Discover Church has been doing I Love My Town for nine years now and it has become one of the most important things we do – not just for our neighbors and town, but for our church. It takes about 300 people to make it happen and we’ve averaged 400 people a year.
When we say we “love our town,” it’s not because we’re trying to find a reason to love it, like the views, lack of traffic jams, or short waits at restaurants. When we say “I Love My Town,” it’s a call of personal responsibility.
The Bible tells us that we’re saved by grace, saved not only FROM something, but FOR something:”For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:8–10.
I Love My Town reminds us that we have been saved for good works, not by good works, but for them. When we take a Sunday to go and serve our town, it snaps us out of what can become a consumer mindset in the church; it wakes us up to the fact that God tells us we worship Him by loving our neighbor.
I Love My Town isn’t supposed to be an event we do once a year and then we tolerate our town the rest of the year. It’s supposed to be an exclamation point on a culture of service and love. In a world where people, maybe rightfully so, have become skeptical of the role of the Church, we get to show them that God’s love is still taking care of tangible needs, restoring the broken, and reaching into everyday life with hope.
Our prayer is that the Church would become an indispensable part of the fabric of every town and city; that every foster child would have a home; that every food bank would be stocked; that every school would feel they have an ally; and, that every need would be met in Jesus’s name because His Church is there.
I Love My Town isn’t something unique to Discover; there are a bunch of amazing churches all over our town doing what they can in the same and in more ways than us – all so that “people may see your good works and glorify their Father in heaven.” – Matt. 5:16
