be the church Archives - Page 5 of 7

This post is part of Sam Riviera’s series on being the church in our community. See the bottom of this post for more posts on how you can be the church to others by living like Jesus among them.

Recently I traveled to Denver to visit The Refuge, a beautiful eclectic faith community, co-pastored by our friend Kathy Escobar. I spent part of a couple of afternoons with Kathy while she showed Jesus’ love to people, and one evening at her home as part of the group that meets there on Wednesday evenings.

Following a potluck meal, the group gathered for a discussion led by Kathy.

During my time with Kathy and The Refuge, I noticed several things that they put into practice which helps them be the church in their community, and reveal Jesus to a dying world.

Everyone Is Welcome

The group welcomes everyone. Really, everyone is welcome, regardless of their situation in life. There is no expectation that anyone meet any requirement to be part of the group.

Everyone Is Valued

Unlike so many “churches”, all are equally valued. Everyone’s comment, everyone’s observation is treated with equal value. I saw no one being treated with preference. If this group has an “insider’s group”, I could not detect it at any point during the evening. There were no “fringe” people. No one was passed over. No one was ignored.

Everyone Is Loved

Regardless of economic status, religious background or lack of it, history, current life situation, marital status, and you-name-it, everyone is loved. Everyone fits in. Everyone is included.

When one person mentioned an unkind comment that someone had made about the group, no one got upset. After the group discussion, I heard that comment mentioned again and someone added that the person who made the comment did not find what they were looking for at The Refuge. I felt no condemnation, only love, even for the person who had been unkind.

The Arms of Jesus

Have we ever thought that we would like to meet the earthly Jesus in person? When life stinks, wouldn’t it be nice if Jesus could show up in person and give us a big hug, with arms that we could feel wrapped around us?

Jesus does still show up in person with arms to wrap around the lonely, the brokenhearted, the angry, the sick, those struggling with addictions, those who need a helping hand, those who need someone to listen. Sometimes when Jesus shows up in Denver Jesus looks like The Refuge.

Be the Church in Your Community

Want to be the church in your community but don't know? Here are some posts which not only explain what it means to be the church in your community, but also gives concrete, practical examples of what it looks like and how to be the church whatever you do and wherever you go. Remember, you ARE the church, and wherever you go, Jesus goes with you!

If you have questions about how to be the church in your community, please let us know in the comment sections below, and we will try to write a post which answers your question.

Welcome New People to the Neighborhood

By Jeremy Myers

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One important part of being the church in your community is to welcome new people to the neighborhood. In this post, Sam Riviera reminds us of the importance of welcoming new people, and provides some suggestions for how you can welcome new people to your area.

Have you ever been the new person or family on your block, at church or at work? Did anyone welcome you?

When we moved into our current home several years ago, there were two pastors, one seminary dean, one Christian college professor and one Buddhist who all lived within half a block of us. Which one welcomed us? Of course it was the Buddhist! We eventually had to introduce ourselves to the others.

That experience helped us decide that as followers of Jesus we should be the first ones to welcome new people, whether it be to our neighborhood, our church, our workplace or even social groups to which we belong. But how? How could we welcome people in a non-threatening way that almost everyone would accept?

Welcome New People by Giving them Cookies

One approach we discovered that has never been rejected the many hundreds of times we have used it is a freshly baked, slightly warm plate of cookies. I use this recipe (try them today!):

List of Ingredients

One 18.25 ounce box Betty Crocker Yellow (or Butter Recipe Yellow) Super Moist Cake Mix (Absolutely no substitutions – no other brands work the same – You can pick these up on sale for about $1 a box)
One stick butter (Again, absolutely no substitutions. Do not use margarine.)
2 large eggs
One cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
One cup chopped nuts (I usually use walnuts)
22 chopped small Heath bars (this is about half a bag) or 11 chopped snack size Heath bars (this is also about half a bag) – This makes about one cup chopped bars
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Chop the nuts and Heath bars. Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly spray two 12 x 17 heavy duty aluminum baking sheets with cooking spray.
Melt butter. Empty box of cake mix into a large mixing bowl. Add vanilla to melted butter and stir. Add butter and eggs to cake mix and stir until completely mixed. Immediately add chocolate chips, nuts and Heath bars. Stir until completely mixed.

