Our guest blogger this week is Rev. Davie Hernandez, Senior Pastor of Restoration City Church (Formerly Defenders Boston Church). Rev. Davie has a heart to see the city of Boston and surrounding towns experience true revival and restoration through the redemptive work of Jesus. Rev. Davie shares with us about his plans to share the love of Christ with our city, block by block.

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There are bright summer days: the children are running around on the concrete sidewalks, basketball courts are full, play grounds are packed, folks are sitting on stoops, laughing and enjoying one another, as the sun starts to set…

Not far from this, people struggling with homelessness gather by the highways, many addicted to drugs and feeling hopeless, doing anything to survive another day. Some are asking for money as they watch cars pass by, just waiting for another meal or a hit of drugs to cope with their reality…Sirens go off as another young man is brutally shot. As this blog was written, two young men were shot in our city, one being only 14 years of age.

We see both sides of our city. The irony is that both sides are just as much in need of hope, but in different ways. You see, Christ has has given us salvation, and in Him we have the love and hope we need. He has sent us out to be that hope! While some believe that being sent out means going to a far-off place, but I’m convinced that often it’s to be sent right outside your door. As we work the harvest that is here before us, all the people, regardless of socioeconomic class, will be impacted by this message of hope.

In the summer 2017, we were led to start a campaign entitled “Hope for your Block.” We see that it is our responsibility to reach out to our neighbors and communities block by block, claiming back our city for the Lord. To do this, we take a hand painted block and put a message of love, hope, faith and peace on each one. This block is taken by an individual or a family to any block in the city. They begin to pray for that block and place the message of hope where all could see. In this way, we are seeking to reach the lost the hurting and broken of our city with the Good News of Jesus Christ! So far, we have placed hundreds of blocks across our city.

Scripture tells us in Acts 1:8 that “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Where is your Jerusalem? Your Jerusalem is your block, your Jerusalem is your neighbor, and your Jerusalem is the local corner store, families, children and youth that surround you….

Additionally, in Luke 10:29, the man asks Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus answers by telling the story of the Good Samaritan, inviting the man to compassionately serve and minister to those who are in our midst.

In essence, Jesus is saying, “Your neighbor is the next women selling her body to feed her children, your neighbor is that young man or woman crying out for help by that highway you drive by daily, your neighbor is that mother or father who has lost a child to the violence in our streets, your neighbor is that single mom who needs a roof over her head.”  It is our mission and our responsibility to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, hug the hurting and bring the Good News.

Our prayers are not only for those in our communities that are lost, hurting and broken, but also for the community of faith in our city. In our very own block, there are six different churches that need to come together as the body of Christ. This is seen across our city with blocks filled with communities of believers who largely function in isolation of one another. As we place the blocks with the words “Faith, Hope and Love,” I am reminded from scripture that love is the greatest of these. To love our neighbors, to love our brethren in the Lord and to love our city!

Romans 10:15 says, “And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Oh how beautiful it is that you and I were made for such a time as this, that you and I met the God who saved us through Christ, who anointed us and sent us out to share the gospel of hope, the gospel of healing, the gospel of restoration and transformation! Oh how beautiful it is to know that we have been called to this work. Your salvation is not for you, your privilege is not for you, and your gifts and skills are not for you alone. They are all meant to be for God’s glory! Be encouraged today and don’t let your neighbor pass you by.