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It Is Time to Restructure Our Lives, Part 2

August 2, 2020 Speaker: Brian Wilbur Series: Missional Home Groups

Topic: Discipleship, Church Health

IT IS TIME TO RESTRUCTURE OUR LIVES, PART 2

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: August 2, 2020

Series: Missional Home Groups

Note: Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

INTRODUCTION

The Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life for us, in order that we who were by nature sinners might by God’s grace be a holy people who function as one man (Ephesians 2:15), one household (Ephesians 2:19), and one body (Ephesians 4:4) that is built up in Him. As the redeemed of the Lord, our lives ought to be structured in such a way that we are able to be faithful members of God’s household and fruitful members of Christ’s body.

So here we are, in the midst of a short but critically important sermon series entitled “It Is Time to Restructure Our Lives.” Last Sunday was Part 1; today is Part 2.

Before proceeding, I want you to know that even as these sermons involve heavy matters and call for repentance and for the restructuring of our lives, I am encouraged by what I see God doing among the people here in our church family. I am caught up in something much bigger than me – I am caught up in God’s work – and I want us to faithfully follow the Lord as He transforms our lives and our relationships.

Now in Part 1, I attempted to lay a biblical foundation for doing life together on mission with Jesus. Jesus calls us to be a family of disciple-making disciples who follow Him in the entirety of our lives. ‘Discipleship’ is not something that we go and do at specified times, but rather it defines who we are. We are disciples: we strive to bring our lives into increasing obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are disciples on mission: we seek to bring other people into saving relationship with Jesus. We are disciples together: we integrate our lives with the lives of our brothers and sisters, loving each other in practical ways and serving as co-laborers in the cause of the gospel.

The ‘together’ in doing life together is utterly critical. Disconnected lives, thin relationships, and shallow conversations undermine our calling as a church family. Weak relationships within the church family are co-extensive with poor discipleship and ineffective mission.

STRONG RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE CHURCH FAMILY ARE ESSENTIAL

Just consider for a moment how the Lord has put relationships front and center in the Christian life.

First, weak relationships with one another undermine our relationship with God. The two greatest commandments – greatest commandment to love the Lord, and the second greatest commandment to love our neighbors – belong together. You can’t really do one without the other. Scripture says:

“If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:20-21)

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:16-17)

As Francis Schaeffer put it, “There is no use saying you have community or love for each other if it does not get down into the tough stuff of life. It must, or we are producing ugliness in the name of truth.”[1] And what the apostle John is saying is that our claim to have fellowship with God is not credible if it doesn’t get translated into authentic and tangible love for our Christian brothers and sisters.

Second, weak relationships with one another undermine our worship of God. You may recall a lesson we learned in the July 5 sermon, namely, that harmonized lives are a prerequisite to harmonized worship – and God’s will for this church family is harmonized worship. Paul wrote:

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6)

If anyone thinks that he is serious about worshiping the Lord, but he is not serious about the quality of his relationships within the church family, then that person is tragically deceived. In fact, the Bible teaches us to understand that sacrificial love for one another is “a fragrant offering” in the presence of God (Philippians 4:18; see also Hebrews 13:16). 

Third, weak relationships with one another undermine our spiritual growth. Paul puts strong relationships right in the middle of the spiritual growth process:

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:1-3)

This is a package deal: God’s people are to be encouraged and united and growing to maturity. Attempting to have spiritual health and growth apart from “being knit together in love” is like attempting to have chocolate chip cookies without the sugar and eggs – it just doesn’t work.

Weak relationships undermine our spiritual growth in another way, too. Example and imitation is supposed to be a significant part of our growth as disciples. Ultimately, God calls us to imitate Him – “be imitators of God” (Ephesians 5:1).

But in order to imitate God, God calls us to imitate other imitators of God. Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) Paul told Timothy to “set the believers an example” (1 Timothy 4:12). And while these examples of example and imitation focus on leaders, the principle is applicable to all of us. For example, Paul told the Philippians: “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” (Philippians 3:17) When Paul encourages the Corinthians to give generously, he holds before them the example of the Macedonians (2 Corinthians 8-9). And Paul tells the Thessalonians that they “became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia” (1 Thessalonians 1:7).

Identifying godly examples and learning from them, doesn’t grow in the soil of weak relationships.

