Soma One Day | Communities Shaped & Fueled by Gospel

 

Soma One Day Training with Jeff Vanderstelt in Montreal, QC on Monday, February 10, 2014 

These posts for the Soma One Day I participated in back in February have been a bit of a long time coming. Here is a link to the first post:

• Soma One Day | The Power of the Gospel to Save People

• Soma One Day | Church is Formed & Transformed by Gospel  

Soma One Day with Jeff Vanderstelt Part 3 of 3 | Missional Communities are Shaped and Fueled by the Gospel

 

"The echo of Jesus' Great Commission is in every believer's heart – pray for the Spirit to remind them of who they are."

Disciple-making requires:

• Life on Life | 1 John 4:7-21
• Life in Community | Acts 2:42-47; Acts 4:29-35
• Life on Mission | John 20:21-22; Mark 10:43-45; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11-16

At Soma, we believe a strong way to follow Jesus and obey His commands for us is through Missional Communities.

"Discipleship is people learning together how to humbly surrender all of life – work, play, rest, family – under the lordship of Jesus."

A Missional Community (MC) is a family of missionary servants sent as disciples who make disciples. So an MC will know: 

• people + places
• names + faces

in the communities where they are sent. We want to be the church of Jesus where everyone is always "in the game" because once they get a taste of Jesus and what He provides, everyone wants to play. And everyone should play.

+ Forming Missional Communities 

1) Build a Foundation on the Gospel

• Gospel Power: We are saved from the penalty of sin by the love of God the Father; are being saved from the power of sin by God the Spirit; and will be saved from the presence of sin when Jesus, God the Son, returns in His glory
• Gospel People: Our new identity in Jesus as sons and daughters of God the Father; servants of King Jesus, God the Son; and sent ones who join His Spirit on the mission of God to reconcile a people to Himself and restore His creation
• Gospel Purpose: We obey Jesus' Great Commandment to love our neighbors and Great Commission to make disciples by baptizing them into the family of God – name of the Father, Son, and the Spirit – and teaching them how to listen to and obey everything Jesus commanded

 2) Develop a Gospel Fluent Culture

• Learn the Story of God: Teach each other how to read the Bible and point to Jesus in every story from Genesis to Revelation
• Listen to each others' stories: Listen to each other, learning where people find their identity (Creation), problems (Fall), solutions (Redemption), and hope (Restoration), and learning how to bring the Gospel story into theirs
• Celebrate and proclaim the Gospel through meals: Regularly eat together with others, and enjoy the Lord's Supper as a church family
• Apply the Gospel to the head, heart and hands: Understand how our idols trip us up or consume our attentions because we're still in unbelief that: 
  

– God is great so we don't have to feel like we always need to be in control or take control from others because even when Jesus died on the cross, God was working what seemed like the most out of control moment in history together for our good

– God is glorious so we don't have to fear what others think of us because we are more in awe of God's glory in Jesus than being worried about our own reputations

– God is good so we don't have to look elsewhere (i.e. possessions, food, sex, substances, etc.) to find our ultimate satisfaction because Jesus has satisfied our deepest desire to live a full and generous life by the power of His abundant resurrection life He has given us

 – God is gracious so we don't have to overburden ourselves in trying to prove how good or right we are because Jesus has already done everything on our behalf

"If God loved us when we were His enemies (Romans 5:6-11), how much more does He love us as His children (Romans 8:15-39)?"

3) Leaders Identify a Mission

• Teach people how to obey what Jesus says about His mission: Instead of just helping people memorize what the Bible says to obey, challenge them to trust and obey in word and deed as they follow Jesus where they live, work, play and rest.
• Ask God to clarify your mission: Who (i.e. people + places, names + faces) are you called to make disciples of?
• Begin to pray for your mission: Gather together to pray and ask to see where God is directing you and step into the lives of those people.
• Clearly state the focus for your mission: Call the MC to participate in following the Great Commandment and Great Commission amongst those God is calling you to for the next 6-12 months.

4) Reorient the Life of the Community around Your Mission

• Make a covenant together: Make a commitment to each other in how you will live as a family of missionary servants for your mission for the next 6-12 months.
• Shape your monthly schedule: Flow your schedule with the lives of the people you are with and for.
• Adapt the missionary strategy: Adjust the schedule to the "seasons" and patterns in the culture.
• Develop pathways for gospel engagement: Pray for and practice ways to demonstrate and declare the message that through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, God is reconciling people to Himself and working to make all things new in all of creation.

"We equip people for ministry, which means we don't just invite them to a ministry event. We don't give them X amount of hours in a church building. We are the church. We are a missional community. We are the family of God. We want to be asking Jesus how we will live from our identity in Him each day, week, month, etc., listening to the Father's voice and then walking in step with where His Spirit leads us."

5) Live Life Together with Gospel Intentionality

• Live together on mission: Does the way we live demand a Gospel explanation from those we are loving and inviting into our lives?
• Live in the everyday rhythms: Pray for and practice gospel intentionality through:

– Eating with others

– Listening to others

– Story sharing with others, including how the Story of God has shaped your life

– Blessing others unconditionally

– Celebrating what God is doing in your life and others' lives whether they believe in Him or not

– ReCreating by resting in what God has done in Jesus and is doing by His Spirit, and then working towards what His restoration looks like in everyday life

"We need to train every follower of Jesus to think like a missionary – to observe, understand and know their culture so they can then apply the Gospel to their culture. We can start by being better servants who bring the better wine, the better party, and the towel – just like Jesus did."

6) Always Be Prepared to Give the Answer for Why You Live the Way You Live, and Share How the Good News of Jesus Has Changed and Shaped Your Life

"Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it" (1 Peter 3:15).

If we don't become more creative, thoughtful and wise in providing Jesus as the hero, solution, answer, and hope for our lives, than we won't know how to share Him with those around us who never think of Him.

Example: MC in East Los Angeles – "An MC is like a gang except gangs are driven by fear and Jesus' church is and should be driven by love. With a gang you may have to hurt or kill someone to belong. With Jesus' church, He was hurt and killed so you belong."

We want our MCs as communities and the people who make them up as individuals to be asking themselves daily:

"King Jesus, would You work through Your servant to reveal Your glory and Your kingdom today?" We can do this when we remember that the King of the universe came to us and chose to serve us. If this is true, why shouldn't we serve others in the same way? Jesus has asked us to join Him in serving others through us – as His church, His body. He knows what people want and need. We serve others, and ask Him how to point our service back to Him."

  
Keep asking Jesus, "Would You extend Your hand through Your church to do the things You told us we would accomplish through You?" The first place to start doing this is in our homes.

"One of the first idols people in the church will deal with is the idolatry of the family. The 'oikos' or 'household' in the Scriptures is more than the immediate bloodline family. The household also included servants, strangers who were invited in, and those who followed Jesus from surrounding towns and cities. Arabic hospitality was such that once you invited someone into your home, you were to protect them even at the cost of your own life. So we ask Jesus, 'If this was Your home, what would You want me to do with it in this neighborhood?'"

There are 3 Ws that MCs and individual followers of Jesus answer in responding to His call:

• Wherever You want us to go
• Whatever You want us to do
• Whenever You want us to do it

"Good news spreads on its own. As Jesus' church – those who are shaped by and trust in His good news – are we declaring and displaying His Gospel in such a way that people will be compelled to talk about it? And as a whole, would the town or city we love and live in miss us if our church disappeared?"

– Sully
 
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