My wife and I recently moved into a new community here in Portland, Oregon. That means we have had many new people to meet. Many of our neighbors have been so welcoming to the new folks on the block, and we’ve enjoyed making friends with those who live around us. We were surprised and delighted to find out that so many of our neighbors are fellow followers of Christ, but there are also many who do not know Jesus. These new relationships also delight me! I may be getting older and traveling less, but I will always have the perspective of an evangelist. So, I want to make sure all of my neighbors know the Lord.

Neighborhoods are wonderful places. We live by people we might not have met otherwise. We are out of our bubble of work or church, and we are engaging with those we live around. What a great opportunity to share God’s love! I once heard a statistic that 80% of people would attend a church event if they were invited, but only 2% of church-attenders ever invite people to these events. Often we don’t invite people because we’re nervous about what they’ll say or do. But that fear isn’t from Christ. As 2 Timothy says, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” So, we need to be reaching out to our neighbors, young and old. It’s our chance to create spiritual community in the places we live, in a natural way.

This is Luis Palau.