In light of Pastor Josh's Good Samaritan sermon on Sunday, many of you have come up to me to ask about best practices when helping people in certain situations. Some of you understand the tricky balance between the desire to help others and the fear to cause more harm with our assistance. The deacons at New City and I have been trying to straddle this balance as we help people in our community, and one of the best practices we have identified is by partnering with organizations who have been doing the work of the Good Samaritan.

That is why at New City we constantly seek to connect you with organizations like Lydia's House, Citylink Center, City Gospel Mission, the Metanoia Center, as well as our own ESOL classes. These organizations are doing amazing work in helping people from different backgrounds, and I would like to take this opportunity to share a few new opportunities for you all to support these organizations and love our neighbors in Cincinnati.

Citylink Center is hosting a panel discussion on housing disparity in Cincinnati on Thursday, September 12. This will be a great opportunity to hear about " the impact of these disparities, and how we can move forward as a community."  In addition, Citylink is also starting a program to help advocate and support moms who are at risk of losing their children to the foster-care system. This is an opportunity to walk alongside a mom to help her achieve stability. Reach out to me if you'd like more information about this or other opportunities with CityLink.

Speaking of supporting mothers, Lydia's House (a shelter for single-moms and their children) in Norwood is always looking for volunteers to provide a meal for their residents.  It's a very practical way to serve those families and get to know them. You can sign up here to provide and share a meal with them.  Looking ahead, Jenna Everson is working to connect our church with adoption families to provide meals for them. If you are interested in being part of this initiative, please join this group! 

As Cody Moorefield mentioned in the mission moment on Sunday, the upcoming Aruna Run on Labor Day is another great opportunity to support an organization that's working to rescue and empower trafficked women in India. You can sign up to run as part of the New City team. The ESL program at the Metanoia Center in Lockland is still looking for more volunteers to teach English, help West African refugees with their work, and study the Bible together. Please fill out this interest formand one of our volunteers there will get you plugged in.  

These are just a few opportunities for you to put Pastor Josh's sermon into practice by loving our neighbors, please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to learn more about any of these opportunities!

Joe Novenson describes our lives as: “the frenetic, distracted, destructive, over-committed, schedule-bulging, child-ignoring, God-excluding, meal-skipping, rest-robbing, peace-ruining, mind-numbing busyness.” I'm not sure if any of that resonates with you, but it sure does sound familiar to me. This Sunday we're going to be looking at the story of Mary and Martha from Luke 10:38-42, and what it means to sit before we serve, and to choose what Jesus calls "the good portion."

There will be a baptism at the first service, and our rising 5th graders will receive a Bible and be prayed for during the second service. It's Promotion Sunday, so our New City Kids classes will be back in full swing. Students can be dropped off at their classrooms after you check in. And after the service we'll celebrate with ice cream sundaes, outside by the sidewalk near Washington Ave.