EVERY MAN WOMAN & CHILD

Transcription

1 SESSION 1 EVERY MAN WOMAN & CHILD

2 EVERY MAN, Woman & child OVERVIEW OF SESSION Intro what we re doing/what to expect Prayer time in small groups Content Engagement with content WINS OF THE SESSION Experience an intentional prayer time together. Buy into giving themselves fully to the first two sessions and making the larger decision later. Actively engage with the BIG IDEA of re-examining the nature and purpose of the Church. Coaching Tip Make sure each church has at least two people representing their church. 1

3 NOTES ON APPRENTICING We suggest having someone with you to apprentice as you walk through these sessions. We have provided notes at the conclusion of each session that guide a debrief with your apprentice. Make sure that your apprentice takes lots of notes observing how you are leading the room which will enrich this debriefing. ASSETS NEEDED FOR SESSION Two or more people from each church Whiteboard and markers Video of Christ Together pastors telling their personal stories with EMWC 2

4 BRoad session notes for facilitator INTRO Your story of Every man, woman and child Purpose of learning community sessions Invitation to more PRAYER Groups of 3-4 Three questions CONTENT Exercise: How does the American Church typically define success? How did we arrive at that conclusion? By themselves/groups of 3-4/share with whole room Personal example from facilitator Questions: How does God define a successful church? What does God want to do in our city? What would it look like if God did what He wanted to do in our geography? Relationship + Representation Genesis 1:26-27 Ambassadors of Reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:

5 Every Man, Woman and Child 2 Peter 3:8-9 Commissioned and Empowered to Reach Specified Geographies Acts 1:6-8 video: Pastor Testimony Owning the lostness of my geography INTERACTIVE Q + A What was most helpful or exciting about the content? What was most challenging? What question might you ask? On your own Groups of 3-4 Whole group CLOSING THOUGHT The problem is accessibility, not relevancy. PRAY DISMISS APPRENTICE DEBRIEF 4

6 In-depth Session Notes for Facilitator: INTRO 8 minutes Facilitator Share your story of being envisioned with every man, woman and child and how it has impacted your personal life and leadership. Explain the purpose of the learning community sessions. We are here because the trajectory of the church is deeply concerning. While it seems the church might have lost its identity and destiny, there has been a resurgence of a faithful remnant who is calling for and living into a reformation that returns to the heart of God s mission for the world in which He so loves: the basics of Gospel, Mission, Disciple-making and a commitment to seeing the Great Commission fulfilled. That s the conversation we want to have. That s what these first two sessions together are about. We are not asking you to commit to all 10 sessions today. After these two sessions, if your heart and imagination are stirred by what we are talking about, we want to invite you on a journey for another 8 sessions that will look almost identical in structure to what you experience in these first two. 5

7 OVERVIEW OF THE DAY 3 minutes There are three goals we hope to accomplish each time we get together: Spend time in prayer. Spend time being reminded of some essential truths and convictions about God s purpose for the Church. Spend time engaging with that content as a room and in smaller groups. In addition, sometimes we ll have something brief to read or watch between sessions. PRAYER minutes We will start with a time of prayer together, remembering that apart from Christ, we can do nothing. We don t want to engage in prayer at the beginning of something just because that s what we re supposed to do. We believe prayer is central to the fulfillment of the mission of God. Break into groups of 3 or 4 around the venue and use this simple format to pray in groups. Is anyone anxious or worried? Each person shares as necessary. Then, the group prays for them. The model is to discuss and then pray. Is anyone sick or not feeling well? (Keep it to you/nuclear family) Each person shares as necessary. Then, the group prays for them. The model is to discuss and then pray. Is anyone spending time with someone who might be open to the Gospel this week? Each person shares as necessary. Then, the group prays for them. The model is to discuss and then pray. Close in prayer for the whole group. 6

8 CONTENT 40 minutes Exercise Two questions set the stage for our conversation today. How does the American church typically define success? How did we arrive at that conclusion? Give them two minutes of silence to write down a few notes. Have them get into groups of 2-3 and share their answers. Have various people in the room share. Facilitator shares a personal example. Coaching Tip Write each question on a whiteboard to help facilitate discussion. Example from Jeff Shipman: When I planted Crossroads back in 2000 with the EV Free church, I went to a conference and there was a big sign that said: For churches over It was always intuitive in my mind that to be successful, I must have a big church. That sign just confirmed what everything in the evangelical environment had told me. Transition Statement: We know what we want. We know what evangelical culture wants. But what does God want? Are they the same thing? OPTIONAL ACTIVITY In your church team, draw the purpose of the Church on a giant sticky note without using any words. (5 minutes) Each church team shares their picture. (25 minutes) 7

