Carmichael SDA Church Bulletin
“Wanna know what we call your house in the neighborhood?” Stuart asks me from the street, as he passes by my front yard on his daily walk with his two basset hounds.
“I’m not sure if I want to know that or not?” I laugh. “But OK - tell me!”
Stuart’s face lights up as he says, “Well, we call your home the lab-oratory. Get it? Cuz you have lots of labs? And you sell lab puppies? Funny, right!”
“That’s hilarious!” I say back, “I love it! Yes! This home is the Labrador laboratory indeed! Spread the word.”
“Oh don’t worry,” Stuart chuckles. “Everybody already knows.”
What are you known for in your neighborhood? Who are your neighbors? What are their names, their kids names, the names of the dogs they walk by your house every day? Do you know these people personally? Maybe the greater question is - does it matter?
In a day and age when loneliness is an epidemic and connection is paramount, Christians have the unique opportunity of being the “light of the world,” right where we live. We don’t have to travel to faraway places, or find ministry opportunities in the downtown dirt of our cities, because it awaits us at our address. But sometimes - that’s harder. What if we’re too busy, too private, or just not good at the getting-to-know-the-neighbors thing? That’s okay too, isn’t it?
When the teacher of the law asked Jesus in Luke 10 “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered him with one of the most famous parables of all time: the story of The Good Samaritan. A story we may have heard over and over, but a story that still probably needs to sink into our hearts in ways we might not expect.
Join us this Sabbath as we take a deeper look at the potential and possibility for heavenly impact, right on the street where we live. Special guest Graham McBane - a local expert on connecting neighborhoods - will be giving us an exciting presentation on the work he’s doing right here in Carmichael, and how we as a church can become a part of it as we “live the love of Jesus” right where we are.
- Pastor Melissa
This weekend's series explores three audiences and how our message lands with each: our young people, the wider world around us, and each other as fellow members of the Adventist movement. How does our message resonate with a generation that's grown up inside it? How do we come across to the Evangelical and secular communities we live alongside? And how are we speaking to each other — does it advance the mission, or make it harder?
These questions can be uncomfortable. They can make us want to hold on tighter. But what if Adventism's next great step is the opposite — opening our hands and our hearts to actually hear what people are taking away from what we offer?
Come explore these topics with us this weekend for Sabbath School at 10a, the worship hour and a wrap-up in the afternoon at 2:30p.