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?

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?

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8 Secrets to Building Great Neighborhood Relationships

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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. 

7 Easy Steps to Party with your Neighbors Every Week

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?

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?

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Porch Sitting And 7 More Excuses To Engage Your Neighbors

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Okay. So, you want to get out into your neighborhood and get to know your neighbors. Or, you want to find a way to hang out in your front yard and beyond without looking like some kind of creeper. 

But, you still feel a little uncomfortable just walking out there and hoping you find somebody to talk to. Well, we have 8 solutions to your problem. 8 normal reasons for you to be in your front yard that won't feel awkward. Some are relaxing and others are a bit more work-related. Sorry about that. But that's why we have 8 different excuses for you to choose from...

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Top 2 Missional Tools That Start a Conversation Every Time

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Have you been trying to figure out the best tool for starting a conversation? If you're like us, then you are always looking for ways to get to know people better. But, a lot of times we are faced with the question: What can we do to strike up a conversation?

There are an infinite number of possible answers for that question. And we know you will figure out what works best for you. But, we have what we think are the two best tools for the job. And we want to share them with you...

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Casting Call: Who is Actually Living on Mission?

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There are a lot of people out there talking about being missional. Or being incarnational. Or living on mission. Or being missionaries in their neighborhoods. Or...fill in the blank.

But this is a plea from us. We really need your help on this one. We need you to connect us with some people who are really doing it. You know...people who are actually trying to live like Jesus in their neighborhoods. And in their workplaces. And wherever they end up.

And here's why...

What do Joe and Sarah Write About?

You found it!

You found our very first blog post! 

And, now that you're here, chances are you're wondering why we wanted you here.

Well, here's what we've noticed (and maybe you've noticed the same). There are a lot of people out there giving advice about how to be more missional (joining God in various parts of his mission in the world). And a lot of those people have amazing things to say. We follow quite a few of them, and maybe some day we'll share some of our favorites with you.

But, we decided something was missing. Not completely absent. But not as present as we think it should be. And that thing is...