iRetire4Him 164: Your Summer Challenge: Have a Picnic

Jim Brangenberg: Hi, I am Jim Brangenberg with iRetire4Him. I wanted to do just a little monologue today. Spring's around the corner. I know! You look at this background, if you're looking at the YouTube video, it's still snowy in some places and some places it's ridiculously warm, but Spring is on the way and we need to change our perspective.

Just as winter turns into spring, so the opportunity for ministry in our neighborhoods explodes. When the cold breaks and everything becomes new, it just gets better for connecting with neighbors. One of the things that I've realized is that Christians have been marginalized for way too long. We hang out with other people in our church.

We have jobs where we don't live out our faith. Porches in the, not in the front of the house. We have porches in the back of the house. We have so many things that have changed and we need to make a new start. That was hard for me to get out. I understand. But the, iRetire4Him crowd, the iRetire4Him crowd in this country has the most power, the most influence, the most wisdom, the most knowledge, and is the most sought after of any other audience in the country. Young people around this country are desperate to hang out with people who have been there, done that, can write the book and some of them have - they wanna hang out with you.

And so I wanna introduce this idea, this challenge, and it's a challenge for sure. I wanna challenge you to hold a picnic. Those of you on the video, you could see that I've just put a picnic background, a beautiful green grass, instead of the snowy winter. Here's the deal. Picnics are powerful. Potlucks are some of the best way to get access to other people's recipes in the country. And when you have a potluck, you get to share so many things. Potluck picnic, that's what I'm saying, A potluck picnic. There's an opportunity to hang out and just be. It's something that we've forgotten as an American people.

We've forgotten how to be, how to just hang out and be, and when was the last time you just were? You hung out without an agenda. You had an hour without anything to do, or an afternoon or an evening without anything to do. That's the challenge. Every one of you listening to this show lives in a neighborhood.

That neighborhood may look different. It might be an apartment neighborhood. It might be a condo neighborhood. It might be a townhouse neighborhood. It might be a single family home development neighborhood. Might be a duplex neighborhood. It might be you live in a mobile home park or a park model park, wherever you live in a neighborhood.

Some of you live on farmland, so your neighborhood is every quarter mile, but you still live in a neighborhood. You've got neighbors. Do you know what those neighbors need? They need friendships. They need relationships. They need Jesus. They need to be loved on by somebody. They need words of affirmation. They need to know that they're valued as a human being.

Picnics can do all of those things at one time. When you invite somebody over for a picnic, it shows that they're valuable. When you say, Hey, bring your favorite recipe, it shows that you appreciate them. You're also maybe lusting after their favorite recipe, but it's okay.

When you invite somebody on your own property, you've got dominion there. That's a property you've prayed over. When they come onto your property, they're gonna experience Jesus, whether you talk about Jesus or not. But I highly recommend that you do. But just bring it up in conversation, not focusing on just presenting the gospel.

I've got my favorite springtime picnic shirt on today, and it's to remind us all that spring is a time for new beginnings, for trying new things. God makes that green grass comes outta the ground and the crocuses and the tulips and the daffodils and paper whites and all the different flowers that come outta the ground, and then the trees, the dogwoods are beautiful, white or pink. The red buds here in Missouri are purple, but they're red buds. I dunno why they're not purple buds, but everything's so gorgeous. It's just so nice to see green again after months with no green.

Your neighbors feel the same way. They wanna be outside too. Invite 'em over for a picnic, invite 'em onto your land. It's hard with the weather, but normally we could see the weather off for a couple weeks and you can take a pretty good shot at a Saturday or a Sunday afternoon or evening and have people over. We gotta start transforming this country. We're not gonna transform this country through politics, and we're not gonna transform this country through a movement in the four walls of the church.

We're gonna transform this country through a movement of doing the stuff that Jesus told us to do. Love God and love our neighbors. Have them over for a picnic. One neighborhood at a time, we could turn this nation back over to God. A nation that's turned its back on God and murdered its children. A nation that's turned its back on God and collaborated with the enemy across the globe. That nation needs Jesus -and you. You're that solution.

The Holy Spirit of God living inside of you vibrantly impacts everybody around you, whether they believe in Jesus or not. This is a nation that was founded on picnics. I guarantee you that our founding fathers knew how to throw a good picnic. This is a nation that was founded on biblical principles, on biblical morality, on the Bible of people who are willing to give up everything so that you and I can have the freedom that we have 250 years later.

This is a country that needs Jesus, and I'm giving you the best idea possible for the next five months: have picnics. Invite people over, and have picnics. My recommendation to you is you supply the meat. The hamburgers, the hot dogs, whatever you want to cook on the grill. You supply the meat. Let them bring the condiments, let them bring the pies, let them bring the side dishes, the salads. Not too many salads though. You want it to be good food.

You supply the drinks maybe too, or tell people to bring their own drinks. Yeah, if you do that, people won't bring too much beer. Just you supply the drinks if you want to. If you don't want it to be alcohol, just say you'll supply the drinks. There's nothing wrong with somebody having a beer on a hot day, but your picnic will change if people have a six pack on a hot day. Have a picnic with your neighbors.

Ladies and gentlemen, this country desperately needs you. Our retired people in this country, they need you. You represent 50 plus million people in this country who have quit their jobs and are no longer actively getting a paycheck, but yet, you are full of opportunities for meaning and purpose. I'm giving you one of those. Your wisdom, your knowledge, your love for Christ is desperately needed everywhere in this country. And you can introduce your neighborhood to Jesus by having people over for a picnic.

Have I said picnic enough for everybody? I just wanted to make sure that you heard my heart. Have a picnic this summer. Transform your neighborhood through relationships. Love on the people that you live with, and just watch God do amazing things. You're listening to iRetire4Him with your host, Jim Brangenberg.

All I want is for you to be able to say at the end of the day and at the end of this summer, iRetire4Him... at a picnic!