Launch Point: Community Group Mission Guide

Moving Small Groups into Mission

Gary Comer, Comer

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9781620328293
  9781498266468
• eBook ISBN:
  9781630873356
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

What if Small Groups Embarked on Mission Together . . . In Their Own Backyards? Whereas small groups have traditionally focused internally, many Christians nowadays are hungering for much more! Seeking to make a difference where they live, Christians desire mission. The Community Group Mission Series focuses eight weeks of training--to launch groups in a dynamic mission trajectory! Each group will engage holistically, showing the love of Christ and making disciples. Relationally angled, this series leads groups to assimilate the mission skill set of Jesus. Hold on! The stories of God are yet to be written. Who knows what God will do in the lives of your neighbors . . . your group . . . and your church?! Session Titles: 1. The Soul of Mission 2. When Faith Is Fantastic 3. Learning the Faith Formation Process 4. Getting Real for the Gospel 5. The Gospel and Its Key 6. Discerning Belief Barriers 7. Coming Home to Jesus 8. What Jesus Co-missioned Us to Do

Week #1—BUILD:
The Soul of Mission

Please read in preparation for your study:

Don’t you love it when someone turns you onto a great flick? Here is my offering to you. The Snow Walker. Inspired from the writings of Farley Mowat, it is the adapted story of a self-absorbed American cargo pilot who reluctantly picks up a very sick Eskimo woman and attempts to get her to a hospital. En route the aircraft encounters difficulties and crashes into the frozen tundra of the Alaskan plains.

A survival story ensues, where the young Eskimo woman teaches him not only to survive—but how to live. By the time of her death, this selfish man is transformed. He had taken on more than her skills. Walking alone through blizzard conditions, the final scene fittingly shows him being embraced by an Eskimo community; he had become one of them.

How does God transform us to be like him? This is a great question for a Christian. Magnifying our mission mantle, C. S. Lewis called every Christian to become a “little Christ.”1 In its essence, Christianity is a follower’s faith. As Jesus said, “It is enough for students to be like their teacher, and servants like their Master” (Matt 10:24–25). Even though God has gifted teachers within the church, our ultimate discipleship is to Christ himself. Thus, we are to be like him.

In this opening study, we want to take a closer look at what it means to be Christ-like in the fullest sense. Take a moment to read two select passages, and try to discern what these texts have in common.

Read Passages: John 4:31–35; Matthew 9:10–13.

31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34”My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!

10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” 12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Questions:

1. What was the true food of Jesus, and what does that insinuate for our lives as his followers?

2. What did Jesus mean when he said, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice?”

3. How are we different or similar to the disciples or Pharisees?

Training

Although it might be easy to judge these two religious groups, we would be wise to first examine ourselves. What is our food? What possesses us? Is it God’s mission? How do these hungry-stomached words of Jesus jive with our lives? Do we, like the Pharisees, value our religious devotion more than God’s mercy reach? Compared to Jesus hangin’ out with his tax collector buds, does any of our time and effort go toward those distant from God? These are penetrative questions—aren’t they? Both texts highlight what happens when we, as human beings, compare ourselves closely to Christ. We encounter a scrutinizing mirror.

Being Christians, we like his brand. But in soul-to-soul comparison, how much do we align with our Master’s mind and manner? Do we look like Jesus? Most of us, if we are honest, notice a sizeable gap between our lives and his. This should stir us. We should ask, “What kind of frozen-tundra-journey do we need to make to become something ‘other’ than what we are right now?”

Though there is no magical wand to wave over us, we can look afresh at Jesus with a desire to follow his footsteps. Are you in? I hope so. Consider the first principle to embrace and meditate on. As a group please read it out loud:

Principle: Being on mission is about being more like Jesus.

Mission is first and foremost about growing into Christ-likeness. Jesus is the healthiest, most sound, rightly focused, loving person who ever walked this planet. And he was sent here on a mission to reach others for God. We could synthesize it this way: “Sound people, seek people.” It was true of Jesus; it can be true of us as well. If you are spiritually healthy, you will care very much about imparting your faith. Love rightfully focuses on other’s welfare; it seeks their very best.

The Bible describes Jesus in this way: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt 9:36). Notice how Jesus saw life condition needs and spiritual needs. As to their life condition, they were “harassed and helpless,” but he also saw their overarching need for a “Shepherd.” In the same holistic way, he didn’t just heal people; he came to bring them into right relationship with the Father—where all blessings flow. This, too, must be our approach. Mission will make you more like Jesus in compassion and spiritual influence. He seeks your emulation in both expressions.

Some have asked if pursuing relationships for the gospel’s sake is disingenuous. Let’s answer it. Jesus came to “seek and to save that which is lost.” We know from his story that it was not always a pleasant and enjoyable undertaking with fallen human beings. Yet being fully aware of all our sinful unattractiveness, he still sought us. Did that make him, then, disingenuous? No way! With loving commitment, he embraced sinners as his friends (John 15:12–17).

Rest assured, we will cultivate authentic friendships where we enjoy other’s company (as much as possible). No one wants to feel like someone’s project—so let’s not fall short here. If you are stretched relationally, allow it to shape the fullness of your character. Real love is always bigger than what we get out of it. Principally, mission parallels marriage, which requires spouses to be less selfish, or...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• The Missional Engagement Series
• An Invitation
• Community Group Mission Guide
• Week #1—BUILD: The Soul of Mission
• Week #2—BUILD: When Faith is Fantastic
• Week #3 —BUILD: Learning Faith Formation Process
• Week #4—BENEFIT: Getting Real For the Gospel
• Week #5 —BENEFIT: The Gospel and Its Key
• Week #6—BARRIERS: Discerning Belief Barriers
• Week #7—BELIEVE / BELONG: Coming Home to Jesus
• Week #8—BECOME: What Jesus Left Us Co-Missioned to Do!
• Leader’s Notes
• Addendum: Synergistic Mission through Community Groups
• Resources by Gary Comer