1^st Sunday in April (Week 14) Christian’s Mission (2 Timothy 1:1-2:13 and 4:1-5; Proverbs 2:1-22; Acts 21-26 and John 21 and 1 & 2 Timothy)

Focus! That one word summarizes the single greatest challenge for today’s churches and church leaders. We are sidetracked by innumerable issues and demands. Some of these demands are difficult to prioritize, because it is not always easy to tell when our efforts will carry us closer to further from our goal. Other demands are clearly sidetracks, but such is their pressure that we can hardly help ourselves being carried away.

It is impossible to even struggle with our priorities, however, if we do not have a clear focus on the mission. There must be a clear alignment of God’s mission, church’s mission, team mission, and personal mission. The first two are clear in scripture. The second must become clear from your own discernment of the spirit.

-          God’s Mission (the redemption of the fallen world);

-          The Mission of the Body of Christ (the multiplication of disciples);

-          The Mission of our congregation, organization, or team;

-          My Personal Mission.

The best way to keep aligned with the mission is through the companionship and accountability of a team in leadership.

Team Meditation (Proverbs 2:1-22)

True wisdom lies in the “fear of the Lord”. Yes, this “fear” of God is in part a genuine terror of his great power and his unrelenting demand for justice. Yet it is even more than this. It is profound awe at the depths of God’s compassion and lengths to which God will go to rescue the world. Yet there is still more. True wisdom is found in total humility, surrender, and obedience to God’s providence and direction.

We are used to shaping God’s mission around our lifestyles. We practice “percentage giving” of our money, time, and energy, thinking that this is faithful. Yet true faithfulness means shaping our lifestyles around God’s mission. God does not demand a percentage. He demands everything.

Worship Theme (2 Timothy 1:1-2:13 and 4:1-5)

Paul exhorts Timothy to stay focused. Press on, avoid sidetracks, don’t get entangled in trivialities; endure, persist, go forward; teach, preach, evangelize; be urgent, convince, rebuke, exhort. Aim at righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Focus on the Gospel. Everything else is secondary at best.

What exactly is the “Gospel”? It is the good news that God has acted to decisively rescue the world (and each individual human being) from sin and death by the gift of his Son Jesus Christ. By participating in Christ we can be born anew today, and have real hope for tomorrow for abundant life. The broken, the lost, the abused, and the sick can and will find wholeness, acceptance, justice, and healing through Christ.

Now review your agenda, calendar, budget, and resources. Rate every demand on a scale of 1-10 as to how effectively it helps you accomplish that mission. And if anything scores less than a perfect 10, ask yourselves why you do it.

Worship Design: Leadership in Mission

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13 and 4:1-5

The question “Why do we exist?” is less important in the Bible as “What am I supposed to do with my life?” Theologians have written books, creeds, and statements of faith that explain the “Why?” but the Bible is strangely silent about the matter. At best we can speculate. Maybe it’s not a relevant question. On the other hand, the New Testament is replete with instructions about what we’re supposed to do with our lives. We’ll make disciples in the rain, we’ll make disciples on a train; we’ll make disciples in a box, we’ll make disciples with a fox; we’ll make disciples in a house, we’ll make disciples with a mouse, we’ll make disciples here and there, we’ll make disciples everywhere. (With apologies to Dr. Seuss.) As Tom (and Paul) point out, though, we have a clear mandate, we have a lot that distracts us—and making a living isn’t a bye to put disciple-making on hold until Sundays roll around.

To explore the theme this week, begin with a clip from the movie Hook (1991). Use the clip at the beginning of the movie when Peter Banning (Robin Williams) is trying to get to his son’s baseball game but is so busy he ends up missing it (actually, you could roll the clip from the very first scene when Peter gets a phone call during his daughter’s school play and then continue through the baseball scene). The point is how we let distractions (work, in this case) get in the way of what’s important.

This would also be a great opportunity to do the “Look at your datebook” exercise in small groups during the service. Break everyone into groups of four or five and have them get honest about how they spend their time. Have someone at each table record the activities in a master list. When the groups have largely completed the assignment, have them go through their lists and answer the questions for each item, (1) Can this activity be used to fulfill the mission? (2) If not, why do I continue the activity? (3) If so, how can I use this activity to further the mission? Again, have the recorder keep track of the answers. In the end, have the recorders share one or two ways the activities could be used in fulfilling the mission.

