RTC-Neighbour-Square-wBackWe are starting a brand new series – Won’t You Be My Neighbour?  Fewer and fewer people today know their neighbours, and with social media, high mobility and a busy pace of life, it’s natural to question if our neighbours matter – whether they are in the next house, cubicle, GO Train four-seater or beyond.

In this series, we’ll be looking at following through on what Jesus said was one of the most important things: Loving God and Loving our Neighbours.

What would you most like to learn in this series?  Tell us in the comments form below!

The daily challenges explore one new idea each week on how to live as a follow of Jesus in today’s busy, commuting lifestyle. Please don’t do the challenges alone for long – share it with someone from the train, bus, carpool or neighbourhood, and grow a small discussion group from there.

It all starts September 9th, when you’ll find the first few days posted here.

Ryan Sim - September 25, 2013

Wednesday - Change It - Neighbours to Acquaintances

Won\'t You Be My Neighbour?

Remember our story yesterday about Jesus stopping to help a hurting woman? It wasn’t just about interruptions. After helping the woman who interrupted his travels, Jesus carried on his way towards Jairus’ house, since he’d asked Jesus to heal his daughter. It turns out that Jairus’daughter had died in the meantime, but Jesus kept going, and arrived at her bedside and raised her from the dead. That’s the true point of this story – the resurrection from the dead is what we’re heading toward – ultimate goal. He gives us a glimpse in this story, showing us that our death will not be the end of us, but that Jesus offers to simply wake us up in his kingdom. It’s a matter of whether we want to join that party. Jesus said the main thing was loving God, loving neighbours. The confidence to live that way, with all its sacrifices in this world, all flows from Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. It is our resurrection from being dead to sin now, and the physical death still to come. We can be distracted by other things – even good things – and lose perspective. We can tell ourselves things will settle down, or that more will be enough, or that everybody lives like this. But these are distractions. We can only do so many things well – why not make our specialty what God says is most important? We’ll have to slow down. John Ortberg – Love and hurry are fundamentally incompatible. Love always takes time, and time is the one thing hurried people don’t have.” Think of the difference between good doctor and bad doctor from a patient’s perspective. It often has to do with perception of being hurried – does the doctor seem to listen and care? I know someone who visited the doctor recently, and waiting for an hour in the exam room listening to him talk on the phone about golf, then she heard him tell a drug rep he was extremely busy. She knew it was a lie, and that he didn’t care about her as a person. We don’t want to be like that with our neighbours! Question: What good things might be keeping you from the “main thing” of loving God, who calls you to your neighbours? We meet for coffee every Wednesday night at Starbucks in the Chapters Store in Ajax, in Durham Region just East of Toronto. Maybe we'll see you there?

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