It Takes a Village | Pastor Steve Johnson

Devotional

Day 1: Open Eyes, Open Hands

The disciples saw Jesus break five loaves and two fish. They watched crusty bread multiply in their hands as 5,000 ate. But first, a boy surrendered his lunch. Jesus took the tangible gift - barley grains sticking to calloused palms - and made it holy through obedience. The crowd’s hunger met God’s provision where human effort dared to act. [32:51]

John writes that seeing a brother in need without helping proves God’s love doesn’t dwell in us. Jesus didn’t theologize about hunger - He fed. The early church sold fields to buy bread for widows. Kingdom work begins when our hands mirror His.

You drive past three homeless camps between home and church. You know foster kids sleep in DSS offices. Today, choose one need your eyes have learned to overlook. What tangible gift - a meal, a pack of diapers, an hour of tutoring - can your hands carry? When will you stop waiting for programs and start distributing loaves?

“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
(1 John 3:16-18, ESV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to show you one practical need He’s placed within your reach today.
Challenge: Buy a $10 fast-food gift card. Keep it in your wallet until you give it to someone hungry this week.

Day 2: Bread Broken, Lives Shared

They met in homes - fish sizzling on grills, flatbread steaming in baskets. The early church didn’t host potlucks. They redistributed property deeds. Barnabas sold a field, laid money at the apostles’ feet. Every meal fed both bodies and bonds - no one lacked. [37:50]

Luke records this as worship. Sharing assets wasn’t socialism but sacrament. When Ananias withheld funds, Peter said Satan filled his heart. Hoarding broke community; generosity built Christ’s body. Their closets held fewer tunics so others could wear dignity.

Your spare bedroom stores Christmas decorations. Your calendar guards “me time.” What excess - clothes, skills, square footage - could bridge someone’s lack? Start small: Invite a foster parent’s kids for pizza. Donate old phones to domestic violence shelters. True fellowship bleeds into Monday’s mess. When did sharing resources last cost you comfort?

“And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.”
(Acts 2:44-45, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one thing you’ve withheld from God’s people. Ask for courage to release it.
Challenge: Fill one box with 5 quality items (clothes, toys, tools) and donate to a foster closet by Friday.

Day 3: Defending the Destitute

A judge ignored the widow’s cries until her persistence wore him down. Jesus praised her tenacity. Proverbs charges us to “speak up for those who cannot speak.” The voiceless aren’t just unborn babies - they’re teens aging out of foster care, mothers choosing between rent and diapers. [36:40]

God’s justice demands advocacy. Esther risked death to save her people. Nehemiah rebuilt walls while fighting slander. Your voice can petition courts for foster kids, demand better schools, or challenge racist policies. Silence often sides with oppressors.

You’ve signed online petitions. Now take flesh-and-blood action. Attend a foster care info session. Email your mayor about housing shortages. Mentor a teen from the group home. Justice work gets calluses. Which marginalized group in your city needs your persistent voice this month?

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
(Proverbs 31:8-9, NIV)

Prayer: Pray for one vulnerable person by name. Ask God how to amplify their voice.
Challenge: Research contact info for 2 local foster agencies. Save them in your phone before bed.

Day 4: The Weight of One Family

Eight thousand Tennessee children sleep in stranger’s beds tonight. Jesus said the kingdom belongs to such as these. One family fostering one child won’t end the crisis - but if every church had one family, warehouses would empty. [32:51]

Moses’ mother hid him in reeds. Pharaoh’s daughter pulled him from water. Both women defied systems to save one boy. Your “one” might be babysitting respite nights, tutoring a foster teen, or taking a single mom’s laundry. Every crisis needs a web of ones.

You’ve thought “I’m not called to foster.” But what if your calling is to support those who do? This week, ask a foster parent their greatest need. Stock their freezer? Fix their car? Pray hourly? The body works when parts serve their role. What unique gift can you offer the village?

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
(James 1:27, NIV)

Prayer: Thank God for someone who supported you in crisis. Ask Him to make you that person for another.
Challenge: Text a foster/adoptive family in your church by noon: “How can I help this week?”

