SESSION 3
THE MISSION
INTRODUCTION
We have been sent on mission to the places we already inhabit. For many of us, mission has been something that happens across borders, while here at home we do evangelism. For others, mission is feeding the poor or working with the homeless. While neither of these are bad things, they do not give a complete picture of what God’s mission is and what it looks like for us to join Him in it. In this two-week section, we will learn about the mission of God and what it might look like to join Him in His redeeming work in the places you have been sent.
WATCH
Michael Frost
Co-Founder Forge International, Author, Speaker, Missiologist
CURRICULUM
READ BOOK: Road to Missional, by Michael Frost – Chapter 1
ACTION
In Road to Missional, Michael Frost writes, “It seems to me, then, that a core question for all missional Christians is to ask, what does the reign of God through Christ look like in my neighborhood? If the kingdom of God has come and is overlapping with the broken world in which I live, how can I alert people to it?” Often we do not know the answers to these questions until we have spent time listening to the Holy Spirit and listening to those in our context. This week spend time doing two things,Spend a few minutes each day listening to the Holy Spirit. Ask the Spirit to reveal to you what good news might be for those in your context. Another prayer you could pray is, “God where are you working and how can I join you?”
- You recently identified a possible context. Spend time listening to a person or family from your context. Visit at work, on your commute, on the street, at the neighborhood playground, at a sporting event, sharing a coffee, or invite someone to a meal. If possible, include your whole family, spouse, or another Christ follower. If it is not possible, simply ask another Christ follower to pray for you as you seek to listen. Before you spend time with someone, ask God to help you listen for ways in which you could bless or demonstrate “good news.” During your time together focus on developing a friendship. After your time together, reflect on the time shared. Ask God and His spirit to help you discern any next steps.
REFLECTION
- Identifying the ways you mirrored God’s work of justice, reconciliation, beauty, and wholeness in the world is more than writing, “I shared Christ with someone today” or “I treated a confused student kindly today.” Rather, take time to explore how your everyday tasks; things like commitments to craftsmanship, care, and commerce all reflect the things of the kingdom.
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- What are the everyday tasks you participate in every week?
- How might these acts—of creativity, diligence, service, and kindness—reflect what it means to be missional, just as important as acts of evangelism, preaching, or social justice
- Where do you sense God at work in your work, your family, your leisure time?
- How is God is unfurling his reign throughout the world through your small contributions on earth?
- How are you participating with God in alerting others to the reign and rule of God through Christ?
- In reconciliation?
- In justice?
- In beauty?
- In wholeness?
- In announcement?
- By fostering the habit of reflection on the ways participate with God in the everyday spaces of your life you will find yourself increasingly identifying yourself as a sent one.
