Last time we talked a bit about how the Church can model & display really community within neighborhoods, thus through good deeds showing the reality of God’s Kingdom. When the church does this neighborhoods, campuses, communities begin to see what community is supposed to look like; when they begin to see this the soil becomes ready for the gospel.
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By helping to create a community of Christ followers, we are in essence furthering God’s kingdom. God’s Kingdom is actively present wherever his will is being done. So as people are coming to Christ, people are being transformed in God’s likeness. As individuals are being transformed in God’s likeness, their hearts change and come to care for the same things that God cares for. Because they begin to care for the things that God cares for, they in turn continue to spread the Gospel. This is how engaging in good deeds within a neighborhood serves to further the Gospel. The people within the community are being equipped by means of examples and by encouragement through scripture to live the type of lives that God intended them to live, a Kingdom-centered life. Because the Gospel is being spread, God’s kingdom is being furthered.
As individuals (members of the community and “missionaries”) begin to live Kingdom-driven lives, unbelievers will begin to experience God’s Kingdom in their midst. The community no longer continues to be a place where individuals or powers and principalities rule, but it becomes a place where God is actively ruling. The influence of God’s kingdom being present within these neighborhoods will influence the lives of both believers and unbelievers within the community.
There are at least three steps to engaging on mission to our neighborhoods/campuses/communities (in no particular order):
- The mission to our neighborhoods starts out by helping to create flourishing Christ-centered communities (“church”).
- Then manifesting God’s Kingdom within a particular community (“serving the common good”/”good deeds”).
- Finally having God’s kingdom spreads from these communities (“mission”).
If this is resonating with you at all I want you to consider some of the following questions.
- What place do good deeds have in advancing God’s kingdom?
- How are you serving (through good deeds) other Christians in your community?
- How are you serving the common good (through good deeds) in your neighborhood/campus?
CWoznicki Think Out Loud 
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