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It’s become more and more difficult to have conversations about faith in our culture today. There’s a greater sensitivity to religious talk and the fear of proselytizing. The result is that we often don’t talk with each other about some of the deepest questions of life. While personal relationships are still the main context where we need to engage in these conversations, our life groups also need to connect with the world around us as the body of Christ. There are still too many people outside of our circle of relationships who have never heard the good news about Jesus. Reaching out as a group enables the church to be present in places and with people we’d never otherwise touch. Our life group recently participated in a local art festival, and it was a learning opportunity on many fronts.

1. If you’re struggling for an idea, borrow one

One of the questions I’m regularly asking myself as I hear reports from church planters and growing churches is how they connect with their community. In settings where there is great need, there are often cries for help and open doors for the church to act. Where there’s more affluence, connecting can be much more difficult. I’ve enjoyed learning from the various ways that Liberty Grace Church has sought to build relationships in their neighbourhood. We joined them a few years back to help them with the Art Crawl in Liberty Village. The basic idea was to create an interactive art installation that the whole community could contribute to. As people stopped by to paint a line or a squiggle, I was amazed by how many conversations opened up about church or faith. Importantly, the church had shown up where the neighbourhood was gathering. When I saw a promotion for a similar event in Richmond Hill, we discussed getting involved as a life group and were glad that we did.

2. If they don’t come, go

So often we think of church outreach as planning an event for people to attend. Making use of your facility makes sense, and you have the freedom to do what you want. The church building can be a safety blanket for Christians, though. It’s our home turf, but it can be an obstacle to many. Taking part in a community event helped us get to know organizers and others who care about our city. It was a way that we were able to express our solidarity with our neighbours and also with other Christians. One of the organizers was a Christian and one of the soloists at the open mic sang gospel songs and testified in between them to her faith in Jesus.

3. If you pray and show up, God will open doors

As people came to our booth, it was interesting to see how God steered the conversations. Whereas most of the art vendors were operated by solitary individuals, there were always at least 4 or 5 people serving at our booth and so people were curious to find out who we were and why we were doing what we were doing. I would introduce our church and explain that community mattered to us and so we wanted to do a painting with our community to represent our community. Many people talked about their experience with the church. One person had even attended the former Weldrick Road Baptist Church.

Christian had a conversation with a man who referred to himself as “Doubting Thomas.” He said that he loves Jesus’ teaching and respects the Church but can’t stand Christianity. Christian asked what he loved about Jesus’ teaching and for the next 45 minutes, “Thomas” and Christian talked about life, loss, and faith.

We were handing out bottles of water and Freezies for the children when I approached a man who was sitting off to one side. When I offered him a bottle of water, he thanked me and asked what it said on our t-shirts. We were wearing t-shirts that said, “Living the Unstuck Life: believe connect share.” He asked what the Unstuck Life was all about. I explained that I was a pastor and met many people who found themselves stuck in life and had written The Unstuck Life to show how Jesus sets us free. Later, he called me back and wanted to know more about what the “believe connect share” part was all about. I was encouraged at how God steered the conversations.

We didn’t change the world with our little art booth, but we showed up and were able to bless our city and be blessed by the people we met and the discussions God opened up. Imagine the influence we might have if each of our life groups was involved in little neighbourhood outreach projects multiple times per year. May God lead us outward to care about the city and the people God has placed around us!

In awe of Him,

Paul