Church - What will it take to resurrect the missional church?
Getting Back "On Mission"
Author: Tim Birdwell, Student/DTS
"Missional Church" is definitely a buzz-phrase that is all over the place these days. The fact that we need to label a church, "missional", has always been a little odd to me. I mean, shouldn't all churches be missional in their very nature? Shouldn't a church, at it's very core, desire to engage their culture and community with the gospel as a missionary would in a foreign country? Isn't that what the church is commanded to do in the great commission in Matthew 28:19?
As believers, we are not called to isolation, but to be missional people who are actively going out and meeting people right where they are with the gospel. We have seen this throughout history: God sends Abraham on a mission to leave his country and his people and go to the land that God would show him (Gen. 12:1), God sends Moses on a mission to rescue an enslaved people and lead them to freedom (Exodus 3:8-10), God sends Jesus on a mission to earth to reconcile all things to Himself through the cross (Colossians 1:20). And now... God is sending us on a mission to engage communities, cities, people groups, and even nations with the gospel (Matt. 28:19 Mark 6:7 Luke 10:1 John 20:21 Acts 1:8). If we resist this call and continue to treat the church like a "members only" country club - demanding that people clean up their act, pay their dues, and come to our building... God will continue His mission without us. So the question is... Will we get on board or will we miss out?
Characteristics of a Missional Community
Author: Michael Dennis, Founder and Director/Go, Get, Scatter
People are taught the church exists to go, get, gather, and focus on keeping the people you gather, however, scripture teaches the church is to go, get, scatter (John: “sent me”-30+, Acts 1, Romans 1, Epistles) and our focus is to be sent and send out (missional communities). Below is a list of characteristics of a missional community.
1. Prayer: Responding to God
a. Acts 2: Everyone wants the Acts 2 experience, however, we need to be a people who are responding to God.
b. When we are responding to God’s calling on our life we will be a people who pray.
c. Reflective Question: What has God called you to? Most people will wrestle with the career, spouse, and income;
however, Matthew 28 calls us to live out our faith and God doesn’t care what you do for a job. Does it help or hinder
your ability to live out your faith?
Community Groups
Author: Tim Birdwell, Student/DTS
If we are going to be missional people functioning as a missional church, then we have to understand the relational world. There are not many issues God is more passionate about than our relational world ...especially moving people from isolation to community. Deep, authentic, Christ-centered relationships don't just happen ...it takes time and effort to develop them. I believe that these types of relationships will be cultivated best in the context of community groups. Relationships with other believers, relationships with a lost community, and relationships with the God of the universe are the primary focus of community groups. These community groups gather together on a consistent basis to share in the application of God's word, to share in personal struggles and triumphs, and to share in helping each other to move closer and closer to maturity in Christ.