Taking one Step Closer to Neighbours

First of all, God calls us to love His Church and to love one another. He asks us to love those we can see in a way that reflects our love for the One we cannot see, and that love will cover over a multitude of sins as we journey together as a church. Like in any relationship, our relationship with the church ebbs and flows. The church is a collective of people who represent Jesus in a local community and are centered around distinctive beliefs and ways of living arising from those beliefs. At times even church neighbours may hurt us, because people hurt people, knowingly and unknowingly, as broken people in need of a Saviour. You will not find a perfect church no matter how hard you search, because the moment you or I show up, the brokenness of our own humanity contributes to our collective brokenness and our need for Jesus. But you and I can each find a church we want to commit to and grow our faith with, agreeing to get on board with the vision that the local church expresses, engaging in the community and learning to practise mutual submission.

Secondly, Jesus calls us to love those that are far from Him, maybe different from us, and ultimately are created in His image in the same way that we are. In some of the last recorded words of Jesus, He instructs His followers to go and take the Gospel into the whole world. He says, when “The Holy Spirit comes on you; you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” (Acts 1:8). Jesus’ teachings that the Holy Spirit dwells in those who place their faith in Him is foundational to understanding that as Christians we are a sent people with a mission. We are a people called to engage the world around us with the love and forgiveness Christ offered; because His presence is with us (John 20:21–23). When Jesus told His disciples to go out from Jerusalem, to Judea, Samaria and then to the ends of the world; these locations were purposeful. Jerusalem was the Holy City for Jewish people, the central place where God’s presence dwelt in the temple. It was the obvious place for their influence to begin. Going to Judea was the area nearby, not a holy space, but a space where everyday life occurred. For many of the apostles and disciples it was where their friends and family lived. Therefore this meant sharing the Gospel with those they loved and cared for most. Samaria was an even harder area to go to because it was fraught with racial tensions. Offering grace and love to Samaritans wasn’t easy for the apostles and disciples. But through Jesus, Gentiles (non-Jews) were invited to become equal citizens in God’s Kingdom alongside Jewish brothers and sisters (Jn.3:16; Rom.2:17–29; 4:9–18,9:6;10:11–13; Gal.6:16; Eph.2:11–22; 1Pet.2:9–10), and that is our call as well to invite all people to be a part of the family of faith. As “king of the Jews” Jesus invited His own people to give up their claims to exclusivity and to join Him in ushering in the universal sister/brotherhood of faith; inviting every nation and tongue into faith. Finally, His people would share their faith ‘to the ends of the earth’ as He’d always desired for hem to do.

Here are the 7 characteristics we would love to see developed in your relationship with your neighbours inside and outside the church during your years at Neighbour’s Church.

Here are the 7 characteristics we would love to see developed in your relationship with Jesus as you walk the journey with Him.