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As a pastor, perhaps the most important thing I hope for everyone I meet to know is this: You are a beloved child of God. You belong to God who is Love. Who you are, what your life holds, what you offer the world, and what you need, matters to God. This is often the message that lies beneath my Sunday morning sermons, because I find it coming through the words of so much of Scripture. My hope in my own life is that it also comes through in what I do beyond Sunday mornings.

As Christians, we are called to live lives that respond to God’s love and grace by embodying the same in the world. We hope that when others encounter us, they glimpse the love of God… and we know that in our neighbors, we find the love of Jesus. God’s Holy Spirit is at work among us, through us, and surrounding us no matter what. Everything that is of love, is of God.

One summer a few years ago the church I was serving hosted a summer literacy program for elementary school children in nearby schools. Each week, parents would drop off their restless children for a few hours of reading, crafting, music, literacy games, and a hot meal. Some of the children needed extra reading help, and they were encouraged one-on-one. Some of the children were creatively gifted, and they were given jobs to use their gifts. Some of the children wanted a whole second plate of lunch, and they got to pack an extra meal for home. The goal was to share God’s love and build community through love and support and fellowship.

At the end of our time each day, the kids and volunteers gathered in the Sanctuary, and I read aloud to them until it was time for pick up. All sitting together in one big room, there was diversity of socio-economic background, ethnicity, age, education level, and beyond. Our volunteers were made up of people from all walks of life, and the families who participated came for all kinds of reasons.

The children would listen to the story I read for them, and ask innocent questions. They were unburdened by the pressures of school, and learning was fun. They made friends they would have never met otherwise. They adopted the mindset that this was a place of encouragement and welcome, because it was. Because our purpose was to share love among neighbors and learn from one another.

They trusted the leaders, because the leaders showed them love. And, they were sent home with books, full bellies and a message of worthiness. A message that, without always saying it overtly, said: You are a beloved child of God. You belong to God who is Love. And therefore, you belong to all of us who seek to share God’s love with our neighbors.

The ministry of God does not have to be overt to be formative. Loving our neighbors and transforming the world to look like God’s kingdom goes far beyond the confined hour of a Sunday morning, and often begins by investing in building relationships with our neighbors in our very own communities. The often-true blessing is that each time we act through the hope of sharing God’s love with others, it is reflected back to us ten-fold. As we honor God’s belovedness in others, we are reminded of our own.

Each day when we ended our program at 3 p.m. and the church bells rang the hour with song, the kids would sway their heads and ask about God as if Jesus himself was sitting in the bell tower tugging the ropes.

As I sat before the room full of beloved children of God young and old, what I saw was God’s kingdom. There was joy, and love, and acceptance, and peace, all accessible and all leveled out for just a moment. The sound of church bells, a benediction which said, this can be a place in which, and from which, the love of God reaches far beyond our imaginations, and yet at the same time, the kingdom of God is right here showing off in God’s glory. I hope everyone walked away more equipped to share God’s love with someone new. I believe that when shared, God’s love is multiplied and expands in God’s grace beyond what we can imagine.

May you know places, days, communities, and moments, in which the kingdom of God is real and present. May we, as Christians, be about the work of making it so, in love.

Cassidy Salter is the pastor at Ware’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Washington.