IT’S TIME… A Journey Toward Missional Faithfulness

Session 1

An Urgent Call To Christian Mission

2 Corinthians 5:17

• Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (NIV)

– What does this newness lead to (vv. 18-20)– What are some “new” times you’ve

experienced in your life?– How did you gain the confidence to enter into

these times?

Digging Deeper

• How has God renewed your life?– Share stories of your salvation and baptism

• How did you recognize your need for God?• How did you claim God in your life?• What have been the differences?• How has this led you to be on mission?

2 Corinthians 5:18-20

• All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

• that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

• We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. (NIV)

– What does it mean for us to be “ambassadors” for Christ?

– What is the mission of God?– How do we participate in this mission?

Life Application

• In Your Life:– How can you discover “the newness of God”

for you life?– What are the implications for your life if you

claim the newness of God for yourself?

• In This Church:– How is this church moving toward becoming a

more missional congregation?– What are the implications for this church if you

claim the newness of God’s leadership?

Summary Thought

• “Now is the time for individual Christians and churches to discern God’s mission in the world and discover their participation in it.”

Session 2

It’s Time…For Spiritual Formation

Jesus Prayer

• Lord Jesus Christ, Son Of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Digging Deeper

• What is Spiritual Formation?– We are formed by God and continue to grow in

God.– We are being conformed to Christ through the

work of the Holy Spirit.– This formation happens through (but is not

limited to) prayer, contemplation, study, fellowship, service and worship.

– We never are completely formed in our human lives but continue to strive toward God’s will.

Scripture

• Genesis 2:7– the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the

ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

• Galatians 4:19-20– My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of

childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

Scripture

• Ro 8:28-29– And we know that in all things God works for the good of

those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

• 2 Co 3:18– And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's

glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Scripture Reflection

• What does “being formed” and transformed mean to your life?

• How does this “formation” affect your faith?

• How does it lead you to mission?

Jesus Prayer

• Lord Jesus Christ, Son Of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.– How does this prayer impact you?– How does this prayer lead us away from

“performance based” religion?– How does this prayer lead us away from

“authoritative, controlling” religion?

Life Application

• In Your Life:– How can you live out a transformed life as the presence

of Christ?– What are the implications for your life if you begin living

as the presence of Christ for others?

• In This Church:– How can this church move toward being the presence of

Christ in your community?– What are the implications for this church if you

beginning living as the presence of Christ for others?

Summary Thought

• “Our identity is in what we receive!”

Session 3

It’s Time…To Pray

A Chinese Proverb

• The one who loves much prays much, and the one who prays much loves much.

Do You Care?

• Whom do you care about?

1 Corinthians 13

• If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

• Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

• Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

• And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Digging Deeper

• What are the implications of this passage has concerning prayer?

• How does love affect our prayer life?• How does love keep our prayers from just

being a shopping list?• How does love create an “attitude of

attentiveness.”

Digging Deeper

• Prayer as learning to love1. Immerse yourself in practical service and personal witness

where you live.2. Nurture friendships with individuals of a different culture and

in different parts of the world than where you live.3. Learn as much as you can about the ‘life situation’ of other

people.4. Imagine Jesus being in the place of the one for whom you

pray.5. Imagine someone very close or dear to you being in the place

of the one for whom you pray.6. Imagine yourself as being in place of the one for whom you

pray.7. Embrace the struggles of learning to intercede as a

necessary part of you own discipleship.

Digging Deeper

• Prayer Disciplines– Solitude

• Spend time alone with God

– Divine Reading• Read the bible RELIGIOUSLY

– Abandonment• God grant me the serenity to accept the things I

cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

– What else has worked for you?

Life Application

• In Your Life:– Which of the prayer disciplines have you

chosen to practice?– What are the implications for your life as you

commit to a deeper life of prayer?

• In This Church:– How can this church move toward a more

intentional discipline of prayer?– What are the implications for your church as

you commit to a deeper life of corporate prayer?

Summary Thought

• “The more we receive God’s love, the more we will desire God’s love.”

Session 4

It’s Time…For Churches To Discover And Fulfill their God-Given Purpose

Where Would You Be?

• If you could go anywhere in the world to be a missionary, where would you go?

• What would your main task be?• How would you accomplish that task?

The Missional Church

• The missional church is one that represents the presence of Christ in its community and its world.

• The missional church is about empowering people to discover and use their passions on purpose to be the presence of Christ in their world whether anyone joins their church or not!

Digging Deeper

• What are the implications of this passage has concerning prayer?

• How does love affect our prayer life?• How does love keep our prayers from just

being a shopping list?• How does love create an “attitude of

attentiveness?”

Digging Deeper

• How would this approach to doing and being church change your church?

• What does your church need to do to become more missional?