Evenly divide to make twelve cookies per baking sheet. (If you don’t eat half the dough!) Drop by spoonfulls onto the baking sheets and flatten slightly with your hand.

Place cookies on two oven racks near middle of the oven. Bake 8 minutes, then turn pans. Bake five to seven minutes more, until golden brown. Time varies according to your oven.

After you remove the cookies from the oven, cool one to two minutes max on the baking sheet and then loosen with a spatula, or they will stick. Cool the pan a few minutes longer on a wire rack, then remove cookies and place on wax paper to cool.

We buy heavy duty plastic dinner plates (the type with no dividers), and place eight to twelve large, fresh cookies on the plate, and then cover it with clear plastic wrap.

My wife and I both go to the new people’s house and knock on their door. When the people answer the door, we say “Hello, we’re the Riviera’s. We want to welcome you to the neighborhood, so we brought you a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies.”

If the people invite us in, we reply, “We know you weren’t expecting us and we weren’t planning to come in.” (Especially if they’re just moving in, their house may be messy, which may embarrass them.) If they insist, we reply, “OK, but we won’t stay long.”

How Can We Help?

When we deliver cookies to a new neighbor we ask if they are new to San Diego. If they are we offer to help if they need to find a new doctor, plumber, or whatever.

We also offer to help them meet their new neighbors, and give them our phone number so they can call us if they have questions about San Diego or the neighborhood.

It’s Never Too Late

Even if your neighbors didn’t just move in, it’s never too late to take a plate of warm cookies to neighbors you don’t know and introduce yourself.

No One Welcomed Us!

Maybe when you moved to a new area, no one welcomed you to the neighborhood. This happens all the time.

You move into a new neighborhood and the neighbors don’t seem to notice.

If this happens, once you’ve unpacked (assuming that doesn’t take years), a warm plate of cookies is a good way to introduce yourselves to your neighbors, even if you’re the new people on the block. Also, asking them about recommended doctors, plummers, electricians, or community events is a good way to get them talking about the neighborhood and the town.

Be the Church in Your Community

If you have questions about how to be the church in your community, please let us know in the comment sections below, and we will try to write a post which answers your question.

Love Like Jesus by Listening to People

By Jeremy Myers

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If you want to be the church in your community, one big part of this is looking for people that you can love like Jesus. That is, you need to keep your eyes and ears open for the people whom God brings into your life who need a word of encouragement, a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, or simply a listening ear. In this post, Sam Riviera provides three examples of people we can love like Jesus, simply by listening to them.

It doesn’t take a lot of energy to listen to others, but it is a great way to love others like Jesus and show that we care.

Listening to Others

As followers of Jesus most of us have learned all kinds of great information from church, Bible studies, the Bible and Christian books that we should share with people we know, especially those who don’t follow Jesus. Right? Don’t they need to know this stuff so they can live good Christian lives?

Approaching people with Bible verses and theology has never worked for us. The people we know don’t want that. They want someone who will listen to what they have to say. As my dad once said, “Good talkers are a dime a dozen. Good listeners are tough to find.”

Rather than launching into your gospel presentation, or spending all the time talking to others about your problems, your issues, and your concerns, make sure you spend a majority of the time listening to others.

Below are three people we can love like Jesus by listening to them.

1. The Lonely

Although anyone can be lonely, elderly people and single people frequently are lonely. Many of the single people we know tell us that they have few friends and that their work schedules don’t allow time for lots of social activities. We try to find times when they are available and invite them to our home or meet with them in coffee shops to listen to them talk about their jobs, relatives, future hopes, and relationships.

Separated and divorced people often find themselves with few friends. When their spouse departed, it seems their friends also left. Spending time with them often includes listening to their stories about how their marriage failed. They frequently are experiencing economic stress. Sometimes they seem to want to cling to anyone who will listen. Most of the time, however, they just want someone to listen.

2. The “New Guy on the Block”

Whether at work, at church, in the neighborhood or in a social situation, people who are new to those situations are often uncomfortable. They have questions. They want to fit in. But most of the time they really want someone who will listen to their stories – where they came from and why they’re here.

