Submitted by Pastor Cathy Riggins, Good News Church and Westboro Methodist Church

Last week, I was blessed to attend a town hall community health needs assessment at Community Hospital-Fairfax. They invited business leaders, community servants, law enforcement, and churches to come together and discuss what we felt the county most needed. As I sat there, I was surrounded by some of the most caring, intelligent, empathetic, and knowledgeable people in the county. We all agreed on some of the most fervent needs of our communities, for example, some of the top answers were childcare, mental health, substance abuse, and transportation.

Unfortunately, the meeting did not include a brainstorming session on resolving these issues. As Brad and I left the meeting, we were baffled by what seemed to be an obvious answer to all of these problems: JESUS. In worship, we have been discussing how to seek the kingdom of God and what it looks like when we achieve it, and the answer could simply be a community that no longer struggles with these issues.

We worship a miracle worker who can handle all of our problems and issues but what I am proposing today is that when we seek the kingdom of God and step into the life that He has planned for us it frees us up for joyful obedience that will allow us to not only help one another but enjoy doing it!

Here is my challenge for you this year of 2025. What do you think are our communities’ greatest needs? And how are we as believers stepping up to fill those needs? As we seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness for ourselves, how is it translating and transforming the community around us? When this date next year comes up I would love to be able to see how we, as the body of Christ, have made a dent on some of these needs in this county!