How To Care For Your Neighbor and Creation
- Vintage Pasadena
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
In response to Pastor Ben's sermon on Worship as a Lifestyle, we’ve put together a list of resources which you can work through on your own, in your families, or even with some friends.
Vintage doesn’t necessarily endorse everything in these resources, but we appreciate the way they helpfully provoke and challenge us to think about the way we can care for our neighbors and our world.
Care For My Neighbor
Resources:
5 Strategies to be a Good Neighbor: https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/deacon-family-strategies-for-neighborhood-ministry
Some Questions:
Who is a person who lives near me who no-one else knows or cares for?
What’s the biggest need in my community? Is there something I could do to help?
Do I have a friend asking questions about the Christian faith? Could I bring them to Alpha this fall?
Ways to Get Involved:
Adopt a street in Altadena
Join in with Church In The Park serving our unhoused community
Volunteer with one of our Mission Partners
Care For The World
Resources:
An introduction video for families and individuals to watch: https://biologos.org/resources/why-should-christians-care-for-creation
Why not gather some friends and work through this creation care course together: https://resources.arocha.org/resource/creation-care-course-lausanne-global-classroom/
Some Questions: -When I purchase something:
Where will it come from?
Will the impact of its creation be for good or bad for the place it’s made?
How did it get to me? What was the environmental impact of its shipping or packaging?
-When I use something:
What will the environmental impact be? Will it create noise, heat, air pollution or other waste products?
-When I dispose of something:
Where is it going to go? Can it be reused or recycled? If not, what impact to the planet will it make as it is deconstructed, burned or put in land fill?
Case Study: Plastic Bottles - 1500 plastic water bottles are being used every second in the United States alone - It takes 17 million barrels of oil each year to make them - Only 12% out of the thirty-five billion bottles used in one year, gets recycled - It takes 1000 years to decompose, during which they leach dangerous chemicals
Further Questions
Could I buy something second hand rather than something new?
Could I choose something that can be used more than once, and even have use after I’ve finished with it?
When I travel do I have to fly or drive? Can I walk, cycle, or take public transport?
What’s one thing the Holy Spirit is asking me to do differently in response to this topic?
