Thursday, April 03, 2008

Given

I haven't really had the opportunity to share with you about Easter and one of the cool things God is doing at Hannaford.

On Easter, we celebrated that Christ gave His life for us. Not only was He crucified on a cross for our sins, but He spent His life encouraging people to love God and to love others by giving of ourselves as He demonstrated through His life, death, and resurrection.

Furthermore, I believe that when we give ourselves away, we are fulfilling our role as followers of Christ. God wants people to love, share, be considerate of others, and provide a blessing to the world they live in.

So on March 23, 2008, Hannaford gave away nearly $600 to those who attended our Easter Sunday worship services – a one-dollar bill for each person. The challenge? Pass on the blessings that Christ has given us, by using the dollar to bless another.

The instructions were simple: "This one-dollar bill is given as a symbol of all that Christ has given to you. This dollar is not to be spent on yourself, but to bless someone else in a real and tangible way. The possibilities and creativity are endless."

Finally, we encouraged people to share their stories. I think it is important that we celebrate when Christ works through us. It encourages other believers and demonstrates to others that we truly are followers of Jesus.

We've set up a website around the "Given" project. You are invited to explore the stories of how God used dollar-bills (and ultimately people) to bless the lives of others. Also, if you want to participate, and/or have a story of your own, we invite you to submit it onlline.

This has been an awesome experience and we are looking forward to what God will do through us. People have only just begun to share their stories.

Click here for the Given website.
Click here for the Press page with photos.
Click here for other posts on the Given project.