First Responders - Part 3

A movement toward God or stagnant to self? Don’t confuse busy with productive.We are a sent people God is a SENDING God When we answer the call to follow we become a SENT people We are all CLERGY We are all MISSIONARIES Having NO PRIESTLY CASTE is an original idea with JesusSome theological perspectives:Importance of the Trinity: Trinity proves the social nature of God and His desire to be in community. The Sending nature of God is evident in the Father sending the Son, and the Father and the Son sending the Spirit. This should help us understand the importance of how we are to live on mission.Missio Dei: basic translation to “God at work”. A more in-depth understanding is that God is on mission (missio) everywhere and at all times. We join God in His mission, not by asking him to join ours. +Incarnation: God showing up in a very specific way/place in humanity and showing himself.=Witness: the expression of God’s mission and him (specifically) showing up in tangible ways fulfilling that missionWe are a sent people God is a SENDING God When we answer the call to follow we become a SENT people We are all CLERGY We are all MISSIONARIES Having NO PRIESTLY CASTE is an original idea with Jesus“Theology is not the private reserve of theologians. It is not a private affair for professors... Nor is it a private affair for pastors...Theology is a matter for the church. It does not get on well without professors and pastors. But its problem, the purity of the church's service, is put to the whole church. The term laity is one of the worst in the vocabulary of religion and ought to be banished from Christian conversation.” -Karl Barth“When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” Matthew 28:17-20Discipleship is an essential aspect of the church and an essential component of the co-mission with Christ. “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ” -Dietrich BonhoefferDo you hear that? Don’t miss out on your call. Calling and vocation are synonymous Both stem from the root word (VOCARE) meaning “to call” Vocation is not a goal we pursue but a calling we hear“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” Ephesians 4:1Three primary gift passages: Two where the gift is external, to us: 1 Corinthians 12- “manifestation gifts”: Wisdom, knowledge, faith, powers, prophecy, distinguishing spirits, tongues Romans 12- “praxis gifts”: prophecy, serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, leading, mercy. One where the people are the gift:Ephesians 4 - “calling gifts”: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, andteacher A Mega Church is not based on the size of its seating but rather on the amount of its seeding.