Looking back, it was exactly a year ago that our leadership team decided I should make two versions of the same video knowing only one of them would be sent to our entire church. The first video would say that we were sticking to our normal schedule with 26 services at multiple locations across Chicagoland. And the second version would inform our church that all our facilities would be closed and that we were moving everything online.

If the Gospel is really “good news”; why did sharing “good news” always end up feeling so bad?

I couldn’t figure out the answer. Like you, my life was changed by the love of God and the life of Jesus. And like you, I wanted my family, friends, and neighbors to experience the love of God like me.

So, I tried sharing the good news with my words; a verbal witness – that resulted in a series of awkward conversations and me feeling like a used car salesman!

Then I tried a completely different approach to loving others. I would share the good news with simply how I lived my life. The result of that seemed to be…well, nothing. Nobody noticed!

It seemed that however I tried to share the gospel; with my words or through my life, that it would leave either them or me feeling badly. What was I doing wrong? Where was the “good news” in all of this?

You got anyone who lives near you that is really hard to love? They might be too loud and keep you up at night. Maybe your neighbors don’t take care of their lawn and create an eye sore for the whole community. Perhaps they are rude and once yelled at your kids. Or maybe you have very different political views and they love to not only tell you about it but also wave a flag or place a placard where you have to see it everyday! Neighbors can often be hard to love.