Last Saturday, Cross Point Church organized and mobilized 1,600+ volunteers into flood-ravaged Nashville communities to serve and help families affected by the flood begin the clean-up process.  Yesterday I shared one of my take-aways from that day, and today I want to share another.

All during last week immediately following the flood, my heart was so heavy for what was happening in my city.  As such, I fully expected to be an emotional wreck last Saturday as I got the opportunity to help hands-on and be in the middle of so much of the destruction.  The first few sights I saw were overwhelming, as huge piles of debris lined the sidewalks in front of every single home.  Once we got to the neighborhood our team was assigned, we got into groups and dispersed to serve.

With each home, homeowner and volunteer we encountered, I could not escape the overwhelming sense of hope that was everywhere.  Sure there was a lot of loss, and there were plenty of questions, but there was also community and humanity.  Sprouts of hope were pressing their way through the soil of confusion that otherwise blanketed entire communities. You couldn’t necessarily see it with your eyes, you had to see it with your heart.

See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. – Isaiah 43:19

Throughout much of the day last Saturday, Gungor’s “Beautiful Things” song was running through my head. The song paints a perfect picture of the collision of loss and hope that so many are experiencing in the wake of the flood, and that I saw first-hand last week.  So, imagine my surprise (and explosion of emotions) when the worship team at Cross Point sang “Beautiful Things” the very next morning (which had been planned for WEEKS)!

Below is a video with images of Cross Point volunteers serving the flooded communities of Nashville, set to Gungor’s “Beautiful Things.” It’s a powerful video and depiction of hope in the midst of loss, hurt and confusion.

This Saturday, Cross Point is partnering with WAY-FM to once again dispatch volunteers out to serve flooded communities of our city.  If you’re interested in joining us, you can meet everyone Saturday morning at the Cross Point Bellevue campus at 9am (more information here). We’d love to have groups from your church, your office, your neighborhood, etc, come join us in being the hands and feet of Christ and serving our city.   If you can’t go, you can still give.

You make me new, You are making me new…