"Treat" your neighborhood this October 31st! 3 simple ways to live missionally this Halloween.

For many of us, October 31st is the most awkward day of the year. Each year we must face the reality that on one hand there is a pious, religious side of ourselves which scoffs at this evening of debauchery in which scantily clad or scarily clad people roam the streets, monsters rule, and chaos abounds! However, there is  another side of ourselves which enjoys seeing family and friends gather together, creative costumes worn, all in an epic search for candy!


So what are we the church called to do on this day marked Halloween? Here are 3 simple tips designed to encourage you and your family to be missional this Thursday night:


1. Embrace your neighbors. We are called by God to love our neighbors. Namely, we are called to love those who we come into contact with. What better way to love those around us than to be personable with the many that we will come into contact with over the course of Halloween night. Sit out on the lawn, offer water to parents as well as candy to kids, smile, ask questions, just embrace those in your neighborhood!


2. Be "that" house. Every neighborhood has a house that gives full size candy bars when half-size would suffice. “That” house has front lawn decorations that attract the eye of wandering trick-or-treaters. “That” house gets talked about by children and parents at the end of the evening. Love radically, give generously, be “that house.


3. Invite. Over the course of the evening, you’ll have many opportunities to meet people in your community that you otherwise would not speak to. What an amazing opportunity to tell people about a place where they can find real community, the local church! Get to know people, ask about them, and encourage them to come with you to church on Sunday. Even offer to take them to lunch afterwards. Seek opportunities to share the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Be inviters.


Hope ya’ll have a great October 31st, remembering that you are always on mission; and that you are greatly loved by our Lord Jesus Christ, who lavishes you with a grace that is infinitely sweeter than any piece of Halloween candy.