Digging Deeper

• The Cultural Context– No longer is the Church the center of

community life.• Religious Pluralism and Theological Diversity• Movement toward mysticism

• The Denominational Context– Fragmentation, realignment and redefinition– Multiple affiliations– Faith on a local level

Digging Deeper

• The Congregational Context– Beyond denominational to partnering– Beyond program-based to lifestyle– Delegated approach to participatory– Clergy-led to people of God– Fragmented to holistic– Geopolitical to ethnolinguistic– Success approach to faithfulness– Monological approach to dialogical– Prayer support to prayer as missions– Law approach to love

Digging Deeper

• What is this church doing in approaching a missional context?

• What do we need to work on?• What are we doing well?• What are the implications of shifting to

this ministry approach?

2 Co 5:16-21

• So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Scripture Reflection

• How is this church reconciling the world to Christ?– Are we…

• Too proud to cry?• Too nice to sweat?• Too sophisticated to laugh?• To busy to celebrate?

• What to we need to do to be more intentional about being missional?

Life Application

• In Your Life:– How is this church reconciling you to becoming

more missional?– What are the implications for your life if you

enter more into the missional journey?– What pains are you willing to endure to

become more missional in your journey?– How are you reconciling others to Christ? – Whom are you reconciling to Christ?

Life Application

• In This Church:– What is this church doing to become a more

missional congregation?– What are the implications for this church if you

enter more into the missional journey?– What pains is the church willing to endure to

become more missional?

Summary Thoughts

• “There are more Muslims in America than Presbyterians.”

• “Established churches that become missional will do so only with intentional and persevering leadership, and even then it will NOT be without pain!”

Session 5

It’s Time…To Have A Passion For The

Great Commission of Jesus Christ

Mt 28:18-20

• Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

What is your favorite story?

• What is your favorite story as a child?• How about as a teenager?• What is your favorite movie or book (non-

biblical) now that you’re an adult?• What have these stories taught you about

life?• About faith?

Evangelism/Outreach

• Why people don’t attend Sunday School:– Unsure of what they need to do.– Unsure of what they need to say.– Afraid of being put on the spot.– Feel unworthy to be there.– Are afraid of rejection and/or commitment.

Evangelism/Outreach

• Why people don’t practice evangelism/outreach:– Unsure of what they need to do.– Unsure of what they need to say.– Afraid of being put on the spot.– Feel unworthy to be there.– Are afraid of rejection and/or commitment.

• What implications do these have for our work in the church?

• What implications do these have for our living out the Great Commission?

Several Commissions

• Mathew 9:38– Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out

workers into his harvest field.

• Mark 6:7– Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two

and gave them authority over evil spirits.

• Luke 9:1-2– When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave

them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

Digging Deeper

• What are the common themes in each of these?

• What are we to understand from the passage?

• What have you been commissioned to do?

• How do these passages encourage us to share the gospel?

Digging Deeper

• 7 practical thoughts for sharing the Gospel– Nurture your own relationship with Jesus.– Form spiritual friendships.– Practice hospitality.– Become involved in at least one “hands on” ministry

that addresses a social or human need.– Get to know at least one person of a different color,

culture or class than yourself.– Respond to the inner urging of the Spirit.– Don’t be ashamed of your story.

Digging Deeper

• How have we ignored evangelism/ visitation/outreach in our church today?– Have we?

• How can we regain an intentionality of sharing our faith without feeling ill at ease with ourselves or making others ill at ease?

Life Application

• How did Jesus model relationship evangelism in a positive way?

• What can we learn from his techniques?• Brainstorm ways to make your outreach

more effective.

Life Application

• In Your Life:– What are you willing to do to become more

intentional in your Christian witness?– What are the implications for your life if you do

become more intentional?– What is your story? Share it!

• In This Church:– How can our church help its people become

more intentional in being a strong witness for Christ in our community?

– What is our congregations story? Share it!

Summary Thought

• “We can tell our story, and we should not be ashamed of it. It may not be as dramatic as another story; but if it is authentic, it is our story.”

Session 6

It’s Time…To Do Justice And Mercy

Definitions

• What does Justice really mean?– The maintenance or administration of what is

just: impartial adjustment of conflicting claims: the assignment of merited rewards or punishments.

• What does Mercy really mean?– Compassion or forbearance shown to an

offender or subject: clemency or kindness extended to someone instead of strictness or severity.

Reflection

• How does our church practice justice and mercy?

• What are you doing well?• What do we need to do better?• What is being overlooked completely?

Digging Deeper

• How do Justice and Mercy become a way of life?– Hearts must be changed.

• We are selfish and self-centered.

– Minds must be changed.• We are shaped by popular culture• Prevailing prejudices.

– Behaviors must be changed.• The greed of consumerism.

Digging Deeper

• Which of these three areas do you need to change the most?– Why?

• Which of these do you feel good about in your life?– Why?

Digging Deeper

• Mt 11:28-30– "Come to me, all you who are weary and

burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

• Ro 12:2– Do not conform any longer to the pattern of

this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Scripture Reflection

• What insights do these give for practicing justice and mercy?

