Be Real Together:

Take a few minutes to catch up, tell stories, and laugh together. Trust and friendship take time to build. If you’re launching a new DNA, one person should tell their story — what do we need to know about you? Next week, have another person in your DNA share their story.

Read Together:

Matthew 9:35-38 CSB
³⁵ Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

Grow Together: Observe and Apply

Over the past 4 weeks in our “Big Family” series, we’ve heard from outside voices, recognizing that there’s other brothers and sisters out there beyond these 4 walls. This week, we pick up the conversation by considering how to neighbor well. If we don’t get this right, we end up living in our Christian bubbles and never have an impact in the cities that we live in. The result is that we miss out on the calling that God has placed on our lives, and the calling is simple. Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:19-20 (CSB): “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…” Often this disciple-making starts with someone who doesn’t know Jesus. It starts by us choosing to evangelize, but what does that word even mean today?

Redefining Good News - Doing the Little Things

Matthew 10:42 (CSB)
And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones
because he is a disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.

Little things mattered to Jesus. Cups of cold water make a difference. Water was highly valued in the dry land of Israel in Jesus’ day. It was scarce. It meant life, cleansing, refreshment.

What would be something in today’s culture that is scarce, that people would thirst for? What do you thirst for?

Noticing People

Neighboring well starts with the little things, like noticing people, being aware of another long enough to start to wonder about that person.

In Acts 17:16-17 and 22-23, before Paul ever had a conversation with the Athenians, he took time to notice and the result was that some started to follow Jesus and others said, “we want to hear more!” In Luke 19:5, Jesus looked up and saw Zaccheaus. In Matthew 9:36, Jesus saw the crowds. He could have kept walking. He could have ignored the situation, but He didn’t. He chose to see. Jesus is a God who sees people. May the same has to be true for us. Instead of putting blinders on, may we decide to put our glasses on and see people.

How are you doing when it comes to noticing people?

Noticing to Compassion

Noticing alone, is not enough. We see in Matthew 9:36 that Jesus saw the crowds and he felt compassion for them. The word ‘passion’ is a Latin word and can mean “suffering”, or “enduring”. So, compassion means to suffer-with. Compassion International, the organization that helps poverty-stricken children around the world says:

“Compassion means someone else’s heartbreak becomes your heartbreak. Another’s suffering becomes your suffering.”

At the end of the day, feeling sympathy is not enough. Compassion leads to action. Here’s a few ways to start:

Pay attention. Simply become aware and intentionally focus on people you ordinarily come in contact with on a daily basis. Be there long enough to ask questions like, “What is his story? Where is she from? Is he happy, sad, angry, lonely? What might God be up to here?”
Offer silent prayers. As you pay attention to someone, you can discreetly send up a silent prayer.
Genuinely listen. It’s that “How are you doing, really?” kind of listening. One where you are not preparing your response or scrolling through your phone. In fact, don’t even talk, except to ask clarifying questions.

Stop right now and think about your day. Who might you pay attention to? Where do you want to grow in noticing people and putting action to the compassion you feel towards them?

Pray Together:

Jesus, thank you that you are a God who sees us. May the same be true of us. May we see people, may we really notice them, may we pay attention. And may it not end there, with mere sympathy. May we have compassion like you have compassion. God, help us to genuinely listen and care for people you are sending our way that they may come to know you.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.