One Family, Reaching Beyond Our Borders

Sep 27, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Accents Outpace Actions

A Tennessee native who can’t name local cities mirrors our faith gaps—claiming Christ yet struggling to live it. First John 3:16-18 confronts the disconnect between professed love and practical care. Just as Jesus’ sacrifice defined love, our tangible service proves faith’s authenticity. Letters, meals, and presence bridge the gap between what we say and who we’re called to be. True love isn’t performative; it’s a child fed, a roof repaired, a life noticed. [23:57]

“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other. Let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.”
(1 John 3:18-19, NLT)

Reflection: Where does your life feel like a “Tennessee impostor”—claiming Christ’s name yet lacking tangible evidence? What one practical step could close that gap this week?

Day 2: Building Schools in God’s Backyard

Compassion doesn’t parachute into communities but partners with local churches already fighting for their neighbors. Like the Dominican church tripling in size, God multiplies humble spaces into gospel engines. Supporting existing ministries—not imposing solutions—honors the Spirit’s work in every ZIP code. When we fund desks instead of dogma, we become co-laborers, not saviors. [29:16]

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
(1 John 3:1, NLT)

Reflection: How does partnering—not paternalism—change your view of global ministry? Where can you support, rather than steer, what God’s already doing?

Day 3: Letters That Crack Open Eternity

Katherine held her sponsor’s note like a lifeline—words from strangers 3,000 miles away became God’s whisper: “You’re seen.” A scribbled Bible verse outlasted hunger pangs; a prayer written on an app rebuilt a shattered identity. Every “hello” in Jesus’ name chips at despair’s walls. Your words aren’t just encouragement—they’re evangelism with a return address. [32:58]

“Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”
(Proverbs 16:24, NLT)

Reflection: When has a simple note or call redirected your story? Who needs your “honey words” to taste God’s goodness today?

Day 4: One Song in a Broken Studio

U2 recorded “One” as their band nearly split—a anthem for unity written amid division. Like post-wall Berlin, our world fractures over politics, race, and pride. Yet Christ’s cross dismantles every barrier, making strangers family. The same blood that saved you flows in Salvadoran believers you’ll meet in eternity. [37:25]

“Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.”
(Ephesians 2:14, NLT)

Reflection: What “wall” have you built that contradicts your oneness in Christ? How could praying for a Salvadoran sibling soften that divide?

Day 5: Avocado Toast Sacrifices

Katherine survived on mangoes and avocado toast—a delicacy here, a lifeline there. Sponsorship costs less than many streaming subscriptions, yet funds eternal dividends. When Scott challenged, “Less Starbucks, more salvation,” he reframed sacrifice as joy. Giving isn’t about guilt but grabbing hold of eternity’s economy. [01:10:31]

“You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
(2 Corinthians 9:7, NLT)

Reflection: What “avocado toast” could you surrender to feed both body and soul? How does cheerful giving deepen your trust in God’s provision?

Sermon Summary

John’s words in 1 John 3 expose the gap between saying love and actually walking it. Christ laid down his life for brothers and sisters, and that kind of love cannot stay trapped in words, speeches, or good intentions. Love gets practical when it sees need. Love gets its faith dirty.

The Point Church has worked hard to love people in Fort Wayne through feeding families, meeting needs, and serving the city. But the gap shows up beyond the ZIP code. A check sent somewhere far away may do good, but it does not always capture the heart, excitement, and personal connection that comes when people know they are part of somebody finding and following Jesus.

Compassion International offers that kind of connection by partnering with churches already rooted in impoverished communities. The local church becomes the place where children receive food, education, medical care, safety, mentoring, and the gospel Monday through Friday. Parents see a church loving their children, then come back on Sunday to find out why. Churches grow because care opens the door for Christ.

The partnership in El Salvador gives the church four tangible ways to step in: sponsor a child, write letters, visit partner churches on mission trips, and support practical needs through the monthly Dollar Compassion giving. Letters matter because a child who has rarely been noticed can discover that somebody three thousand miles away knows their name, prays for them, and believes their life matters. Following God is a team sport, even across the globe.

