Verge13 Session 2

How then should we live? Founders and leaders of several organizations share how they make disciples who make disciples. Their practices are simple, transferable, and reproducible offering many voices and diverse tools and resources for those who want to be on God's mission.

The common thread is that discipleship and life transformation happen in the normal rhythms of life through authentic and natural relationships as we invest ourselves in the people already around us every day.

Consider how God has placed you in position to be intentional about reaching the lost. These are some ways to prepare to have Jesus conversations:

• Care about the people in your work environment. Work yourself into the fiber of your community.
• Don't get caught up with the people who don't want to hear the Gospel. God has placed "persons of peace" in you life who are hungry for the truth you have to offer. Find them and bring it!
• The good news we proclaim is the Kingdom of God. Demonstrate that Christ reigns in you and you will be asked by pre-Christians around you to proclaim the gospel. What does this look like? Jesus was a friend of sinners, he healed on the Sabbath, honored the outcast, fed the hungry. Do what Jesus did.
• Change from gathering for the sake of those who already know Christ to gathering for the sake of those who do not. Meet weekly with co-workers for Happy Hour, invite other moms for play dates, go where the lost go. When you do meet, don't meet to discuss books and ask questions ABOUT life. Meet for life transformation and DO life together.
• Practice hospitality. Practice hospitality. Practice hospitality. And when you run out of ideas about how to be a blessing to those God has placed in your life, practice hospitality again!
• Value fruitfulness over success. Better to plant one seed at a time and eventually grow a forest that remains than to sow to the wind and grow nothing that takes root.
• Focus on building disciples rather than churches. Disciples on mission create communities.
• Foster obedience.

No one's life is so jam packed that they can't be on mission. Mission happens naturally. We disciple effectively when we realize it is not an extra task. If you want to explore specific tools developed to help you transform your normal life to a missional life, check out vergenetwork.org and click on networks.

What is God saying to you?
What are you going to do about it?
Who are you going to share it with?

Verge 13, Session 1

In Matthew 4, we see Jesus calling his first disciples. The conference speaker, whose name is not listed in the program (how refreshing), sums up what disciples look like today. According to one recent poll:

• Four out of every five Americans identify themselves as Christians
• Less than half go to church regularly
• Less than half believe the Bible is the Word of God
• . . . The list goes on and on

Amongst Americans who consider themselves to be more enlightened Jesus followers, most believe:

• Good people go to heaven
• Muslims worship the same God as Christians
• . . . And lots more shockingly, unbiblical worldviews

In the words of Martin Luther, "What does this mean?" It means that statistics demonstrate there are lots of folks out there identifying themselves as followers of Christ who are not disciples in a biblical sense. But that is the law. Where is the gospel? The gospel was the best part of his message. It is in Matthew 1-3.

In Matthew 1-3, our speaker highlights at least twenty pictures of who Jesus actually is, His majesty and glory, and it is nothing less than awesome:

• Chapter 1: Messiah, King, Chosen One, Incarnation, Two Natures, Fully God, Fully Man, Savior of the World, Most Important Figure in All of History
• Chapter 2: Object of Worship, Sought by the Wise, Feared by Kings, Protected by Angels, Leader of a Second Exodus out of Exile, Spoken of by the Prophets
• Chapter 3: The Coming King, Righteous Judge, Loved and Sent by God the Father from the Foundation of the World

Roughly paraphrased, when Jesus calls his first disciples in Chapter 4, "He is not a poor, puny savior begging to be accepted. He is the promised Messiah. A Savior full of power and glory, worthy of total abandonment and complete submission." When Jesus says, "Follow me," everything in these men's lives would be changed because of their encounter with THIS Jesus.

In contrast, what does it look like to be a disciple of THIS Jesus?

1. To live with radical abandonment for His glory
2. To live with joyful dependence on His grace
3. To live with faithful adherence to His person
4. To live with urgent obedience to His mission

None of this makes sense unless one knows who Jesus really is. Because we don't know Him, a casual association with Jesus without embracing the cost of discipleship is popular in America today. It's too risky to abandon comfort, career, possessions, and position for our begging, puny Jesus, and we don't really see the need. So we don't. But, the casual, cultural Christian lifestyle is even more risky. With abandonment to Jesus Christ comes the adoption as sons. We have been invited to follow Him.

What is God saying to you?
What are you going to do about it?
Who are you going to share it with?

I wanted to share with you an apology from Matthew Harrison, the president of our church body, related to his asking an LCMS pastor to apologize for offering a benediction for those mourning the tragedy in Newton.   I applaud him for acknowledging that there is another point of view held by many in our church body who desire to bear witness to Christ in the public sphere.
http://wmltblog.org/2013/02/pastoral-letters-on-the-newtown-tragedy/

Related Links:
Jerry Kieschnick's response

An outside perspective from Ed Stetzer

http://www.youversion.com

• Do your best to keep the television off, or at least limit how much your child sees of any news event. 

• Try to keep yourself calm. Your presence can help your child feel more secure. 

• Give your child extra comfort and physical affection, like hugs or snuggling up together with a favorite book. Physical comfort goes a long way towards providing inner security. That closeness can nourish you, too. 

• Try to keep regular routines as normal as possible. Children and adults count on their familiar pattern of everyday life. 

• Even if children don't mention what they've seen or heard in the news, it can help to ask what they think has happened. If parents don't bring up the subject, children can be left with their misinterpretations. You may be really surprised at how much your child has heard from others. 

• Focus attention on the helpers, like the police, firemen, doctors, nurses, paramedics, and volunteers. It's reassuring to know there are many caring people who are doing all they can to help others in this world.

From Mister Rogers' Parenting Book: Helping To Understand Your Young Child by Fred Rogers

Here is the chart referred to in the sermon on Beyond Stuck: Obedience.
Religion vs. the Gospel