Bill T-B

Small Group Discussion

Acts 21-26 and John 21 and 1 & 2 Timothy

This week’s theme is leadership in mission, and these passages unequivocally demonstrate the theme. As you read through these passages, consider how each character is living the mission. Look for specifics, such as how Paul turns persecution and imprisonment into opportunities to share the gospel and how Jesus empowers Peter as a leader, even though he had disgraced himself not only in his eyes, but in the eyes of the remaining apostles. When you gather with your small group, begin your discussion by looking at the passages and ascertaining what each persons’ specific mission was (what was Paul’s mission? Peter’s? Timothy’s? etc.). Then discuss the differences and the similarities of these mission leaders, including the differences of their ultimate missions. Finally, discuss what your personal mission is and how you are involved in fulfilling it.

Bill T-B

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2^nd Sunday in April (Week 15) Christian’s Mission (Colossians 3:1-17; Psalm 121; Acts 27-28 and Colossians 1-4)

What’s the good news? Most churches develop their mission statements more for the intellectual tidiness of members than for the well being of people in the mission field. The Gospel should be immediately apparent to them as welcome relief … inspiration … and hope. Most mission statements contain endless preambles about the doctrine or program of the church. They create the impression that before you can enjoy God’s grace you must first take a theology course, carry a heavier burden, or pay a great price. The scandal and offense of the Gospel is that it is free … to all. It is intuitively clear, absolutely joyful, and incredibly optimistic. The water of life is here, and all you have to do is drink.

Team Meditation (Psalm 121)

From whence does my help come? Recently I was talking with a pastor on the gulf coast of the US. His story is like so many other conversations I have had with church leaders in that area after the great hurricane. He says he is at his wits end. He is depressed, overburdened, and overwhelmed. Half his congregation is still in shock and cannot seem to recover from their loss, and the other half is in denial and wants the church to immediately restart all of its pre-hurricane programs and ministries. The hardest news of all is the reports of how many clergy are leaving the gulf coast: transferring out, accepting a distant call, changing careers, or even going on disability.

From whence does your help come? Stress is a constant factor in leadership. You must nurture your own spiritual life, go deep in your relationship with God, and find strength in the experience of Christ one day, and even one hour, at a time. If the leader despairs, what hope can there be for those who follow? But if the leader can hope, rediscover joy, and find new life, then he or she can mentor and model hope for others. That is more powerful than any single sermon, program, or tactic.

Worship Theme (Colossians 3:1-17)

Colossians 3:3-4   ³ For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  ⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

This unusual statement is not about the future. It is about the present. The apostle does not say that you will die, and then appear with Christ in glory. He says that you have died. You life is “hidden” with Christ. You have died to sin, as celebrated in your baptism. You are no longer on the “radar screen” of the world. You are hidden from the world. You are not of the world. Yet you are about to be spiritually resuscitated … reborn into a new life. That life will be on the “radar screen” of the world, but when the world looks at the blip on the screen they will not be able to tell whether the blip is “you” or if it is “Jesus”. You and the Christ are not bonded together … traveling companions. Your life and Christ’s life are one life … one blip … indistinguishable.

So if that is the case, how will you behave? How will you live life differently? What is it about your daily behavior and personal life that will cause people to say “Is it Fred or Helen … or is it Jesus?” God has a secret, and the secret is you. You have been changed, transformed, rehabilitated, and redirected. Perhaps it will be visible overnight, or perhaps it may take a year, but your friends and work associates begin to see that you are not the same person they once knew.

Yet there is a flip side to this startling and exciting reality. What if you fall away from Christ? What if your behavior contradicts Christ? What if suddenly two distinct blips appear on the “radar screen” of the world, diverging and different. “That’s Christ, headed this way,” the world will say, “and there is Fred, going the other way.” What if people get used to seeing you and Christ enter the room together, and suddenly that is no longer true. Will they look up in eager anticipation, and then sigh in disappointment. “It’s only Fred.”

Worship Design (Colossians 3:1-17)

 All sorts of sci-fi movies come to mind as I ponder Tom’s theme for the week. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Alien, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, and Men in Black all carry the theme of a body being “taken over” by an alien and becoming “one blip on the screen.” Maybe you’re more creative (or gutsy) than I am and you’ll find a way to use one of these. However, if not, let’s take a look at other options to bring the theme home.

 Begin the service by looking at a scene from Liar Liar (1997). Use the slightly extended scene when Fletcher Reede (Jim Carrey) first discovers that he cannot tell a lie...any lie, half-truth, etc. You will need to use some discretion in exactly what section of the scene you use, since this is a rather typical early Carrey flick with some sophomoric humor, but there are some pieces that are G rated. In any event, this is an excellent before-and-after example of a transformation, albeit far from a Christian transformation. In any event, this will give you a nice launching off point. If Liar Liar is too Jim Carrey for you, consider using one of the transformation scenes from Hulk (2003).

