Monday, August 8, 2011

How Do You Live the Mission?

I'll be starting a Wednesday night small group of 8-12 people in September with focus on living a mission lifestyle. "Tangible Kingdom Primer" offers a way to combine spiritual formation and missional living. IN a small group setting we'll take 10 weeks to get to know Scripture, practice elements of mission living, and talk about our experiences.

In some recent church publicity for the class I used the TKP description that we'd "explore incarnational living and missional community." Someone on our church staff said, "What does that mean in plain English?"

She posed a good question. Yet, isn't it funny that we may fail to use such historic Christian language in the church to the point that it does take a good amount of explanation?!

TKP is a devotional approach to living out the Kingdom of God in a local community in a small group. Other descriptors-- a "field guide for starting mission together." So, it's a mission/evangelism primer based in Scripture, with group discussion, and asking for personal experimentation. That's the incarnational living part-- how do I personally follow Christ (the incarnate of God) in mission? Much of the discussion is also in the context of community-- both how the church reflects a mission movement and how we are truly at work in our community as part of the work of the Kingdom of God. This study should be great for a beginner, but I find there is a depth of material that will allow for some great discussion for Christians & those involved in mission for years.

Here's the agenda:
Sept 7- introduction, meet each other, and receive books-- discuss how we'll use the books. This is a devotional format but there's a certain rhythm to it that we'll need to agree to and reinforce.
Sept 14- Chapter 1- What is Missional?
Sept 21- Chapter 2- What is Incarnational?
Sept 28- Chapter 3- The Gospel
Oct. 5- Chapter 4- What is the Community?
Oct 12- Chapter 5- Living Out
Oct 19- Chapter 6- Inviting In
Oct 26- Chapter 7- Becoming an Apprentice
Nov 2- Chapter 8- The Intuitive Life
Nov 9- Endings & Beginnings

So, you interested in "incarnational living and missional community?"

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