New Series this Sunday - "How to Neighbour"
When I (Sarah) was a kid, I spent countless hours after school and on the weekends playing with my friend, Peter. Both of us loved playing soccer, so many of our afternoons were spent in one another’s back yard shooting goals and retrieving stray soccer balls from over fences or on top of roofs. While soccer was the regular activity, our love for sports was not what brought us together, it was our close proximity - we were next-door-neighbours. We lived close by, so it was easy and convenient, and we always knew when the other one arrived home from school and was ready to play. Our friendship, really, was based on our nearness.
Although the people of the Old Testament were aware of the command to embrace the orphan and care for the alien or outsider, by the time Jesus arrived, the term “neighbour” had become more narrowly defined. In the Greek, the word for neighbour is actually derived from the word meaning “near” or “nearby”. However, Jesus, by telling the story of the Good Samaritan, expands our concept of neighbour. Our neighbours are not simply those who live across the street. It’s not just those who are near or perhaps, those who are similar to us. No, Jesus calls his followers to radical love and kindness towards all people, especially those who are different from us.
The opportunity for all of us to be a neighbour presents itself daily, although not usually in the form of a dying man by the side of the road. We invite you to join us for our new series, “How to Neighbour” as we focus on different aspects of how to build relationships with our neighbours, and how to do good in the context of those relationships.
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