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Love Every Neighbor...We dare you!
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Phos Hilaron Church
According to Jesus, in Mark 12: 28-31, there are no two greater commandments than, #1 - To love the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your strength. And #2 – To love your neighbors as you love yourself. But how many members in the body of Christ actually dare to take these to heart…and more importantly, dare to take them to their community?
A Louisville Kentucky church has dared their congregation and community to Love Every Neighbor. The “Love Every Neighbor Dare”, aka LEND, has been thrown down by Phos Hilaron Church. Phos Hilaron (pronounced foce hill-a-ron) means ‘dancing light’ and refers to the fact that all of Christ’s followers are to carry the light of Jesus Christ everywhere they go.
From the conception of Phos Church, staff and members have been on a quest to reach the community in a different way, bringing the light of Jesus Christ to others. Their motto is: Purposefully different, to make a difference! The church declares three continuous running themes. 1 – Love God 2- Love our neighbors 3 – Expand the Neighborhood
The recent LEND challenge made at Phos Church was set for an 8 week period of time and will wrap up at the end of October. Each person involved was asked to choose a level of commitment in serving their neighbors while keeping a journal of their experiences. Throughout the process they were also asked to choose three people to specifically pray for, invest in and invite on a journey to getting to know God better.
Phos also provided scripture cards for encouragement, an inspirational song list and a blog for members to put their thoughts on and see how God is using this Dare to affect them and their neighborhoods. On the LEND blog you will find a list of Dares or a list of simple and clever ways to reach out to neighbors with love. The Dares are divided into Comfortable Dares, Not So Comfortable Dares and Out Of My Comfort Zone Dares - encouraging LEND participants to step out of their comfort zone to reach out to others. The Dares encompass many unique ways for individuals, couples and entire families to reach beyond their own little circle and into their neighborhoods.
Leaders at Phos got the idea for LEND by reading the book Outflow by Steven Sjogren and Dave Ping. Outflow: Outward Focused Living In A Self-focused World brings a simple and brilliant message to the body of Christ by suggesting an ‘out with the old and in with the unexpected’ attitude towards outreach. The philosophy of Outflow and Phos Churches’ LEND initiative is to be energetic evangelizers who are excited about living a life of love and service rather than just seeing it as something Christians occasionally do.
While LEND started as an 8 week initiative to reach out to neighbors and expand the spiritual growth of those participating, Phos Church’s goal is to use it as a springboard to open their eyes to neighbors and include outreach as a regular part of life rather than an isolated thing they do during special events.
I recently asked the ministry staff at Phos Church about the impact LEND has had on their congregation so far. One staff member at Phos, Meredith Lewis stated: “I have definitely seen a lot of changes in the lives of our church community. I think we have always known that God calls us to do Outreach with those closest to us but I don’t think we have ever known how to exactly put feet on the theory.”
Phos has definitely grown feet over the years by maintaining a positive and unique approach to outreach. In an effort to wrap up their first 8 weeks of LEND, Phos is encouraging members to have Halloween Yard Parties in their neighborhoods. Phos successfully held several such parties the past two years and have high hopes that reaching inward to their closest neighbors will garner success again this year. As members focus even greater on loving their neighbors as they love themselves, they will no doubt plant the seeds of God’s love this season.
When asked what difference LEND has made on the congregation as a whole, Lewis responded “Lend has helped us to be comfortable getting out of our little Christian bubbles and teaches us how to love people better. LEND has opened the eyes of a lot of folks in our community and I can’t wait to see what God does in the years to come with the seeds that have been planted the past two months.”
So...then challenge is on to the Body of Christ. We DARE you to...Love Every Neighbor!
For more information on LEND and Phos Church, please see the links below.
Phos Hilaron Church
LEND
Outflow Book
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