Lovin’ Da Ghetto …Like Jesus Did

03/14/09

Outline

•WHO are the ghetto?•WHY are we to love the ghetto?

•HOW do we love the ghetto?•WHERE do we go from here?

WHO Are the Ghetto?

Forget About You for One Moment…

“My girl America's crying when she's lying on her bed at night

I can see that she's screaming when she's dreaming for her freedom

My girl America's dying while she's trying just to stop this

fight”-Mat Kearney

One Day in the Life of America’s Children

4 children are killed by abuse or neglect

5 children or teens commit suicide5 children or teens are killed by firearms

77 babies die before their first birthdays 177 children are arrested for violent

crimes 375 children are arrested for drug abuse 500 children or teens attempt to commit suicide 1,186 babies are born to teen mothers

One Day in the Life of America’s Children

2,341 babies are born to mothers who are not high

school graduates 2,385 babies are born into poverty 2,482 children are confirmed abused or neglected 2,756 high school students drop out

3,742 babies are born to unmarried mothers 4,262 children are arrested

America’s Fatherless

United States leads the world in fatherless families

24 million children (34% of all kids) fatherless

12 million children haven’t ever been in their dad’s home

9.4 million children haven’t seen their father in a year

America’s Abused Children

• A child is abused or neglected every 35 seconds. – 4 in 10 of the children who are

abused or neglected get NO help at all after their initial investigation.

• 1 out of every 4 women in America will be sexually molested or abused

The Fatherless & the Motherless

United States• More than 800,000 children are in foster

care each year• 117,000 children are eligible for adoption

from foster care but have not been adopted

World• 143.5 million children have lost 1 or both

parents• 90% of girls without either parents will

become prostitutes

“Do you see, do you seeAll the people sinking down?

Don't you care, don't you care?

Are you gonna let them drown?“

-Keith Green

Are YOU letting them drown?

WHY are we to love the ghetto?

“The Lord your God … defends the cause of the fatherless and the

widow”

Deuteronomy 10:17-18

“Father to the fatherless, Defender of widows—

      this is God, whose dwelling is holy.

God places the lonely in families;

      He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy ”

Psalm 68:5-6

“He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and He will

rescue them. He will redeem them from

oppression and violence, for their lives are precious

to Him.” Psalm 72:13-14

Are they precious to you?

Who Did Jesus Hang With?

Is this who YOU spend your time with?

“Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests,

along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’

followers.)

But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating

with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does He

eat with such scum?”

Matthew 2:13-17

When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor— sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but

those who know they are sinners”

“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us;

and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s

goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but

in deed and in truth. ” 1 John 3:16-18

“For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be

saved.’But how can they call on Him

to save them unless they believe in Him?

And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard

about Him? And how can they hear about

Him unless someone tells them?”

Romans 10:13-14

“For I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did

not take Me in; naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit

Me.” Matthew 25:42

“When it comes to caring for the people on God’s heart, indifference is a

sin.”

-Tom Davis

HOW Do We Love the Ghetto?

How Do We Love the Ghetto?

1. Identify WHO they are in your town.

2. GO to them…they’re not going to come to you.

3. Love them UNCONDITIONALLY…words are cheap…give em’ your TIME

4. Point them to the Saviour

Identify Who They Are in Your Town

• Kids without mothers or fathers

• Single moms• Troubled kids• Foster children• Lonely college

students• Homeless• Children of

prisoners• Widows• Sick• Outcasts

GO to them• Mentor the fatherless and the

motherless– See mentoring programs– Kids in your neighborhood– YMCA/Boys & Girls Club/Salvation

Army/Children’s Homes– After school programs at public schools

• Adopt a single mother and her family• Host the best non-alcoholic parties/bible

studies at your house for lost students• Reach out to foreign exchange students

in your area

GO to them• Invite the people that no one cares

for at your school to an outreach bible study in your home

• Keep track of the widows in your neighborhood

• Neighborhood cookouts• Hang out at skate parks,

neighborhood parks• Summer neighborhood day clubs• Visit nursing homes and hospitals• Nothing beats ICE CREAM!!!

