Neighborliness

Neighborliness

Who is your neighbor?  We have to start here if witness + service, or justice and evangelism, is going to make sense.  We’ve got to define and redefine neighbor.  For Jesus, it appears it’s any image bearer.  Any other human.  And to be a good neighbor means making other people's problems and concerns your own.  It's to do right by others through embodying the love, understanding, curiosity, kindness, and care of Jesus. Teacher: Caleb Sprinkle Text: Luke 10

02 Witness + Service | Begin with Love

Many of us may admittedly experience a certain allergic response to the idea of “evangelism.” It brings up images of uncompassionate preaching on street corners, unsolicited conversations, or perhaps more painfully, well-meaning invitations and interactions that are met with hostility. But what if our witness to the person of Jesus could be more ordinary and less forced than what we may initially imagine? And what if the starting place for this practice was not pressure, fear, or obligation, but love? Teacher: Brittni Ratliff Text: Various

01 Witness + Service | What does the Bible say?

The church bears witness through practicing justice and righteousness. We bear witness to the Kingdom in what we say and how we live. Meaning, not only is it unkind to preach the gospel without demonstrating the gospel (justice and righteousness), but biblically speaking, you actually are not witnessing if you neglect practicing justice and righteousness.What if we shared and lived the gospel in such a way, that even if our friends didn’t believe it, they walked away wishing it was true?Teacher: Caleb SprinkleTexts: Various

00 Witness + Service | An Introduction

Robert Mullholland defines spiritual formation this way: "Spiritual formation is becoming like Jesus for the sake of others”. Spiritual maturity is not measured by how much we know, but how we love others. The invitation into a life of apprenticeship to Jesus is to come and die. An invitation to be with him, become like him, and do as He did. What did he do? He preached and demonstrated the gospel of the Kingdom. Teacher: Caleb Sprinkle

When God loves your enemies | Jonah 4

In Jonah 4, God’s call to Jonah was a kind of love towards people that don’t deserve it.  One that would cost Jonah something: releasing bitterness and contempt in his heart towards Nineveh. It was a call to love his enemies. The book ends with a question: should I not care for them? Jonah doesn't answer, so the question is for us. Can we love our enemies? Teacher: Caleb Sprinkle Text: Jonah 4