Saturate | Being Disciples of Jesus in the Everyday Stuff of Life

Saturate | Baptismal Identity, Church is More than a Building, 

On Mission Together, and Mission & Community Animated Videos

"When we see the every day normal stuff of life as the place in which we can engage in mission, we're actually going to reach everyday people. And we're also going to be able to show them what it looks like to follow Jesus in the everyday stuff of life. He lived and died so we could be His people through whom He fills every part of the world with His presence. He plans to saturate the earth with His glory through us, His Church, making disciples of Jesus." – Jeff Vanderstelt

Jeff's recently released book, Saturate: Being Disciples of Jesus in the Everyday Stuff of Life, has been an encouraging and thoughtful read. And the beauty of Jeff's writing, no matter how hard it has been for him and how he'd much rather be doing something else, is that the entire book feels like sharing a conversation. Stories inside are filled with the everyday stuff of life, including the sorrows and joys, the pain and laughter, the disappointment and hope. In the few times I've been able to share a meal with Jeff or catch him for a moment in passing, he has always been a compassionate listener and a passionate sharer of Jesus. His book captures this and I look forward to doing a City Notes series on it in the future. For now, I want to provide you with the videos and manuscripts that focus on four of the main themes Saturate: Baptismal Identity, Church is More than a Building, On Mission Together, and Mission & Community.

I hope you gain as much from these simple reflections on 
what it means to follow Jesus as I have.

 

Saturate | Baptismal Identity Video (2:09 minutes) and Manuscript

God commands us to make disciples and baptize them in the name the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – God's way of establishing us in our new identity. God declares something to be so and it is. This is what goes on in baptism. What God does to us, 
He intends to do through us.

When Jesus commanded His followers to make disciples of all nations, He told them to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This was Jesus' way of establishing us in our new identity. He knew that we would live differently if we realized who we are because of God's work in Jesus Christ. God did the same thing with Abram. Do you remember how God changed Abram's name to Abraham, which means "father of many nations"? He gave him this name, not after he had Isaac, but before. This is how God works. God declares something to be so and it is. 

This is what is going on in baptism. We are baptized in the name of the Father because we are the family of God. We are deeply loved by the Father who sent His Son to die for us so that we might become His children. And we're called to love others so that they might come to know the love of the Father as well. We're also baptized in the name of Son because we are servants of the King, sent to serve the least of these as He serves us. As a result, those we serve as the hands and feet of Jesus in the world experience the breaking through of the Kingdom of God in through everyday servants, showing them what the kingdom of God looks like. And we are baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit because we, just like Jesus was, are God's Spirit-empowered missionaries sent to proclaim the good news of the Gospel to the world so that others might come to know Jesus, and in turn, would also become disciples who make disciples of Jesus. This is how it works. Whatever God does to us He also intends to do through us.   

Saturate | Church is More Than a Building Video (1:51 minutes) and Manuscript

 

We want people to be equipped to serve the city where they live so that we will fill our cities with the presence of Christ. We want gospel saturation to take place and every man, woman and child to have an opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus through His people.

 

 When many people think of "church," they think of a building that you go to on Sundays or Wednesdays. Some people think of the leaders who run the churches and then pick a church based on which leaders they like the most. Still others think that church is a collection of programs that they are a part of, serve in, and attend. They're also told to invite their friends and encouraged to give their money and time to support the work that occurs in the building. The more committed they are, the more time and money they give. Eventually they are taught how to use their spiritual gifts to build up the church in the programs or the building where the church meets. 

We believe it's important for the Church to gather together regularly, and submit to leaders, and be trained and equipped by them. And we do believe that we should gather together regularly so that people can be equipped and built up in Christ. But we also want to send people out into the world more and more. We want them to learn how to use their money to bless people outside of the church. We want them to begin to use more and more of their time to serve the city where they live. We want them to use their spiritual gifts, not just so that we can benefit, but so that our city can benefit as they use their gifts for the city's good. In all of this, our hope is that we will fill our city with the presence of Christ, so that gospel saturation will take place, and every man, woman, and child might have an opportunity to both hear and see the good news of Jesus through His people. 

Saturate | On Mission Together Video (1:52 minutes) and Manuscript

 

Jesus never sent His disciples out by themselves. He sent them out in pairs or in teams. He never intended for us to be a bunch of individuals on mission all alone. Jesus said it's by our love for one another that the world will know we are His disciples. Missional communities are people on mission – loving one another and sent together to a group of people who will see our love for one another and how the gospel has changed us.

 Many Christians get together regularly in what they call "small groups," where they pray together, study the Bible, encourage one another, and sometimes have a meal together. This is a good thing, but then they often go off all by themselves to share the gospel with their friends and many times they come back very discouraged because they aren't very effective. But Jesus never sent His disciples off by themselves. He sent them out in pairs. And the Apostle Paul went on mission with a whole team. That's because Jesus told us it's by our love for one another that the world will know that we are His disciples. 

I encourage a group of people to be a community on mission or a missional community where they love one another and are sent together to a group of people. We want this group to see this community of people loving one another because it's by our love for one another that they'll be able to see that the gospel changes us. This could look a number of different ways. It could be a party that we throw and invite some of our friends to attend. It could also be a few of us going to a party that others throw. It could be inviting people we know to come serve others with us so that they can see our love in action. Either way, we want to get people who love Jesus to love one another in the midst of a group of people who don't know the love of Jesus. Jesus' intent is for us to be a community on mission, not a bunch of individuals on mission all alone.

Saturate | Mission & Community (1:21 minutes) and Manuscript

Jesus brings mission and community together. Community without mission is co-dependency. Mission without community creates mercenaries. Community on mission loves others, proclaims the good news of Jesus, and displays the power of the gospel to change lives.

 A lot of Christians are like a pendulum swinging between mission and community. They want to be together and love one another, but they also know that they're supposed to be a sent people who share the gospel of Jesus with those who don't yet know Him. The problem is that if you try to get community without mission, you actually get codependency, a group of people who just need each other and need to be needed. And if you only go after mission without community, you often get a bunch of mercenaries, people sent out all by themselves to share the gospel, but who miss the best apologetic or evidence of the gospel changing lives, which is a loving community. 

So we need a community on mission. This way your community will grow as you go on mission together. And the people you serve won't just hear the good news proclaimed, but will see the power of the gospel to change lives as they watch your community loving one another in the middle of the mission field.

– Sully

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