Fourth, weak relationships with one another undermine our visible fruitfulness. Have you pondered the meaning of Christian togetherness? The world may not understand that gathering together as Christians is not like going to the movies. Movie-goers don’t care who else is in attendance – because they have come to be entertained by what is happening up front on the big screen. Gathering as Christians is altogether different:

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

When Scripture gives us instructions, those instructions are meaningful. If God’s will is that we “stir up one another to love and good works,” then I can safely assume that if we neglect to “stir up one another”, the result will be less “love and good works.” Less good will be done. Fewer needs will be met. Courageous deeds will happen with less regularity. All because we didn’t give thought to inspire each other to pursue faithfulness. And let’s be honest: weak relationships don’t facilitate mutual “[stirring] up one another.” If we hardly know each other, have little reason to trust one another, and rarely give thought to one another, then you will probably not seek to stir me up, you will probably not know how to stir me up, and I am less likely to take your efforts to heart.

Fifth, weak relationships with one another undermine our mission to the world. Weak relationships undermine mission in at least two ways. To begin with – and as I took time to explain last week – the quality of our relationships with each other is supposed to function as a testimony to the world. The world “will know that [we] are [Jesus’] disciples, if [we] have love for one another” (John 13:35). Our display of profound unity with one another will convince the world that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of sinners (John 17:21). If we truly care about getting the gospel message to lost people, then we will truly care about being a church family that faithfully reflects the gospel message in our relationships with each other.

Weak relationships undermine mission in another way, too. As a church family, we ought to see ourselves as a battalion in the Lord’s army. One definition of battalion is: “a considerable body of troops organized to act together.”[2] Another definition is: “a large, organized group of people pursuing a common aim.”[3] Doesn’t this sound like what the church is supposed to be? As a church family – as a body of believers – we have a common aim: “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). Going, proclaiming, baptizing, and teaching, our assigned mission is to make disciples. Paul told the Philippians that they were to “[strive] side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by [their] opponents” (Philippians 1:27-28). As a battalion, we are fellow soldiers in a spiritual battle. Is it really helpful to have soldiers who don’t know each other well, who don’t know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, who don’t know how to draw upon those strengthens and compensate for those weaknesses, who don’t know each other’s weapons and opportunities, and who don’t know how to support each other on the battlefield? That passage I quoted from Philippians 1:27-28 is surrounded by exhortations to unity: “[stand] firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27), and “[be] of the same mind, [have] the same love, and [be] in full accord and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2), and honor one another (Philippians 2:3), and be lovingly devoted to each other (Philippians 2:4). Our battalion is not fit for battle, and we will not be successful in mission, if our relationships are weak.   

Answering the ‘Why?’ Question

So here’s the rub, brothers and sisters. My whole point has been to answer the “why?” question: “Why should I radically restructure my life in order to deepen and expand and maximize doing life together with my Christian brothers and sisters?” The answer: Because if we aren’t doing life together, we are wasting our time. If we aren’t pursuing authentic, deep, and mutually supportive relationships with each other, then our fellowship with God is called into question, our worship is weakened, our spiritual growth is stunted, our visible fruit is reduced, and our mission to the world is undermined.

As a gospel preacher and Bible teacher, I am calling you to restructure your life, and I am casting a vision for missional home groups as a helpful and promising way for us to grow together as a family of disciple-making disciples, to grow together as a group of people who are following Jesus on mission. Of course, I am making this appeal on the basis of spiritual realities, not on the basis of social realities. I say with Paul:

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” (Philippians 2:1-2)

I am not a sociologist. I am not an entrepreneur. I am a Christian who loves the gospel. And what I am saying is that it is the gospel which calls us to pursue relational depth with one another. So, if you don’t care about the gospel, if you don’t care about walking closely with Jesus, if you don’t care about making new disciples, then these missional home groups aren’t for you. But if your heart says, ‘Yes, I want to grow in my walk with the Lord! Yes, I want my experience of discipleship to be deepened and stretched! Yes, I want to be part of a community that is reaching lost people with the gospel!’, then I would have you know that strengthening our relationships with one another is a must. And these missional home groups are a pathway for pursuing these relational bonds in the context of following Jesus on mission.

