Am I Being Neighborly?  By: Zach Collins The story is told about a preacher who preached a sermon on helping those in need. In his sermon, he used the parable of the Good Samaritan and encouraged the members, in his application, to become actively involved by giving to the poor. There was a little boy sitting in the pew, with his grandfather, listening to the sermon patiently. At the conclusion of the sermon, the collection basket began to be passed from pew to pew, and the little boy’s grandfather gave him a crisp $1 bill to put into the basket. However, instead of putting money in the basket, the little boy put the crisp $1 bill in his pocket. The worship service came and went, and as the preacher was shaking hands, the grandfather and little boy left the auditorium and came to the preacher. The little boy reached up and gave the preacher his crisp $1 bill with mischievous fingers! The preacher said, “Son, what is this for?” The little boy quipped, “You preached on giving to the poor and my daddy says you are the poorest preacher he knows.”   Jesus was once asked the question, “Who is my neighbor?” To which, Jesus responded by telling one of the most familiar stories in the Bible, the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  Do you remember this story? One day, a certain man was traveling upon the road of Jericho from Jerusalem, a very dangerous road, when he fell among thieves. They …

By: Zach Collins At a young age, John Newton was involved in the slave trade. He didn’t have many skills, but he was skilled in the depravity of selling created beings for monetary gain. In 1745, at the age of 20, his life changed. Aboard a slave ship, he was captured, and, in one of life’s unexpected turns, the slave trader became enslaved. Subsequently, he would be rescued, but not before he got a taste for the life he had perpetuated through his transgressions. Yet, after his rescue, he returned to the atrocity of the slave trade. However, not so soon afterward, his life would change forever. In 1748, as they journeyed from Africa to Liverpool, the slave ship came upon a ferocious storm off the coast of Ireland. Though he was a skilled seaman, a professed atheist cried out to God for mercy and survived to live another day. Perhaps this wretch was given a second chance from a life lived in the brutality of slavery. If he had not been at sea during this violent storm, John Newton might never have become known for his most famous feat. Years later, inspired by this violent storm, he would pen the lyrics to the most popular hymn in most church hymnals. The lyrics went like this:  “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now I’m found Was blind, but now I see.”  It is hard to imagine such beautiful lyrics …