JOE: Welcome to Fred Jordan Mission. I'm Joe Jordan. I'm
excited today because it's another day that we get to
display God's love to those in need by sharing the love of
Jesus with others. Fred Jordan Mission's always been about
declaring and demonstrating His love, declaring by letting
people know there's a God in heaven that loves them, and that
Jesus came to this earth to give His life them. That if they
place their faith and trust in Jesus, they could be forgiven of
their sins. If they want to turn from their sinful life and their
ways like, I did, way way back many years ago and turn to Jesus
and accept him as Lord and Savior, they could be saved. And
so we've been sharing Jesus. We've been demonstrating Jesus
by just sharing with these kids and families, moms and dads, how
much God loves them meeting their needs because it's so
important to do so. I wanted to talk to you today about
broken-hearted. Are you broken-hearted today? Have you
been broken hearted in your life? I'm sure you have. I don't
think that anyone walks on this earth for any amount of time
without being broken hearted, without feeling like life has
just thrown them a curve. There's been a suffering, a
trial or a storm that's just ripped at your heart every day.
Here on Skid Row and at Fred Jordan Mission, we meet kids and
families, men and women, those who live really right here
behind me, in front of our front doors, in front of our chapel
doors. They live behind over here on the sidewalks, and the
streets of LA and Skid Row. It's their home. In fact,
unfortunately, I'm standing right here in the alley, right
where the curb is, where the curb and the gutter is. I'm
actually standing on the V shape of the gutter that runs through
the alley. This is a place unfortunately, that those who
live on the street who are brokenhearted, and who have lost
so much end up using the restroom. This is where they
live. They breathe and they have their being not a great place,
not how God intended it, but today I want to share with you
some hope that God is with the broken hearted. God cares about
the broken hearted, and I want to share with you today how we
are called to help the broken hearted because many times in
the midst of the storms and the trials and when we're broken
hearted, we don't feel God. We don't sense God. It's like,
where are you God? But I think the thing that I've realized in
my life is that if you want God to be in the midst of your
broken heart moment, in the midst of your storm and your
trials, you need to invite Him in and ask Him. God is always
there. I'll read some scripture to let you know God is always
there. He's always available. He cares for us. He cares about us
and our situations, but we need to ask Him in to those
situations to help us through those storms and trials. So many
families that are behind me right here, it's amazing how
they just keep going through life and they're resilient, but
families and kids behind me, they're just so precious. God
created them in His image and likeness, but they suffer in
poverty, and they need help. They need a hand up. We're not
here to just be the grocery store or the place that they go
to get everything, but we want to be there when they don't have
something. We want to be there when they need a little help,
and we want to be there to provide love and hope in a time
when they're broken hearted. So many of these families have lost
a child. Children have lost parents. The stories go on and
on and on of the loss, the heartbreak and the broken
hearted that come here to Fred Jordan Mission are received with
love, with arms of love and compassion. Sometimes we just
got to go and give 'em a hug, a high five, just let 'em know
that we love them, and God loves them. But we also get to do that
on Skid Row here every day with the homeless, with those who
don't have shelter, that are unhoused because so many live on
the streets. The estimates are now somewhere in 70,000 that are
homeless in Los Angeles. It's incredible, and with 70,000
people homeless, that's bigger than most cities in America. I
mean, not big cities like Los Angeles where there's millions
or whatever, but towns that I grew up in, I think in Covina
when I grew up, it was 70 or 80,000 people, now, it might be
two or 300,000 people. But there's just towns all over that
don't even have 70,000 people in a whole town and community, and
yet 70,000 people are unhoused, live on the streets of Los
Angeles, and don't have much hope. So that's why we're here,
to provide hope, to be there when things are heartbroken, to
be there when they're breaking inside and they don't know what
to do. The broken hearted God cares about, and I love to see
God's Word when it says things like this from Psalm 34:18, the
Lord is near to the broken hearted. He saves those who are
crushed in spirit. There's no need to worry. He's close by,
but remember, just because the Bible says He's there and that
He wants to be there with the broken hearted and the crushed
in spirit, we also need to go to God. We also need to cast our
cares, our worries, our burdens, and take our broken hearts to
Him. And when we do, he is faithful. He meets us right
where we're at. One thing that I know for sure is that God loves
us unconditionally. He loves us. He's interested in our lives.
