The document discusses how early Christians cared for the poor and vulnerable through acts of service, sharing resources, and seeing all people as neighbors and family. It provides examples from the Bible of Jesus teaching about caring for "the least of these" and stories where not helping others in need can lead to spiritual consequences. The interpretation is that truly following Jesus means embracing and helping all people in need, regardless of differences, as part of participating in God's kingdom.

2. ISAIAH 10:1-2 (NIV)
Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees
to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from
the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.

3. ACTS 4:32-36 (NRSV)
Now the whole group of those who believed were of one
heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any
possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.
With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon
them all. There was not a needy person among them,
for as many as owned lands or houses sold them
and brought the proceeds of what was sold.
They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was
distributed to each as any had need.

4. “Atheism (how he referred to Christianity)
has been especially advanced through
the loving service rendered to strangers,
and through their care for the burial of the dead.
It is a scandal that there is not
a single Jew who is a beggar and that
the godless Galileans care not only for
their own poor but for ours as well;
while those who belong to us look in vain
for the help we should render them.”
ROMAN EMPEROR JULIAN (361-363)

5. Rodney Stark describes the way early Christians
provided care to the victims of plagues,
often at the expense of their own lives.
Whereas pagan elites and their priests
simply fled the affected cities, some even
leaving family members behind, Christians stayed
behind to provide food, water and friendship
to neighbors…the Church’s commitment
to the poor, even up to the fifth century,
was what won over Roman society.
DAVID FITCH

6. MATTHEW 25 (NRSV)
“Truly I tell you,
just as you did (or did not do) it
to one of the least of these
(the thirsty, hungry, sick, naked, imprisoned, etc.)
who are members of my family,
you did (or did not do) it to me.”

7. “When you were doing this,
you were already in the kingdom
because I was present there;
the kingdom was breaking in.
As such, when you, the Church,
were with the poor as family,
that was a sign you were
already participating
in the kingdom.”
FITCH’S INTERPRETATION

9. LUKE 16:19-22 (NRSV)
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple
and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus,
covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger
with what fell from the rich man’s table;
even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
The poor man died and was carried away by
the angels to be with Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried.

10. LUKE 16:23-24 (NRSV)
In Hades, where (the rich man) was being tormented,
he looked up and saw Abraham far away
with Lazarus by his side. He called out,
‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me,
and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger
in water and cool my tongue;
for I am in agony in these flames.’

11. LUKE 16:27-28 (NRSV)
‘…Father, I beg you to send him
to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—
that he may warn them, so that they will not
also come into this place of torment.’

12. “The rich man is urgently concerned for…
his own brothers. But he was not as equally
concerned for Lazarus…the rich man is in hell
not because he didn’t take care of the poor
better than most…(but) because he thought
he had five brothers when God had actually
given him six. While he helped Lazarus,
he failed to see him as his brother.
He failed to embrace him as family…”
DAVID FITCH & LEONARD SWEET

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ExhaustionMode–“WeHavetoSaveTheWorld”
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18. MaintenanceMode–“HunkerInTheBunker”
ExhaustionMode–“WeHavetoSaveTheWorld”
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20. As we spend time with and care for the poor,
or seek to obey the call to “do justice,
love mercy and walk humbly with God,”
if we only include those who look, think, act,
talk or vote like us, or those we perceive no
potential threat or inconvenience from,
we might as well stop calling ourselves
followers of Jesus or pretending we care
about what the Bible says about these things
DEACON GODSEY

21. Gay men and Lesbian women;
Bisexual and Transgender people;
Intersex and Asexual people;
Black, White, Native, Jewish, Muslim people;
Immigrants; Refugees; Disenfranchised Voters;
Palestinian Christians living in Israel;
Basically: anyone who is poor, vulnerable
or in need, whether they look, act,
talk, think or vote like us or not…
THE “POOR” TODAY INCLUDES…

24. The Sheep and The Goats
(based on Matthew 25)
- & -
Asleep In The Light
By Keith Green - 1978

26. BENEDICTION (Mark 12)
One of the scribes…asked him,
“Which commandment is the first of all?”
Jesus answered, “The first is:
‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
The second is this:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment greater than these.”