Consider registering for the Verge Conference, held in Austin on Feb 4-6, 2010. Most of the Austin City Life City Group leaders are going.
Today is the last day for the hefty discount for VERGE, but don’t worry there are still a few more discounts if you cant decide whether or not to come. Speakers include:
At Austin City Life Mission is our churchwide focus this quarter. We preached through a six sermon series on Mission: the point of the church. The first three sermons focused on motivation for mission; the second three sermons were on practicals for mission. Here’s how we trained our people on Sunday morning for everyday mission. We advocated doing “everyday things with gospel intentionality” (phrase from Total Church) by using some memorable phrases and attaching stories to them.
Don’t Eat Alone. Last time I checked we all eat at least three meals a day. Most Christians eat them alone or with other Christians. What would it look like for you to intentionally share meals with non-Christians. To get to know them over food? 21 meals a week, just start with one meal a week. I challenge you, 1 out of 21. Share it with non-Christians and be intentional. Don’t hide your faith but don’t force it either. Live with gospel intentionality in your meal eating.
Be a Regular. One family in our church are regulars at a coffeeshop where they have gotten to know the staff. As they got to know them, they invited the staff over for pizza and got to connect outside of work. This has continued. This couple hangs out with some of the staff regularly now. One girl drops by their house and just hangs out. Apparently she’s pretty down on the Church, but she’s willing to hang out with a family that shares, shows, and embodies the gospel. They even have spiritual conversations sometimes. Now, this would have never happened if they weren’t regulars. It wouldn’t have happened if they were normal regulars, treating the staff as workers, people who exist to serve the customer. Instead, they treat them as people who have worth outside of work, people who have fears and dreams that only the gospel can sufficiently address. They loved them; not just used them. It’s not just being a regular but a redemptive regular who bring grace into everyday life.
Hobby with the City. Ever notice how churches tend to create their own Christian version of hobbies in their city? If they like to cycle, then instead of joining one of the countless Austin cycling clubs, they create at Christian cycling club! Instead of joining a Run-Tex club, they form a Christian running club. Church League sports. It’s pathetic. Instead of joining a city league, churches create their own leagues so they can play one another! One guy in our church cycles regularly with city club. He participates with the city, shares a common hobby. He hasn’t joined a Christian cycling club; he just hopped into one that already exists. Over the miles they cycle together the talk about life. He gets to share, show, and embody the gospel with them. He’s had some of his cycling buddies over for dinner. Another example. There’s a group of women in our church who hobby with the city by throwing girly parties–Crafts, Bunko, Baby showers. It’s not a Christian party; it’s a good party. All the women bring food, hang out, play games, and share life, stay late. Lots of good conversations and social connections. These women are hobbying with the city.
Be a Good Neighbor. Another person in our church has been very deliberate about getting out of their house. They walk the neighborhood. Walk to the mailbox instead of drive over. Play with their kids in front yard instead of the back, and engage their neighbors in conversation. Over time, the neighbors have warmed to hearing the gospel because they were loved and accepted first. One guy, a committed postmodern, theist, homosexual recently had a crisis. Partner left, his health is in decline, some pretty big issues. Who did he call? That neighbor. Why? Because that neighbor consistently loved him and listened to him. He got to show, share, and embody the gospel over and over again. This neighbor hangs with his family and has come to the Parish. Why? Because he had a good neighbor. Be a good neighbor.
Serve Your City. We brought someone up to share about a recent missional project with a non-profit. The answered these questions as they told the story and shared pictures with the church.
On the heels of attending the 360 Degree Tour and watching the global webcast of the Rose Bowl concert last night, I’ve been thinking…
There’s something about a U2 concert that makes you want to create. The sheer creativity of a U2 concert is staggering. The past 5 or 6 tours, save the stripped down Elevation tour, have been jam-packed with an awe-inspiring fusion of art and technology. From massive German cars on stilts to larger than life lemons, to a 360 degree screen that expands to triple its size, U2 continues to push the boundaries of technology for the sake of art. The magnitude of these spectaculars border on the absurd, until you realize that each prop, each piece is weighted in symbolism. The POP tour, for instance boasted shopping carts, a massive lemon and olive, and a few other props as if to say: “Look around you. You’ve bought into a life of meaningless, larger than life, pop life.” To quote Bono, ”
You know you’re chewing bubble gum, you know what it is but you still want some. You know you’re chewing bubble gum. You just can’t get enough of that lovey-dovey stuff.”
There’s something about a U2 concert that makes you want to give. For all the pomp and circumstance, millions spent on entertainment, and theatrics, U2 continues to use their success to put other causes first. For years they have advocated for the poor, the oppressed, and the helpless. They call us to create, to enjoy great music, but they don’t stop there. They call us through those experiences to engage the global poor and helpless. To join the ONE campaign, to Free Burma, to work with Amnesty International, to live for others not merely for ourselves. To fight for the miracle drug:
“In science and in medicine, I was a stranger You took me in, I’ve had enough of romantic love I’d give it up, yeah, I’d give it up For a miracle, a miracle drug”
There’s something about a U2 concert that makes you want to worship. The raw emotive power alone moves you to sing, to rejoice, to feel for something bigger. Every concert has that song, that moment when the entire crowd is caught up into a moment of ecstasy, of worship. There’s probably a hundred gods at that moment, gods of creativity, success, emotion, power, personality, charisma, talent. But if you listen closely, there’s an unmistakable refrain in Bono’s lyrics, a refrain of worship that points to God, even to Christ. During the 360 Degree Tour, just before he sang ‘Where the Streets Have No Name,” Bono sang “Amazing Grace,” a grace that saves “wretches like me.” Apparently Bono isn’t going PC on that lyric. Now, this grace could be attributed to a lot of things, but Bono sticks with the author of Grace—Jesus. After Amazing Grace, he introduced Where the Streets Have No Name,” with this statement:
“This one’s for you Jesus, glory to the one who died and rose from the grave.”
Whether we agree or not, like it or not, the worship emanating from Bono’s vocal chords, from his soul, is praise to his Magnificent Creator and Redeemer. To Jesus.
