The Art of Neighboring – Week 1 (11-7-21)
The Art of Neighboring
Go Next Door
November 7, 2021
Luke 10:25-29
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
What if the solution to our societies biggest issues has been right under our noses for the past 2,000 years?
How can we make the biggest impact in our city?
“The majority of issues that our community is facing would be eliminated or drastically reduced if we could figure out a way to become a community of great neighbors.”
Interesting things happen where there is a cohesiveness that exists within the community and in the neighborhood.
- People who have close bonds to their neighbors live longer.
- Where neighbors know each other, crime is 60% lower.
- When disaster strikes neighbors are often the first responders.
Exalt —> Encourage —> Engage MY Neighbor
Stranger —> Acquaintance —> Relationship
It is so much easier to write a check to care for someone else neighbor than it is to go next door and invest in mine.
Luke 10:29
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Good Samaritan:
- Jerusalem to Jericho
- Preist
- Levite
- Samaritan
We can focus on the complexity of going there and miss the simplicity of going here.
Big Step: Love someone you may never meet.
Simple Step: Go Next Door
Acts 1:7-8
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Concentric Circles
Jerusalem —> Judea & Samaria —> Ends of the Earth
What if God literally meant to love your neighbor?
Who is your neighbor?
Block Map
Our desire is not to be the greatest church in Tyler, TX but to be the greatest church FOR Tyler, TX.