He's interested in what we go through. He has compassion. He
has mercy. He has grace that He wants to extend to us, but we
need to reach out to Him and say, God, I need you. I can't do
it on my own. Too many times I've tried to do it on my own. I
talked to people who live on the streets, pastor, I'm just going
to do it myself. I can make it. I can live. I can have my being.
I can do it, but they can't because none of us can. We can't
live this life on our own, and we weren't meant to, we're meant
have a relationship with God, and that's why he sent Jesus to
die for us so that we could have a relationship with Him through
Christ Jesus. Is God near to the brokenhearted? Is Jesus ready to
receive us when we're broken and hurting?
Stay with us. We'll be right back.
JOE: Here at Fred Jordan Missions. Every day we see all,
all types of people. I remember as a kid, my father, Fred and my
mom, Willie, teaching me a song about Jesus loves the little
children of the world, red and yellow, black and white. We are
all precious in God's sight. I still know that song. I taught
it to my children, and that's exactly what we see here at Fred
Jordan Mission every day. Red and yellow, black and white,
every single person that you could think of from children all
the way to seniors are here on the streets living in LA. And
they come to our doors to be loved on, to be shared with that
Jesus loves you and Jesus saves. We hand out water, we hand out
drinks. We hand out snacks. We preach the gospel. We have hot
meals, we do special events, but if you want to know who comes
through our doors, it's all of us. There's no certain person.
There's no certain look, but like I said, in that song, red
and yellow, black and white, we're all precious in God's
sight. That's who we see here every day at Fred Jordan
Mission. People from all around this country, that end up on
these streets can come through our door and we
will serve them as we declare and demonstrate
the love of Jesus to those in need.
ANNOUNCER: Join the conversation by connecting with us on social
media. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
and more. Visit us at social.fjm.org.
MUSIC
JOE: Well welcome back, here on the streets of Skid Row we're
doing a big distribution for kids and families, moms and
dads, grandparents, and we're demonstrating God's love today.
But right before we demonstrated God's love, we declared God's
love by sharing about Jesus's love for all of us and how He
died on the cross for all of us and how He cares for all of us.
We shared about that God is there for not only those broken
in spirit, but broken in their hearts, whether it's
relationship issue, a health issue, whether it's just
something they're struggling through financially or something
else. We want to share always that God is there to meet every
need, to be there in all of our times of trouble. God loves us
so much and He's interested in those things that break our
hearts. He's interested in being there for the broken hearted.
There's so many Bible verses. There's so many passages that
talk about this, that talk about the oppressed, the broken
hearted, the forgotten people, and that's how people on skid
row feel every single day. They feel forgotten. My father heard
about it through the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies,
eighties. Then he went to be with Jesus in heaven. My mom
heard about it all of her life, and I've heard about it all of
my life. We have seen so many broken hearted people, mostly
right here on the streets of Skid Row. Ones who live in
tents, ones who live in cardboard boxes, and many I see
as I drive around or walk around that just live under maybe a
space blanket, which is almost like just a piece of plastic.
Many I see live in just a sleeping bag. Many just a
blanket that they got from the mission over them. There's no
place to lay their head except the concrete streets, sidewalks
and doorways of like the mission and all the other buildings
around. They're broken hearted. They're people who have had
dreams and goals. Many have gone to school and even college. Many
have made some bad choices. Many have some addiction issues. Many
have some mental problems, but they're still God's people. And
when the brokenhearted or before us, and especially as
Christians, it's our duty, it's our calling, it's our
responsibility to reach out to the brokenhearted. To help ease
that broken heart, to help walk through those rough times with
them. And there's nothing better than volunteers. Our staff,
myself, walking along the streets, going and shaking
hands, giving hugs to people and just letting them know that they
matter, that they are loved. We have groups from all over the
country that come to our center for evangelism. We teach 'em how
to go out and share their testimony, to share how much God
loved them enough to save them, and hopefully their story can
help someone else that lives on the streets. And it's amazing
how kids and youth, young people, young adults, pastors
will come here and stay with us for a day, or two, or a week,
and they'll share God's love with the broken hearted. You
see, there's broken hearted everywhere. You know what you're
viewing today. You might have a broken heart. You might feel
abandoned. You might feel like no one's there for you, and I
understand because we all feel that at some point. I know I've
been broken hearted many times when I've lost someone. I lost
my father. I was broken hearted. It was a really hard time for me
because he was my mentor. He was my friend. He was the one that
started all this. He's the one that gave me the foundation that
he did. He taught me how to throw a baseball. He taught me
how to throw a football. He taught me how to run, taught me
how to ride a bike. He taught me everything, and then he was at
every game I had. He was at every sporting event. He would
cancel things to go be with me and see me play, all the way
through college. I played football and he actually came to
Missouri and he watched me play ball there, and it was amazing.
