bullseye
Redeeming Your Time, Part 2: Envisioning & Embracing YOUR Mission...to Know God
Friday, May 20, 2011
In 2005 a study was conducted from 860 Protestant church pastors around America. That study revealed that only 16% of those pastors were satisfied with their prayer lives. 47% were somewhat satisfied, 30% somewhat dissatisfied, and 7% very dissatisfied. Wonder what their church members' prayer lives are like, then? Which percentage would you fall into, as an "average" Christian?
Much of the reason Christians are dissatisfied, including pastors, is that we've strayed far from the type of praying Jesus taught His disciples how to do. Often referred to as the "Lord's Prayer", the better phrase is the "Disciples' Prayer" because it was the disciples who asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. The "Lord's Prayer" is more accurately situated in John 17, which is a prayer Jesus Himself prayed.
The "how" of prayer is often misguided. The Roman Catholic Church, as well as many mainline Protestant denominations misunderstand and therefore misapply the "Lord's Prayer" and turn it into a repititious cycle. Yet just before Jesus introduced the "Disciples Prayer" He told them, "When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again" (New Living Translation). So evidently, when we just recite the prayer in a rote manner, we're actually missing the point, and misleading ourselves. I wonder if God gets bored with that kind of praying?
Instead, Jesus teaches us to pray in full faith that God is not only listening, but that He already knows what we need before we ask Him (v. 8). We're gonna deal with that issue as well, in terms of how God's sovereignty relates to our responsibility to pray.
The prayer Jesus leads us to pray is all about the "how" of praying, as well as the "what". In other words, we pray in full faith in God's loving, kind, good, and faithful sovereignty to us and over us. And we also pray through the concepts and truths He taught in the prayer. That prayer is all about the mission of the kingdom of God from beginning to end. So I can think of no other better topic for a church plant to discover together than Praying the Mission.
Finally, for those interested in the literary resources I'm using for this series, I've given some Amazon.com links below to those books and audio resources I'll be benefiting from. These come after the links to the series articles from which I'm preaching, as well as the MP3's. Further, you can access the introductory study I've done on the prayer here, seeing some awesome connections between the Lord's Prayer and the Exodus motif, accompanied by the massive implications it all has on our prayer life.
Series MP3 Files
- Message 1: The Father as the Foundation of the Mission
- Message 2: The Father as the Foundation of the Mission
- Message 3: Jesus Christ, the Only Teacher on How to Pray
- Interlude: Prayer and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
- Message 4: The Family of the Father, Part 1 - Defining the Father's Family
- Message 5: The Family of the Father, Part 2 - Defining the Father's Family (Cont.)
- Message 6: Are You Praying Like an Orphan? Or a Son and Daughter? (Review)
- Message 7: The Family of the Father, Part 3 - Defending the Unity of the Father's Family
Series Articles & Manuscripts
- Introduction: The Lord's Prayer as a Biblical Theology for the New Exodus Community
- Part 1: Jesus Christ, Our Only Teacher on How to Pray
- Part 2: The Father as the Foundation of the Mission
- Part 3: Knowing the Father, Part One
- Part 4: Knowing the Father, Part Two
- Part 5: The Family of the Father, Part One - Defining the Father's Family
- Part 6: The Family of the Father, Part Two - Defending the Unity of the Father's Family
- Part 7: The Sovereignty of the Father (Available Soon)
- Part 8: How God Vindicates His Reputation (Through Your Prayers) (Available Soon)
- Part 9: Bringing God's Kingdom and Will from Heaven to Earth (Available Soon)
- Part 10: The Father's Provisions For You, Part One: Daily Bread (Available Soon)
- Part 11: The Father's Provisions For You, Part Two: Forgiveness of Sins (Available Soon)
- Part 12: The Father's Protection of You, Part One: In Temptation (Available Soon)
- Part 13: The Father's Protection of You, Part Two: From Satan (Available Soon)
- Part 14: The Glory of God Comes to Planet Earth In a Church That Prays (Available Soon)
- "The Exodus in the New Testament" by R. E. Nixon.
