Matthew 18:15-22

His constant transportation was a bicycle, pushed more than ridden . I rarely recall seeeing him without it.

For several years he ate meals at Shades. He was a loner and seemed to like it that way. On several occasions he asked me if I knew anything about Florida. A hearing deficiency prevented him from hearing my answers, which more often than not caused him to simply walk away, pushing the bike.

Eventually, I learned to answer his questions by printing on a note pad. He appreciated that, and I realized he was asking if I could inform him of a place where rent was affordable and weather warm. At age 85, the East Tennessee winters were hard to bear.

Pandemic came and I didn’t see him often as before. A few months ago, a local funeral director called and asked if I knew Mr. Chris. Our Shades of Grace : A United Methodist Congregation card was in his possession. He had finally found a very low budget shack and had died alone a week or more before being found. He was 87 years old with absolutely no known survivors.

I signed the cremation order as next of kin and received his cremains. Sadly, we had no photographs on file. By searching the police records, there was one mugshot from about 12-15 years ago. Apparently he was arrested after boarding a city bus when passengers complained of offensive body odor. Due to his hearing disability , he didn’t understand when the driver asked him to exit the bus. He became confused and somewhat combative. This, his arrest and mugshot.

We held his service a few months ago at Shades. Jimmy created a memorial folder with the sketch of a bicycle inscribed with a Bible verse. As I recall, less than a dozen people paid respects. His remains rest on a shelf in my office, along with another recently unclaimed lady’s urn. Both will be included in our annual burial of unclaimed folk.

Today, Landon sang the song” He Knows My Name.” Thank you Jesus for being friend to the friendless, and hope for the hopeless.

After interacting daily with addictions and mental challenges, I look forward to Saturday morning worship. That is a spiritual high point of my week. Even then we are not without hard decisions at times. Through it all, God is faithful. Miracles occur at God’s Living Room. Join us as we celebrate a beautiful time with the family of God. Maybe this is involved as personal holiness.

Introducing another face of homelessness:
I met him only through the stories I heard from people in the church. Everyone who mentions him recalls pretty much the same memory.

He was born into a privileged family and apparently didn’t know very much about survival in the big city streets; (or the country either for that matter.) After all, the best that money could buy was his.

I actually have a painting of him displayed on a wall at Shades of Grace : A United Methodist Congregation . He appears to be anybody’s son or brother, clad in a polo shirt and designer jeans. The only problem is the clothing is very dirty and tattered. He hasn’t combed his hair and a once neatly trimmed goatee had evolved into a shaggy beard.

He found himself in a culture with which he was very unfamiliar. The so called friends who had helped rip through what life savings he had were nowhere now to be found. And he had never known hunger like tormented his soul now.
He had never truly denounced family, although his choices had separated them. Bridges were burned. Reality had set in! There was nothing in that faraway place except death and heartache.

I tell men and women of all ages it’s not too late to turn it around. They can’t do it alone, but someone still believes in them.

Thankfully, this young man survived homelessness and hopelessness. And his daddy had been praying every day to see his kid again. By the way, you know him as the prodigal son. He only existed on the pages of a story Jesus told. But… you and I meet him every day, as we minister to the least of these.

Sunday is my true time of Sabbath, and I am grateful to be scattering gospel seeds along my path.

One of the vital services performed by Shades is the purchase of birth certificates for anyone who needs it. These documents are necessary for housing, jobs and many other reasons. Many of those who come to us are homeless and alienated from any family connection. So they don’t have access to this information, Jimmy secures the document and keeps a duplicate on file.

On July 1, 2014, I was appointed by the United Methodist Bishop to serve the streets of Kingsport, Tennessee.

As we prepare to begin our 10th year of ministry, we offer thanks and praise to God for more miracles than we could ever imagine. We are equally grateful for all our partners and friends who helped the ministry be where we are today. I look forward to sharing many more stories with you and experiencing many more virtual worship services. God be with you all. Shades of Grace : A United Methodist Congregation is living proof of our living God who loves each one unconditionally and gives us all a reason to keep pushing forward in faith.

