1. LIVING MISSIONALLY IN A CHANGING WORLD BCC “Life Together” Course Fall 2015

2. THE IMPORTANCE OF WORDS  Today’s BIG QUESTION: What, exactly, does it mean to be a “missional” church or a missional individual?

3. FOUNDATIONS  17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: a The old has gone, the new is here! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 17 a181920 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

4. WHAT’S THE MISSIO DEI?  Missio Dei – Latin term meaning ___________________  …the missio dei concept understood mission as our participating in the sending of God. … the concept of the sending (missio) became focused as being derived from the very nature of God, and not from the church... Mission is not, therefore, primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. Mission is a movement of God to the world, the church being the instrument for mission. There is church because there is mission, not vice versa.  Ed Stetzer, “What Does Missional Mean?” the mission of God

5. DISCUSSION  How is the concept of missio dei different from the traditional view of “missions” or “outreach” in a church? How does it fit with your own view of missions and outreach currently?  How might the idea of missio dei change a believer’s day-to- day life?

6. LESSLIE NEWBIGIN  British missionary in India for decades (1930s  )  Returned to Britain in 1970s and noticed huge societal changes since he had left.  Noted differences between Indian churches and British churches in their posture toward the prevailing culture.

7. NEWBIGIN CONTINUED  “[Indian churches] could not simply process Christianized people as churches did in the West. Rather, every aspect of their church life—worship, preaching, community life and discipleship—had to be a form of mission.” (Keller, Center Church, pg. 252)

8. PRAY Some of Newbigin’s “Ingredients for a missionary encounter with Western culture”* 1.the teaching of the kingdom of God (that God wants not only to save souls but heal the whole creation) 2.earning the right to be heard though willingness to serve others sacrificially 3.a countercultural church community 4.a global church in which the older Western churches listen to the non-Western churches 5.courage Excerpted from Keller, “Center Church,” pg. 254 Some of Newbigin’s “Ingredients for a missionary encounter with Western culture”* 1.the teaching of the kingdom of God (that God wants not only to save souls but heal the whole creation) 2.earning the right to be heard though willingness to serve others sacrificially 3.a countercultural church community 4.a global church in which the older Western churches listen to the non-Western churches 5.courage Excerpted from Keller, “Center Church,” pg. 254