Life on Mission: Joining the Everyday Mission of God - Softcover

Willis, Dustin; Coe, Aaron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802412211 ISBN 13: 9780802412218

Verlag: MOODY PUBL, 2014

Inhaltsangabe

If you had a ladder made of splinters, would you stand on it?

Unfortunately, the mission practices of most churches stand on weak foundations. Life on Mission gives gospel-centered, biblical, practical foundations for how missions was meant to be: an everyone-together effort.  

Life on Mission is a thorough yet simple guide for everyday missionaries—electricians, lawyers, church planters, students, etc.—that equips them with truths and practices for living out the gospel within their own community. Adaptable to any context, Life on Mission functions great as both an individual and small-group study. 

Threaded with engaging stories and probing reflection questions, Life on Mission will help you and your community take bold steps to living life on mission.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Dustin Willis lives in metro Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife, Renie, and their two children, Jack and Piper. Dustin serves as the coordinator of the Send Network. Before moving to Atlanta, Dustin planted and pastored Midtown Fellowship in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.  Find him at @dustinwillis on Twitter.  

Von der hinteren Coverseite

God is inviting you to join in His mission: to take all that’s broken and make it new. This isn’t just for a select few. It’s for the entirety of the Church. What does it actually look like? What’s your part in it? Find out by joining the everyday mission of God.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Life on Mission

Joining the Everyday Mission of God

By Dustin Willis, Aaron Coe, Ginger Kolbaba

Moody Publishers

Copyright © 2014 The North American Mission Board
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-8024-1221-8

Contents

FOREWORD BY DAVID PLATT, 11, 
INTRODUCTION, 17, 
THE BIG PICTURE, 
CHAPTER 1: Everyday Missionary, 25, 
CHAPTER 2: The Current Reality, 33, 
CHAPTER 3: The Mission of God, 39, 
CHAPTER 4: Kingdom Realignment, 45, 
GOSPEL FOUNDATIONS, 
CHAPTER 5: The Gospel, 59, 
CHAPTER 6: Spiritual Maturity, 75, 
CHAPTER 7: Biblical Community, 85, 
CHAPTER 8: Intentional Discipleship, 95, 
MISSION PRACTICES, 
CHAPTER 9: Identify, 107, 
CHAPTER 10: Invest, 119, 
CHAPTER 11: Invite, 129, 
CHAPTER 12: Increase, 141, 
MINISTRY STEPS, 
CHAPTER 13: Pitfalls and Plans, 151, 
APPENDIX: LEADER'S GUIDE: SIX-WEEK STUDY, 161, 
NOTES, 181, 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, 184, 

CHAPTER 1

EVERYDAY MISSIONARY

In the beginning God ... The first words of Scripture supply for us the ultimate foundation for missions. The heartbeat of God is that He would be worshiped among all people. The writer of the Psalms conveys this sentiment when he said of God, "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" From the beginning of time in the garden, God's desire was to have a relationship with creation and for creation to see God for who He is: their Creator. As a result of the fall and sin's entrance into the world, however, humankind was inclined toward self-worship and not God-centered exaltation. Because humans' self-inclination does not square with God's righteous jealousy for His name, God is on a mission for God. According to one popular writer, "Missions exists because worship does not." God desires that all people worship Him and give Him the glory that is due His name.

Therefore, the mission of God requires that believers leverage their lives for His glory. The Great Commission is not for a select few; it is for the entirety of the church. The movement of God's mission sweeps across everyday, ordinary lives to draw in businesspeople, soccer moms, grandmothers, neighbors, students, lawyers, teachers, baristas, contractors, white collar, blue collar, or no collar at all. Regular people like you and me united by the one who lifts the curse of the fall. Filled with His spirit, laying down our lives, denying ourselves for the mission of God and the good of others. This is the invitation.

Welcome to the movement of life on mission. Through His church, this is God's plan to change the world.

Many people believe that mission and ministry are carried out by a select few professional clergy or an elite number of mission agencies and nonprofit organizations. But here's the reality: God s mission was given to every member of His church. We are called to be everyday missionaries. Everyday missionaries are those who practice life on mission where God has placed them, whether that be at an office complex, a developing country, or a college campus. It is incumbent on every believer to have an "all hands on deck" mentality in order for the mission to reach its fullest potential. Ephesians 4 tells us that God has given leaders to the church in order to build up His people until they "become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13 NIV). Notice it does not say that our leaders were placed over us to do all the work. When we choose to join God on His mission through His church, we dare to be the everyday missionaries we are called to be.

Your life has a mission. If you are a follower of Jesus, then He has a purpose and plan for you. But not only does God have a plan for you, Ephesians 3:20 tells us that God is able "to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us" (NASB). He wants to do more in and through you than you can imagine. Think about that: The God of the universe has a plan far beyond what your mind can conceive. What exactly does that look like? What does that mean? How will it all play out in the coming weeks and in the next five years?

MORE THAN "ME"

The purpose of God's mission isn't really about us. We live in a culture that is all about "me." Social media has allowed us to usher in the "selfie" generation—a generation, if we aren't careful, that defines itself by self-promotion. As we begin to understand what our lives on mission are about, it is vital to understand our goals. The ultimate goal is not that we would do good things for others. It's not even to start churches or share our faith. Yes, those are good aspects of the mission, but they are not the ultimate aim. The ultimate aim of our lives is to bring glory to God.

If we look again at Ephesians 3:20, where we learn that God wants to do abundantly more through our lives than we can imagine, we must continue reading through verse 21, which explains the central purpose of any effort we give to God's mission. It says, "To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever" (ESV). One early church document tells us, "Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever." The goal is glory!

The purpose of your parenting is to glorify God. The purpose of your job is to give God glory. And the purpose of your life's mission: you guessed it, to glorify God. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 it says, "Whether You eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God's glory." You don't have to waste years wondering what your purpose is.

Maybe you think, Okay, I get it. Living for Gods glory is the aim, and joining God in His mission to reach my community and beyond is a means toward that great intention, but I have no idea how I'm going to add mission to the already-consistent chaos called my life.

I (Dustin) recently participated in a conference in Austin, Texas, where I heard teacher after teacher expound on how we cannot just look at mission as something to add to our schedules but something to intersect with our current daily rhythms. Life on mission is about intersecting gospel intentionality into our everyday routines.

Adding something to the calendar can seem like an overwhelming task. God may call you to add elements, and if so, be obedient and add away. However, this book's objective is not to get you involved in some new mission program or create another church event, but rather to walk alongside you in creating a gospel intentionality within your already-present everyday rhythms.

WHAT DRIVES THE MISSION?

Living life on mission should be driven not out of guilty obligation, but rather out of embracing the identity and purpose given to us in Christ. Often, though, we are confused about our ministry motive, as well as about how to actually act on the knowledge we have. When it comes to understanding God's Word and living out God s mission, many of us tend to fall into one of three camps.

1. The "I'm not a professional" camp

Sarah represents many of us in that she rarely—if ever—takes action. She thinks she can't be a part of God's mission to redeem the world because she's not a professional minister. She equates ministry with paid professionals. She doesn't realize that every Christian is called to make disciples—that a Christian is necessarily a missionary in everyday life—and that her life on mission matters more than she could ever dream.

2. The "I'm...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: MOODY PUBL
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2014
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0802412211
• ISBN 13: 9780802412218
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 192
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Buchbär; info@buchbaer.de; ; Weberstr. 67; Osnabrück; 49084; Deutschland