God does not demand this kind of obedience so that anybody can earn love. The Father has already lavished love on his children. God has already chosen, claimed, and valued them. Obedience becomes the response to being loved, not the price paid to become lovable.

Jesus also tears down the walls that keep people divided by money, politics, race, preferences, and distance. Christ laid down his life to make strangers family. Brothers and sisters in Fort Wayne belong at the reunion, but brothers and sisters in El Salvador belong there too. God has resourced people in one place to help carry burdens in another.

Katherine’s story puts a face to that truth. Poverty, abandonment, hunger, violence, and a shattered sense of identity did not get the final word. Pizza brought her to a church, people kept showing up, letters gave her hope, and Christ met her through tutors who helped her forgive. A letter arriving the day after rejection from her mother declared a truer word: “Be strong in the Lord.” God used that care to raise up a woman who now translates letters, tells her story, and helps other children be heard.

Key Takeaways

1. Love must become practical action [25:21] John refuses to let love remain a religious word. Christ’s sacrifice gives love a body, hands, time, and resources. Need becomes an invitation to show that God’s love is actually alive in a person. [25:21]
2. Obedience follows being deeply loved [36:03] God does not wait for perfect effort before calling people his children. The Father lavishes love first, then that love changes what obedience looks like. Service becomes gratitude instead of spiritual scorekeeping. [36:03]
3. Jesus makes strangers into family [38:03] Christ’s cross does more than forgive individual sin. Jesus creates brothers and sisters across culture, distance, language, and circumstance. Division may feel normal, but the cross has already named a deeper belonging. [38:03]
4. A letter can speak life [01:02:11] Katherine received a letter of hope just after hearing that she was a mistake. God used words from strangers in Canada to call her into a future she could not yet imagine. Encouragement can become a lifeline when it carries truth into someone’s darkest moment. [62:11]
5. Local churches carry lasting hope [43:22] Compassion does not replace the local church. Local churches know their neighborhoods, remain present through crisis, and carry the gospel into homes and families. Practical care becomes lasting transformation when it is rooted in Christ’s people.

## [43:22]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[21:06] - Making Room Beyond Fort Wayne
[23:57] - The Gaps in Following Jesus
[24:18] - Love With Actions and Truth
[26:35] - A Heart for Global Compassion
[27:01] - Why Compassion International
[29:16] - Churches Growing Through Care
[31:16] - Partnering With El Salvador
[35:27] - Loved First, Then Obedient
[36:33] - Jesus Makes Us One
[39:28] - How Compassion Works
[44:27] - Integrity and Missions From Home
[52:32] - Katherine’s Story of Hope
[64:01] - Forgiveness and New Life
[70:31] - The Invitation to Sponsor

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

1 John 3:16-18
“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” [24:56]

1 John 3:1
“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.” [35:53]

Ephesians 6:10
“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” [01:02:11]

Observation questions

In 1 John 3:16–18, what contrast does John make between love expressed in words and love expressed through actions?
What kinds of needs were described as being met through local church partnerships, beyond simply providing money? [28:33]
What four ways were identified for people to participate in the partnership with churches in El Salvador? [31:41]
What details from Katherine’s story show the difference that consistent care, food, letters, and mentors made in her life? [01:00:07]

Interpretation questions

John connects Christ laying down his life with believers laying down their lives for brothers and sisters. What might “laying down one’s life” look like in ordinary, practical decisions—not only in extreme situations? [38:03]
Why does 1 John 3:1 matter before talking about obedience, generosity, or serving others? How does knowing that believers are already God’s children change the reason they help? [35:53]
Why can practical care offered through a local church open doors for people to hear and respond to the gospel? [29:16]
Katherine received encouragement immediately after painful rejection. Why can a simple letter carrying God’s truth have such a deep impact on someone who feels unseen or unwanted? [01:02:11]

