Social justice and the Church goes hand in hand. Our Global Senior Pastor Brian Houston has penned the vision for our Church, globally, called “The Church I Now See”, which includes “…the Church that I see is committed to bringing the love and hope of Christ to impossible situations through the preaching of the gospel and a mandate that drives us to do all we can to bring help and solution to a needy world.”

I love our Church and its heart for justice, to reach people in need anywhere, and show them compassion and bring tangible change. We recognise that we are blessed to be a blessing, that we don’t just preach hope from the platform but we can bring hope to a lost and broken world. This is outworked through our local initiatives like City Care, where we love on people in need in our own city and communities. But it goes so much further than that, to all corners of the worlds supporting partners like Vision Rescue, helping and educating children in the slums of India. A21 in fighting human trafficking around the world. Preemptive Love working on the frontlines, helping victims of war in the middle east and Hillsong Africa Foundation helping people in destitute circumstances, in communities across South Africa.

Jesus is hope for humanity, this hope is outworked through the local Church, which is the hands and feet of Jesus. No organisation is more uniquely positioned than the local Church to care for people, to care for the widow and orphan, bring justice to the oppressed or love the outcast.

When asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus’ says to love God with all your heart and  to love your neighbour as you love yourself. He follows by telling the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate who our neighbour is. The Samaritan was the only person who not only saw the need of a man lying beaten at the side of the road, but who took action and used what was in his hands to care for the man. In other words, our neighbour is not just the person living next door, but the need we encounter and is able to help.

We can’t do everything, but each one of us can do something to make a difference in the life of someone else. Heart For The House is our collective way of reaching people in extreme needs, and enables us to help in places and situations we could otherwise not.

By Philip Hyldgaard