Almost 7 years ago, my family moved into a new home located at the end of a cul-de-sac. The first day we began to move in, one of the neighbors, a man in his 60’s, walked up to me and said “What do you need?”. Not so sure of what he meant, I simply asked, “What do you mean?” He answered, “Well, I see you are moving in and we are neighbors now, so do you need a dolly to move boxes? Do you need my trailer to help move stuff from your old house?” We actually didn’t have use for any of those things at the moment, but I told him that if we did, I would be sure to talk with him. He said to me, “Now that you are a neighbor, everyone on this court is like a family, so if there is something you need that we have, you can have it or use it. And if there’s something I need and you have it, hopefully you will let me use it.”

That is exactly how the families on our small court have operated for the 7 years we have lived there. We rake and blow leaves together. We have holiday parties together. We have a text group warning each other of skunks or sending out thanks for the help we offer. We give and share food. We buy gift cards for those going through a tough time. We sit around a firepit at Halloween and all hand out candy together and talk the night away. Not all of our dogs get along, but we all know each other's dogs. Quite often a neighbor’s dog will bark until another neighbor comes over to pet it. We share tools and recipes, stories and time. We are all alerted when someone goes out of town and keep an eye on one another’s homes.

Nothing is perfect, but this past weekend when it snowed, all the neighbors came out and worked on each other’s driveways and sidewalks and cars. One neighbor had a plow on the front of his truck, so our small court was probably the first street in Gahanna to be cleared. Shovels, snow blowers and manpower were all offered, so we weathered the storm with hard work and gratefulness toward one another. 7 years later, the same neighbor who asked me if I needed anything, texted our court text group and said, “R WE NOT ALL FAMILY!!”

Jesus told us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Doing that often takes a lot of hard work and time, but in the end it is well worth it. Who is one neighbor you can serve this upcoming week and what are you going to do? Maybe it is simply a knock on the door to say, “Hey, I live a few doors down and I know it is snowy and cold. Is there anything you need?” Bring your neighbors some cookies or tell a neighbor you are going to the grocery store and ask if there is something you could get them.

The earliest believers in Jesus, in the book of Acts chapter 2, are said to have even gotten to the point where they were selling their own possessions in order to help financially support those who were in need. The church, the gathered people of God, have the opportunity to help one another when someone is in need. Galatians 6:10 says, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Is there a believer who you know is in need and you have the ability to help them? Maybe your small group has the ability to help a believer in need. As Christians, we are to do good for everyone we can, but especially for the members of the family of God, our brothers and sisters. Begin to pray that God would put someone in your path whom you can help.

As we all are aware of, family can be difficult, be it biological family, neighbor family, or church family, but we all need to seek out opportunities to do good for one another. And remember, when we serve others, we are serving the Lord. Psalm 100 tells us to serve the Lord with gladness. Imagine several hundred believers, from New Life, who are scattered all throughout Gahanna, Whitehall, Pataskala and the surrounding areas, serving their neighbors and serving the Lord with gladness in their hearts and a smile on their faces. I think that would be a beautiful picture of how God's people are called to live in their communities.