In a religious culture where church is from 11-12 on Sunday and embedded into 4 walls and a narthex (it’s a real word, look it up), it’s sometimes hard to see the church in daily life. This series of posts will be dedicated to the church in action found in less likely contexts. Feel free to add your own examples in the comments. Here’s entry #1:

Tonight as I was leaving work, I hopped in my car and enthusiastically turned the ignition switch, excited to get home and tuck the kids in for the night. The motor churned slowly, but not fast enough to fire the engine before bogging down to a low chug and finally the dreaded click-click-click of a dead battery. I knew Julie wouldn’t be able to get the kids out and come help, so I sat and thought. Who could get here the most quickly and who would I disturb the least. Scott Powers. Yep, that’s the guy.

I met Scott in my furniture store about three months ago. We hit it off. He is a super talented artist and has a knack (and a love) for refinishing old furniture. We’ve talked quite a bit about faith and church and God. Scott doesn’t go to church on Sundays. He may look and act a little different from those in my town who do, but he’s been a huge encouragement to me the past few weeks in my relationship with God.

Scott is going through his own struggles. He may be on the edge of losing his house. He is a single dad raising a beautiful little girl. He is interested in making a difference and helping as many people as he can in the process. He’s got big dreams and a ton of hurdles to overcome in order to fulfill them. He’s mostly out of work and uses what little he makes at the store and odd jobs to squeak by. Sometimes he’s full of life and sometimes he’s in the pits.

But tonight he chose to break out of his comfortable cave of a home, drag his little girl out in her pajamas and come boost an absent minded buddy so I could get home and rest after a hard days work!

By the way… before he left his house he stopped by the kitchen, grabbed a freshly baked chocolate biscuit (as he called it) and wrapped it up in a napkin to pass on to his tired old traveling partner.

Scott is a friend of mine and a friend of God’s! Tonight we communed over a dead battery and a chocolate biscuit.

New Leaf Parking Lot, 7:30 pm Wednesday night… the church undercover.

Ecclesiastes 4:10
If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Mark 3:4
Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.