Join Us for a Day of Service This Saturday, 1/21

Mercy Ministries, Serve the City | by Pastor Justin Keogh

Downtown Cornerstone,

This Saturday, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, we've got the opportunity to partner with our neighbors around Seattle in Together Washington's Day of Service. This Day of Service is a great chance to meet others while we bless our city through tangible projects of cleaning, graffiti removal, and light landscaping. Read more and register HERE.

Living As Faithful Exiles

During Israel's exile in Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the exiles reminding them of God's sovereign purposes in their exile and his faithfulness to all of his promises. Jeremiah called Israel to do good while they wait for the Lord's redemption:

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."
– Jeremiah 29:4-7

Jesus and the apostles apply this theme of exile to Christians in the world. Jesus says "I chose you out of this world" and prayed that we would remain faithful in the world, but not be of the world (John 15:19; 17:15-16). That is, because of God's grace to us in Christ, our earthly lives are not our ultimate end—when God adopts us, we become heirs to an eternal kingdom—and our hope is set fully on our eternal dwelling with God in heaven.

Yet this does not cause us to withdraw from the world but rather motivates us to love and serve others freely, knowing God has purposes for our faithful living as exiles. The Apostle Peter writes:

"Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evil doers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation…For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."
– 1 Peter 2:11-12,15-16

So as exiles in this world, we are to do good and seek the welfare of our city, declaring and demonstrating the love of God, found preeminently in the person and work of Jesus as our Savior.

Serving The City

We have often served in tangible ways around our city, and we have an opportunity to do so again this Saturday by participating in Together Washington's Day of Service. Like many of our Serve the City events, this will be a family-friendly time to come together and bless our city. But in addition to this, we will be serving alongside our neighbors outside of DCC, which we pray will create opportunities to declare the good news of Jesus as our motivation for loving the city as we do.

No specific skills or training are required; simply register, bring friends and family, and show up to help on the 21st!
Register Here

For the glory of our King and the good of many,
Pastor Justin