessed in order to be a blessing.
The PCUSA Book of Order puts it this way: "The church is called to be Christ's faithful evangelist by…Going into the world, making disciples of all nations…healing reconciling and binding up wounds; ministering to the needs of the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the powerless; engaging in the struggle to free people from sin, fear, oppression, hunger and injustice; giving itself and its substance to the service of those who suffer; sharing with Christ in the establishing of his just, peaceable and loving rule in the world" (summarized from G-3.0300c) The challenge for us is to continue to ensure that we break the huddle and reach out into the world in the name of our risen and reigning Lord, Jesus Christ.