3. People Going Through Major Life Events

Whether it’s a major illness, loss of a job, a new baby, a promotion at work or major problems with the kids, people want someone who will listen to their stories. Sometimes we run into these folks when we’re walking in our neighborhood, at dances and even at the store. We often have other plans. It is so easy to brush off these opportunities, but we have discovered that listening to people when they want to share is one of the best ways to get to know them and build relationships with them.

What Does Any of This Have To Do With Following Jesus?

We try to love people, get to know them, build relationships with them and even help them when possible because we believe that is the way Jesus lived. This is how we present the Gospel to the world in which we live. Most people really do “get” what we’re doing, especially those who have known us for some time.

We do not need to approach people we know with our theology, Bible verses and those sorts of things. After we get to know them and have listened to their stories – their hopes and joys as well as their losses, fears and worries, they ask us questions when they are ready to hear our answers. They ask us about the things that are most important to them, and they really do listen to what we have to say.

I cannot remember even one time when anyone had any issues with what we had to say about Jesus, His teachings and what the Bible says when we were sharing in this circumstance. For us, this is part of the Kingdom of God now, God with us, living in us.

Who else in your family, neighborhood, or work place can you love like Jesus simply by listening to them? Share your ideas with others in the comments below.

Be the Church in Your Community

If you have questions about how to be the church in your community, please let us know in the comment sections below, and we will try to write a post which answers your question.

4 Practical Suggestions for Being the Church

By Jeremy Myers

7 Comments

If you are looking for ways to be the church in your community and love others like Jesus, here are some practical suggestions of things you can do. This post is by Sam Riviera who lives out these suggestions in his day-to-day life.

Be the Church by Picking Up Trash

Twice a month our group picks up trash on the streets and in the parks of an inner city neighborhood. We also try to smile and greet everyone who passes. Over the past few years this has resulted in some amazing conversations with people who hate churches and would never dream of attending one.

You’ve already guessed that picking up trash in an inner city neighborhood is not all sweetness and roses. Some of what we pick up is really disgusting. Several mornings I have stood on what appeared to be not quite dry blood, only to read in the afternoon paper that someone had been murdered on that very spot the previous night. On the other hand, there is no place where I feel the presence of Jesus more keenly than out in the street picking up trash.

Be the Church by Cleaning up the Alley

Twice last summer our group cleaned one block sections of alleys. The first one was the dirtiest and most overgrown alley in that inner city neighborhood, and took us several mornings to complete. At the end of the final morning, we shared lunch together and invited the neighbors whose houses backed up to the alley. A few joined us, and a long term relationship was formed with one family.

After the second alley, we decided to return to picking up trash, which is an activity in which more people are able to participate. Trash pickup also tends to engage more of the people who live on the street in conversations. An unintended and unexpected consequence of cleaning alleys was that some of the people who lived along the alleys seemed embarrassed that someone else was cleaning their dirty alley. They closed their blinds and didn’t emerge until we were leaving. Once again, however, we felt the presence of Jesus out there in those dirty alleys.

Be the Church by Painting Over Graffiti

Graffiti is a significant problem in most inner city neighborhoods. After checking with the city, we found that many areas have a group that volunteers to paint over graffiti. However, most groups have very few volunteers and are always on the lookout for people who will help. The job requires old clothes and an hour or two of time. This is also an opportunity to engage people in the neighborhood in conversation as they walk by or when they come out of their homes to say thank you.

Be the Church by Volunteering at the Recreation Department

Our group has helped the recreation department with neighborhood Halloween and Easter parties. Several of the members of our group have served on the department board. Again, these have been excellent opportunities to get to know the people who live in the neighborhood.

We have also cleaned up after street and music festivals, participated in the community dinner, helped the fire station acquire needed equipment, and thanked the center city police department with a visit, thank you cards, and cookies.

Have you tried some of the suggestions above or discovered other ways to be the church in your community? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Be the Church in Your Community

If you have questions about how to be the church in your community, please let us know in the comment sections below, and we will try to write a post which answers your question.

Being the Church is Loving the Person in Front of You

By Jeremy Myers

10 Comments

In this post, Sam Riviera continues his series of posts on how to be the church in your community. He asks what it looks like to proclaim the Gospel to your neighbors.

