Matthew 25:31-46

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 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.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Impact Church of Christ background

During the last half of 1986, three preachers from the Houston area having "mid-life" crises" and without portfolio began to plan for a new ministry to the city of Houston. They were without experience in this area, without existing models among Churches of Christ and without support. On the second Sunday morning of 1987, sixty-seven very apprehensive participants gathered at Lee Elementary School in the near North Side close to downtown for the first worship service. They sang, they worshipped, they preached and they shared a meal. People came from the suburbs, from other parts of Houston and from shelters close by. They have never had a smaller crowd and the format remains unchanged.

During the next ten years they would average one move per year as they outgrew facilities or were displaced by unhappy landlords or those complaining from nearby neighborhoods. Their present property was purchased in 1992 and the Distribution Center was constructed in 1993. Their present Bible Study Building was purchased in 1999 having been leased for several years. They met in city parks, YMCA, a declining housing project close to downtown and a warehouse on Washington Ave. They rented offices on Studemont for several years and started their distribution center in a small store front on White Oak Dr. They met in their present building for about three years awaiting funding for conversion from a warehouse to a church building. No heating, no air conditioning and the crowds were huge!!

In early 2000 they moved into their newly refurbished facilities and were able to occupy the Education Building three months later, just in time for their summer program.

The Staff has changed in addition with only two leaving to re-enter mission work in Central and South America and those changes were planned before they came. They have had hundreds of Summer Interns who came for various lengths of time, some staying for several years. Numbers into the thousands have come for Work Camp in early June. Hundreds of homes have been painted by these students. Groups large and small come during the year to work in service projects and to learn of urban ministry. Former Impact workers have begun urban ministries in other parts of this country, influenced by their stays in Houston. Impact's outreach to youth during the summer brings groups from around the country to assist, requires fifty interns and serves 450 children.

Our support of the Ministry

Impact is a unique mission for us. It is one of the few that many of our members visit and participate directly in the work. Jersey Village has supported Impact for several years in many ways. We serve a Sunday after service meal twice a year, our Ladies Bible class assembles bags of toiletries for distribution to the homeless, our ministers have helped lead devotionals on Wednesday mornings, we collect clothes for their closet and many other ways. There is much to do and the Impact Church of Christ is doing an amazing job of getting it done. We are honored to help them in God's work.

Visit Impact's web site at http://www.impacthouston.org/