In the next few weeks, I will be releasing a Bible study with LifeWay's Threads initiative. It is called Sent: Living the Missional Nature of the Church.
I'm hoping that the study will be a helpful tool to put in the hands of church leaders who want to ground their people firmly in an understanding of the mission of the church and what it means for the body of Christ to live together as the sent people of God. The study has 6 sessions, so I'm going to be writing over the course of the next few weeks some summaries of the main points of the sessions to whet your appetite. Today we deal with the title and the idea behind the study.
Jesus said over and over again in the Book of John that He was sent from the Father. Then in John 20:21, He said: "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you." We take from that the idea that the very nature of the church is this "sent-ed-ness." It's part of our DNA. The problem is that many churches have the "arrived" mentality rather than seeing themselves as sent out from Christ on mission. It's time for us to reclaim the core of our identity, that we are a people sent by and for God. It's more than a choice or a program; it's about a fundamental understanding of our Savior and ourselves that leads us forward as his people. That's why it's called "Living the Missional Nature of the Church."
Love for you to check out the study; you can download a free sample and get more info here. For people establishing a church's DNA, or trying to reconfigure a group of people to think rightly, you might consider taking your entire church through the study. I think it will provide a good understanding of what the church is supposed to be in the world.
More soon...
You are welcome (and encouraged) to comment below, but be sure your comment relates to the post. Feel free to discuss the topic, but do not denigrate individuals. Comments are moderated and usually appear within 15 minutes of being posted. Regrettably, Ed cannot personally respond to most comments and questions.
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9 Comments
09/04/08 @ 10:03 AM
This sounds awesome!
09/04/08 @ 1:41 PM
Hey Ed, my name is Shea Sumlin (college pastor, Denton Bible Church). Just wanted to tell you that this study has blessed our ministry tremendously. I ordered a copy for all of our leaders- and many of them are now preparing to take their small groups through it! It's helped radically shape the paradigms of our folks to begin considering themselves as missionaries in their own given contexts. Anyway, thanks for putting this out there!
09/04/08 @ 3:38 PM
ed,
you are looking sharp in the video. hope you are doing well? next time you are here in the atl shout at a brother. thanks for your friendship & leadership.
tim
09/04/08 @ 7:12 PM
Thanks, Shea, very encouraging.
Hey Tim-- great to hear from you. See you at Catalyst!
09/05/08 @ 10:42 AM
Ed, I ordered the book - just the book - earlier not really knowing it was part of a whole package, because I'm into teaching and impacting about the "sending nature" of God. Got the book; loved the look and feel of it and now ordering the video series. I hope to use it as an impact tool for local churches by "loaning it out" (not burning it!) from our missions agency. Hope that's alright, but I see it as a first step toward missional understanding and getting a being-sent-burden for the whole world. Keep it up, dude!
09/05/08 @ 1:43 PM
Look forward to checking it out. Some of what my husband and I do is lead/teach the 18 to 25 yr olds. We consider ourselves lifestyle missionaries - not just Christ-followers. Sounds like this material will go hand in hand with how we live life.
Thanks, Ed.
09/05/08 @ 1:47 PM
Ed - thanks for the study and the blog.
It almost seems like the "sending" part of our faith has become for the extra-credit Christians, as opposed to part of what we signed on to, as part of the foundations of our faith.
thanks for taking time to encourage others to see the "sending" part of our faith.
Scott in Vegas
http://www.newchurchreport.com - New Church Report
http://cells-twelves.blogspot.com - Expectation Blog
09/06/08 @ 3:19 PM
Ed this is great!! I am constantly asked for curriculum related to this subject. Finally I have something I can recommend (maybe there are others but I am not much at keeping up with this). You are the pinnacle of portals.
03/16/09 @ 4:35 PM
Ed,do you know of any sermon resources that have been developed that would sync up with taking a church through the "Sent" study? I'm thinking of sermon outlines, summaries, illustrations, additional texts, etc. Thanks.