On Sunday Element hosted David & Holly Jauregui with us so they could share how they are involved with missional communities in San Diego. They shared their heart, some of what they do, and also a video in the short amount of time they had. If you missed the video we would encourage you to watch it here:
 

Meeting with the Jauregui’s led me to pick up a copy of Thin Places by Jon Huckins. At this point I have only read the back cover and introduction (yes, I’m a very slow reader). The back cover described a “Thin Place” like this:

“While praying for his community on the Island of Ioana, the Celtic monk St. Columba described his experience as a thin place – a location where heaven and earth seemed only thinly separated.
 
In the same way, God’s kingdom is being realized here on earth with stores of restoration and redemption. Our God moved into the neighborhood, seeking to invite us into his story of reconciliation, and commission us to missionally engage our neighborhoods with the good news of the kingdom.”

“God moved into the neighborhood” was the center of the conversation we had last Sunday afternoon with David & Holly. We looked at “Jesus as a neighbor.” Jesus lived in Capernaum for many years and there are story after story in the Bible that center around this town. It is also interesting to learn how small Capernaum is, Righetti High School is bigger than this town was, and Jesus lived there, as a neighbor.
 
This leads us to ask a pertinent question, “What kind of neighbor do you think Jesus was?” Do you think He always did large things for large crowds, or did He take time to do small things for just one person or a child? Did he know everybody’s name? What did He talk about? Did He spend more time inside or outside?
 
If you get a few moments, or next time you are reading through one of the Gospel accounts, start to jot down a list of everything that surrounds Capernaum or Galilee. It is important to think about not only what type of neighbor Jesus was, but also what type of neighbor Jesus is as He lives through you.
 
At Element we believe it is important to spend some time thinking about Jesus as a neighbor? Does this thought change our calling of what it means to be a neighbor on our streets? Can we live in a way that creates a “thin place?”
 
If you would like to know more about their ministry, what they are doing, and how you can help, you can contact them at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and/or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..