I glanced at the Starkville Daily News this past week and under the fold, on the front page, an article about one of our community groups living intentionally and being #ForStarkville was front and center! The group decided to take time out of their busy schedules to stop and serve Starkville Sanitation and Environmental Services. Yes, the group's decision to feed them is fantastic, but reading the quotes from group members and seeing how the vision for this year is truly resonating with the people that makeup FBC Starkville is exciting! One paragraph in particular stood out from the article where group leader Jason Cutshall is quoted: "What we're doing this year is we want to show the community what we're for. Because a lot of times when people think of the church, they think of what we're against. We're trying to show we're for Starkville." 

Here is why that excites me: people are jumping in to God's work in our community. For those of you who come on Sunday or listen online, you will recognize that Pastor Chip reminds us of two things every week as we walk through the book of Acts this semester. The first is that God is FOR you. God is FOR the church. And God is FOR Starkville. And the second is the simple equation: transformed thinking + intentional action = #ForStarkville. We believe this is so important that we all need to be reminded of it every week. The more each individual, family, and community group hear that, the more they will catch the vision and move with intentionality every single day.

This community group isn't the only group we've seen taking intentional action to live #ForStarkville. We've seen groups help stock a hygiene closet at a local public school, serve the public schools during open house, deliver cookies to the police department, and much more. I hope you are encouraged and inspired to live your life intentionally by serving our city and living #ForStarkville.

#ForStarkville Opportunity

One of our largest community-wide events is the Fall Festival which will be hosted at the Warehouse on October 31 from 5:30-7:30 pm. This year there are four ways you, your family, or your community group can serve.

1. Volunteer: We need door holders, booth workers, registration workers, and much more. Click Here to serve at Fall Festival.

2. Donate Candy: We need lots of candy to give out during Fall Festival! The donation box is located in the commons at the #ForStarkville wall.

3. Invite the city of Starkville: Whether through social media or with an invite card, located at the #ForStarkville wall, take time to invite people to join in on the fun.

4. Pray: Ask for the will of Jesus for those in attendance before/during/after the event.