- "The Lord's Prayer and the New Exodus" by Brant Pitre
- "The Lord's Prayer in the First Century" by Simon Kistemaker
- "The Lord's Prayer as a Paradigm for Christian Prayer" by N. T. Wright
- "An Adult Study of the Lord's Prayer" by Herman Waetjen
- "The Lord's Prayer" from The Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of the Bible
- "The Lord's Prayer in its Preterist Context" by Jason Bradfield
church in the boro
Scandalous Grace, Part 11: Grace for Coping AND for Conquering
Thursday, August 19, 2010
church in the boro
Scandalous Grace, Part Four: Understanding the ABC's of Living in Grace
Sunday, June 27, 2010
At Church in the Boro we launch Life Mission Groups this week. We're really excited about what will eventually become our right arm of equipping our people for the mission.
We designed a Church Planter's Core of Life Mission Groups which we believe will prepare any member in our local fellowship to become a part of a church-planting team in the near future when God begins the duplication process in our lives.
Part of this core is a trilogy of Life Mission Groups called Reconxiled, combining the reconciliation of exiles back to God. Reconxiled One is subtitled, "Stories" and is intended to be the communication arm of the first part of our mission statement: "Reconciling Sinners to God." Reconxiled Two is subtitled, "Embracing Grace" based on the book by the same name, and is intended to communicate the second part of our mission statement, "Reconciling people to each other." Reconxiled Three is subtitled, "The Truth Project" based on the DVD series by the same name, and communicates the third part of our mission statement, "Reconciling the World to King Jesus." We begin Reconxiled One next Monday night at 7:00 pm with my co-partner, Mike Allen, former student-missionary to China with his wife, Anna. You can watch the intro here.
The aim in Reconxiled One: Stories is two-fold.
First, we want to evangelize pre-believers (my new favorite replacement for unbelievers), by communicating the overarching story of the gospel in the Bible through the smaller stories of redemption. Creation, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the Promised Land, the Kings, the Prophets, and the Cross are the eight stories that we will unfold to those not following Jesus so that they can get the big picture story right and answer the questions so many of them have so often.
Second, we want to teach believers how to evangelize over a period of time using the stories God has given us in the Bible. I think I've too quickly shared God's amazing story, and too often expected them to repent and believe before they have time to hear the whole thing. Through this method, we work alongside the Holy Spirit who saves at any time He so chooses, using the truths and stories He's inspired in the Bible. And since all the stories whisper of Jesus Christ, this could happen on any night, during any story, or anytime in between. My efforts along these lines are not new. They have been practiced before by the likes of New Tribes Mission, a missionary organization who made famous chronological evangelism training that has become part of the DNA of so many churches and Christians. Along with what I've learned through them over the last twenty years, I've also utilized the following resources.
- The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones & Illustrated by Jago.
- Salvation Belongs to Our God by Christopher J. H. Wright.
- The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative by Christopher J. H. Wright.
- Living by God's Master Plan by Michael Lawson.
- The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament by Edmund Clowney.
- God's Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible by Vaughan Roberts.
- The God of Promise and the Life of Faith: Understanding the Heart of the Bible by Scott J. Hafemann.
- According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible by Graeme Goldsworthy.
- The Unity of the Bible: Unfolding God's Plan for Humanity by Daniel Fuller.
- The Unfolding Drama of Redemption by W. Graham Scroggie.
- The Promise-Plan of God: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments by Walt Kaiser.
Following the next three days will be posts on parts one through three of the first story on the first night. I welcome your input. I need all the help I can get as I undertake this new venture. Much of what you'll read in these parts is taken from The Jesus Storybook Bible, as I believe it is perhaps the simplest and best storyline on biblical theology in print. I'm merely adapting it for use with adults and teenagers.
Pray for us as we press on in the mission of reconciling sinners to God.