 You may remember the lenticulars that were offered as Cracker Jacks prizes years ago (a lenticular is one of those pictures you tip back and forth to see different images such as a swimmer swimming, etc.). Some Bible Bookstores carry Jesus novelty lenticulars that could be used effectively as a take-away for the lesson. For those who have the ambition, you can make your own lenticulars with the right imaging software and the lenses, both available online.

 Bill T-B

 Small Group Discussion (Acts 27-28 and Colossians 1-4)

 Over the past several weeks you have read missionary journeys of Paul in Acts. From Jerusalem to what must have seemed like the ends of the earth, he has traveled by land and sea, by foot and on horse, and in the tradition similar to that of Johnny Appleseed, he has planted churches wherever he has gone. But not just planting, Paul returned to the churches he started to offer words of guidance, hope, and encouragement. And he wrote letters to give correct and instruct them. In many ways, we are living the last chapter of Acts—Acts 29. As you read these passages this month, watch to see how Paul is an encouragement to the churches, how he continues his mission to the very end, and what he expects from his “children,” that is, the churches he has planted. When you gather for your small group time, take a fantasy journey together. If Paul was writing a letter to you, your small group, and your church, what would he be saying? What would he write as encouragement? As guidance? As correctives? When you finish, consider what it is you and your group needs to do to be faithful to the mission Jesus has commissioned you for (see Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8; and Luke 10:1-9).

 Bill T-B

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3rd Sunday in April (Week 16) Christian’s Mission (Romans 1:16-17 and 5:1-11; Psalm 42 and 56; Romans 1-5 and Revelation 1-3)

Romans 1:17  "He who through faith is righteous shall live."

The debate between salvation through grace or salvation through works has a long, long history. The best way to resolve it, however, is not by focusing on our salvation but on the salvation of others. As soon as you concentrate on mission, much becomes clear. First people need to experience the transforming power of God to rescue them from the habit of pride that they cannot break by themselves … and then they are called to live a spirit-filled life that will reveal Christ inside their hearts. If there is no grace, there is no hope for spirit-filled living … and if there is no spirit-filled then the experience of grace is incomplete. The mission goal is to help people experience Christ, and also live like Christ. The two go together.

Team Meditation (Psalm 42 and 56)

Christians (and Christian leaders) long for God. They are not merely curious about God, or wondering about God, or hoping to understand God. They long for God. The Bible uses metaphors like “panting” for God, “thirsty” for God, and “searching” for God.

Recently I observed a congregation at worship as they celebrated and received the sacrament of Holy Communion. The event was well organized as people were guided to the front of the sanctuary by the ushers, dutifully received the sacramental elements, turned in the proper direction and resumed their seats. It was all very automatic. I watched the band and choir. They sat there waiting, staring vacantly, counting the ceiling tiles, examining their fingertips, pretending to pray while in fact their minds were millions of miles away on a golf course or reviewing their “to do” list. Seekers notice. They realize that people are not really longing for God. They are not “panting” to receive the sacrament. They are not salivating. They are not gobbling it down like a starving man. They are not imagining how they might, in addition, wipe the feet of Jesus with their hair just so they can touch even the least significant part of his real presence.

Do you long for God? Do you salivate at the very thought of tasting his body and blood? Do you yearn to shake his hand, touch his skin, hear his words, feel his fingertip upon your soul? It is only in such longing that we will be satisfied. And only in such satisfaction that we will sustain ourselves through all of the struggles of life yet to come.

Worship Theme (Romans 1:16-17 and 5:1-11)

The only true sign of being saved by Christ is to be in Christ. Salvation is not something that happens to you tomorrow, but something that happens today. And it is not a state of being, but a means of coping and overcoming the struggle of life. People who are “saved” can even rejoice in their suffering, because relationship with Christ helps them endure the suffering, improve themselves through suffering, and overcome despair with hope.

So many people assume that to be saved must mean that you will be protected from all evil, never suffer, and live happily ever after that decisive moment in your life. No. In fact, because being saved means that you participate with Christ in mission, you may even find that you suffer more after you are saved than before you are saved. To be saved means that you become a companion of Christ … walk in his shoes, follow his path, share his ongoing suffering for the sad world, and, yes, participate in his resurrection at the end.

To be saved is a joyous thing … but it is also a fearful thing. It means that you are open to all kinds of distasteful callings and challenging experiences. It means that you belong to Christ, and not to yourself. Christ will use you, deploy you, and send you into mission. You might suffer or even lose your life, but because you belong to Christ you always know a joy and confidence that will sustain you to the end … and beyond.

