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.
