Go Beyond

For the past eleven years, Kingsland has set aside a day on which to close the doors of the church on a Sunday. Instead of attending church on that day, we mobilize our people to go out into the community to be the church. The impact of a couple thousand people all serving our community on a single day is huge.

Today’s Caring for Katy was a remarkably good day. The weather was perfect. All of our community groups mobilized to move in the direction of people in need, to serve alongside many of our local ministry partners, and to do the kind of good works that glorify God and make a difference in the lives of others.

Months in advance of this big day of service, we challenge our community groups to look at our community as Jesus would. That means slowing down enough to look carefully to the right and to the left — to develop a peripheral compassion that can spot needs in places that are otherwise easily overlooked. And then, to determine how they can move in the direction of that need to make a difference.

One of the best things about Caring for Katy is that we encourage each of our groups to involve every member of the family in meeting needs. Family is important at Kingsland. And serving others is an important part of the spiritual formation of family members.

Good things happen when families serve together, especially in the hearts of our kids. They discover that there is a special joy that comes from serving. They witness the gratitude of the beneficiaries of their service. They begin to understand that they do not have to wait until they are all grown up to help make our world a better place.

Caring for Katy is not the only day in which we serve our community. We also encourage our community groups to take ownership of service initiatives that we engage in throughout the year. But the beauty of Caring for Katy is that we corporately do on a single day what our community groups do throughout the year.

Twelve years of Caring for Katy has changed the way many people in our community think about God. Because we have consistently moved in the direction of people in need, people in need consistently move in our direction. Those in need of help, healing, and hope know that we care because we so consistently demonstrate God’s love in practical ways.

Today’s Caring for Katy is now history. Once again, we allowed God to use us to pen His distinctive signature across hearts and homes throughout Katy and beyond. And God did something in each of our hearts as well. Thanks to each and every individual young and old who served today. Thank you for Caring for Katy.