Engaging Our Community

Throughout my life I have had a lot of different neighbors. When I was 8, my family's neighbors had a cat. We would watch the cat while they were away. One time we thought it had been run over by a car so we buried it in their back yard. Shortly after burying it we discovered their cat was still alive and we had just buried a stray in their yard. I'm sure that was an interesting conversation for my dad.
When I was 12 or 13 I would play sports and get into fights with the other boys in my neighborhood. We didn't fight because we were upset. We were just boys who like breaking things. I remember another neighbor I had at that age. I would go over and feed her dogs sometimes. In the winter we would go over to her house to make sure she was alright. My parents told me that it was the right thing to do, and that she appreciated the company. I thought that her house smelt weird.
Neighborhoods are an interesting aspect of society though. You move to an area and after that, you really can't choose your neighbors. Still if the neighbor comes over and asks for a cup of sugar or a couple eggs, you will generally share what you have. In most neighborhoods you also have cookouts or barbecues where everybody gets together for a warm summer evening. It is a community that develops based on location. Some people might stray away from that, but most tend to be pretty good neighbors.
As we spend time about engaging our community around us, it is fun to think back about my old neighbors. You get to be a part of something and enjoy getting to know others too. We get so busy now though, that it might be hard to catch your neighbor at home to ask for a cup of sugar.

It is important to share the awesome love of Jesus with those around us. We are supposed to share it through compassion and service. Maybe that means scheduling time to get to know our neighbors better. It definitely means connecting with them and investing in them. How we are going to do that is left up to us.

Life Changing Transformation

A guy smokes a pack of cigarettes a day for 60 years. One day he goes to the doctor to get a routine physical. The doctor tells him that there is a 99% chance that he will die in a month if he doesn't stop smoking that very day. Unless the guy has a death wish he goes home and immediately throws all of his cigarettes away. Same thing if the doctor had told him that he had high cholesterol he would have gone home and thrown away all of the Crispy Creme Donuts. Those are both pretty big lifestyle changes.

Everyday when you drive to school you go like 25mph over the limit because you are late. Then you get pulled over and get a warning. For the rest of the day you actually drive under the speed limit. At school 5 people told you that they liked the shirt that you wore. The funny thing is that you found the shirt in your basement and only wore it because all of your other close were in the washing machine. After the compliments though it just became your favorite shirt. Lifestyles and fashion tastes can change pretty fast under the right circumstances.

For the month of January we are going to be talking about our personality and lifestyle as a church. We are going to be discussing our Identity as Christ-Followers. This Sunday the focus is Lifechange. Basically, If we believe that Jesus did what he said he could in our lives, then there should be some noticeable changes. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." Basically, God is making us into new creations. The transformation should be noticeable too. No one would mistake an axe murderer for a Christian. How do we look different though? What change happened inside of us that is evident to people we come in contact with?

Last night, my wife Alicia and I were talking about this. We talked about how interesting it was that we have committed our lives to Christ, but our lives don't always reflect that committment. Sometimes life change is really noticeable and at other points its not really. That led me to think of another questions as I write my message for this Sunday. What does lifechange look like when its exhibited in all aspects of your life? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts...