Summer is when we all take a big long break. But there is one thing that we never get to take a break from – can you guess what it is? Yep, it’s being a minister of the gospel! 2 Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not….” So, how do we turn our summers into opportunities for ministry? Read along with me today as we explore some ways to use the dog days of summer as an opportunity to expand the influence of Jesus in your neighborhood!

When we take just one of the directions from God and ignore the others, things fall apart and what we end up with is a culture that is ignorant of Jesus, ignorant of God, self-centered, and falling apart. However, when you combine The Cultural Mandate with The Great Commandment in The Great Commission, you will see a nation humbled before God, with love flowing to all of our neighbors, flourishing in every neighborhood, and with millions hearing about Jesus because of Christ-followers living out their faith at work.

As Jesus-Followers, our calling is to teach others what we know about Jesus; sometimes, that’s other Christians and sometimes other pre-believers. The bottom line is the commission is for all of us. This doesn’t just apply to pastors and missionaries; it applies to workplace believers, the “carpenters” of today. The Great Commission is for everyone.

God created humans because of love. He caused them to multiply because of love. He gave them work because of love. In fact, 1 John 4:16 says, “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” So, it makes sense that the way people would know that you love God is when you love people.

Romans 12:2 says DON'T copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you by CHANGING the way you think. When you change the way you think, you change the way you act. When you change the way you act, the world will be impacted because you will be loving God and loving people. In 2006, when I realized that my behavior matched the customs of this world, I knew I had a problem. How would I ever attract anyone to Jesus if I looked just like any old joe in business?

When we leave our homes to go to work, or you leave your bedroom to walk to your office, the Holy Spirit comes with you. He wants to help you love your neighbors as you go. Our Father created each of them in His image, and as an image-bearer, He wants to be in a relationship with them.

As a Jesus Follower, everything about you should be changing, and everyone around you should be benefiting from your faith, whether they believe in Jesus or not. When our behavior is subpar or just "meets expectations," there is nothing to draw people to the conclusion that something about us is different. The way we sweep the floors, take out the garbage, act in the pick-up line at school, talk on the phone, send out emails, etc. - every one of these actions, and the rest I didn't list - should reflect our love and appreciation for our Lord and Savior.

Jesus put loving your neighbor right up there with loving God. It's THAT important. So how do we move beyond just being a "good" neighbor and into being a Christ-like neighbor? How do we live out our faith in our neighborhoods… especially if we've been living in the area for a long time and NOBODY even knows we're a Christ-follower?

We recently interviewed Kathy Branzell from Love2020 and discussed practical ways to get connected in relationship with our neighbors. We need to be intentional because most of us suffer from Summer Faith Drought Syndrome

Recently, we took some time to talk about our neighborhood mission field. Have you ever thought about it that way? How many of you know the four neighbors who live in front, behind, and on both sides of you?