009 Loving Your Neighbor

Living in a global society has put unimaginable strain on our concept of "neighbor." You can fly to anyone in the world within hours and connect to anyone's suffering online in a matter of seconds. Our hearts are overwhelmed by the thought of loving our entire metropolitan area, and thus are paralyzed into inaction. Let's scale back today to the person next to you. How can we (and our congregations) meaningfully connect with the people right around us and connect them to Jesus? I hope to share some experiences and principles to help each participant and congregation to better serve their neighbor in any setting.

Ryan Kolander is a pastor at Riverview Lutheran Church in Appleton. Prior to that he served as a mission pastor in Detroit, where  he worked to raise up a multicultural, bilingual congregation.