9 Some of the most important questions: How does God define a successful church? What would it look like if God did what He wanted to do in our geography? Before we answer these questions, let s do a thumbnail sketch of where the American church is today. The largest denomination in the United States, the SBC, has had 7 straight years of membership decline (not citing attendance, but membership, LifeWay Christian Resources). Less than 20% of Americans regularly attend church, which is less than half of what people verbally say (Gallup Research). 19.6% are called Nones : Atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular. That s 46 million people in the USA (Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life). The United States is the third largest mission field in the world behind India and China (Stan Greenberg, Kent Smith, Gailyn Van Rheenen). 31% will say they should share their faith, but choose never to do so (Barna Group). What does God want? What is His plan? To answer that question, we must go all the way back to the beginning. Relationship + Representation Read Genesis 1: Show from the text how it has been about RELATIONSHIP and REPRESENTATION from the beginning. 8

10 God created us to live in relationship with Him and to be His image bearers to the world. However, in Genesis 3, there was a great shattering and from that moment, God has been on a mission to bring His people back to that place in the Garden. God wants to be in RELATIONSHIP with us. Jesus makes a way. God wants us to REPRESENT Him again to the world He loves. The Spirit of God inside of us makes this possible! Coaching Tip REPRESENTATION defined: As the people of God, created and empowered to bear His image, we are called to speak and act with His delegated authority. Ambassadors of Reconciliation Read 2nd Corinthians 5: Reconciled to God, we are now in RELATIONSHIP with Him. Since we are Relationship with Him, we can now REPRESENT Him as ambassadors. We are beacons of hope where we live, work and play. It s Genesis 1, isn t it? The mission of God is to bring all of His creation back to Genesis 1, and it s what we see at the end in Revelation 21 and 22. This brings us to the purpose and nature of the Church. Why do we exist here on earth? What do we have to do with God s mission? Well, let s go back to our first question: What does God want? Every Man, Woman and Child READ 2nd Peter 3:8-9. God s desire is that all would have the opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel. 9

11 Paul thinks about how this happens in Romans 10:14-15: How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!' In other words, those who are in RELATIONSHIP with Him have this sacred task of REPRESENTING the Gospel. God wants every man, woman and child to have repeated opportunities to see, hear and respond to the Gospel. That s what God wants from his Church. What will it look like if God does what He wants to do in our specified geography? Commissioned and Empowered to Reach Specified Geographies Read Acts 1:6-8. This is fairly simple, right? Wherever you are, wherever YOUR JERUSALEM IS, he wants every man, woman and child to have repeated opportunities. God s people are commissioned and empowered to proclaim and to demonstrate the Gospel wherever He sends them. Acts 1:8 is not only descriptive of what happens throughout the book of Acts; it is a model for how the Church takes responsibility to own the lostness of all people. 10

12 TRANSITION What if success isn't defined by how big you are, how many churches you plant, the number of campuses you have, the size of your budget, how cool your music is, how intimate your fellowship, how much good you do in the community or how exegetical your sermons? What if success is defined by whether or not every man, woman, and child has repeated opportunities to see, hear and respond to the Gospel? What if it means acknowledging that one church in a place can t possibly do that on its own? What might change for us? video: Pastor Testimony Owning the lostness of my geography INTERACTIVE Q + A minutes We want to give you some questions to think about and to discuss. We ll give the introverts a chance to process internally first by giving the room 2 minutes of quiet to take notes, and then we ll unleash some of you extroverts and widen the discussion. Here are our questions: yywhat was most helpful or exciting about the content? yywhat was most challenging? yywhat question might you ask? Give them two minutes of silence to write down a few notes. Have them get into groups of 3-4 and share their answers. Have various people in the room share. Facilitate and bat around the content as necessary. 11

13 CLOSING THOUGHT 5 minutes Missiologist and President of Saturation Church Planting International, Dr. Dwight Smith sums it up like this: Imagine what would happen if every man, woman and child had multiple opportunities to accept and trust Jesus and they didn t have to go anywhere for this to happen. The problem in America isn t relevancy. It s accessibility. 88% of people come to faith in America because of a relationship. We ve got to get the people moving! We ve got to send them out. We are, at this very moment, writing the history of our nation. In our next session, we ll look at how that might happen. 12

14 PRAY + DISMISS Depending on the timing of your session, we recommend going out for a meal after the session. APPRENTICE DEBRIEF If you re working with an apprentice already, debrief the session with him/her Go over the wins from the session to help form the discussion. What did he/she think worked well? Give your reflections as well. What didn t go as well? What might he/she change? Give your reflections as well. Share some of your observations of how you navigated through the session. 13