In a world marked by division, isolation, and loneliness, we are a people in desperate need of radical love and connection in the ordinary parts of our lives and world. Join us at Midtown for our new teaching series entitled Won’t You Be My Neighbor?: Radically Ordinary Hospitality, as we go on a spiritual journey of exploration, mining the riches of Jesus’ life and teaching to explore the radical practice of neighboring and examining the ways that this ancient and timeless practice can get us caught up in the present work of the Kingdom of God in our own time. Together we’ll challenge the prevalent culture of division by emphasizing the importance of building authentic relationships across societal boundaries, provide practical guidance on fostering a sense of community in our homes and world, examine how to break down walls of hostility that isolate and divide, and ultimately combat the epidemic of loneliness through intentional acts of kindness and inclusion, that all people might come to a knowledge of their identities as beloved children of God and might experience His love and grace in their own lives.Sermon Resources:1. Rosaria Butterfield Testimony: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/january-february/my-train-wreck-conversion.html2. “Whether the issue is marriage and sexuality or morality and care for the poor...the data suggests that in many crucial areas evangelicals are not living any differently than their unbelieving neighbors.” -Ron Sider, "The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience"3. “In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal.” -Robert Karris, "Eating Your Way Through Luke’s Gospel"4. “It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of table fellowship for the cultures of the Mediterranean basin in the first century. Mealtimes were far more than occasions for individuals to consume nourishment. Being welcomed at a table for the purpose of eating food with another person had become a ceremony richly symbolic of friendship, intimacy, and unity. ” -Scott Bartchy, "Table Fellowship"5. “Jesus addresses her with words usually reserved for the conclusion of miracles of healing: “your faith has made you whole;” and he sends her away “in peace” (shalom). Such language cannot be limited to “spiritual” well-being or even to “physical” vitality, but speaks of a restoration to wholeness, including restoration to the full social intercourse from which she has been excluded.” -Joel B. Green, NICNT on Luke5. “It’s hard to convince people that a God they can’t see loves them when a church they can see doesn’t even seem to like them.” -John Alan Turner6. “The word sinner...is not a word that places humans somewhere on a continuum ranging from angel to ape, assessing them as relatively “good” or “bad.” It designates humans in relation to God and sees them separated from God. Sinner means something is awry between humans and God.” -Eugene Peterson, "The Contemplative Pastor"7. “Touched with a sensible regret (notice, not morbid or shameful, but sensible, true, accurate), I confess to Him and ask His forgiveness, I abandon myself in His hands that He may do what He pleases with me. The King, full of mercy and goodness, far from chastising me, embraces me with love, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the key of His treasures; He converses and delights Himself with me incessantly, in a thousand and a thousand ways, and treats me in all respects as His favorite.” -Brother Lawrence, "Practicing The Presence of God"