With temperatures near 70 degrees, it didn’t look a lot like Christmas outside Macedonia Apostolic Church Wednesday afternoon.

But inside, the Christmas spirit was alive and well as children from Selma were provided a Merry Christmas a few days early.

Throughout the afternoon, needy families dropped by and were given toys of all kinds to place under the tree. The project, Bishop Robert Pettus said, is the church’s way of giving something back to the community.

“We just wanted to spread a little love out there,” he said. “It’s Christmas and we have some needy families in this city. We wanted to be a part of the efforts to make sure they had gifts this year.”

In the past, Pettus said the congregation has given out gift cards, hams and turkeys. With so many needy children in Selma, Pettus said they decided to focus their efforts on the next generation.

“This year, we wanted to focus on the kids and their Christmas,” he said. “We wanted to let them know we care. We’re a small church, but we wanted to do something to make a little impact on the community.”

Each child was given three to five gifts during the Christmas toy drive.

Community service is nothing new to Macedonia. In October, Pettus worked with the Selma Police Department in a gun buyback program, which removed 57 guns.