by Pastor Justin Waples
Inviting neighbors to your home opens the door to new or deeper relationships that can lead to spiritual conversations!
The general flow of today’s culture drifts towards isolation. We must resist that idea through prayer and action, growing healthy, vibrant communities in our church and community. This is where our Bible Fellowships and Small Groups come into play, as we’re “Seeking to be Worshipers, Maturing in Christ.” Gather together this Fall and focus less on introspective questions about our participation in Halloween activities and consider the ministry you have through your home!
We now have the wonderful opportunity to head into our front yards and bring the Gospel with us! That’s right… it’s time for Halloween, Fall events, and S’more Neighboring! Get it? Connect with a neighbor this Fall through a S’more party or a Fall-themed get-together. Check out the Outreach website for more details and many other Outreach ideas! Come by the Gospel Resources display in the church hallway to pick up tracts for Halloween and information on hosting a wonderful S’more party. Find many other Gospel Resources designed for the season at the church’s Gospel Resource display as well!
Halloween Outreach
Consider what David Mathis (Executive Editor of John Piper’s www.desiringGod.org) has to say about engaging our neighbors on Halloween:
“What if we saw October 31 not merely as an occasion for asking self-oriented questions about our participation (whether we should or shouldn’t dress the kids up or carve pumpkins), but for pursuing others-oriented acts of love? What if we capitalized on the opportunity to take a step forward in an ongoing process of witnessing to our neighbors, co-workers, and extended families about who Jesus is and what he accomplished at Calvary for the wicked like us?
What if we resolved not to join the darkness by keeping our porch lights off? What if we didn’t deadbolt our doors, but handed out the best treats in the neighborhood as a faint echo of the kind of grace our Father extends to us sinners?
What if thinking evangelistically about Halloween didn’t mean just dropping tracts into children’s bags, but the good candy — and seeing the evening as an opportunity to cultivate relationships with the unbelieving as part of an ongoing process in which we plainly identify with Jesus, get to know them well, and personally speak the good news of our Savior into their lives?”
Fall Community Engagement
We encourage you to get to know your neighbor s’more this year and pray it becomes a tradition in your family to invite your neighbors into your life.
Identify a neighboring family to invite over, gather some simple items from the grocery store, grab your firepit and roasting sticks, and show love and compassion to those closest to you.
The interactive nature of making the s’more—roasting the marshmallow, choosing some fillings, and building the finished treat—gives people something to do with their hands and an activity to keep them from getting too nervous or feeling awkward. It’s a perfect way to combine something to eat AND something to do at your home.
Make it a fun evening by setting a few fall decorations on a table, and arranging the graham cracker, chocolate, and marshmallow on trays or plates, so people feel comfortable grabbing what they want. Set up small tables and a few camp chairs and enjoy the company and fun! Be sure to pick up some themed Gospel Resources!
You know your neighborhood better than we do. Apply what you know and start small! Long before Halloween, consider setting up haybales and enjoying dinner outside, or plan a pumpkin carving party or an apple-themed potluck party with cider. Plan ahead and invite neighbors over during trick-or-treating and provide hot chocolate, chips, and hot dogs. Set up simple spin-to-win or toss-and-play games where kids can win candy prizes. Create a fun photo backdrop and offer to take pictures. Provide invitations to post-parties like a candy swap or an outdoor movie night the next week. We pray this will kick off new and deeper relationships with your neighbors.
Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-38, “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. “
Do you feel intimidated reaching out in your neighborhood? Remember, consider inviting another family from your Bible Fellowship or Small Group to host the evening with you.
The Outreach Team at East White Oak is praying for you and your Gospel witness to your neighbors this fall.
Continue reading to discover 7 Outreach Testimonies from the Summer of 2024 that each tell about a different way people from East White Oak have been seeking to boost their neighborhood community engagement. Ask the Lord, “How might you use me to share the Gospel with those in my neighborhood, apartment complex, dorm, or country road?”
Be encouraged to build environments where you can have Gospel-motivated conversations with your neighbors this fall. We will be praying for you!
As you pray and prepare for your neighboring event, read, reflect, and pray through Matthew 22:36-40 | Psalm 51:10-13 and John 17:11-21.
Outreach Prayer
- Pray for boldness for the church to reach out to families.
- Pray for the open hearts of neighbors.
- Pray that the Gospel can be shared clearly.
- Pray that every Christ follower would make it a point to know and even befriend their literal neighbors.
- Thank God that the people who live around us are not accidents but providential appointments.
- Pray for God’s design in these neighborhoods.
- Pray for the church to live at a pace that allows folks to be available to those around them.
- Pray that the church would reflect personally on life goals that we make more important than taking the Great Commandment literally.
- Pray that the church would commit to taking the next step with our immediate neighbors this year.
- Pray that people would find two or three households in their neighborhoods with whom they are already connected and could be a potential partner in this venture.
Stories About Neighboring