Join us online Sunday and revisit this very unique and enlightening worship event. And invite a friend to tune in too! I believe you will be inspired.

Ministry at God’s Living Room is a most life changing and rewarding experience. It is at times the most difficult and heart wrenching experiences. Only the Lord knows the true impact on lives of the least of these. There aren’t enough words to describe this storefront house of worship.

The one thing that has never changed in our ever evolving congregation is the acceptance of ALL people. I have said many times if everyone is not welcome, then no one is welcome. It’s all or nothing. I firmly believe this commitment of caring for the least of these is the reason for our miraculous success and growth in the city. I’m thankful to represent Jesus in the United Methodist Church.

We formerly live-streamed at 4:00 p.m. Sundays in real time. We continue streaming at that same time by edit\redaction and upload of previous Saturday service. Through it all, no aspect of our outreach and ministry ceased. We remain strong and vibrant as we seek to live into the vision of making disciples of Jesus Christ for transformation of our world. We are a safe sanctuary that welcomes and embraces ALL persons in the name of Jesus!

People come to the doors of Shades of Grace at all hours. People come in every size, shape, color, condition, circumstance, and imaginable lifestyle. They come happy, high, hungover, ill, angry, rejected, satisfied, lonely, confused, unloved and feeling unworthy.

When they come, we do not ask them to answer questions or try to determine whether or not they are worthy.They simply come because the word ‘church’ is on our windows. And Jesus says “Come.” We feed them, clothe them, give hot showers, medicines, and pray with those who are open to it. But all is done in Jesus’ name. They know we will meet them where they are and not necessarily where we want them to be. A song we sing simply says, “People need the Lord. At the end of broken dreams, Christ is the open door.”

God loves all people. We are called to love all people. God is love. We’re simply scattering seeds and the Holy Spirit helps them grow. The end result belongs to God. We will continue to welcome, accept and embrace all people in the name of Jesus Christ. We are the church. We are the people of God. This is the kingdom of God. It’s where I desire to be. Grateful for a storefront house of worship called Shades of Grace : A United Methodist Congregation. It is called God’s Living Room.

“Shades” began in October, 2014 as a new church start of Holston Conference. Due to the nature of ministry with the least of these, there is no membership available. Anyone who claims a place here is accepted and given opportunities to be fully included in ministry. We offer sacrament of holy communion and baptism upon profession of faith. Worship is non traditional in many ways, but solidly grounded in Wesleyan theology. We offer some of the very best music and worship to be found anywhere.

The ministry is active Monday through Saturdays every week, and closed on Sundays. We feed hundreds of meals to our community friends who are homeless and in need each week and provide hot showers for men and women. We furnish a clothing closet. We provide many funerals for homeless unclaimed in partnership with a local funeral home and Immanuel Lutheran Church.

Please share this ministry. It doesn’t matter where you live, who you love, car you drive (or not), live in a house or cardboard box, attire, piercings or tattoos. God loves ALL.
As Oscar often says, “Pray for all who deal with addiction and depression. The world needs a lot more love. So, let it go; let it go.”

Challenging all to exercise and walk. Keeping up my steps. Staying healthy as possible…Let’s get it done! Keep moving.

May eternal flames of the CHRIST candle continue to light our path as we walk each other home. My prayer is that not one of God’s little ones will ever be made to stumble because of my sincere efforts to fully follow the LORD. Thy will be done, LORD!

You can now listen to Shades of Grace on the Radio – FM 92.1

Wednesday at 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. – Bible Study with Pastor Regina Shelton
Recovery at Shades: Recovery meeting for ALL on Monday at 5:00 p.m. at 313 E. Sullivan St. Meetings will continue each Monday. Led by our Shades of Grace folk.