Loving Your Neighbor
What are you looking forward to this summer? A vacation? A road trip? Backyard BBQs? A neighborhood block party? Summer is not only a time to get away. It’s also a great time to connect with neighbors, something many of us found difficult to do last summer amidst the pandemic. However, as Covid cases decrease and restriction lift, coupled with school breaks and longer days, this summer provides us with a unique opportunity to connect with and serve our neighbors.
That’s what I’ll be focused on doing this summer, one which commences with a cross-country move as my family relocates from California to the suburbs of Washington, D.C. We’re moving so we can be more involved in the ministry of New Life Christian Church, where Passion for Planting is headquartered. Not only am I excited to get plugged in at New Life, I’m also looking forward to connecting with our new neighbors. We want to be good news in our neighborhood, but that’ll only happen if we get out of our comfort zones to meet and serve our neighbors.
Knowing this summer provides many of us with a unique opportunity to serve our neighbors, we’ve filled this newsletter with ideas and resources to help you share God’s love with your community and make the most of this summer. Enjoy!
-Patrick Bradley, Director of Operations
June 2021 – Contents
- Prayer Walking
- Outreach Ideas
- Outreach Strategy Template
- A Visible Presence
Prayer Walking
If you have a desire to share God’s love and truth with your neighbors this summer, your priority should be to pray for them. As it’s been said, “You can do more than pray once you have prayed, but you can’t do more than pray until you have prayed.” When was the last time you prayed for your neighbors, whether in private or in their presence?
If you want to see the gospel spread throughout your neighborhood, start by saturating it with prayer. To learn more about ways to prayer walk your neighborhood and tools to help you do it with others continue reading.
Outreach Ideas
People are hungry for community. They desire to know others and be known. Most people aren’t hermits, but long to be a part of something bigger than themselves. While churches used to be the places where people found that community, more and more in the United States people are finding it in gyms, yoga studios, book clubs, and Meetup groups. People join these social groups because they long for a community to belong to and are looking for help connecting with others….for our updated list of outreach idea continue reading.
Outreach Strategy Template
If you’re a church planter, one of your responsibilities is not only to serve your neighbors, but to inspire and equip others to do it as well. As a leader, you get to challenge your team members to serve their neighbors in a way that creates energy, excitement, and momentum for the church plant. This requires planning on your part, so all your outreach activities and energy are pointed in the same direction.
To discover more about how to develop an Outreach Strategy for your church keep reading.
A Visible Presence
If you’re planting a church, think for a minute how your church will have a visible presence in your community beyond Sunday morning. Where will its collective presence be felt Monday through Saturday? Many established churches are visible in their community during the week because they have a building. However, if you’re a portable church meeting in rented space, you don’t have that luxury. You’ll need to be strategic and intentional to be visible in your community seven days a week. For ideas and inspiration on how to be visible in your community every day continue reading.