Many talk about being the church, but few know how. We understand church as those who follow Jesus, not just in “doctrine” or “belief” but out into the streets, among the people, mingling with them and loving them where they are. Being the church is as simple as loving the person in front of you right now.

Here are some examples of how this looks in our own life as we “preach sermons of love” where we live.

The Cheeseburger Lady

Yesterday I needed to pick up a couple of things at Costco. Since I had a little extra time, I visited all of the free food sample tables. I even tried a few of the samples, but mostly I talked to the people working the sample tables.

My first stop was the cheeseburger lady. Ravenous people who obviously hadn’t eaten in weeks grabbed wedges of cheeseburgers midair before the cheeeburger lady could even set the tray on the table. The tray was empty by the time she sat it down. Other people loudly complained to the cheeseburger lady that they didn’t get any. As she cut up more cheeseburgers behind a Plexiglas shield, one man reached his hand behind the shield, grabbing a chunk of cheeseburger, even when the cheeseburger lady asked him to please not do that.

The rude, unappreciative mob departed when the cheeseburgers ran out. The cheeseburger lady looked frazzled. I figured we had two or three minutes to talk while the next batch of cheeseburgers was warming in her little oven. I asked if she was having a bad day, and told her I understand because I used to be a caterer and experienced similar things – rude people grabbing food. She said it is true, that people are not nice to her, and that no one ever says thank you.

As the cheeseburgers finished cooking, we laughed together like old friends. Before the next mob arrived, she told me I could have as many samples as I liked. I took one, and made a special point of thanking her and telling her how much I appreciate her being there. The entire scenario probably took less time than it took you to read about it. I made a dear friend in less than three minutes. She was laughing and smiling and waved goodbye as I left.

I visited four more sample people. All were smiling or laughing when we parted. They made my day. I hope I helped brighten theirs. No Bible tracts, no Bible verses, no invitations to a “church service”. Just noticing and loving people. Maybe Jesus doesn’t visit Costco. If Jesus did, He’d probably stop by and chat with the cheeseburger lady (before going to the park).

Jesus Came to the Dance

After Costco I went home and my wife and I got ready to go to our weekly dance in Balboa Park, the largest park in San Diego. The building where we dance is often frequented by homeless people. After the dance had begun, a filthy homeless man walked into the room where we were dancing.

Standing near the door where he entered, I greeted him. He said “God bless you.” Homeless people frequently tell me that, so I didn’t think much about it. I headed to the kitchen where I was preparing ice cream for the break, and the homeless man appeared to be heading for the door.

However, after I left the room, he mingled with the dancers and told them he is Jesus. My wife recognized that he is probably suffering from mental illness. She asked him if he would like to step out on the patio with her and tell her about himself. They went out on the patio. The man told my wife about his doctor and treatments and then walked toward the zoo.

Was he a filthy mentally ill homeless person who thought he was Jesus, or was he in some sense Jesus? We may never know, but I know the church was there to treat him honorably and kindly and to listen to his story.

As we continue this series, we will continue to look for the church in the streets of San Diego “preaching sermons of love.” Have you seen the church in your community? Have you been the church in your community? Have you seen Jesus in your community? Please feel free to share your stories below.

Be the Church in Your Community

If you have questions about how to be the church in your community, please let us know in the comment sections below, and we will try to write a post which answers your question.

Finding Jesus in Denver

Everyone Is Welcome

Everyone Is Valued

Everyone Is Loved

The Arms of Jesus

Be the Church in Your Community

Welcome New People to the Neighborhood

Welcome New People by Giving them Cookies

How Can We Help?

It’s Never Too Late

No One Welcomed Us!

Be the Church in Your Community

Love Like Jesus by Listening to People

Listening to Others

1. The Lonely

2. The “New Guy on the Block”

3. People Going Through Major Life Events

What Does Any of This Have To Do With Following Jesus?

Be the Church in Your Community

4 Practical Suggestions for Being the Church

Be the Church by Picking Up Trash

Be the Church by Cleaning up the Alley

Be the Church by Painting Over Graffiti

Be the Church by Volunteering at the Recreation Department

Be the Church in Your Community

Being the Church is Loving the Person in Front of You

The Cheeseburger Lady

Jesus Came to the Dance

Be the Church in Your Community

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