For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
2 Cor. 5:19, NLT
This verse captures the heart of God in the gospel and the responsibility of all Christians to be His ambassadors. Although there are many things about the holidays we love, the specifically Christian part centers on the Incarnation: God became man to bring peace and goodwill to all who receive him (John 1:12).
For an anxious world full of division, this is definitely, a “wonderful message of reconciliation.” As followers of Christ, we desire to share the good news with those we rub shoulders with or are in close proximity to. Of course, in the midst of a global pandemic, even the phrase “rub shoulders with” is problematic; but, and I think you’ll agree, it still sounds better than “those we regularly wear masks around!”
And therein lies one of our big problems in 2020: how do we share God’s love when it’s not safe to do so?
“The Billy Graham Center Institute, in partnership with Lifeway Research, and the Caskey Center for Church Excellence surveyed fifteen hundred small churches (under 250 people) and discovered the top predictive factors for sustained church growth through reaching new people. The top predictive factor was hospitality to the unchurched.”[1] One pastor observed, “ ‘What I seem to notice is that when you can meet a need, people know and the community knows that you care about them.’ This often is what builds bridges to faith among unchurched people in the broader community.”[2]
So, and to get more practical and specific, what do we do to show hospitality in our own neighborhoods? For starters, we get creative and remind ourselves that something is better than nothing. With that in mind, I asked the three families represented in our church planting core group to each send me a list of the ingredients they’re using for their neighbor holiday care packages, along with a picture. You’ll notice that all three have Chick-fil-A gift cards. This isn’t just because we all like Chick-fil-A (we do!) and have one near us, but because I took $150 we were going to use on a joint Christmas party and gave each family five $10 gift cards.
My hope in sharing the details of what we’ve done is to spark creativity and intentionality in some of you, inviting you to join us. Undoubtedly, some of you are already prepared but, truthfully, there have been many years when Pam and I have had great intentions but, due to busyness, never quite got there. If that latter scenario fits you, we’re here to help. 🙂
Here are three examples of what we’re doing:
Example #1:
- Chick-Fil-A gift card
- alcohol wipes
- purse-size hand sanitizer
- Christmas pocket tissue pack
- 4 packets of hot chocolate
- 1 box of Bob’s peppermint sticks
- 7 Lindor chocolates
- 8 Hershey kisses
- gift Bag
- tags
- tissue paper- 1 sheet each bag
- crinkle paper for pop of color/contrast
Example #2:
- tins from the dollar store
- crinkle paper
- hot cocoa packets
- truffles
- Hershey kisses
- Chick-Fil-A gift card
Example #3:
- gift bags
- hot chocolate packets
- candy canes
- Hershey kisses
- dog treats for our canine neighbors
- Chick-Fil-A gift card
- a handwritten note
If any of these ideas spur you to “love and good deeds,” would you kindly drop me a note as I’d love to 1) pass it along to our team for encouragement and 2) Pray with you that God would bless our simple acts of love in ways only he can do.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”
Ephesians 3:20, NIV
Merry Christmas!
Greg
[1] Rick Richardson, You Found Me (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2019), 16.
[2] Ibid., 14.