Our Father in heaven calls us to action. He calls us to witness to the world. He calls us to tell everyone of His gift of salvation, "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8b. The obvious plan of action is to talk. Talk about God every chance you have. Talk about Him even when you have to create the chance. Talking is an easy thing for most of us. What we talk about is sometimes the issue and sometimes it is hard to talk about God. God, promises however, in the first part of the Acts verse that He will send the Holy Spirit to help us. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; Acts 1:8a. So–go out and TELL. Talking about God is not our only witness, though. In Matthew 25:31-40, we read of great rewards for those who tell others about Jesus with gifts of food and drink and clothing, ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink’. We can make a great testimony by caring for those we do not know, ‘I was a stranger and you invited me in’. We can share Christ’s love by caring for those who are sick, ‘I was sick and you looked after me’, and we might really make a difference in the lives of people who are obvious law breakers, ‘ I was in prison and you came to visit me'. And what is the reward? Jesus says, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world,’ Matthew 25:34.

As you might have guessed by now, I’m encouraging you to TELL about God’s love, with your gifts of money or goods or time for the people of the Gulf Coast that are suffering so greatly. This catastrophe caught everyone by surprise. Just as things were improving, the levees broke and things are getting much worse. The people that survived the actual hurricane are now dying from disease, hunger, lack of medicine, dehydration and even violence. Yes, maybe many of them should have evacuated, (although many didn’t have cars or transportation), many maybe should have prepared better, and yes, many of the people are breaking the law now. (I wonder how we would behave in such desperate circumstances?) God loves them and us, no matter the circumstances. He reaches out to people in every condition and situation–even in the midst of sin, ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,’ Romans 5:8.

We can be God’s tools in reaching out to these suffering people with money, if not anything else. Thrivent is once again offering to help with the disaster relief. Members donations will be supplemented $1 for every $2 given, up to $300 per member. You may designate the aid organization from the following list: Lutheran Disaster Response, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, LCMS World Relief/Human Care, and WELS Committee on Relief. A Thrivent Financial Hurricane Katrina Response Form must accompany the member’s gift. These forms are available in each of our churches. Call the office if you need help with membership numbers, etc.

Please, look for ways you can TELL about God’s love this week and please consider TELLING the people of the Gulf Coast with your financial gift.

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Note: If you are a Thrivent member and do not have access to the Response Form, go to Thrivent's Hurricane Katrina Reponse website, scroll down to the Important Links in the middle of the page and print off the Reponse Form. You can also contact any Thrivent officer for help.

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