During the Christmas season, we encouraged our people to spend the next year building relationships for the purpose of sharing Jesus. The central message of the Scriptures is this, God coming to us by becoming one of us. Jesus came to open the way for us to be friends with God. For those who follow Jesus, one of the most important ways we can be like Him is to intentionally build relationships with those in our neighborhoods. Now, only Jesus is truly God with us. He is our only Savior, and the only one who can bring redemption and restoration. Still, when Christ saves us He puts the Holy Spirit within us, and sends us into the world. This means that in an entirely different way, we have the presence of God and are sent by Christ (John 20:21). This means we can live incarnationally, as people who take the presence of God into our neighborhoods and offer the opportunity for the people we know to meet the One True God.
What I have learned over the years, though, is that we need practical and applicable ideas to make this happen. So we plan to publish 12 ideas in 2018, simple ways to help us build relationships in our neighborhoods so we can be friends with people and share Jesus.
For March, how about you and your family take some walks. As the weather gets nicer, take advantage of good days by taking a walk in your neighborhood. One way to do this with a purpose is to “prayer walk”, meaning you pray for the people living in each house as you walk down your street. The document linked below is a guide to give you ideas of the ways you can pray on a prayer walk. You can also use walks to intentionally get to know other people as you see them in their yard or out in the neighborhood. Take some dog treats, or maybe a trash bag and clean as you go. Stop and talk to anyone you pass.