For college football fans, this is the time of the year where they start sizing up the strength of their teams. Most schools have played two to three games. Armchair quarterbacks are in the process of determining the assets and liabilities of their team. But, college football fans also keep an eye on that “other” team – the crosstown rival.

While Los Angeles has a number of colleges, when it comes to football, you’re one or the other. There can be no middle. You can only love one, not both. I went to one of those colleges; where they teach you to despise the other.

But, I’m supposed to live beyond that kind of pettiness. Right?

This past week, I had dinner at some friends’ house. They’re fans of that other school. When we walked into the kitchen to serve ourselves the dinner on the counter in front of us, we were confronted with a choice. There were two stacks of paper plates upon which we would place our food. One was emblazoned with the other logo and its hideous colors. Another stack was a beaming citadel, by comparison, of unmarked (untarnished) plain paper plates.

I chose the latter. I was the only one eating on the plain plates. The host noticed. I was embarrassed. I owned it. I didn’t pretend like I couldn’t find the other plates. But, I just couldn’t allow my food to be “dirtied” by placing it atop that profane logo. I’m shallow. I know. (To my credit, however, one year on his birthday, I walked into a store and bought our host a nice golf shirt in those colors, with that logo.)

In the first century, as we talked about this past weekend, there were essentially two broad categories of things, people, and places: sacred and profane. Jesus frequently challenged the notion of what was sacred and what was profane. He saw His ministry as one primarily focused those who fell into the profane category. He moved toward them. And, His critics killed Him for it.

But, that was what Jesus meant by being a neighbor. That’s why being a neighbor (in the manner Jesus intended it) is so difficult. It’s also the reason why being  that kind of neighbor can change the world. Last week, we asked the questions: “Where does my love for my neighbor get to stop? Where’s the reasonable upper limit on loving someone else?” So, what does that look like for you?

See you this Sunday,
Jeff

I’m somewhat haunted by the words in the middle of the message outline from last week: AWARENESS REQUIRES ACTION. In the moment we’re aware of an earthquake we act as we’ve been taught. We crawl under a desk (mine happens to be made of large pane of glass, however) and cover our necks and wait until we’re certain the shaking has subsided. But, the point of Doug Fields’ message this past weekend was about an awareness of our neighbors. Specifically, it was about an awareness of the neighbors that live within our own home. To an even greater degree, the awareness to which we were being called wasn’t merely to identify the people who are our neighbors within our homes. Rather, it was about loving them according to the definition given to us in Jesus:

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” (1 John 3:16)

Why is it that the people I’m called to love with the greatest and most sacrificial love are the ones who often wind up getting only my leftovers? Amanda and I had a weighty conversation about the way we love our kids–about how we manage to treat them in a less-than-neighborly way from time-to-time. We talked about our own desire to love each other more intentionally. But, beyond all the conversation, hangs those words:

AWARENESS REQUIRES ACTION.

What will you do, specifically, to love, with greater sacrifice, the neighbors in your own home? This week we’ll continue in our NEIGHBORGOOD series and we’ll look at the quintessential neighbor story in the Bible.

See you this Sunday,
Jeff

NOTE: If you’re looking for the best way to get connected in the Mariners community, ROOTED is your best bet. This weekend is the final weekend to sign up for the Fall session of ROOTED.

Join us for the upcoming 2013 Fall Kick-Off Celebration! We are inviting all of our Life Groups together for a fun and festive time as we prepare to launch the MV fall session. Contact Mike with questions or visit our website.

Wednesday, Sep 18, 6-8p
Childcare available for a nominal fee

Meet and connect with other parents who have students in junior high or high school, and learn about opportunities coming up this
year for parents! A light lunch will be provided, and a movie & pizza will be provided (in the Children’s Theater) for your students while you attend the meeting.

Sun, October 6
1 – 2p, Upper Room

Questions?  Contact Hilary

Each Tuesday morning, as the Mariners staff gathers for our weekly staff meeting, we take a few moments to capture what has happened in the past week of ministry. We call this time (not all that cleverly) “storytime.” In it we recall to each other the things we’ve been a part of that God is doing in our midst. This past Tuesday, we spent time telling stories of our own “Neighborday” weekend experiences (the holiday formerly known as Labor Day). We heard the stories of multiple generations of people participating in a neighborhood chalk-art expo. We heard the stories of community barbecues and pool parties, ice cream socials and breakfasts together.

Here were the consistent themes: First, people who do the inviting are generally uncomfortable to do so. Some talked about how the fear of rejection in inviting people from their neighborhood to a community event almost paralyzed them. Secondly, to a person, the response from all those invited was that they were incredibly grateful–that the pulling together of everyone in the neighborhood for little more than an informal get together made their community safer, more friendly, more enjoyable. Third, people are longing for the “next” time to get everyone together again. It turns out, everyone is longing to be connected to the people around them. They just need a courageous person to create a reason to gather.

We were all created for relationships. There’s a reason why people who hosted NEIGHBORDAY events kept repeating to us how they had received so much gratitude from the invitees. In some ways, it’s our longing for meaningful relationships that unites us. The church is no different. In fact, on September 18th, we’ll launch the fall session of Life Groups–our pathway to meaningful relationships. There has already been a huge response from people looking to find deeper connection here at Mariners. For some of you, not yet connected in a Life Group, your first session will start with ROOTED. ROOTED is the safe place to wrestle with the big issues we all face: God, purpose, relationships. Sign up online or this Sunday on the patio at church.

In keeping with the spirit of NEIGHBORDAY, Doug Fields will kick off our fall series, called “NEIGHBORGOOD.” In it we’ll look at one of the most radical statements of Jesus. It’s the phrase that, if you grew up in the church, you’ve heard a million times. In a lot of ways, it’s the phrase that may have lost a little of its power in all its repetition. But, it’s the way the church is most beautifully expressed outside the walls of the worship center:

“Love your neighbor…”

It’s a loaded expression that has any number of questions to accompany it: What does it mean to love? Who qualifies as my neighbor? What happens if I’m not comfortable with my neighbors trying to love me? Throughout our NEIGHBORGOOD series, wrestle honestly with the questions: “Who is my neighbor?” and “What would it look like to love them?”

See you on Sunday,
Jeff

Thursday, September 26, 6:30p
Atria Del Sol Senior Center