Becoming the Disciples that Tomorrow
Requires Living and Telling the StoryDavid Schoen – Congregational Vitality and Discipleship
Exodus 3:13 - 15
Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, `What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses,
I AM WHO I AM. (Yahweh)
YAHWEH
I Will BeWhat Tomorrow
Requires
The Future Question
God will be what the future demands,
but,…….Will we be the churches and
disciples that tomorrow requires?
Missional Discipleship
“The Church exists to serve God’s Mission” Mission as Missio Dei, UCC Committee on Structure, 1992
The church of Jesus Christ is the instrument and sign of God’s mission and realm.
God’s mission is calling and sending us, the as church of Jesus Christ, to be to be a missional church in our own societies, in the cultures in which we find ourselves.
Evangelism in the 21st CenturyMissional, Relational & Conversational
Missional in purpose
Relational in outreach
Conversational in witness in person and online
Missional in Purpose
Vital disciples clear sense of purpose
Vital disciples are sent people
Vital disciples reach out beyond themselves reclaim Biblical focus on neighbors
Vital disciples multiply new disciples/ministries/congregations
Reclaiming the Biblical focus on NEIGHBORS
Hebraic Scripture focuses on neighbors Ten Commandments and Torah Leviticus 19:18
You shall love your neighbor as yourself
Jesus commandment -You shall love your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind and your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27 Love of God and love of neighbor combined
Jesus, Paul and James extend ‘neighbor’ to all humankind (with some surprises)
No Matter Who You Are, or Where You Are on Life’s Journey, You Are Welcome Here!
Who are they, and where do they come from?
(Revelation 7:14)
MissionInsite Demographicshttp://missioninsite.com/
flexible web based information system comprehensive socioeconomic and lifestyle data interactive mapping platform strategic information resource for ministry
Meeting Your Neighbors
MissionInsite Reports
MissionInsite Reports
Socio-Economic-Consumer Types
New Generation Activists
Who Are they?
Ministry Applications for Mosaic Lifestyle Portraits
How to use MissionInsite
Map your congregation homes
Learn their mosaic types
Compare to communities, learn your niche
Gear programs, small groups to meet population needs and interests
Track guests and friends
Cluster home groups
How to Register in Illinois South
Faith,In Project
Faith,In Spanish Lake, MO
Missional in PurposeRelational in Outreach
The days of waiting for people to us to welcome them in church are over.
Instead of waiting inside, we go outside
Bridge the gap by building relationships
Missional Outreach
Missional Outreach
Joining God in the Neighborhood by Alan Roxburgh
Modeled on Jesus sending disciples Luke 10: 1- 12
Go Local
Leave your baggage at home
Don’t move from house to house
Eat what is set before you
Listen people into speech
Missional Outreach
Walk or Drive your neighborhood Watch for where God is at work Take notes, make a map, collect contact data
Who lives where What are community needs Who are allies and good neighbors
Do this again and again Talk to your neighbors
What are the hopes and challenges of neighbors How can the church be a good neighbor?
Relationship Building
‘Hang out’ with your community Meet neighbors where they gather
Spend Sunday morning with your neighbors Soccer matches, Lowes, Coffee Shop, Exercise
Pastors ‘office’ in a coffee shop, fast food, bookstore. Have meetings outside the church.
Bible/book studies in coffee shop, book store Council meetings in neighborhood context
Engage in conversation, build relationships,
Collect data of names/addresses/e-mails
Missional Outreach Go to where the unchurched are:
Pastor experience of going to bar.
“I stopped wondering about how to draw younger folks into my church and started focusing on how to draw my congregation out of its building and into relationship with the world outside its doors.”
Joining God in the Neighborhoo
Getting Started
Develop New Eyes for Your Neighborhood
Teach Radical Neighborliness – “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey…”
Listen to Neighborhood Stories
Discern What God is Up to in the Neighborhood
Get Involved
What am I/We learning - What Do I/We Do Next?
Relational in OutreachConversational in Witness
Conversational ministry is central to the future of the church in 21st Century
Count conversations, not conversions Brian McLaren, More Ready than You Think
Conversational Ministry The postmodern world calls for disciples
who reach out to a world that is hungering for good conversation about faith, values, hope, meaning, purpose, goodness, beauty, truth, life after death, life before death and God. Engaging in everyday faith conversations will not only help others become disciples, it will help us become disciples, who know and love the stillspeaking God more than ever.
Conversational in Witness
Spiritual Seekers want to talk. Holy Conversations – Richard Peace
We are the ones not talking. Reverence for God – silence and service.
Unbinding the Gospel – Martha Reese Evangelism is faith-sharing.
An unchurched world doesn’t know why we do what we do and believe what we believe.
If God is still speaking,
Shouldn’t we be?
Love Your God and Neighbor
The Evangelistic Love of God and Neighbor: A Theology of Witness and Discipleship, Scott. J. Jones, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2003
If we love our neighbor and our God We will share our still speaking faith and community
with them.
If we love our neighbor and our God We will share our faith in appropriate ways and time.
E. Word = Elbow
“The e.word today is elbow.” Jim Griffith
Still today the way most folks find a community of faith is when they are invited to come and brought by a friend or neighbor.
Still Speaking Conversation and Invitation with Neighbors
Informal moments at work, shopping or…. Be attentive for moments for a still speaking word Become a Still Speaking Voice Wear your still speaking witness
Home dinners with neighbors
First Welcomers New Neighbors
Public Worship Ashes to Go
Are You Ready to Talk?
Why do you love your church?
What impact has believing in God and following Jesus made in your life?
How is God still speaking in your life?
Are You Ready to Talk?Unbinding the Gospel
• Pray, pray, pray• Vital evangelism comes out of vital
relationship with God? • Keep a journal• Create an evangelism support group• Practise witnessing in church
Eight Challenges Richard Peace
We need to learn how to talk about Jesus
We need to create spaces within which both seekers and committed Christians can explore together their spiritual journeys.
We need to learn how to invite others
We need to move beyond our stereotypes, fears and negative experiences of evangelism for new creative and wholistic ways of outreach.
Eight Challenges Richard Peace
We need to heal the split evangelism and justice issues so it is a both/and and not an either /or.
We need to find the energy to engage in and to sustain an outreach ministry.
We need to stay open to transformation, our own transformation even as we invite others to be transformed.
We need to learn how to discuss all of this in non-theological terms.
Go Forth into the Virtual World
Social Media and Network
Outreach on-line
Church Website Invitational Interactive Messaging E.newsletter Links
Facebook Church fanpage Your own Links Advertising
Social Media
Outreach with new Technology
Becoming the Disciples that Tomorrow Requires Living and Telling the Story
Missional in purpose
Relational in outreach
Conversational in witness in person and online
Becoming the Disciples that Tomorrow Requires
Living and Telling the Story
What are you already doing to live and tell the story?Where do you want/need to grow?