Love them UNCONDITIONALLY

• Today’s generation could care less about what someone says…they won’t believe anything until they can trust you

• Trying to get a lost person to change their actions is pointless

• ASK QUESTIONS: get to know EVERYTHING about them

• Love them and let them know that you love them even when they seem completely unlovable.– Ask the Lord to help you do this, it’s really hard!

• Check up on them all of the time and find ways to show them that you love them, give them your time and your heart…cuz deep down they expect you to abandon them

Point Them to the Savior• Pray, pray, pray, pray, and pray• Listen to their hurts• Always remind them that you hurt for them

but even bigger God understands their pain.

• Remind them that nothing in this world (things, love, relationships) can take away their pain.

• Always bring them to the Word for answers• Show them how Jesus had a heart for them• Bible studies, bible studies, bible studies

WHERE do we go from here?

Change

Change: A shift…•In what we think we are capable of

•In where we want to see our life heading

•In how we are willing to spend our time, talents, and resources

Change: A shift…

In what we think we are capable of (really saying what we think the Lord is capable of)

“They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust in the Lord to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly. They share freely and give generously to those in need.”

• Foes can be everyone but the Lord. Trust Him Psalm

112:7-9

Change: A shift…

In where we want to see our life heading

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it….anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me”

• Self MUST dieJohn 12:24-

26

Change: A shift…

In how we are willing to spend our time, talents, and resources

“Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives tales. Instead train yourself to be godly.”—1 Timothy 4:7

“We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. For even Christ didn’t live to please Himself.” –Romans 15:1-3

“Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires.“ 1 Peter 1:14-15

John 12:24-26

Change: A shift…• Things in your life will have to go…

– Set apart one day every week just for this• Say goodbye to activities that…

– Aren’t necessary– Don’t build up your walk with the Lord– Don’t build up fellow believers– Aren’t reaching out to the lost

• Example– TV– Internet– Movies– Shopping– Stuff

Don’t Be…Asleep in the LightDo you see, do you see

All the people sinking downDon't you care, don't you careAre you gonna let them drown

How can you be so numbNot to care if they come

You close your eyesAnd pretend the job's done

Oh bless me Lord, bless me LordYou know it's all I ever hearNo one aches, no one hurtsNo one even sheds one tear

But He cries, He weeps, He bleedsAnd He cares for your needs

And you just lay backAnd keep soaking it in,

Oh, can’t you see it’s such a sin?

Don’t Be…Asleep in the LightCause He brings people to your door,

And you turn them awayAs you smile and say,

“God bless you, be at peace”And all heaven just weeps

Cause Jesus came to you doorYou've left him out on the streets

Open up open upAnd give yourself away

You see the need, you hear the criesSo how can you delay

God's calling and you're the oneBut like Jonah you runHe's told you to speak

But you keep holding it in,Oh can't you see it's such a sin?

Don’t Be…Asleep in the LightThe world is sleeping in the dark

That the church just can't fightCause it's asleep in the light

How can you be so deadWhen you've been so well fed?

Jesus rose from the graveAnd you, you can't even get out of bed

Oh, Jesus rose from the deadCome on, get out of your bed

How can you be so numbNot to care if they come

You close your eyesAnd pretend the job's done

You close your eyesAnd pretend the job's done

Don't close your eyesDon't pretend the jobs done

-Keith Green

• Reckless Faith: Beth Guckenburger• One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven:

Mark Cahill• Crazy Love: Francis Chan• Your Home: A Birthing Place for

Heaven? Warren Henderson• True Discipleship: Bill MacDonald• Fields of the Fatherless: Tom Davis• Castaway Kid: R. B. Mitchell• Small Town, Big Miracle: W. C. Martin

Contact Info

•Hannah Kelderman–scarlet_thread@hotmail.com–(316) 807-7610

–http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qANGp9NQUyI&feature=related