Tuesday, November 25

James 2 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

Reflection:

One of the great joys of the First Presbyterian Church of Barre’s mission and outreach work has been our collaboration with area churches to manifest Christ’s love in our community. A coalition of area churches and organizations has been working together to address matters of poverty, homelessness and hunger. A group meets once a month to discuss, plan, collaborate and take action on all these matters. We are the Barre Interfaith Group with representatives from the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Hedding United Methodist Church, Enough Ministries, the Good Samaritan Haven, Church of the Good Shepherd, Episcopal, Barre Congregational, First Baptist Church, the First Church of Barre, Universalist, and First Presbyterian Church. Our motto, a spin off from James, is “Faith Made Actionable.”

Questions for reflections:

How does working together further the mission and ministry of Christ’s church? What experiences have you had, working with people from other churches, that has helped you to broaden and deepen your understanding of Christ’s church?

(Don’t forget, ecumenical worship service tonight at St. Monica’s Roman Catholic Church, 7 p.m.)