Joe & Sarah Caples
This Is Not The Church We Expected To ...

"It's not the church you planned on starting, but you have a pretty good congregation here." - said our neighbor while he helped clean up after our weekly block party.

He was right!

When we moved into this neighborhood, we were in the middle of starting a new church in Midtown Sacramento ("church planting," for those who need to hear the insider lingo).

We were renting space from an established local church. We were leading a couple midweek Bible studies. Within a few months of moving into our current house, we left flyers on our new neighbors' doors asking them to help our church collect school supplies for a local collection we partnered with. The flyers had our church logo on it and everything. Pretty official.

But it didn't take long for God to show us the real reason he had moved us to this particular area of Midtown...

Joe & Sarah Caples
5 kinds of christians that cause the most damage

Do you know the most common reason people aren't interested in Jesus? It's Christians. That's right. The main thing standing between an unbeliever and Jesus is most likely a Christian.

We know that nobody following Jesus wants to be the reason others refuse to do the same. So we made a list of all the things we could think of that a Christian might do to turn others away from Jesus. Because, if you're developing a missional lifestyle, then you'll want to do everything you can to avoid pushing people further away from him, right?

Now, we know that sometimes people are just turned off by Christianity regardless of what we do. But, we still need to make sure we aren't doing anything to give them more reasons to reject Jesus.

So, we decided to count down the 5 most damaging kinds of Christians and...

Neighborhood, Stories, Missional, Take Action, Joe & Sarah
Joe & Sarah Caples
8 Secrets to Building Great Neighborhood ...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to actually know all of the people living on your block? Or maybe you know some of them, but you don't really know much about them. Or about their lives.

 

Well, you've probably heard us brag about how great our neighbors are at some point. And, if you haven't, don't worry. You will! 

 

But these relationships didn't just build overnight. 

Joe & Sarah Caples
7 Easy Steps to Party with your Neighbors Every ...

You've been to a block party, right? All the neighbors show up with some food and drinks to share. Some of them bring friends. There are kids running around playing together. Everyone is just relaxing. Engaged in conversations about various topics.

And, if you haven't been to one, we're sure you've seen one. Or at least heard of them. 

Well, how awesome would it be to have a block party every week?

Missional
Joe & Sarah Caples
Where We Learned to be Missional. HINT: It ...

So, you want to be more missional, right? You want to get out into your community. You want to get to know your neighbors and the people you interact with. You want to find ways to build relationships with people. As a Christian, your job is to help people see Jesus by the way you live and interact with them.

But, who do you turn to for guidance in this? Who can teach you how to live a more missional lifestyle? Where will you learn how to get to know people and build relationships with them?

Stories

Why Be A Better Neighbor Series #7: Worry Free Halloween

We realize Halloween just passed, and it seems like it might be a little late to be writing about how to have a worry free Halloween. But, before you stash this article away to be read next October, you need to hear us out. 

We're not talking about some kind of quick tip to make sure you don't come across any last minute costume malfunction. Or the secret to quick and easy decorating. Or even a foolproof way to make sure you have exactly the right amount of candy for the kids.

No. This week in the Why Be A Better Neighbor Series, we're talking about how neighborhood relationships over the next 356 days will make your next Halloween more enjoyable...

Why Be A Better Neighbor Series #6: Default Security System

"Hey, someone just broke into your garage and took your bike."

That is not the first sentence we hoped to hear when we saw that our neighbor was calling Joe's phone. But those were the first words out of his mouth. And, the next thing he said reminded us of how amazing our neighborhood is. 

Check out the rest of the story to see what happened and how you can have a neighborhood as awesome as ours!

Why Be A Better Neighbor Series #5: Dirty Work

"Dad! He flushed my Spider-Man down the toilet!" was the scream that started it all. But we'll come back to that in a minute.

It can be easy for Christians to get so caught up in giving of ourselves that we don't allow others to return the favor. This is especially true for those of us who feel called to make a positive impact in the lives of those we interact with.

But, when we do this, we risk missing out on amazing lessons that others can teach us. Did you know Christians can learn a lot about Jesus and his character from those who do not call themselves Christians?

Why Be A Better Neighbor #4: Handyman Skills You Lack

Christians have a tendency to act like we always have it all together. Like nothing could ever go wrong for us, and we don't need nothing from nobody.

Sometimes, we get so focused on offering help to other people that we become unwilling to allow them to do the same for us. And we rob them of the opportunity to bless us.

Well, at some point, we have to come to terms with reality.

You see, there are 2 kinds of people in this world...

Why Be A Better Neighbor #3: Keep You Out Of Trouble

As Christians, we typically think of helping people in ways that everyone would agree are good. We fix something. Or we provide an item or service. We teach someone a skill or a concept. We provide help in ways that everyone would agree is good.

But what about when the kind of help someone needs borders on the line of being illegal? Can you still offer that kind of help? Would you be okay accepting that kind of help?

Well, luckily for us...

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Why Be A Better Neighbor #2: Eliminate Unwanted Guests

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What do you do when somebody shows up to your house that you aren't comfortable with? If you're going to start hosting events for your neighbors and other people you meet (like we talked about in this article), this is going to happen to you at some point.

And when it does, we hope you've developed a close bond with your neighbors.

Today we're going to share a story from our first year of truly living on mission...

Why Be A Better Neighbor #1: Share Gourmet Meals

You like to eat, right? Of course you do. Everyone likes to eat.

What if we told you that you could be more missional in the way you live and enjoy better meals in the process? What if you could have a feast with your neighbors without breaking the bank?

This past Memorial day we...

Introducing The "Why Be A Better Neighbor" Series

Is being a better neighbor really a good use of your time? It takes a lot of effort to get to know people and actually build relationships.

We talk a lot about the importance of knowing your neighbors and living in community with them. But do you ever wonder if you could be using your time more efficiently without all that?

How do you really know if anything good will ever come from these relationships? How can you judge if you're succeeding in your neighboring efforts? What if you don't see any of your neighbors coming to Jesus?

Where We Learned to be Missional. HINT: It Wasn't the Church

So, you want to be more missional, right? You want to get out into your community. You want to get to know your neighbors and the people you interact with. You want to find ways to build relationships with people. As a Christian, your job is to help people see Jesus by the way you live and interact with them.

But, who do you turn to for guidance in this? Who can teach you how to live a more missional lifestyle? Where will you learn how to get to know people and build relationships with them?