PUTTING MISSIONAL HOME GROUPS IN LARGER PERSPECTIVE

I would not argue that missional home groups are the only pathway available to the church, but bear with me as I make my appeal. But whether or not a church has missional home groups, I would argue that healthy churches have the reality and feeling of being an extended family on mission.[4]

When my parents came to know the Lord in the mid-1980s, they did so in the context of relationships with other believers, especially at Vernon Baptist Church. My parents were part of home Bible studies even before they became Christians, and after they came to know the Lord they continued their participation in a home Bible Study where there was encouraging fellowship and digging into Scripture. But the richness of the Bible study was part of the larger richness of the church’s fellowship. Indeed, in the mid- to late-1980s, Vernon Baptist Church acted and felt like family. It wasn’t just the home Bible Study. There was Sunday School, but it wasn’t just Sunday School, it was the Sunday School opening that Sunday School participants experienced together. There was the Awana ministry, with so many people involved – and the annual Awana Grand Prix. There were the annual cookouts at the Allen’s house or at my parent’s house. There was the annual winter sledding event at the Cornish’s house. There was the annual Vacation Bible School. There was the regular van ministry to pick up kids hither and yon, and the youth group, and the annual youth group retreat, and the regular choir, and the annual Christmas Cantata, and the annual highly participatory Christmas Eve service. Keep in mind that I am speaking of a small church, and so everywhere you looked it was many of the same people enjoying each other’s company and laboring side by side. It wasn’t any single thing, but the composite whole that expressed the reality that Vernon Baptist Church was a family serving the Lord together.

Now perhaps in this retelling some of you recalled fond memories of South Paris Baptist Church three or four decades ago. I tell this story of Vernon Baptist Church to highlight the idea that a genuine experience of being an extended family on mission can happen without missional home groups. However, I also want to pivot from that story of the 1980s to the year 2020. Someone might ask, “Can we rewind? Can we go back to the way things were? Can we re-implement the old forms?” One good answer to that question is by taking a brief excursion to the land of Narnia. Aslan asks Lucy, “Why didn’t you come to me for help?” Lucy replies, “I’m sorry, why didn’t you come in to save us like last time?” Aslan answers, “Things never happen the same way twice.”[5]

So often, we want it to be “like last time,” but it won’t happen that way. We cannot simply copy the external arrangements of what God’s faithful people did in times past. To be sure, we have the same God, we have the same gospel message, we have the same authoritative Bible, we have the same spiritual principles, we have the same fundamental mission, but in contrast to God’s faithful people of two or three generations ago, we are different people in a different time period in a different cultural context, and we have a different set of challenges, opportunities, and gifts. Our task, in our own time and place, is to go to God for help, read the Bible carefully, walk in obedience, discern the path of wisdom, and trust God to come through for us as we pursue faithfulness.

So even though I would not argue that missional home groups are the only pathway available to us, I would argue that they are one of the best. And I believe that they are good and wise for us in light of our areas of weakness and need. So, let me explain.

THE GENEROUS AND PURPOSEFUL USE OF OUR HOMES

Drawing upon biblical lessons, I believe that we need to recover our heritage that biblical Christianity means doing life together on mission with Jesus, and that doing life together involves the generous and purposeful use of our homes.

Think about it: if we believe that we ought to do life together, and if we attempt to do so, but our homes are ‘off-limits’, then I think that our attempt to do life together will be much ado about nothing. Why? Because my home, my household, my family, is where my life is anchored. And if my home is ‘off-limits’ and if your home is ‘off-limits’, how in the world can we do life together?

Now I don’t expect you to take my word for any of this. My conviction about the necessary and essential role of beautiful, Christ-centered relationships within the church family is rooted in Scripture. Further, it is the Bible’s teaching about the use of our homes and resources that leads me to understand the important role of our homes in following Jesus.

To illustrate the role of our homes in the life of the church, let’s take a short journey through the Book of Acts.

