“New Every Morning”
+ “Ten Simple Ways to Love Your Neighbour”
= Spring GraceVine Article from Team Boehm!
From Pastor Curtis...
Are you a morning person? Some people seem to have an uncanny ability to leap out of bed in the early morning and start their day. For others, it's more of a battle. Whether you’re a morning person or a night owl, or somewhere in between, there is a sense in which all of us who call Jesus Lord are morning people. That’s because we’re Easter people, living each day in the dawn of a resurrection world. Early or late, we can learn to pattern our lives according to the rhythm of the days Jesus gives us. “Good morning, Risen Lord! What do you have in store for me today? Good night, faithful Lord. Thank you for this day.”
My faithful wife and team-mate in ministry has had some “morning inspiration” lately so I think it will be refreshing to hear some of what Jesus has been filling her up with! So...over to you, Andrea!
From Andrea...
Yay! It’s finally spring! I’m so happy to be able to go outside and enjoy the sunshine. I’m starting to plan my garden and we’ve even just built a sandbox for the kids! But one of the things I enjoy most about the increasingly sunny and warm weather is the huge surge of walkers it brings to our neighbourhood. Because we are surrounded by condos, we don’t see many of our neighbours during the cold weather; people just run quickly from their cars to their homes. But in the spring and summer, they spend lots of time outside: at parks, walking dogs and just generally hanging around. I’m sure that your neighbourhood is the same; kids are out playing, people are mowing their lawns or even outside picnic-ing. What an amazing opportunity it is to get to know our neighbours! And the more we know our neighbours, the more we learn how best to love them. And the more we love them, the more they see Jesus in us and it opens a window to talk about the One who first loved us!
To help us get started, I found this great list of 10 simple ways to love people in your neighbourhood without adding anything to your schedule.
#1 - Eat with other people! Most of us eat 3 meals a day. That’s 21 opportunities for loving our neighbours each week without adding anything new to our schedule! And meals are a powerful expression of welcome and community.
#2 - Work in public places. Rather than hiding behind closed doors, why not hold meetings, prepare talks, or even read in public spaces like cafes, pubs and parks?
#3 - Be a regular. Adopt a local cafe, pub, park and shops so you regularly visit and become known as a local. Imagine if everyone in our gospel community did this!
#4 - Join in with what’s going on. Some churches start their own thing like a coffee shop or homeless program, but our church is running very simple programming right now. What a great chance to join existing initiatives in your own neighbourhood! Think about it - you don’t have the burden of running it and you get the opportunity to meet some more neighbours! The Oliver Community League or your own local Community League is a great place to start
#5 - Leave the house in the evenings. It’s so easy after a long day to slump in front of the TV or surf the internet. But with our lovely light evenings now, get out! Visit a friend. Take a cake to a neighbour. Attend a local group. Go to the movies. Hang out in a cafe. Go for a walk with a friend. It doesn’t matter where as long as you go with the intention of being Jesus to your neighbours.
#6 - Serve your neighbours. Weed a neighbours garden. Help someone move. Put up a shelf. Volunteer with a local group. It could be one evening a week or one day a month. Try to do it with other members of our church so it becomes a common project. Then people will see your love for one another and it will be easier to talk about Jesus.
#7 - Share your passion. What do you enjoy? Find a local group that shares your passion. Be missional and have fun at the same time!
#8 - Hang out with your work colleagues. Spend your lunch break with colleagues. Go for a drink after work. Share the journey to work.
#9 - Walk. Walking enables you to engage with your neighbourhood at street level. You notice things you don’t when you’re in a car. You are seen and known in the neighbourhood.
#10 - Prayer Walk. Walk around your neighbourhood using what you see as fuel for prayer. Pray for people, homes, businesses, community groups and community needs. Ask God to open your eyes to where He is already at work and to fill your heart with love for your neighbourhood.
That’s it! Is it enough to get you started?! I’m excited for you - and I’m excited for me - to see how God will use us this spring to love our neighbours and build His kingdom. One more thing: Keep track of the awesome ways that you are connecting with your neighbours and share it with me or Curtis or someone else at the church... Your testimony will be an encouragement to all of us and might even give us more ways to connect with our own neighbours!
Love From,
Team Boehm
Andrea, Curtis, Kara, Jonas, and Judah
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