As we were rearing our 4 children, my wife and I sought to protect them from harmful influences and too much exposure to the wiles of the devil and the wickedness of the world. Consequently, we tried to be very cautious and selective about television viewing in our home. I do recall that we did allow them to watch "Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood". Fred Rodgers was an ordained minister, a kind and gentle man who calmly spoke to children as if he was having a one-on-one conversation with them. As I remember, he began each program with the familiar melody and words,

I think there is a God-given desire in all of us, regardless of age, to live in a place (neighborhood, city, country, world) where everyone loves their neighbor, treats one another by the golden rule, where there is plenty of love and laughter enjoyed by all.

There are many verses and passages in the Bible about how to be a good neighbor and how we should respectfully interact with one another. We are not to covet anything of our neighbors (Exodus 20:17), we are to "speak the truth to our neighbor" (Zechariah 8:16), and we are to "love our neighbor as ourselves" (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39). If we all did these things, everyday would be "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood".

I want to leave you with 4 "beautiful" thoughts from God’s word.

1) We have a Beautiful Savior - "to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple"(Psalm 27:4). "Your eyes will see the King in His beauty"... (Isaiah 33:17). What a privilege to walk and talk with the King!

2) We have a Beautiful Message - "the Lord has sent me to preach good tidings to the poor...to proclaim liberty to the captives...to comfort all who mourn...to give them beauty for ashes...the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness"…(Isaiah 61:1- 3). There’s a lot of bad news in this old world, but we have good news to share, the glorious truth that there is forgiveness from sin and eternal salvation and joy to those who trust in Jesus.

3) We can have Beautiful Feet - Romans 10:15 says,

"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!".

Feet are not normally seen as beautiful, but God says they are when these feet are taking the beautiful gospel message to the spiritually lost and needy.

4) We have Beautiful Opportunity - Ecclesiastic 3:1,11 says, "to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven...He (God) has made everything beautiful in His time."

This is the time or season when we are to be sowing the seeds of the gospel, and we have a golden opportunity to do that during our upcoming NEIGHBORHOOD BIBLE TIME, July 31- August 4.

During this special week of Bible school, we will be reaching out to children and teens in our community, inviting them to come and learn more about Jesus. I’m asking you, dear neighbor, to join with us in inviting every available boy or girl, ages 4 through High School, to come and study God’s Word. There will be lessons to learn, Bible verses to memorize, songs to sing, friends to meet, and lots of fun along the way.

Yes, we at Calvary Baptist Church are praying and planning for July 31- August 4 to truly be

"A Beautiful Week in the Neighborhood."!