Day 5: When You Did It Unto Me

Sheep and goats stood divided. The King praised those who fed Him when hungry, clothed Him when naked. They protested, “When did we see You?” He answered, “Whatever you did for the least, you did for Me.” Jesus hides in foster kids’ laughter, refugees’ tears, inmates’ orange jumpsuits. [50:29]

Christ’s incarnation never ended. He still dwells in the marginalized. Serving them isn’t charity - it’s communion. The casserole you bake, the car seat you install, the court letter you write becomes Eucharist when done for Him.

Today, someone near you embodies Jesus in distressing disguise. A struggling mom. An immigrant cashier. A lonely elder. Don’t spiritualize help - drive to the DSS office. Stock the community fridge. Sit with the grieving. Where will you touch Christ’s wounds through service today?

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
(Matthew 25:35-36, NIV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to reveal Himself in the next person you serve.
Challenge: Spend 30 minutes today serving someone anonymously (drop off groceries, pay a bill, etc).

Sermon Summary

1 John 3 names love by pointing to Jesus laying down his life, then presses the church to move from talk to deed, from warm feelings to concrete help. The text makes seeing the hinge, because love cannot abide where a heart closes its eyes to a brother’s need. Proverbs lifts the same chord in a different key, charging God’s people to speak up, judge fairly, and defend the rights of the poor. Acts 2 paints the template of shared life, where teaching, prayer, and breaking bread sit right alongside selling possessions so that anyone lacking anything is supplied.

The call to foster care emerges inside that biblical frame as a practical way to see and act. The myth of foster kids as “orphans” gets corrected by the reality of families in crisis and a system aimed at reunification, not replacement. Tennessee’s numbers put names and faces to that claim, and Shelby County’s concentration makes the need local and urgent. The possibility that every church sending just one family could wipe out the backlog reframes the problem from impossible to actionable.

The contrast between mobilization and red tape sharpens the moment. A neighbor without faith quietly serving weekly at a shelter while churches stall in committees exposes how Western church culture can talk itself out of obedience. The upstream lens then widens the horizon: foster care sits at the intersection of homelessness, incarceration, substance abuse, trafficking, and school failure, so catching families before they fall can relieve pressure downstream.

Acts 2’s picture of community then becomes less nostalgia and more marching orders. The early church did not need programs to make friends; shared sacrifice, open homes, and meeting needs made family. That pattern births Kingdom Village, a ministry designed to give the church legs. Trauma-informed training treats every removed child as a trauma survivor. Parents’ Night Out offers free, practical margin to foster, adoptive, and eventually single-parent and crisis households. RAP teams and life groups commit to words of encouragement, respite, acts of service, and prayer for specific families, with training that protects children’s dignity. Red Tubs gathers Christmas gifts that actually carry blessing and reduce the real costs of care, because kids are expensive, y’all. The next step stays simple and concrete: a QR code collects availability from helpers and requests from families, so the church can be the village Jesus envisioned.

Key Takeaways

1. Love moves from talk to action [35:22] Love that only speaks never pays the costs love requires. John ties love to Jesus’ self-giving and then ties the church to visible, measurable deeds. Seeing becomes responsibility, because closing the heart is the opposite of abiding love. Obedience takes the form of practical help that tells the truth about the gospel. [35:22]
2. Foster care centers on reunification [31:08] The child is rarely an orphan, and the system’s stated goal is to restore families when it is safe. That reframes foster care from replacement to repair, with caregivers acting as bridge-builders, not competitors. Prayer, patience, and support for birth families become gospel-shaped marks of the work. Compassion learns to celebrate healing even when it costs personally. [31:08]
3. The early church normalized sacrifice [38:48] Acts 2 does not blush about selling possessions to meet needs, and calls that normal Christian community. Shared tables and shared wallets belong together, because fellowship without cost is friendship without depth. Sacrifice frees resources to follow relationship, so no connected family is left uncovered. Holiness takes the shape of generosity that interrupts comfort. [38:48]
4. Go upstream to heal the city [33:40] Foster care sits where so many downstream pains begin, from homelessness to trafficking. Serving families in crisis is prevention as much as it is mercy. Early intervention shrinks future sorrow by restoring stability and attachment now. The church’s compassion becomes wise when it aims for roots, not only branches. [33:40]
5. Mobilized church beats stalled committees [25:54] Good intentions trapped in process still leave neighbors hungry. The parable of the unbelieving neighbor quietly serving exposes how bureaucracy can excuse disobedience. Authority that releases people to love will outpace structures that manage risk. Faithfulness looks like clear lanes, quick yeses, and hands on the work. [25:54]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[24:34] - Introductions and heart to serve
[25:23] - Story of stalled ministry plans
[26:34] - Family snapshot versus real story
[27:48] - Skid Row story and teenage call
[29:56] - Myths: foster kids aren’t orphans
[31:08] - Reunification and statewide numbers
[32:28] - Shelby County’s urgent need
[33:40] - Go upstream to heal systems
[34:56] - 1 John 3: love in action
[36:40] - Proverbs and Acts 2 template
[38:48] - Sacrifice and real community
[41:15] - The gap the church can fill
[47:43] - Commitments: training, PNO, RAP
[51:22] - One next step and closing charge

