Category: Missional Church

Members/Partners Class – II

Posted on November 10, 2008

We just finished our first Partners Class (what we call members). It ran four weeks, one night a week, two hours per night. We had a non-partner family host the class in their home, as a way of increasing community. This family has also been hosting a City Group, which led to increased traffic in their home. As we cultivate steady state community as a gospel apologetic, we made friends with the neighbors. They began to ask more about all the parties happening at the host home. More connection has been made and even spiritual conversations started. Doing stuff in homes, in neighborhoods can be both community cultivating and missional!

During the four weeks we covered:

1) Vision

2) Gospel/Doctrine

3) Community

4) Mission.

I wrote the material. It was well-received. I think we’ve got a solid dozen committing to the church as partners, so that is encouraging. Here is the material, in case anyone is interested. Disclaimer: This is a first draft and will be refined along the way. If you decide to use the material, please email me for permission. I’d like to hear what’s happening with your membership/partnership process.

Austin City Life Partner’s Class Material

Toward Steady State Community

Posted on November 5, 2008

Our church is trying to shake sinful individualism and move into steady state communities. We are having some success and some failure. The success is very life-giving, exciting, church-like. I ran across this quote by Dallas Willard that gets at our aim in cultivating steady state community:

Among those who live as Jesus’ apprentices there are no relationship that omit the presence and action of Jesus. We never go “one on one;” all relationships are mediated through him. I never think simply of what I am going to do with you, to you, or for you. I think of what we, Jesus and I, are going to do with you, to you, and for you. Likewise, I never think of what you are going to do with me, to me, and for me, but of what will be done by you and Jesus with me, to me, and for me. – The Divine Conspiracy, 236

If we would think of ourselves less as individuals and more as persons in community, our decision-making and discipleship would change radically. It has been said there is no pure individual. Its’s true. No man an island to himself. We all possess the seed of community, but supress or substitute it for other things. Solitary experiences and virtual forms of community, no matter how wonderful, do not sum up or satisfy our social identity as persons-in-community. The Triune God saw to that when he made us. If the American church could recover that social identity and harness it to gospel-centered mission, the world would be a very different place.

Fortunately, failure in Christian community points us back to the sufficiency of the Jesus. Our success reminds us that the Spirit of Jesus is powerful and counter-cultural. Jesus is strong for our successes and sufficient for our failure in striving for steady state community and gospel-centered mission.