We hear so much lately about being "mission-minded" or becoming a "missional church"; but what does all of that mean? According to Alan Hirsch, most churches think they are missionally minded because they have a mission statement or they talk about the importance of mission. But a missional church is a community of believers who are more focused on moving outside the church and allowing God to work in and through a person in every sphere of his/her life. No longer are we to attract people to "come and see", but we must place our energies on "go and be".
Ray Oldenburg writes about "third places" in his book, The Great Good Places. First places are our homes. Second places are where you and I might work or the place where we spend most of our day hours. Third places are the informal settings where we enjoy hanging out and relaxing with friends. Places like coffee shops, restaurants, the mall, or fitness centers. All of these settings are "mission fields" design to share the Good News of the Gospel. Being missional is to be evident in the whole life of a believer in Christ, not just while they are in church.
Below is a link to a video that explains the way you and I are to be missional in our thinking both as an individual and as a church.
http://missionalchurchnetwork.com/missional-community-simple/
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
"Ordinary Time"
We are about half way through what the church calander call the Pentecost Season. Yet it appears that the further we move from the celebration of Pentecost during “ordinary time”, life within the church can appear to be dull and boring. Let’s face it, Advent, Christmas, and Easter Seasons are all so exciting. Our worship services are different with lively music and color. Even Lent is exciting because of the mysteries associated with sacrifice and prayer.
So why have the Church Fathers and Mothers designed our church year with such a long Pentecost Season? I believe one reason is that it gives you and me time to grow -- to dig deeper in our relationship with God. Remember Pentecost was the coming of God’s Holy Spirit to dwell within each of us. The book of Acts talks about how this indwelling of God’s Spirit was manifested in the lives of the disciple of Christ -- so too for you and me. Pentecost Season is a time for you and me to discover the ways in which God’s Spirit works in and through our lives.
God knows better than anyone what our deepest potential is in relationship to the larger picture of life. Our responsibility is to discern from God’s Spirit what God’s will is for us so that we can live into it. Another way to say this is that we need to cultivate spiritual discernment.
Spiritual discernment is the quest to discover God’s will in our lives. Jesus said in John 5:30 “I can do no thing on my own … I seek to do not my own will but the will of [the One] who sent me.” In today’s world, you and I are the body of Christ. Our purpose as Christ followers is to allow God to act in and through us as we live out our lives.
Spiritual discernment allows our rational minds to join with our intuition by allowing God’s Spirit to mysteriously reveal to us what we need to know and how we need to act. It is a prayerful informed and intentional attempt to sort out the voices we hear with in. By cultivating our spiritual senses, we develop a keener sense of what God’s voice sounds like within us. Our goal in spiritual discernment is in fact to find the mind of Christ.
Though prayer is a key component of spiritual discernment, it is not about saying prayers to ask God to guide us, but more of a sense of being still and listening with the ear of our hearts. It draws us in and harmonizes our lives with God’s plan. It requires silence and waiting. Practicing spiritual discernment quips us to be constantly alert to the presence and guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5)
Pentecost Season is long and ordinary because our focus needs to be within – growing deeper in our connection to God’s Spirit. It is a time to become grounded in our conviction that God’s Holy Spirit is an active presence in our everyday lives. God’s Spirit is eagerly waiting for us to open ourselves to God’s will. Can you discern that?
So why have the Church Fathers and Mothers designed our church year with such a long Pentecost Season? I believe one reason is that it gives you and me time to grow -- to dig deeper in our relationship with God. Remember Pentecost was the coming of God’s Holy Spirit to dwell within each of us. The book of Acts talks about how this indwelling of God’s Spirit was manifested in the lives of the disciple of Christ -- so too for you and me. Pentecost Season is a time for you and me to discover the ways in which God’s Spirit works in and through our lives.
God knows better than anyone what our deepest potential is in relationship to the larger picture of life. Our responsibility is to discern from God’s Spirit what God’s will is for us so that we can live into it. Another way to say this is that we need to cultivate spiritual discernment.
Spiritual discernment is the quest to discover God’s will in our lives. Jesus said in John 5:30 “I can do no thing on my own … I seek to do not my own will but the will of [the One] who sent me.” In today’s world, you and I are the body of Christ. Our purpose as Christ followers is to allow God to act in and through us as we live out our lives.
Spiritual discernment allows our rational minds to join with our intuition by allowing God’s Spirit to mysteriously reveal to us what we need to know and how we need to act. It is a prayerful informed and intentional attempt to sort out the voices we hear with in. By cultivating our spiritual senses, we develop a keener sense of what God’s voice sounds like within us. Our goal in spiritual discernment is in fact to find the mind of Christ.
Though prayer is a key component of spiritual discernment, it is not about saying prayers to ask God to guide us, but more of a sense of being still and listening with the ear of our hearts. It draws us in and harmonizes our lives with God’s plan. It requires silence and waiting. Practicing spiritual discernment quips us to be constantly alert to the presence and guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5)
Pentecost Season is long and ordinary because our focus needs to be within – growing deeper in our connection to God’s Spirit. It is a time to become grounded in our conviction that God’s Holy Spirit is an active presence in our everyday lives. God’s Spirit is eagerly waiting for us to open ourselves to God’s will. Can you discern that?
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