In Luke 10, a lawyer responds to the commandment to love God and love neighbors as yourself by asking Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus responds with a parable that strikingly reframes the question. Who will be a neighbor?

Followers of Jesus are called to be loving neighbors to anyone we come into contact with. Instead of narrowing the reach of love and service, Jesus extravagantly extends it.

While we typically think of neighbors in the context of the scattered church on mission (Communities), we ought to also think of neighbors in the context of the gathered church on mission, our Sunday Gatherings.

On Sundays, all of our Communities come together as one body and are refreshed and renewed by the Gospel, which is central to our belief and practice. But even as we gather, we are still on mission. Here are three ways we can be a loving neighbor on Sunday mornings.

Be a neighbor on Sunday by . . .

1) Loving the Neighborhood.

While we don’t live there, we can certainly be loving neighbors to the neighborhood on Sunday mornings. How can we be a church for our neighborhood? How could we love and serve the different homes nearby? How could we be a blessing? Some ideas to get you going:

• Obey street parking signs. Let’s try our best to park in the lot and not in front of people’s homes (as much as possible).
• Make and deliver thank you cards or baked goods as a gift for nearby neighbors.

2) Loving the New Visitor.

Great news is that we have had a lot of new visitors this season. How can we be a neighbor to new visitors? How can we be welcoming and helpful? How can we move towards them and make connections? Some ideas to get you going:

• Say hello to someone new each week. Move towards a stranger, make a connection, and connect them to others. That’s what Jesus did. Welcoming isn’t just for the Welcome Team. Let’s make it a church family effort.
• Take someone out to lunch. Hospitality is hugely underrated when it comes to mission. Invite someone out to lunch and ask about their story.

3) Loving the Growing Church Family.

We are to be neighbors to one another as we grow as a family. Growth causes a little discomfort. How can we count others more significant than ourselves? Some ideas to get you going:

• Sit up front and to the middle. It’s not as easy to find a seat lately because we're growing! That doesn’t mean there isn’t space. There is. We just need to be intentional with where and how we sit. We want to be able to fit as many people as we can for the advance of the gospel!
• Help Family Ministry pack up after service. Swing by downstairs and ask how you can help.