Being a Family on Mission right where you are...part 2

This is Part 2 in our "Being a Family on Mission"

Part 1..."You can Be a Family on Mission:  Begin with Prayer"

Quick Link:  Come serve with us in Peru in November...check out my pesonal blog for more info... Calling all Missional People.


In my last blog on being a missional family, I talked about how we as a family took up the call to "make disciples" and engage the place God has planted us.  Let's make no mistake, this call to engage lostness and make disciples is a core piece of the DNA of a follower of Christ.  When we talk about what a follower of Christ is, we believe there are really 3 core pieces to that DNA. 
    D - Divine Truth...a commitment to God's divine truth..."Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength"(Matt 22:37)
    N - Nurturing Relationships - a commitment to loving others..."Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt 22:39)
    A - Apostolic Mission - a call to engage lostness and make disciples..."Make disciples of all nations..."  (Matt 28:19)

Alan Hirsch says it best when he says "Every Christian is a sent one. There is no such thing as an unsent Christian."  As follower of Jesus...we are by nature "sent ones"...sent individuals, sent families, sent communities.

The question is how do you do that as a family?  In my first post, we talked about the acronym B.L.E.S.S. that we use as we participate with Christ...the first step to Begin with prayer...a logical step...but it can't stop there.

B....Begin with Prayer.
L...Listen

I think the best description of what we are called to do(thanks Mike Frost) is "to alert others to the universal reign of God through Christ."  It's to let people know that there is a King...there is a Kingdom...and through Christ they can be part of that. 
Easier said then done...right?  How do we do that?

The first step is realizing that we might not know what that looks like, without first going down and listening.  As we went to serve the homeless in Unity Park, we could have saved up, brought food, and handed that out...feeding the hungry...right?  The thing is that the homeless around Unity Park in Fort Worth are well fed...they have meals provided for them through other local ministries.  The questions is, what did they need...what could we do to be a tangible expression of the kingdom of God to them?

There is no one answer.  Each place God is calling you is different...there are different people, different circumstances, different hurts, different needs.  You won't know what those are until you first "GO"...and then "LISTEN".  Listen to the people...what are you hearing...what are their hurts...what are the cries of their hearts.

For the homeless at Unity Park...it wasn't food, or clothes...they had those things.  The cry that we kept hearing was a desire for love, community and activities...something to do.

In the Kingdom of God, everyone is loved..."Love your neighbor as yourself."...there is no loneliness and we are part of a community.  As we prayed about how we could be that tangible expression of God's kingdom, we decided to start offering a volleyball tournament...a time where homeless and non-homeless could come together, play together, love each other, and be the same while on the court.  In God's kingdom, there are no "poor" or "rich"...no "homeless" or "non-homeless"...in God's kingdom we are all the same...one community.

As you go to where God sends you...the 2nd step is to "Listen".  Don't assume you know what it looks like to be a tangible expression of God's kingdom before you even get there.  Go...listen...pray.  God will make it clear how you are to serve Him...serve others...and make disciples.

It doesn't however end there...stay tuned for part 3.

If you have a 5 minutes...watch Mike Frost talk about Adopting a Posture of Listening below...

Adam Clay

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