NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

 Jesus called His followers to go into the world and to do two things:  Serve and make disciples. 

           

He called His people to serve: to feed the hungry, to give water to the thirsty, to be hospitable to the stranger, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick and the prisoner.  In other words, Jesus' people are servants who touch the lives of people as though in doing so they are actually touching the life of Jesus Himself.

           

Followers of Jesus live in light of who their Savior is.  Jesus said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28).  In Matthew 10:8 Jesus said, "Freely you received, freely give."  As He served, so we serve.  As He gave His life a ransom for many, so we live out the implications of being ransomed by Him. 

           

Jesus called His people to make disciples, too (Matthew 28:18-20). The apostle Peter preached that God wanted no one "to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9).  So, the church, in her serving the peoples of the world, also shares the redemptive heart of God to draw near and to bring His life into the life of every person. 

           

Every person matters to God in every way: physically, spiritually, socially, and emotionally, mentally.  No part of our lives goes unnoticed by God.  As an old song says, "It matters to Him about you."  It does, you know. 

We believe Jesus is God's response to the deepest needs of our lives; so it is we live the way we live and do the things we do.  Freely we have received and freely we seek to give.