{"id":41543,"date":"2015-03-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/paneras-kind-deed-has-huge-impact\/"},"modified":"2015-03-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-03-02T00:00:00","slug":"paneras-kind-deed-has-huge-impact","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/paneras-kind-deed-has-huge-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Panera’s Kind Deed Has Huge Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brandon Cook was visiting his ailing grandmother in a New Hampshire hospital. Nearby was a Panera café. The following letter explains what happened and was posted by the family on the Panera Facebook page:<\/p>\n\n

\n

My grandmother is passing soon with cancer. I visited her the other day and she was telling me about how she really wanted soup, but not hospital soup because she said it tasted awful; she went on about how she would really like some clam chowder from Panera. Unfortunately Panera only sells clam chowder on Friday. I called the manager, Sue, and told them the situation. I wasn't looking for anything special just a bowl of clam chowder. Without hesitation she said absolutely she would make her some clam chowder. When I went to pick it up they wound up giving me a box of cookies as well. It's not that big of a deal to most, but to my grandma it meant a lot. I really want to thank Sue and the rest of the staff from Panera in Nashua, NH just for making my grandmother happy. Thank you so much!<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Within days that short post received more than 800,000 likes. More importantly, more than 35,000 people took the time to write a brief Facebook message commending the bakery. The authors of the book A World Gone Social<\/em> tell the story and write about the effects:<\/p>\n\n

\n

The next quarter, Panera's same-store sales increased 28 per cent. The quarter after, same-store sales were up 34 per cent. Sure, there's no way of proving that this was all a direct result of the Facebook post, but the rapidly spreading goodwill generated by one person performing one moment of kindness, amplified nearly a million times over, certainly had a significant effect.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Possible preaching angles: Of course the Bible does not promise that our kind deeds will lead to a financial profit. However, we are promised that, in his timing and in his way, God will bless the quiet deeds of kindness and service from his people.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3483,3645,4043,4076,4170,4225,4321,4470,4557,4841,5005],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-41543","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-benevolence","tax_ctp_tags-community-impact","tax_ctp_tags-generosity","tax_ctp_tags-good-deeds","tax_ctp_tags-hospitality","tax_ctp_tags-impact","tax_ctp_tags-kindness","tax_ctp_tags-ministry","tax_ctp_tags-offering","tax_ctp_tags-reward-for-service","tax_ctp_tags-social-action"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nPanera's Kind Deed Has Huge Impact - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/paneras-kind-deed-has-huge-impact\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Panera's Kind Deed Has Huge Impact - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brandon Cook was visiting his ailing grandmother in a New Hampshire hospital. 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