My mom was there, of course, too, but those examples of mom
and dad were so special, but then when I lost him, I was
brokenhearted. I felt a little bit lost. Who's going to teach
me? Who's going to train me? Who's going to continue the
progress that God was using him to help me with? And of course
then my mom stepped in and she always taught us through our
life as kids and stuff, but now she was mom and dad at 23 years
old to me because my dad went to be with Jesus in heaven. She was
the one then that took me in and gave me an opportunity here at
the mission over 36 years ago to help my broken heart, by serving
the broken hearted. And I'll tell you, there's nothing better
medicine wise in my opinion than when you're wrestling as a
Christian through a broken heart situation. When you're wrestling
through those times that are just so painful inside and your
heart just aches and you're able to reach out and touch someone
else. Go along someone else and walk alongside of them and help
them in their time of need when they're broken hearted, because
you realize real quick, as bad as losing my father was there
were people living on the streets that were in such a
terrible place, and sometimes I know you know what I'm talking
about here. Sometimes it's kind of, woe is me. Look what I'm
going through. Isn't this terrible? And I'm not saying
that it's not. I've been through some terrible times aside from
losing my father, my mom having a stroke. But even in all of
those heartaches, betrayal, and other things that people do to
you, it really pales at time in comparison to how some people
live their lives. The broken hearted here on Skid Row, the
broken hearted that you might know that are suffering through
the loss of a child, loss of a spouse, the loss of their life,
their job, everything is just stripped away. Maybe you're
brokenhearted because you have a child or a grandchild that's
wandering, that's hooked on drugs. I know my parents used to
pray all night long for me and my six brothers and sisters when
we were lost or we were wandering, and I know that took
a toll on them. I know that we caused them to be broken hearted
many times. But as I was saying just a minute ago, for me
walking alongside of those on Skid Row, I used to go and walk
through the alley, walk along front of the mission around the
corner, cross the street, shake hands with people, just let 'em
know we love them. We're here for 'em at Fred Jordan Mission
and that we want to be there as just support for them and let
'em know that someone cares, that someone's listening. And in
80 years of doing so, God has used us in such a mighty way to
help touch lives and make a difference in lives of those who
are broken hearted. You see, the broken hearted will always be
with us. They'll always be with us, but the one thing I know is
if we, as the body of Christ, no matter what situation we're in,
if we will step in and walk alongside of somebody, we can
ease that suffering and ease that pain that they're going
through. Again, there are many passages and Bible verses about
God having a heart for the oppressed, for the poor, for the
broken hearted. Here's one in Psalm 82:3. It says this, give
justice to the weak and the fatherless. Maintain the right
of the afflicted and the destitute. And talk about
destitute. I have seen since I was a little boy destitute, in
extreme measures on Skid Row. As my dad called him, his forgotten
people. Not only forgotten, but they felt, and they feel at
times those who live on the street like no one in the
universe cares, not even God. But that's where we get to come
in as a ministry. We get to come in with your partnership and
your help and your love and your support every day here at Fred
Jordan Mission and feed them when they're hungry, clothe them
when they're naked and wrap blankets around them when
they're cold. There's nothing better than serving God by
serving those who are brokenhearted. In Matthew 25,
it's one of our theme verses. It says this, verse 35, for I was
hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you
clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and
you came to see me. God communicates with us in so many
different ways through His Word, by his Holy Spirit, through
other pastors and leaders and other Christians, and just know
this, God not only cares about our situations and our broken
heart, but He also wants to help us through that. He wants to
instruct us and help us with our behavior, our character, our
attitudes to be more like Jesus. He wants to help us as we live
our lives, and He wants to help us in the time of need.
Ultimately, He sent Jesus Christ to this earth to die for our
sins, so that if we would believe and receive Him, we
could have eternal life. In Ephesians 1:7, it says this, in
Him, we have redemption by the Blood. The blood that was shed
on the cross, the forgiveness of our trespasses, our sins against
God, of course. According to the riches of His grace, the Bible
says, for it is by grace, you have been saved through faith
and not of yourself because we can't do it. It's a gift of God.
