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Sermon Title: Who’s my Neighbor Pt 2
Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

What would the church look like if we chose to buy homes in the same streets and subdivisions, the same buildings and blocks, the same suburbs and sections? What would our love look like if it showed up dozens of times a week in small but profound ways; meals cooked, prayers prayed, songs sung, scripture studied, games played, parties thrown, tears shed, reconciliation practiced and resources given? What if we stopped attending community groups and became groups of communities? What if our homes stopped being the places we hid from the world but havens to which the world comes for healing? John Tyson - Church of the City

Those who live out radically ordinary hospitality see their homes not as theirs at all but as God’s gift to use for the furtherance of his kingdom. They open doors; they seek out the under-privileged. They know that the gospel comes with a house key.” Rosaria Butterfield - The Gospel Comes with a House Key”

“Don’t start with a big program. Don’t suddenly think you can add to your church budget and begin. Start personally and start in your home. I dare you. I dare you in the name of Jesus Christ. Do what I am going to suggest. Begin by opening your home for community. There is no place in God’s world where there are no people who will come share a home as long as it is a real home.” Francis Schaeffer

“Make for yourself a guest chamber in your own house; set up a bed, table and candlestick there. Have a room to which Christ may come. Say ‘this is Christ’s room, this building is set apart for him.” Chrysostom - Bishop of Constantinople

Exercise 1. Complete a Block Map.

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List here:

Exercise 2. Make a list of creative ways to meet your neighbors and practice hospitality.

  1. Introduce yourself the next time you see them outside.
  2. Invite them over for dessert and coffee/wine OR dinner.
  3. Throw a block party or a neighborhood yard sale and recruit all of your neighbors to participate.
  4. Redo your budget & schedule; create room
  5. Create a Christ Room
  6. Prayer Walks (just walk around and ask Jesus for his eyes for your neighbors)
  7. Holiday Parties
  8. Neighbor Night (great when weather’s warm and you can do outside)
  9. Sunday/sabbath dinners (designate a day/night that’s dedicated to having people over; repurpose your ordinary life; book club, )
  10. Reverse hospitality (take food to people when sick, new baby, or if they’re too busy)
  11. Taco Tuesdays