Steve Gambil – LEAD Conference. ‘LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR’

Remember God wants to help you lead, after all He is the head of the church.

Psalm 110:3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of your power

Why can’t a church own a generation, in our time?

Because we don’t think we can.

And if you don’t think it’s possible you won’t do much.

Let’s be daft enough to believe God that we can do great things in our generation.

There’s always gap between what we dream of and what we’re seeing. We want to close that gap. How do we get people involved in the mission?

Luke 10.

Talks about how Jesus APPOINTED some people. That talks about an assignment and an arranged meeting. So you reprioritise, then replan, and then you see new results.Jesus is the great strategist and here he designates, selects and sends out 72 people to go into 36 places simultaneously. That is genius. What if we could send people out to go into there neighbourhoods for Him.

Oh – but you say the people aren’t willing.

We have to tell everyone you are appointed. Whether you feel like it or not, you’d better go. That’s what an appointment is about.

They returned with joy.
That tells me they probably didn’t go out with joy!
But we aren’t to be ruled by feelings.

Why do we lower down the commitment that Jesus tells us is the level required for everyone?

They returned with joy because they were used by Jesus.

If you get people used to being inactive, it’s hard to change that. Many Christians have been in church for years doing nothing.
Has Christianity become a way of life for you?

If you give people a clear assignment, they know where they’re going.

People have a fear of evangelism, but we can all get involved in acts of kindness. Jesus said ‘Get out there and love some neighbours.’

Get people to share when they return with joy. Feature it in your social media. That’s how you change the culture.

Jesus wants to know – who is our neighbour?

We are trained to pass on the other side of the road.

David Sharp wanted to climb Everest. He did it. But then he lingered a little while longer than he should have done and ended up on the way down i the death zone. At 28,000 feet he couldn’t go another step. There he saw a dead person with green ski boots on from 7 years ago. He sat down next to the green boots and fell asleep, he couldn’t be resuscitated. The sherpas had to leave him for dead.

40 climbers stepped over him to get to the summit that day.
They didn’t help him because they so valued getting to the top themselves.
They wouldn’t give up their moment at the top.
Edmund Hillary said they’d forgotten what it was all about.

The next week Lincoln Hall was dying on the way, Dan Mazeras was climbing up, he gave up his climb to help get him well and down the mountain. He became a true hero, but he never made it to the top. What’s most important?

If your church doesn’t get thousands on a Sunday but you get to love a lot of people, disassociate yourself from the pressure to evangelise everyone and just love more neighbours, you may get explosive growth anyway.

People will give you excuses why they can’t love their neighbour.

5) Overgrowing garden. Why do they let their garden get such a mess?! (Could you help with that?)

4) Parking in front of my house. (You are nasty with them about it – will they come to church if you ask)

3) Noisy neighbours

2) Boundary Line Disputes – love them!

1) Failure to control animals

All these daft things stop us – but will give opportunities to love our neighbour, planned and unplanned, structured and unstructured – but it’s challenging to British people who say ‘my home is my castle.’ No, it’s there for His kingdom.