I witnessed something beautiful last night!
I went to the prom! It wasn’t my first prom. I went to a few other proms when I was younger. They were the usual proms with enormous expectations and costs that delivered little joy and didn’t come close to meeting expectations that compared to the costs of time and money. Sorry, I didn’t mean to get into sharing my personal thoughts usually reserved for my therapist.
Anyway, The Joy Prom took place last night at Summit Baptist Church under the leadership and direction of Student Pastor Jay Thompson. Jay is the man! He has “vision” off the charts! Part of his vision is creating a prom experience for people challenged with special needs circumstances. It was HUGE! God was all over it! You should have seen these beautiful people, all with different and significant stories in their life related to unpleasant circumstances, dancing their hearts out!
It was a beautiful picture of a story that Jesus tells in scripture (Luke 14:12-24) about a man who threw a banquet for people and invited those who would not normally be invited to a banquet. Jesus was speaking to a bunch of religious leaders that would normally invite people to their homes expecting something in return. It is easy to invite someone to dinner knowing you will eventually receive a return invitation. Jesus says it is a reflection of God’s heart to invite those that have no way to repay you or offer a return invitation. If you invite those people, your reward will be in heaven! Isn’t that awesome! Jesus, leads us to love people with no strings attached. WOW!
I saw this put into practice last night! It really happened. I saw a lot of adults and students being Jesus to people that usually don’t get a lot of positive attention. Unfortunately we have seen our government have to make laws so that “special needs” people are not forsaken. No one had to make a law for them to feel special last night. It was the love of Jesus that led to Jay, Butch and the leaders at Summit to make the Joy Prom a reality. It truly blessed my heart!
It reminded me of what God has called us to do in reaching “people that are least likely to go to church”. We must look beyond their dress, tattoos, or actions and see that God really loves everyone and everyone really matters. Their must be churches that are truly open to accepting and loving people that often seem unlovable. That is why I am thankful for the people that have stepped up at Church at the Grove to create environments for people to Explore Faith, Encounter Community, and Extend God’s Love. Let’s Keep it Up!
At least until we are all invited to the Great Banquet!
Go invest in a relationship, make a friend, and prepare to invite someone to a banquet! Go ahead! Walk across the street!