It's all becoming more clear now. Our small local church at Church in the Boro must of necessity, become purposeful and public and clear about the missional DNA of the gospel. If being missional is in the DNA of the gospel, and if a local church is built on the gospel, then our local church(es) must pursue the following.
1. We must be missional in and about our vocation. God gives us work to glorify Him, make money, provide for our needs, and provide for the needs of others. But He also gives us work - as well as talents and skills - to purposefully influence and impact those around us toward becoming a disciple of Jesus with us. So to be a biblical church member is to determine from this day forth that you will use every ounce of energy and every atom of skill in your body and in your life to be counter-cultural at work, at school, at wherever, with the gospel. In other words, Jesus and our local church expect that you will use your skills and influence in your workplace or school for the mission, or give it up and find another one if the mission requires it.
2. We must become missional in and about our finances. God gives us money to meet needs. He gives it to us to meet our own needs, and He gives it in abundance to us to meet the needs of others. Money is the currency of the kingdom not of our national economy. And missional-money is a matter of fairness, according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 8. Those who have an abundance are given it by God to provide for those who have nothing. It's that simple. So to be a biblical church member is to determine from this day forth that you will use every dollar and cent in your possession and within your ability to earn, for the mission God has called us to. In other words, Jesus and our local church expects that you will give your money away for the mission as often as the mission requires it.
3. We must be missional in and about our homes. God gives us homes to evangelize the lost. The Bible calls it hospitality. And the original meaning of the word is to invite strangers into your home and encourage them, befriend them, and lead them to become disciples of Jesus with us. Our homes are not intendend to be safe-havens from crime and death, because Jesus has called us to take up our crosses and follow Him...to die. So to be a biblical church member is to determine from this day forth that you will either use your home as often as humanly possible as a hospitality suite for the lost, or that you will sell it and move into another home where you can engage in the mission in a deeper way. In other words, Jesus and our local church expects that you will sell your home and move somewhere else if the mission requires it.
4. We must be missional in and about our education. God gives us education to be smarter and exercise responsible dominion over His earth. God doesn't want His children to be dumb, ignorant, or stupid. He also expects, however, that His children will redeem learning and education so that it is brought into submission to His authority. This redemption necessarily takes place in spheres of learning where other people are learning along with us. This puts us in a strategic missional place to influence others to be disciples of Jesus. So to be a biblical church member is to determine from this day forth that you will redeem everything you learn for the glory of God by using what you learn to bring others to God. In other words, Jesus and our local church expects that you will use whatever you learn to influence others to become disciples of Jesus.
5. We must be missional in and about our friendships. God gives us friends to comfort and encourage us. But these friends need Jesus. And so do the enemies of God. Those who do not follow Jesus are called by this name. And yet look how Jesus befriended His Father's enemies! The enemies of God are not all Satan incarnate. They are people, just like you and me, made in the image of God, and made to enjoy God. So to be a biblical church member is to determine from this day forth that arguing, debating, and fighting with lost people is to become a forgotten past-time, and replaced with loving, valuing, and encouraging all people, regardless of religious-preference. In other words, Jesus and our local church expects that you will love all people in order to show them the love of the Father, which He showed at the cross, in order to woo them to becoming a disciple of Jesus.
These must become the five new tenets of church membership at Church in the Boro, as well as every local church whose purpose is to be biblical and God-glorifying.
1. We must be missional in and about our vocation. God gives us work to glorify Him, make money, provide for our needs, and provide for the needs of others. But He also gives us work - as well as talents and skills - to purposefully influence and impact those around us toward becoming a disciple of Jesus with us. So to be a biblical church member is to determine from this day forth that you will use every ounce of energy and every atom of skill in your body and in your life to be counter-cultural at work, at school, at wherever, with the gospel. In other words, Jesus and our local church expect that you will use your skills and influence in your workplace or school for the mission, or give it up and find another one if the mission requires it.