In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, the 120 disciples “were all together in one place” – apparently a large house. “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2:1-2)

In Acts 5, we learn that “every day, in the temple and from house to house, they [the apostles] did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.” (Acts 5:42)

In Acts 10, the Lord led the apostle Peter to preach the gospel to Cornelius in Cornelius’ house. Cornelius had invited “his relatives and close friends” to join him, and thus all gathered together in Cornelius’ house and “in the presence of God,” they heard and received the message of salvation. (Acts 10:24, 33, 44-48)

In Acts 12, “an angel of the Lord” rescued Peter out of prison, and once Peter got his bearings after this supernatural deliverance, “he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” (Acts 12:12)

In Acts 16, a woman named Lydia and her household were saved through Paul’s preaching, and Lydia immediately opened her home to Paul and Silas, and so her home became their home – and their base of operations – while they were in Philippi. (Acts 16:11-15)

Not to be outdone, and also in Acts 16, the Philippian jailer was converted through the preaching of Paul and Silas, who had been beaten with rods before they were thrown into jail. The Philippian jailer, having had his heart softened to the gospel message, “washed their wounds” and then “brought [Paul and Silas] up into his house and set food before them.” (Acts 16:33, 34)

In Acts 20, Paul reflected on his ministry in Ephesus and reminded the elders: “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:20-21)

In Acts 21, Paul and his traveling companions “departed [from Ptolemais] and came to Caesarea, and … entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied. While [they] were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.” (Acts 21:8-10) Just imagine: when you get an apostle and his apostolic team into house of an evangelist whose four daughters prophesy, and then a prophet comes down to visit, you are bound to have lively and spirited fellowship!

In due course, also in Acts 21, “some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us [Paul and his team]” and brought them “to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.” (Acts 21:16)

Further, the New Testament teaches us that elders must be hospitable (1 Timothy 3:2). A worthy widow is a woman who “has shown hospitality” (1 Timothy 5:10). Paul tells all believers to “seek to show hospitality” (Romans 12:13) and Peter tells all believers to “[show] hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9). At its heart, hospitality means opening up your heart, your life, and your resources to others – drawing them in and helping them to feel at home with you and at home within your network of relationships. While being hospitable doesn’t absolutely require opening up your home, on a practical level it is difficult to open up your heart, life, and resources to others without inviting them into your home.

No single passage by itself proves anything about how we ought to use our homes, but the combination of passages does make a compelling case for the generous and purposeful use of our homes. And I haven’t even mentioned one of the best passages of all – Acts 2:42-47. After the church grew from 120 people to 3,120 people in a single day, we are told that these 3,120 believers

“… devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47)

How does a congregation of 3,120 people – and growing, as hundreds more had been added by the time we reach Acts 4:4 – how does a congregation of 3,120 people do life together? Part of the answer, of course, is that they were ‘all in’ – totally devoted to Jesus and to one another, and thus they were together on a frequent basis. There is no substitute for this ‘want to’ heart of devotion to “the fellowship.” But another part of the answer is that their togetherness was not limited to the large gathering at the central location, but was extended to smaller gatherings “in their homes.” Just think of it: God’s people were regularly and visibly getting together in decentralized locations throughout the greater Jerusalem area. These decentralized locations were the homes of believers, scattered throughout the city. In their homes they had the wonderful opportunity to deepen their relationships with each other in the Lord. They enjoyed sitting around a common table and eating meals together. They received instruction, or perhaps chewed on the instruction they had already received. They prayed together and praised God together. And their togetherness in decentralized locations throughout the city was part of their visible witness to a lost city, and through that and through everything else described in this passage, the Lord Jesus kept saving more and more people and bringing those new believers into His family.

Now most of us would agree that having a ‘church building’ in a centralized location where the whole church family can gather at the same time for corporate worship and instruction, is a significant blessing. And we should count it a blessing! However, we have probably not given sufficient thought to what we lose when we don’t have smaller groups gathering together in our homes. Realities such as familiarity, intimacy, authenticity, family-like feel, relational depth, focused dialogue, tailored instruction and application, spontaneity (in prayer, in praise, in teaching, in serving), welcoming interruptions and adjusting plans, being rooted in the ordinary and indeed experiencing God’s presence in our ordinary lives, and acting like a team on mission – these things can be difficult to experience and sustain in a ‘church building’. And that’s no fault of the ‘church building’. It’s just that the generous use of our homes is supposed to be a significant part of our Christian lives, and it is a great loss when it isn’t.

