What is a Missional Community? How do We Build Them?
- Missional community is not primarily a small group
- Some use small groups to close the back-door. The sign of a healthy family is not that the kids stay forever but that some day they leave! People start to step out in faith and saturate the city. If a church is in a city for 30-years that city should be saturated but this doesn’t happen because we don’t view the church as a movement but view it as an event
- Small groups tend to be assimilation and retention strategies
- It’s not just a Bible Study. A lot of groups get stuck just doing a Bible Study but not go out on mission together.
- The Bible is not meant to be obeyed by yourself but in community.
- How do we obey the word of God in the midst of unbelievers?
- A lot of Christians are good at talking about the Bible but not obeying. We believe it is our knowledge of the Bible that changes us a gnostic type of gospel.
- Not a social activist group. Don’t just love the building, love the people.
- It is not an affinity group. It can start as affinity but will move to diversity as families are reached through the affinity. You reflect the community and become diverse. If you are actually making disciples it will look more diverse.
- Not primarily a weekly meeting. We have become very good about creating an event mentality not a people mentality. What we say reflects what we believe it isn’t “are we having missional community this week” we are missional community. “It’s not just an event, it’s a family.”
Steps to Forming a Missional Community
3-5 year process of changing them to be missional community from existing small groups.
What is required?
- Qualified leaders.
- Head, what are their understanding of the gospel. Heart- what is the reality of their relationship with God. Hands- how are they relating with their own family and people around them. The leaders you have set the culture of the church. It’s about development not your measurement. Aspire to qualifications for an elder.
- Too many groups are lead by 1 leader there should be a plurality of leaders. (Prophet, Priest, King- Frame language) Team of leaders that represent these three things. Word, people, systems. Should be both men and women leading it.
- Have a clarified mission.
- When they start a new group they cant articulate the mission they are called to together.
- Called People
- You have to have a people who say they want to go there with you
- Lay the Gospel Foundation Well
- A lot of people tell their story and there is very little about Jesus and it shows how they view the Gospel
- As they tell their stories you know how to disciple them well
- If no one asks questions when they tell their story Jeff asks the questions. Using Gospel to address the brokenness. Use visuals to help people articulate their stories.
- Established Gospel Identity
- Family, (baptized in the name of Jesus) servants, (empowered by the Holy Spirit) missionaries
- Identify Everyday Rhythms
- Develop an MC Covenant
Rhythms may have to come before clarified mission as they practice these rhythms and seek to identify the mission
Open door, person of peace, “Samaritan woman” someone who opens the door to others.
The measure you pray is the measure of how broken you are and how desperate you are for Jesus for the world around you.
Mission is so big that it is too impossible to do on your own and you need Jesus.
Gather- Weekly Meeting Go- MC Grow- DNA Groups
70-120 6 adults 3 leaders 3 Adults
Everyday Life:
Instead of thinking additional think intentional!
We have a hard time thinking normal everyday stuff can count. But the normal everyday stuff is where it is at.
Everyday Rhythms
Eat, Listen, Story, Bless, Celebrate, Re-Create
Start to see a meal as a calibration point back to God
| Family | Servants | Missionaries | |
| Eat | Eat Together | Bring food to others | Eat with an unbeliever |
| Listen | God | Listen to one another Listen for the real longing of the heart | Listen to the cry of the culture. Listen for pain, for power, for pleasure. These are cues to know how to share the Gospel |
| Story | Know the story of everyone in your MC. | You have to help people tell the story of God. | Get to know the story of people you are on mission with. Listen long enough to hear their story and how you will bless them in light of their story. |
| Bless | |||
| Celebrate | Best parties | Clean up after the party. (Bring the towel) | Bring the better wine |
| Re-Create |
To grow in evangelism listen more than you talk. Most of the counseling in America would not be needed if the church got better at listening.
Grow in the art of listening.
We don’t teach people how to listen to God anymore.
You don’t have an identified mission unless you know their names and their faces.
Think about your city and what the party is missing?
Stuff I won, Skills/abilities, What I have experienced. We have all been blessed to be a blessing. You have more than we need.
Build a rhythm of taking a break and having fun! When you fill your life to 75% you become counter-productive in your work.
Reflections 