Pursuing the Good of the Neighborhood.
Staring on Tuesday, September 12, 2023, we will begin a new sermon series and LifeGroup emphasis, focusing on this wonderful community where God has placed us.
The series will help us show Christ’s love and kindness in our community and neighborhood.
This fits right up our ally at LifeBridge!
The following outlines our plan:
DATE |
TITLE/TOPIC |
DESCRIPTION |
| Tuesday, Sep. 12 | “Lay the Foundation” | Love Where You Live begins with you and your small group defining each of your neighborhoods and getting to know your neighbors. |
| Sunday, Sep. 17 | “Love Through Our Mission” | LifeBridge was founded with a mindset of reaching and serving this community where God placed us. Our mission statement is “Connecting People to Jesus by: Reaching the Lost, Discipling the Saved & Sharing the Love of God with Everyone.” Indeed, we “love where we live” – and the people who love around us! |
| Tuesday, Sep. 19 | “Discover the Gifts” | In Week 2, you’ll learn about the unique gifts, strengths, and abilities each person in your small group brings to the table—as well as the local gifts and assets already existing in your neighborhoods. This provides a launching point for building on those gifts and assets to make a tangible difference in your community. |
| Sunday, Sep. 24 | “Love Through Our Strategic Plan” | LifeBridge has a strategic plan to help us focus our energies on how to fulfill our mission and serve the Lord and our community. It includes a focus on “strong youth and family ministries,” having a welcoming, non-judgmental environment, serving “beyond our walls” and “growing in faith.” Some of this we do better than others, but what a wonderful set of goals as we “love where we live” and “connect people to Jesus!” |
| Tuesday, Sep. 26 | “Assess Well-Being” | In Week 3, you’ll dive deeper into your community’s health and well-being, working together to assess the current state of your neighborhoods. You’ll also select a specific neighborhood or area of focus for your small group and begin dreaming about new possibilities for the community while continuing to meet and get to know the people who live around you. |
| Sunday, Oct. 1 | “Work & Keep the Land” | We all live somewhere with neighbors and it matters to Him how we relate to the people He has put around us. God values what He creates and has given a creation mandate to humanity: “work and keep the land.” As Christians, we know that Jesus redeemed us, not to escape this mandate, but to fulfill it right where God put us. |
| Tuesday, Oct. 3 | “Imagine the Possibilities” | Here’s where your small group starts bringing together everything you’ve been learning. You’ll dream together about what God can do through you to impact one of your neighborhoods, selecting one possibility to pursue. During this week, you’ll also create fun new goals and challenges designed for success. |
| Sunday, Oct. 8 | “Become Zealous to Do Good” | We are called to relate to our neighbors. But what does that look like in this fallen world? God calls His people to pursue the welfare of the people and place right around us (i.e., our “neighbors”), even when they are exiled and treated poorly. We have been made God’s people by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, and live by Grace. Now, we use that reality to set our vision of how to live for others in grace. |
| Tuesday, Oct. 10 | “Pursue the Common Good” | This is the final phase! Your small group will work together to create—and launch!—a neighborhood action plan, complete with outcomes, measures, and goals. During your meeting time, you’ll take everything you’ve learned to design your action plan. We recommend you add an extra 20–30 minutes to your small group gathering so you have enough time to plan. Then, your focus during the week will be on executing on the tasks required to launch your project with success. |
| Sunday, Oct. 15 | “Love Your Neighbor” | Ok, so we are called to “love our neighbors,” but for some of us, we may wonder if God really knows MY neighbor and how they aren’t, well, very ‘lovable.’ Peter encourages the elect exiles in Asia Minor to “love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” This is a beautiful invitation, but the verses leading up to that invitation are profound and reveal how God works inside us to make that kind of earnest love possible. |
| Tuesday, Oct. 17 | “Launch, Celebrate, & Look Ahead” | Whether your project is complete, ongoing, or in process, Week 6 is a chance for your small group to celebrate your accomplishments, praise God for His faithfulness, and look toward future adventures and opportunities to bless your neighborhoods. |
| Sunday, Oct. 22 | “Let Your Light Shine” | Loving our neighbors is certainly ‘good, right, and salutary,’ but is it enough? Don’t we also need to “share the Gospel of Jesus” with them? Of course that is excellent and desired! But loving others is a good unto itself and shines a light that ultimately brings glory to God. Our good deeds draw attention to our good God. |
Join us Tuesdays at 6:30 PM and Sundays at 10:00 AM for this important focus for LifeBridge and for the benefit of our wonderful community!
Contact Angie Wolfe about the LifeGroup and Pastor Scott about the messages.
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