W.A.T.S. "We Are The Sermon"

The plea for unity left us by the Lord has gone woefully unfulfilled, I believe in part ,because of our emphasis on unity of belief . Our plea has not been really unity, but uniformity. For this reason we have made the words of Jesus mean something that is unattainable. I believe that there is another dimension to what Jesus said that goes beyond a statement of belief. The following article shows a "unity" in doing what God said to "do". Unity of actions speak so much louder than our words and maybe, just maybe, might be "a" key in finding the fulfillment of the challenge of Jesus. Read the article below and let me know what you think! Four congregations send workers to fix up homes By Jerry Daniel Reed / reedj@reporternews.com May 1, 2006 Hundreds of volunteer ministers put feet to their faith on Sunday. Hands and arms, too. ''These people are definitely being the hands and feet of Jesus,'' said Becca Gonzalez, whose home got some updated upkeep Sunday afternoon. Willing workers from four Abilene churches fanned out to fix what needed fixing at dozens of homes Sunday during the second WATS Day, the acronym standing for ''We Are The Sermon.'' Southern Hills Church of Christ, Westgate Church of Christ, Pioneer Drive Baptist Church and Wylie Baptist Church provided labor. The Sunday workers did a variety of home repair and maintenance work, from mowing lawns and trimming shrubbery, painting walls and patching roofs, repairing machines such as lawn mowers, and gathering and hauling away accumulated clutter. ''It is not a day of (church) services,'' said Mark Viertel, a Southern Hills Church of Christ elder who served as foreman at the Gonzalez place in south central Abilene. ''Whether they're churched or unchurched, it doesn't matter.'' Gonzalez, the single mother of a university student and a high school student, is a member of Southern Hills, but some other beneficiaries weren't. ''We have members of our congregation who weren't members before we did this project,'' Viertel said. The sermon in sweat affects more than just the providers and recipients of the work, Viertel said. Curious neighbors gazing over fences, and distant church congregations trolling the Internet have also tuned into the sermon, he said. Churches in San Antonio, Pennsylvania and California have looked at imitating the Abilene ministry, which is fine with Viertel. ''We haven't trademarked the name ''We Are The Sermon,'' he said. ''We are very happy for somebody to use it.'' In similar vein, Southern Hills borrowed the ''Brotherly Gloves'' name for its year-round service program from its fellow congregation, the Highland Church of Christ, Viertel said. Copyright 2006, Abilene Reporter News. All Rights Reserved.