Mission How & Where Mission: In this series, learn how to live a missional life, making the gospel known through word and deed, in the places you live, work and play. In This Lesson: Read Acts 9:31-43, Luke 10:29-37, Acts 10 & Acts 16:25-34 and discover the different places and ways we can live missionally. Equip Identify the places in your life where you can make the Gospel known to others. Accountability Discuss your thoughts with your group and encourage each other to apply God s Word to your lives. Pray Pray together with your group because everything begins with, ends with and depends on God. Scorecard How are you doing with the mission that Christ has given you? Key Verse: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8, NIV) A man reaps what he sows ~Galatians 6:7-8 (NIV)
Read Last week, you were introduced to the concept of missional living, that is, living as a participant in Jesus mission. You have given thought to what a missional life is, and to why you would want to live missionally. This week, you will look a bit deeper into how and where you can live a missional life. First, know that a missional life begins with a Spirit-filled Read Acts 9:31-43, Luke 10:29-37, Acts 10 & Acts 16:25-34 life. The Spirit-filled life is living under the control of the Holy Spirit. It is like spiritual breathing exhaling the impure by confessing your sin, and inhaling the pure by inviting the Spirit s control of your life. But don t imagine that the Holy Spirit would only lead you to abstain from sin. He also leads you into righteous pursuits, such as participating in Jesus mission. If the root of a missional life is living under the Spirit s control, how is the fruit of missional living expressed? Through both word and deed. Those who take up Christ s mission will make the gospel known by sharing and demonstrating the gospel to those in need. All Christians are called to this mission, though some may be more active in the telling, and others, in the doing. Acts 9:31-43 shows that Christ s followers, living under the Holy Spirit s control, can make the gospel known in different ways. In the equipping section, you will answer how each person in the story made the gospel known. Let s now think about where a missional life will take you. As Christians seek to live missionally, their engagement with the world can be defined by the categories of need and distance. Needs may be spiritual, psychological or physical (e.g. food, shelter, protection, provision, etc.). Distance may be measured culturally or
Read geographically. For example, in the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), Jesus describes a man from Samaria who met a Jewish man s immediate physical needs (food, shelter and medicine) even though their respective cultures were antagonistic to one another (Jews and Samaritans generally did not associate, even though they lived close together). In the story of the conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10), a Galilean fisherman (Peter) met the spiritual needs of a Roman army officer from Caesarea who was culturally distant from Peter s life experience. In Acts 16:25-34, a Jewish Christian from the eastern Mediterranean (Paul) met the spiritual needs of his jailer, a Greek from Philippi who was both culturally and geographically distant from Paul s life experience. So, living a missional life under the control of the Holy Spirit can take you across spiritual, economic, cultural, and geographic boundaries. Acts 1:8 says but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you: and ends of the earth. Based on the teaching of Acts 1:8 that Christians are called to make the gospel known to all people and across all barriers, let s think about these geographical areas as across the street, tracks and ocean to describe the arenas in which Christians may live missionally. Across the street refers to the everyday spheres of a believers lives and influence, where they live, work and play. Across the tracks refers to the larger spheres of our communities, where people may be geographically close, but culturally or economically distant. Across the ocean refers to the sphere of the world where people in need are both geographically and culturally distant.
Read Here is a summary of missional living: What is it? sharing in Jesus mission to make the gospel known to all people Why participate in it? the love of God displayed in the gospel compels and empowers How is it manifested? by sharing in word and demonstrating by deeds Where does it impact the world? across the street, tracks and ocean
Equip As you read through the Scriptures, perhaps there were some things you didn t understand or needed to study further. Take some time to think and respond to the following questions: 1. From Acts 9:31-43, describe how the following people made the gospel known: Peter Tabitha 2. Take stock of your surroundings. Where are the Jerusalems, Judeas and Samarias and ends of the earth in your life? In the lesson, we referred to these as across the street, tracks and ocean. This doesn t mean that Jesus calls you to go to all of these arenas. But, you should give thought and prayer to which arena(s) you could make the gospel known, and which you might assist other believers in making the gospel known.
Accountability Before your next D group meeting, think about the questions below. You will discuss these with your group. These questions will help you to examine your life in light of the truth you explored this week. They also give other group members an opportunity to encourage you to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Where would you define across the street, tracks and ocean in your life? Be as specific as you can. Street Tracks Ocean Take a few minutes to journal about how you can imagine yourself following Jesus in His mission to make the gospel known to all people across the street, track and ocean, through word and deed. What could you do? Why would you do it? How could you support others who are making a difference?
Pray This week, you have a mission assignment to take a prayer walk. Prayer walking has been practiced by great Christians such as George Müller, whose missional life led to the establishment of orphanages that cared for thousands of children in 19th century Bristol, England. Think of prayer walking as praying on location. The idea is to go somewhere your neighborhood, another neighborhood, a recreational park, a city block, a school or an office complex to pray specifically for the people and families whom you meet and whose homes and businesses you pass as you walk. But, don t make the mistake of thinking that prayer walking is about getting God s attention on your prayers. It s about getting your attention on the needs around where you live, work and play to help you pray more specifically. As you walk you may see, hear, smell or touch a small portion of the lives around you, and this will aid your understanding of their needs. Before your prayer walk, plan the place and time you want to go. When you arrive, ask God to open your eyes to the needs of the people there and to help you pray more specifically and earnestly for those needs. You may want to bring along a few verses of Scripture, such as those on the next page, to help engage your heart and mind in prayer. As you walk, be sure to look around, listen closely and pray. When you return home, journal about your experience in the space provided. Be prepared to discuss your prayer walk at your next meeting.
Pray Think about the following scriptures before your go for your walk: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36 Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. John 4:35b If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? James 2:15-16 Place & Time: Summary:
Pray My prayer request regarding the topic this week is: My prayer request regarding a situation in my life is: My prayer request for others is: (fill this out at D Group)
Scorecard What is Jesus mission? It is to make His gospel known to all people through word (sharing the gospel) and deed (demonstrating the gospel). This is the mission that every generation of His followers must take up as well. But, don t confuse becoming missional with becoming a foreign missionary. A missionary may devote his or her life to making the gospel known beyond a border or across an ocean. But, Christ calls all of His followers to make the gospel known through word and deeds wherever they live, work or play, as well as in their surrounding communities. Who am I praying for an opportunity to share the truth of Jesus with right now? Who am I intentionally witnessing to about Jesus right now? Who am I discipling right now?