Jon Taylor – Lead Pastor

It’s one thing to consider Jesus’ command to love one another when we apply it to one we might see only once or even rarely, and it’s another thing altogether to apply it to our real, physical neighbors we live near.

Several passages of Scripture encourage us to let our light shine (Matthew 5:13-16; Ephesians 5:8-10; Philippians 2:14-16a are a few), and our challenge in the message on 16 February was to let our light shine in the neighborhood where we live.

The challenge was issued to do two action steps: 1.) To learn the names of 8 of the neighbors who live closest to you in the next 2 weeks; and 2.) to plan some kind of activity to bring neighbors together by the end of May.  Some ideas of activities and ways to plan a block party can be found at artofneighboring.com.  I encourage you to check out their resources.  Also, I would encourage you to get and read the book, The Art of Neighboring.  It is a great and easy read and will encourage you to live out part of the Great Commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.

We’d love to hear from you as you get to know your neighbors and host a block party.  How many of your neighbors do you currently know by name?  If you’ve hosted a neighborhood block party, what was successful and what tips can you share with the rest of us?