Beyond our Small Group

In this series, we are going to look beyond our official Bayside small group, but keep our leader's hat on.  If we really listen, we can hear the Father calling us to lead in every area of our lives.....


Do you know your neighbors?  If your experience has been anything like ours, meeting your neighbors just doesn’t happen naturally anymore.  People are so busy and the days are so fast.  We pull in and out of our garages with our to-do lists dancing in our heads and give little thought to the people we live amongst.  When our family moved to Bradenton 4 years ago, I thought my dreams of moving into a warm and friendly neighborhood filled with lovely, Christ-centered families were dashed.  I allowed our less than warm reception to really mess with me for a while and the enemy had me right where he wanted me:  feeling sorry for myself and not seeing the land I was supposed to possess.

Moses says this to Joshua, just before he leads the people into the promised land:

 "Be strong. Take courage. You will enter the land with this people, this land that God promised their ancestors that he'd give them. You will make them the proud possessors of it. God is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; he won't leave you. Don't be intimidated. Don't worry." (Duet. 31:7-9)

Perhaps you need to be reminded of this as well.  I sure did.  What a beautifully powerful promise!  As believers, we house the Spirit of the Living God.  He strides ahead of us and is right there with us at all times!  Talk about a confidence booster! How can I not go out of my way to greet my neighbor?  And going out of my way is what it took in the beginning.  We made an effort to be hospitable and didn’t let the “no’s” and “no-show’s” get us down.  

We chose not to be intimidated, not to worry. 

Today, a beautiful thing is happening.  Our home is “the kid house”, you know the one, where the door is always open, there is always a snack and a cool drink to be had and no one worries about the crunchy floors.  And those floors, while crunchy, they are nothing less than holy ground.  Christ Jesus lives here and everyone who comes in meets Him in a warm welcome, a bite to eat and nice conversation. Garage doors are beginning to stay open after the cars pull in and we all are enjoying sharing a little about our day, ourselves, our lives as we linger over the mailboxes.  We are taking this land: one wave, one hello, one invitation at a time.  

He is striding ahead of all of us.  


Your home is holy ground and by purposefully opening your doors and inviting people in, you will begin to change the culture of your own neighborhood.  Try it!  

by Jen Milne