SOAR DISCUSSION GUIDE

Missions Focus Weekend

Bill Hodgson
31st July & 2nd August 2015

Overview

The missions focus month builds on our theme for the year – Being “Gospel Centred People on MISSION IN Everyday LIFE”.  Our mission is derived from God’s mission.  God’s mission is the mission of redemption and restoration.  Restoring the broken relationship between man and God as well as bringing restoration to creation (Rev 21:1).  God would do this through the cross of Jesus Christ and through His agent of restoration, His Church, the bride of Christ.  Jesus gave the church this one mission, to go and make disciples.

Matthew 28:18-20

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[b] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus did more then just give us this command, He modeled how it was to be done.  He modeled it through His life and we have it recorded in the Gospels.  Jesus modeled the great commission call to make disciples – multiplying followers of Jesus Christ, who would build a movement that continues to this day.

Bill Hodgson brought 4 key principles from the life of Jesus to help us understand our role in God’s mission and to build a movement. These principles are summarized below.  Recordings and PowerPoint slides from Bill’s presentations can be found on our Church website.

1. Incarnation

• As Jesus came into our world, so we are sent by Jesus into other people’s world to reflect the character and love of Jesus to the lost. John 20:21 Jesus said “As the father sent me so I send you.”

2. Restoration

• We bring the Kingdom manifesto (Values and culture) into the world
• Jesus is portrait of the Kingdom. Jesus himself is the Kingdom manifesto, he is the “plumb-line” of the Kingdom of heaven on earth (Amos 7:8).
• As we enter their world (Incarnational) we bring restoration, modeling a grace community as we authentically engage with society. Through our engagement we have influence through legitimacy and credibility (Our lives match our words).
• We become Salt & Light.

3. Multiplication

• Jesus planned and modelled a multiplication process not a process of addition. Multiplication assumes everyone participates in making disciples – training others to train others to follow and obey all that Jesus commanded.  Everyone is a trainer.
• Using the parables of the soils, the good soil is a God prepared person though whom multiplication can occur – yielding 30, 60 100 fold returns.
• Do whatever it takes to BE good soil and STAY good soil yourself.
• Do whatever it takes to FIND good soil and RE-SOW into good soil.
• Once identified INVEST in and PRIORITISE good soil people.
• Then look for the marvel of multiplication.
• Multiplication starts slow but rapidly grows as time progresses. This requires perseverance to see the returns.

4. Movements

• Movements are based on multiplication not addition.  Compare the difference.

In the case of Addition:

• If a conventional church planted a new church every 10 years it would be considered successful – 1+1= 2 churches in 10 years.
• If it planted every year it would be a national phenomenon – 1+10 = 11 churches in 10 years.

In the case of Multiplication

• But what if it planted a multiplying house church/group ever year and each did the same: 1 X 2 = 512 in 10 years!

Multiplication is the “game changer”.

• A widely accepted missions ratio is 1:1000 (DAWN) ie. Completion is reaching the target of one faith community/church for every 1000 people (village, neighborhood, high rise, community).  If applied to Australia that would mean 23,000+.  Factoring in the 13,000 existing churches/fellowships leaves a massive faith challenge of 10,000 new faith communities.  Clearly, conventional approaches alone – doing more of the same –  will never make it!.
• Our challenge is the shift from just doing more ministry to building more movements?

Discussion Questions

1. What would your world look like if Jesus were in charge (Jesus was the King)? – “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:9-10) [Note: By world we mean your current relationships situations e.g. friends family and work colleagues etc. ]

2. What would you need to DO to make disciples in your world? What would you need to do more of and less of? And what training do you need in order to be able to do it? (Please communicate training needs to the Pastoral Team).

3. How can the life-group join me in this mission?

4. What do I plan to do and when?

Pray for each other, that with the help of the Holy Spirit we will have opportunity and  empowerment to carryout out own steps of obedience as disciples of Christ.

Luke 10:2

2 These were his (Jesus) instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”