Tour 5: The Vision - Engaging with Grace

First Ask, "What did you see? lets list them…​"

  • We began the first practical aspects of loving our neighbor:

    • What it means and what it doesn’t mean

  • We looked at how God has equipped for this

  • We saw Kristen’s story, putting a turquoise table in her front yard

  • We looked at Saul of Tarsus and Ananias

    • God had sent Saul to a particular house on Straight St.

    • We contemplated that God knows our address and our neighbors address

    • And that we are living where we live because “Mrs. Smith” lives across the street from us

    • If God plants nations, He can certainly plant our neighbors

  • So, we were asked to contemplate that God has providentially planted our neighbors next door to us

  • We then walked through the vision (and Del offered that we might write it in our own words):

    • Christian families/ singles committed to the shalom of their neighbors

    • We will build real relationships with those providentially in our Jerusalem

    • Through prayer and action

    • With grace and wisdom and truth

    • Being attractively winsome

    • Tearing down walls, building up trust

    • Doing the work of the Kingdom.

  • We talked about what all of these things mean:

    • To be committed to this

    • To build real relationships: Jesus is our example with a small number

    • We talked about what a significant relationship with someone meant:

      • Not shallow, friendship, commutation, eating together, doing projects together, trust, time, vulnerability, sacrifice

    • And that to make that happen we need to spend time, effort, sacrifice, overcoming walls…

    • Deep relationships, like a farmer, require work

      • We heard Ed and Mary’s story, common people committed to the shalom of their neighbors

      • Mary talked about taking French classes in order to communicate with her neighbor

      • Ed said they would call their friends neighbors; took a photography trip with his neighbor to get to know him

      • Mary talked about the gift of not being so busy

    • Drive-by Christianity is easy, but doesn’t work

    • It is highly probable that the only real relationship your neighbor will ever have with a Christian is with you

    • We saw Joy’s story and their praying for 52 weeks for their neighborhood

    • We must be committed to pray and the vision of what it would be like to hear your children pray for your neighbors and see God work in their lives… and see that God is really real

  • We will pray for opportunities, learn names, plan kind deeds, practice hospitality, have fun together, - build a relationship

  • We looked at Col 4, 1 Pet 3, 2 Tim 2 as our key passages

  • We will engage with grace

  • We talked about what would make us attractively winsome and found that it was all found in the fruit of the Spirit

  • We contemplated that the fruit of the Spirit was not for us but for others

  • We listened to the story of the lady who decided to overcome her fear and took breakfast tacos to her neighbors

  • We talked about the Holy Spirit making us a people of hope and about how we have a tendency, especially in our culture today, to come across as doom and gloom

  • Del asked the question, when was the last time someone asked you for the reason for the hope that is in you as we read in Peter?

  • We will tear down walls and build up trust

  • We heard from Phil who had a crusty neighbor that he decided to do what C.S. Lewis said to do, pretend that you love them, and ended up making a great friendship with this guy

  • Del closed with the story of the lady and her neighbor, “dagger eyes,” and how God answered their prayers and He will answer ours

What else did you see?

Then Ask, "What struck you?"