2. We must become missional in and about our finances. God gives us money to meet needs. He gives it to us to meet our own needs, and He gives it in abundance to us to meet the needs of others. Money is the currency of the kingdom not of our national economy. And missional-money is a matter of fairness, according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 8. Those who have an abundance are given it by God to provide for those who have nothing. It's that simple. So to be a biblical church member is to determine from this day forth that you will use every dollar and cent in your possession and within your ability to earn, for the mission God has called us to. In other words, Jesus and our local church expects that you will give your money away for the mission as often as the mission requires it.
3. We must be missional in and about our homes. God gives us homes to evangelize the lost. The Bible calls it hospitality. And the original meaning of the word is to invite strangers into your home and encourage them, befriend them, and lead them to become disciples of Jesus with us. Our homes are not intendend to be safe-havens from crime and death, because Jesus has called us to take up our crosses and follow Him...to die. So to be a biblical church member is to determine from this day forth that you will either use your home as often as humanly possible as a hospitality suite for the lost, or that you will sell it and move into another home where you can engage in the mission in a deeper way. In other words, Jesus and our local church expects that you will sell your home and move somewhere else if the mission requires it.
4. We must be missional in and about our education. God gives us education to be smarter and exercise responsible dominion over His earth. God doesn't want His children to be dumb, ignorant, or stupid. He also expects, however, that His children will redeem learning and education so that it is brought into submission to His authority. This redemption necessarily takes place in spheres of learning where other people are learning along with us. This puts us in a strategic missional place to influence others to be disciples of Jesus. So to be a biblical church member is to determine from this day forth that you will redeem everything you learn for the glory of God by using what you learn to bring others to God. In other words, Jesus and our local church expects that you will use whatever you learn to influence others to become disciples of Jesus.
5. We must be missional in and about our friendships. God gives us friends to comfort and encourage us. But these friends need Jesus. And so do the enemies of God. Those who do not follow Jesus are called by this name. And yet look how Jesus befriended His Father's enemies! The enemies of God are not all Satan incarnate. They are people, just like you and me, made in the image of God, and made to enjoy God. So to be a biblical church member is to determine from this day forth that arguing, debating, and fighting with lost people is to become a forgotten past-time, and replaced with loving, valuing, and encouraging all people, regardless of religious-preference. In other words, Jesus and our local church expects that you will love all people in order to show them the love of the Father, which He showed at the cross, in order to woo them to becoming a disciple of Jesus.
These must become the five new tenets of church membership at Church in the Boro, as well as every local church whose purpose is to be biblical and God-glorifying.
The first four to five months of 2010 are being spent discovering some of the more basic and fundamental components to a local church. We are heading toward official church membership later this year and are attempting to lay the groundwork by making it plain what Jesus' expectations are for those seeking to become a part of Church in the Boro in a more committed way. This desire launched the following four series. They will be updated with notes, manuscripts, and MP3's as they are available.
Introduction: A Clear Vision for 2010
Scribd Document / MP3 (Coming Soon)
What it Means to BELONG to the Local Church
Introduction: A Clear Vision for 2010
Scribd Document / MP3 (Coming Soon)
What it Means to BELONG to the Local Church
- Message 1: Three Foundational Truths (Scribd Document / MP3)
- Message 2: Belonging Means Affection for One Another (Alan Ballard, Leadership Team, Church in the Boro) (Scribd Document / MP3)
- Message 3: The Brand Called "Devotion" (Acts 2:42) (Scribd Document / MP3)
- Message 4: The Four Wheels of Devotion to the Local Church Mission (Acts 2:42) (Scribd Document / MP3)
- Message 1: Is Tithing for the NT Local Church? (Scribd Document / MP3)
- Message 2: You Can't Love God and Money (Carl Herrington, Jubilee Church of Atlanta) (Scribd Document/ MP3)
- Message 3: The Principles of NT Giving (Scribd Document / MP3)
- Message 4: Giving as Worship (Alan Ballard, Leadership Team, Church in the Boro) (Scribd Document / MP3)
- Message 1: Leading Means Being the Servant of ALL - Mark 9:30-37 (Scribd Document / MP3)
