This weekend our church kicked off our Love The City series. But it’s more than a series. It’s a shift in our culture—a change in the way we engage our neighbors and friends. To be honest, our church is having its own conversion of sorts.   We have been in the city for a decade and have loved every minute of being in this place we call home. But there is a monumental difference in loving the city and in actively, purposely and extravagantly loving the city for the sake of the city.

Two things are in play in this extended season of personal growth for us. First, our church culture is shifting. For clarity, we will always be a safe place for people to land on a Sunday or weekend service. It truly is OK to not be OK at Vineyard. We will worship, take communion, sit under the grace of God, serve a few and leave the house of God encouraged. We will always be a hospital for hurting people. But at the very same time, a hospital for hurting people must go mobile to ultimately affect change on a larger scale.

If you haven’t yet listened to the cornerstone message of our series, take a listen here. In it I lay out our heart to do three things.

• Love our part of the city. Under the leadership of our interns, we are extravagantly serving our little part of the city—a two-mile radius from our building to be exact. Yards cut, homes painted, toilets washed, people prayed with, good news shared and any many other fun and extravagant acts of gospel service. Our tribe gathers at Black Bears Way, but God is calling us to shepherd this part of the city for people’s good and God’s glory.
• Love your part of the city. We all eventually go home to our dorms, houses, and apartments. We share a semblance of community with those on our streets and halls. But where we live is no accident. (Acts 17:24-28) God places you and I in parts of the city not primarily for us, but for those we live next to. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll have so many exciting and practical opportunities to connect with our neighbors. Nobody is asking you to be Billy Graham to your neighbor, but we are asking you to love them extravagantly.
• Love THE church. I don’t want to say too much here about this part of our vision. But ultimately, if we’re out for the best for our city, we better be out for the best of the CITY CHURCH. Competition, name-calling, and bitter feelings must die. We are more than excited to see the local pastors gathering to pray and move together towards a greater gospel vision in our city. We are just one small part of that, but we have great faith that God is at work!

I said two things were at play. The first is a change in church culture. The second is perhaps less obvious, but most important. There must be a change in our personal culture. That is, people (singles, moms and dads, and students) must change their personal lens, expectations, desires and attitudes towards people if loving the people of our city is to be systemic. Personal change happens one decision at a time—one act of mercy and grace at a time.

God loves cities. He loves our city. The reason? Because it’s filled with people—image bearers and thousands called to be sons and daughters of God. I can’t wait to link arms with you to Love Our City well, for His glory!