MISSIONAL HOME GROUPS: THE BASIC IDEA

In light of everything I have said so far in this sermon – the Bible’s teaching about the critical importance of our relationships with each other, the Bible’s teaching about hospitality and description of how the early church utilized their homes, and the practical benefits of meeting regularly in each other’s homes – in light of all that, I am comfortable in saying that a healthy church will typically have significant fellowship and significant discipleship and significant ministry taking place in and through the homes of its members

And it is upon this foundation that I am casting this vision for missional home groups – or they could also be called missional communities. The purpose of these missional clusters is to jumpstart our church family into the kinds of deepening relationships that are crucial to both discipleship and mission. You could think of these missional communities as gardens in which seeking God together, and loving each other, and stirring up one another, can grow.

Pray for me – I consider laying the groundwork for these groups a paramount task in the month of August.

In general, though, I want to communicate even now a few practical aspects of these home groups.

Family Feel

These missional home groups ought to be family-like, and thus intergenerational and family-integrated. Here’s the feel: for example, if you were to be in my group, my desire would be for those quite a bit older than me to become like spiritual grandparents to my kids, those around my age to become like spiritual aunts and uncles to my kids, and youth to become like spiritual older siblings to my kids. If you are in Christ, I want you to have that kind of influence.

Meet Regularly

These groups should meet on a weekly basis for an unrushed amount of time.

Neither Too Small Nor Too Large

These groups should be small enough to fit into our homes and accommodate some numerical growth. But these groups should also be large enough to keep things interesting – in other words, to facilitate rich relational dynamics and create exciting possibilities for ministry. Generally speaking, I think this means 5 to 8 families (keeping in mind that in many cases family size is 1 person or 2 people). I think 5 to 8 families, or 15 to 20 people (including kids!), are helpful ballpark numbers.

Geographic Clusters

Geographic location is not decisive, but it is an important factor in group composition. It will be so beneficial to have a number of households in the same general area working together on mission in their neighborhood.

Composed by the Holy Spirit

Ultimately, however, what I really want is for the Holy Spirit, through our praying, conversing, and discerning, to compose our groups in the way that He deems best. I think just randomly selecting everyone into a group, or having one person (like me) just sit down and assign everyone to a group, is a bad idea. Your hearts matter. Leadership matters. Existing relational dynamics matter. Gifting matters. Wisdom matters. Location matters. If you feel eager to be part of a group, that matters. If you are not eager, and want to take a ‘wait and see’ approach, that matters. When it comes time for that very first meeting of Missional Home Group #1, I want everyone in that group to be ready and willing and eager to be together. Be praying about these things now, and be preparing your heart for participation.

MISSIONAL HOME GROUPS: S-P-A-C-E

Now there are many additional practical issues to be addressed, and they will be addressed. But let me return to the basic vision as I turn this sermon toward the finish line. Think of it this way: the purpose of these decentralized missional clusters is to create space for us start doing life together in a deeper way, and to seek to grow as disciple-making disciples in the context of family-like relationships. Because for many of us our lives have not been integrated with each other’s, I think the concept of ‘creating space’ is a helpful one. So I decided to work with the word ‘space’ and develop an acronym to convey the vision.

Spirit-Directed

The ‘S’ stands for Spirit-directed. Not human-spirit-directed, but Holy-Spirit-directed. Now if I was in a charismatic context where we were feeling our way through everything – I know that’s a caricature, but I’m trying to make a point! – if I was in a charismatic context, I might have chosen to say Scripture-directed. Of course we must be Scripture-directed. But most of us are not very charismatic. We are Baptists – and we really need to learn what it means to be dependent on the Holy Spirit, so that’s where I’m putting the emphasis. The Holy Spirit inspired Scripture and illuminates our minds to understand it. The Holy Spirit empowers us to minister the Word to each other in order to edify the church family. The Holy Spirit empowers us to proclaim the gospel to unbelievers. The Holy Spirit empowers prayer. The Holy Spirit produces Christ-like love and godly character. The Holy Spirit distributes ministry abilities to every believer for the common good. The Holy Spirit guides us on our disciple-making mission, opening some doors and closing other doors. Human leadership is important, to be sure. Whether elders or not, godly men must step up and guide these groups with wisdom, gentleness, and intentionality. But all of us, leaders and non-leaders, must be looking up to the Lord, and living in dependence on the Holy Spirit’s leadership and living in expectancy of His life-changing involvement.