• What are some other verses that give us insights in how to do justice and mercy?

• What are the implications for your life if you are to practice these?

Life Application

• The 7 deadly sins– Avarice – Greed– Gluttony – Love of food– Impurity – Lust– Depression – Greif– Anger – Deadly passion– Sloth – Boredom– Vainglory – Love of Praise– Pride – Opposite of Humility

Life Application

• Our World– The average American has 3 TV sets.– The average American watches at lease 5 hours of TV a

day.– ½ the pets in America are overweight.– AIDS has killed nearly six million children worldwide.– Americans constitute less than 5% of the world’s

population but consume nearly 25% of the world’s energy.

– In 1997, the US owned 25% of the cars in the world.– In 1999, 31 million individuals were hungry on a daily

basis.

Life Application

• In Your Life:– How can you begin to be a more intentional

instrument of justice and mercy in your world?– What are the implications for your life if you

implement these actions?

• In This Church:– How can this church become a more

intentional instrument of justice and mercy in our world?

– What are the implications for our church if you implement these actions?

Summary Thought

• “The Gospel is all about change – personal, social, and even global. God’s desire for us to become people who are passionate about justice and mercy.”

Session 7

It’s Time…Rediscover the Baptist Heritage

And To Renew The Baptist Witness

Partnering Up

• Pair up – Talk about your story. – What’s important about you?

• How did you go about sharing your identity?

• What do you want people to really know about you?

• How do you define yourself, by who you are, what you do, or who you are not?

Digging Deeper

• What defines us as Baptists?– Nonhierarchical approach to doing church.– The priesthood of all believers.– A non-creedal approach to faith.– Individual and corporate freedom.– Personal experience of God’s grace through Christ

binds us together.

• How does each of these areas define your church’s identity?

• How does each of these areas define your individual identity?

Digging Deeper

• What happens if we are too strict in tradition and church rules?

• What is the difference between creed and a confession?

• Should theological education be rote memory or intellectual pursuit?

• What is the difference between being Christian and being Baptist?

• Which is more important, being Baptist or being Christian?

• How should we relate to persons of faith who aren’t Baptist?

Why I am a Baptist?

• The Christian faith as Baptists hold it, sets spiritual experience boldly to the front as the one great thing in religion. It aims at experiential religion. We are an evangelic body. We summon all men to conscious repentance from sin, to conscious prayer for forgiveness. We ask a man: “Have you put your faith in Christ? Have you submitted your will to His will? Have you received the inward assurance that your sins are forgiven and that you are at peace with God?” If anyone desires to enter our churches, we ask for evidence of such experience and we ask for nothing else. We do not ask him to recite a creed or catechism. The more simple and heartfelt the testimony is, the better we like it. If it is glib and wordy, we distrust it. Experience is our sole requisite for receiving baptism; it is fundamental in our church life.

Life Application

• List elements of a personal relationship with Christ.

• A PoemIsn’t it strange that princes and kings,

And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,And common people like you and me,

Are builders for eternity?Each is given a bag of tools,

A shapeless mass, a book of rules;And each must make-ere life is flown – A stumbling block or a sweeping stone!

R.L. Sharpe

Life Application

• In Your Life:– How can you more clearly clarify your identity

as a follower of Christ?– What are the implications for your life if you

clarify your identity?

• In This Church:– How does our church help people grow as

disciplines?– What are the implications for our church if the

members become more intentional in disciple-making?

Summary Thought

• “I like to identify myself as a convictional Baptist, a Christian who expresses faith and lives life compelled and convinced by certain principles that Baptists have championed.”

Session 8

It’s Time…For Hope

2 Co 4:1

• Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. – A passage to the church in Corinthian.– A word of hope to the church.– Hope does not happen in isolation.– Hope happens in the context of community.– No one can exist (for very long) in isolation!

Hope

• Who are some people who have given you hope in your spiritual life?

• Who are some people to whom you have given hope for their lives?

• Who needs hope from you right now?

Digging Deeper

• Authentic Spirituality– What does this look like?– How do we participate in this?– What does this add to our vision of hope?

• Community– What does this look like?– How do we participate in this?– What does this add to our vision of hope?

Digging Deeper

• Global Missions– What does this look like?– How do we participate in this?– What does this add to our vision of hope?

Digging Deeper

• To whom can our church be an instrument of hope?

• What group of people in your community needs our ministry and hope?

• What group of people in our nation need our ministry of hope?

• What unreached people group in our world needs our ministry and hope?

• What can you do to bring hope to these people?

Life Application

• In Your Life:– How can you discover the mission of God for

your life and be missional?– What are the implications for your life as you

participate in God’s mission?

• In This Church:– How can this church become a more missional

congregation?– What are the implications for our church if you

participate in God’s mission?

Summary Thought

• “My vision of hope is that thousands of laypeople, young and old, will become personally involved in God’s redemptive mission and see the world through the eyes of their heart.”