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
1 John 3:16-18 (ESV)
"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

Proverbs 31:8-9 (ESV)
"Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy."

Acts 2:42-47 (ESV)
"And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers... And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need."

Observation Questions

In 1 John 3:16-18, how does the passage connect Jesus’ sacrifice to the way believers should respond to others in need?
Proverbs 31:8-9 charges believers to “defend the rights of the poor and needy.” What specific actions does this imply?
According to Acts 2:42-47, what practical steps did the early church take to ensure no one lacked necessities?
The sermon emphasized that foster care centers on reunification, not replacement. What statistic or example was given to support this? [31:08]

Interpretation Questions

Why does John contrast loving “in word or talk” versus “in deed and in truth”? What does this reveal about the nature of genuine love?
The phrase “closes his heart” in 1 John 3:17 suggests a refusal to act. How might this “closing” manifest in modern church culture?
Acts 2 describes believers selling possessions to meet needs. How does this challenge common assumptions about what “normal Christian community” looks like today?
How does the biblical focus on reunification in foster care align with the idea of “going upstream” to address systemic issues? [33:40]

Application Questions

Love that moves “from talk to action” requires sacrifice. What is one tangible need in your community (e.g., foster care, homelessness, single-parent households) where you could redirect time or resources this month?
The early church shared possessions freely. What is one item, skill, or resource you could offer to someone in your church or neighborhood this week?
How might you intentionally “see” needs you’ve previously overlooked (e.g., by volunteering, building relationships, or reevaluating daily routines)?
The sermon challenged the idea that “programs” alone create community. How could you prioritize shared sacrifice or open hospitality to deepen relationships in your small group? [38:48]
Foster care was framed as a way to “go upstream” and prevent future crises. What is one practical step (e.g., mentoring, supporting birth families, donating) you could take to address root causes of brokenness?
The QR code was presented as a “next step” to mobilize help. What hesitation or fear might hold you back from signing up, and how could you address it? [51:22]

Sermon Clips

37s

“``But the reality is that what did they do? Something that we don't see in the West a lot of times is right here where it says, they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. So what would it look like if we modeled our church after the early church? Nobody in our church family, and nobody surrounded or connected to our church family, that means people, families that we know, friends that we know, should be struggling without the church having a hand in supporting that person. Right? Because that is what the example that was given to us.”

30s

“So let's just bust a myth about what foster care is and what people tend to think about in the church space. A lot of times, people will preach about foster care from the position of, oh, we need to serve widows and orphans. Orphans. That's the scripture people use. And while that is true, true and undefiled religion, all of that good stuff, that's biblical, people in foster care are usually not orphans. So it's not the most accurate scripture to describe what's going on. There are families in crisis.”

25s

“That means each of us is gonna have to look inward and ask God, how am I called to sacrifice? How am I called to give of my time, my money, my resources? Right? It's not always some grandiose thing, but each of us has a call to sacrifice for first the church, because that's the biblical example that we see over and over throughout scripture. The narrative is that we sacrifice and we give to the fellow believers and then to those connected to the church as well.”

36s

“So now that I have pleaded and begged and given you scripture, let's talk about the answer. Right? So what can we actually do? So this is where Kingdom Village Foster Care and Family Support Ministry comes in. We are literally gonna create pathways for you to serve in your in your church and in the local community. So you won't have no excuses to be able to say, well, I don't know what I what can I do about the problems in my city? When you see things on the news and you're like, I don't know how I can help, guess what? You better sign up. Get an email. K? Because me and Ashley are gonna send you an email and tell you exactly how you can serve.”

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