Partnership

The ‘P’ stands for Partnership. We aren’t merely friends getting together to socialize. And though we truly are brothers and sisters, our getting together isn’t just about enjoying each other’s company. We have a task assigned to us. We must see ourselves as co-laborers in the same task, as fellow-soldiers in the same battle, as partners in the same mission. If someone has a heart for a particular ministry, share that with your missional home group partners, and support one another practically and prayerfully.

Affection

The ‘A’ stands for Affection – specifically, brotherly affection. Have you ever heard someone claim that loving a person doesn’t require that I like the person? Ever heard that? Well, it doesn’t work – at least it doesn’t work in the body of Christ. Either your love for the person will overcome the dislike, and you’ll start to like him or her. Or your dislike for the person will overwhelm the effort to love, and a large heart of love will never grow to maturity. “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Romans 12:10) “[Make] every effort to supplement… godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” (2 Peter 1:5, 7). In the long run, it is to everyone’s benefit if you like the people who are beside you in the work of the gospel. So, let these missional home groups give you opportunity to cultivate brotherly affection for people to whom you are not naturally drawn.

Care

The ‘C’ stands for Care. When someone in your missional home group has a need – any kind of need – you are first in line to provide practical care, emotional support, and spiritual encouragement. While it is right for the whole church family to demonstrate love, it is especially helpful for a person’s home group to step up and meet one another’s needs.

Evangel-Mission

The ‘E’ stands for Evangel-Mission. Evangel-Mission rhymes with evangelism, and includes evangelism, but encompasses all that is involved in reaching our community for Christ. ‘Evangel’ means gospel – so evangel-mission means gospel mission. God calls us to declare the gospel in faithful words and display the gospel in fitting deeds. We must put evangel-mission front and center, which is why I want to call our home groups missional home groups.

A long, long time ago – at the beginning of 2018 – I preached three sermons on John 15:1-17. In the third sermon, I said: “Spiritual vitality cannot be sustained without participation in Jesus’ mission.” Make no mistake about it: Jesus is on mission to the world. The only question is whether we are on mission with Him. We will either be on mission with Jesus and there experience His life-giving power, or else we will drift from our Lord and lose whatever spiritual vitality we might have had.

Our love for one another within the home group is meant to be a visible representation of Christ to a lost and dying world. And our being together gives us time to pray into the opportunities that the Holy Spirit is setting before us, and to stir up one another to build relationships with lost people and proclaim the gospel. And our time spent in conversation should include conversation about how we might work together at reaching our neighborhood and our social networks for Christ. And being together often in our homes also provides a wonderful opportunity for us to invite our lost neighbors and friends to share a meal and conversation with us.

In her book Out of the Salt Shaker & into the World, Rebecca Pippert shares:

“Bruce Erickson, a former InterVarsity staff member in Oregon, said that his small group learned of a man on welfare whose house needed reroofing. Bruce suggested that each member bring a non-Christian friend and make it a “roofing party.” Someone would have to be pretty desperate to go to a party like this, but a group spend the day together, working hard, caring for the man and just having fun.

“Some of them eventually became Christians. Without realizing it these Christians had been witnessing all day by the way they cared for each other, by their concern for the man, by their ability to have fun. We need to invite people along to see us as we live.”[6]

Brothers and sisters, let’s do life together on mission with Jesus! As we do so, let’s make this life together visible to a perishing world, and let’s make the gospel message available to the lost people in our communities. For the Lord Jesus still says to His people, “Follow me.”  

  

ENDNOTES

[1] Francis A. Schaeffer, The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century. In The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, A Christian Worldview, Volume 4: A Christian View of the Church. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1982: p. 63-64.

[2] This definition turned up from Merriam-Webster via an internet search.

[3] This definition turned up from Oxford Languages via an internet search.

[4] I am borrowing the concept of ‘extended family on mission’ from author Mike Breen of 3DM Publishing: https://3dmpublishing.com/authors/. I have found Breen’s work to be remarkably helpful in understanding discipleship and mission in the context of family-like relationships within the body of Christ. That said, I do not necessarily agree with Breen on all points of Christian doctrine.

[5] See https://familymatters.net/blog/2013/03/25/things-never-happen-the-same-way-twice/.

[6] Rebecca Manley Pippert, Out of the Saltshaker & into the World: Evangelism as a Way of Life (Revised and Expanded). Downers Grove: IVP Books, 1999: p. 235.

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