It's gift, and every day at Fred Jordan Mission, we get to share
that gift, the gift of God, where we get to tell people that
God gave His son, gave His life for you and for me. I want you
at home to know that if you're suffering, if you're broken
hearted or someone know that's broken hearted, walk alongside
of them and ease their broken heart. If you're broken hearted,
let us know. Write us DM us. Go get on the phone or email us, or
you can go to fjm.org and send us a message. Send us a prayer
request because we want to pray for you and walk alongside of
you when you're broken hearted. Remember these four things, God
comforts us in our time of suffering, when we're broken
hearted. God delivers us. He shows us the way out of troubled
situations. He delivers us from our sins, when we place our
faith and trust in Him. God walks with us through everything
in this life, when we will just invite Him in and He'll help us
to become more like Jesus through it, and God is always
faithful. Even when we're not faithful, God is faithful.
Nothing more live than that. LAPD helicopter just flew
overhead, and I didn't even know this, but they had a siren
going, letting I guess all of us on the ground know that they
were going to rescue someone or something. So Jesus, we pray for
wherever those officers go, that you will just keep people safe,
and if people need Jesus, that you'll save them anyway. Just
know that God is always with you. He's with the broken
hearted. Stay tuned, we'll be right back.
MUSIC
JOE: As we always try to do at Fred Jordan Mission, we try to
declare and demonstrate the love of Jesus, to those in need who
are helpless and homeless and hopeless with the hope of Jesus.
And it's because of you. We couldn't do it without you. Our
partners, our friends, if you're in a place today that you can
help those in need, those who have nothing, those that are
destitute, those who live on the concrete streets of LA. If you
can help us to reach them, to feed them, to clothe them, to
care for them, please, we need you because with you, we could
do more in lifting up the name of Jesus and seeing souls come
into the kingdom and blessed. God bless you.
MUSIC
ANNOUNCER: Join the conversation by connecting with us on social
media. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
and more. Visit us at social.fjm.org.
MUSIC
JOE: Well, in closing today, I just appreciate you being here
with us. Second Corinthians 1:4 says this, who comforts us in
all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort others in
their time of affliction? I know this, it's awesome to know that
God comforts those who help comfort others in their time of
affliction and broken heartedness. Will you continue
to stand with us? If you don't stand with us, will you come and
volunteer, pray for us or financially? Would you consider
becoming a monthly partner, a partner that says, yes every
month, Joe, in our 80th year, I'll give $8 a month. I'll give
$80 a month, $800, whatever God puts on your heart, but I want
to be an impact partner and make an impact for Jesus. Because I
believe God has used Fred Jordan Mission in Los Angeles for the
last 80 years serving Him by serving others. Do we make a
difference here? Yes. Why? Because it's God doing the work
through you and through us. Let God help you in your time of
affliction. Let God walk with you in your broken heartedness
and let us know how we can pray for you. God bless you.
MUSIC
ANNOUNCER: Jesus once said, "What you do for the least of
these, you do for me". With your generous support, Fred Jordan
Mission has been fulfilling this calling for over 80 years, by
feeding hungry people here on Skid Row. Together we made a
difference. Together, we have given hope to those less
fortunate, and together we have demonstrated the love of Jesus
to those in need. We deeply appreciate your support and we
ask that you please continue to give to this life-changing
mission. Go online to give at fjm.org. Whatever the amount,
great or small, your donation is greatly appreciated.
ANNOUNCER: FJM Mission has been giving hope to those on Skid Row
for over 80 years, and we need your help to continue declaring
and demonstrating the love of God. Donate right now online at
fjm.org. Or if a stamp and snail mail is more your style,
then please send your check to FJM 12345,
Covina, California 91722. Thank you.
FEMALE: (SINGING) When the night comes, and there is no one. And
you feel hopeless and abandoned. Just take my hand, and lift your
eyes. Change is coming, love has arrived. We will overcome the
sorrow. We will see the dawn tomorrow. We will soldier on.
down this road, as we reach for home. Reach for home.
ANNOUNCER: Please will you join us in feeding hungry children
and their families by phoning today? 844-FJM-Food or donating
online fjm.org. That's fjm.org or mail your check to Fred
Jordan Mission, PO Box 12345, Covina,
California 91722. Please will you help?
FEMALE: (SINGING) Reach for home.
ANNOUNCER: The proceeding program was sponsored by
Generous Friends and partners of Fred Jordan Missions.