Application questions

Where is there currently a gap between saying “I love people” and taking practical action when a need is visible? What is one realistic next step that could help close that gap? [25:13]
God’s love is not earned through doing more; obedience is a response to already being loved. In what area is it easy to turn serving, giving, or helping into spiritual scorekeeping? What would grateful obedience look like instead? [36:03]
Who is someone in the group’s daily life who may need to be noticed, encouraged, or reminded that they matter? What could a specific act of care or a truthful message look like this week? [50:05]
Jesus makes strangers into family across distance, culture, money, politics, and preferences. Which kinds of differences make it hardest to see other believers as brothers and sisters? How can the group push back against those walls? [37:31]
What resources—time, money, skills, relationships, or attention—has God placed in each person’s hands that could help carry a burden for someone else, locally or globally? [38:50]
Katherine’s life was changed in part because people kept showing up over time. Where might God be inviting each person to offer steady care rather than a one-time act of kindness? [01:03:31]

Sermon Clips

34s

#RelentlessFaith

“As long as there are more people that don't know Jesus, it will never be enough. And what I heard was a relentless church, was a risk taking church. And that's something I want our church to be a part of. That's something that I want our church to support. That's something that I want our church to be praying for because that's something that will not stop helping people find and follow Jesus.”

30s

#GlobalChurch

“God has specially resourced us here in this church, here in this city, here in this state, here in this country to be able to support our family better than others can. And so my hope today is that as we share more with you about what our church and compassion wants to do, that you'll consider partnering with us to help people find and follow Jesus in Fort Wayne and in El Salvador.”

34s

#CompassionMinistry

“And so they flew Cody and I out to a compassion site in the Dominican Republic. And we got there and we got some pictures. This is us in the Doctor. When we got there, we were very surprised to see that compassion does not go into an impoverished area and build a school. They don't go find land or, you know, pop up in somebody's backyard or anything like that. What they do is they go into a community in need and find a church that's already working to help people find and follow Jesus. And they build the school inside the church.”

33s

#ChurchGrowth

“This church that we went and visited, it had been a compassion partner for about two years, and it had tripled in size in two years. And they have a wonderful problem just like us. They're running out of room. And so many people are coming that wanna find and follow Jesus that they are running out of places to put them. So this is a picture of me and Cody and our team standing in the new auditorium that they are building to make room for those not here yet.”

41s

#ChurchFamily

“Jesus laid down his life to make us one. He laid down his life to make strangers family, to make us brothers and sisters, to make all of us brothers and sisters. This first means that because of what Jesus has done, that you got brothers and sisters you never met here in Fort Wayne. That's why we are a church for those not here yet. We will always be reaching for the family that isn't here at the reunion yet. But it also means that you got brothers and sisters in El Salvador you haven't met yet, and they're in need.”

32s

#LovedToObey

“We are loved, so we obey. You are already loved by God. He calls you sons and daughters, children of the king. You are already chosen by him. You're already claimed by him. You're already valued by him. You already got the accent. You already got everything. We don't do these kinds of things in order for God to love us. We do these kinds of things because God already does love us. But even though we got the accent, sometimes we don't always prove it.”

64s

#SponsorAChild

“Sponsoring them, it provides them with education, medical, safety, protection, but also it connects them to a church that walks them to Jesus. The second part of this is that you're gonna write these kids letters. And you can do it through the app. You can write, like, a physical letter and all that. Although I was talking to somebody who was Gen Z the other day, they didn't know how to address a letter. And so maybe the app is the safest way for you to go. I don't know. But but you can write letters to that child that you are sponsoring, and and those letters have even more impact than the money that you give. Because these kids discover that there's somebody 3,000 miles away that's never met them, but that's thinking about them and praying for them and cares about them. And if you go on the compassion website, meet some of the kids who have grown up and graduated from the compassion program. Those letters are often one of the biggest motivations for these kids to accept Jesus in their lives.”

51s

#MissionTrip

“The third thing that this is gonna look like is one of the things I'm most excited about is that this is gonna change what our mission strips look like. We now, whenever we go to El Salvador, we'll be visiting one of these four partner churches in order to go and meet the kids that you have been writing letters with. Actually, to meet the the the kid that you've been sponsoring and sharing with and praying for. You'll be able to play with them. You'll be able to meet the pastor at their church and see what's happening there. Be able to help help take care of things that are happening around that church. Like, this is gonna be a complete game changer because no longer are we just sending a check out into the world or sending a message. We get to actually go and see what it is that God's been using you for to make a difference in their life, in their eternity, and in their development today.”

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