Worship Design (Romans 1:16-17 and 5:1-11)

Begin this worship service with a clip from The Patriot (2000). Use the scene when Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) tries to keep his sons from enlisting at the near-beginning of the movie. Use the scene to launch into a discussion about the reality of “signing up” as a Christian. Once upon a time the church would proudly speak of being a part of the Lord’s army and of Christians being soldiers for Christ in a war against the darkness of evil. And though this has lost its PCness, the fact is the scriptures are replete with this language. Take a risk and run with the metaphor to speak of such images as being God’s enemy (5:10) and enlistment in the Kingdom through Jesus. Invite a look at the cost of being a Christian by looking at Luke 14:31–33 (counting the cost of battle) and the inevitableness of doing battle with the forces of evil in Ephesians 6:11–18 (the armor of God). The point isn’t to glorify war—the clip will see to that—the point is to recognize that there is a battle going on for the souls of those around us, both in this world and the next, and that as disciples of Jesus we are volunteering (enlisting) for service that will be costly.

Bill T-B

Small Group Discussion (Romans 1-5 and Revelation 1-3)

Faithfulness is difficult. There’s an insidious cost that for most of us in the West don’t recognize. We’ve been told in many different ways and by many different communicators that becoming a Christian is a solution. “Jesus is the answer,” we’re told. But for those who have chosen the narrow path of discipleship Jesus may appear to be the source of their problems, not the end of them. As you read this week’s scripture passages, look for the costs of being a committed companion to Jesus on the road of mission. Then, as you meet together in your small group, discuss what these scriptures demand in the way of faithfulness—and what it would cost you and your group personally to fulfill this righteousness.

Bill T-B

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4th Sunday in April (Week 17) Christian’s Mission (Romans 8:1-39; Psalm 51; Romans 7-8 and John 11-12 and Deuteronomy 5:1-6:9)

Christian mission literally calls us to the edge of existence. That may mean the edge of the civilized world and into the barbarian forest beyond. That may mean to the edge of health, and immersion among the lepers at the center of contagion. That may mean the edge of freedom and into a jail cell of persecution. That may mean the edge of reason, and risk taking in careers and lifestyles and relationships that we never imagined. Mission is never limited by our comfort zones, and it is a fearful thing to declare ourselves to be saved simply because “saved people” are deployed by God to take “big risks” for the Gospel.

Team Meditation (Psalm 51)

Christian leaders are familiar, and grateful, for the experience of God’s forgiveness. We tend to associate it with our willful transgressions … the evil deeds and thoughts that we knowingly or unknowingly committed, but about which fundamentally we had control to say “yea” or “nay”. Unfortunately sin is far more entrapping than this. It is like a stain on our heart that cannot be removed no matter how hard we scrub. It is a stain over our whole life and behavior that embarrasses us and shames us.

The real problem facing humanity is not that we have done things for which we feel guilty. Our problems is that we “are things” for which we feel ashamed. No amount of atonement will make up for it. Our lives are stained with the indelible ink of evil, and we cannot get clean. Yet God will cleanse us. God can wash of the blood of innocents that stains our lives, no matter how purely we have tried to life. God’s living water is only partly intended to drink. It is really intended to for a bath.

Worship Theme (Romans 8:1-39)

Romans 8:38-39  ⁸ For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The key to life is companionship with Christ. Sever that companionship, and we are lost. Suddenly we become timid, anxious, defensive, protective, institutional, and inward. That is what most modern people mean when they say the church is a “family”. They mean an inward looking tribe that loves each other very much, and bands together to defend the tribe against all outside influences. Oh yes, from time to time someone new can join the tribe, and their “family love” will embrace them. But never too many. The “family” is a defensive unity in troubled times.

This is not what the church means when it says we have been “adopted” into God’s family, brother and sister of our Lord Jesus Christ. God means that we have jointly inherited something with Christ. We have inherited a mission … nothing less than God’s mission to redeem the world. We have inherited a responsibility, not so much to one another (because God the Father will take care of that), but rather a responsibility to the stranger and the seeker. We are adopted for a purpose … not a status. We are adopted in order that we might share the purpose of this “family of God” to rescue the world from sin and death.

So if we are going to be “on the edge” all of the time, it is comforting to know that nothing shall separate us from God or from our “elder brother” Jesus. Jesus will be with us at the very edge of existence. He will make sure that nothing … absolutely nothing … will sever the supply lines of grace that go all the way back to God.

Worship Design (Romans 8:1-39)

Getting adopted into the church family can be a bit of a challenge. This week launch the service with a clip from Second Hand Lions (2003). Use the scene when Walter (Haley Joel Osment) is “introduced” to his two eccentric (and wealthy) uncles Garth and Hub (Michael Caine and Robert Duvall respectively). The clip shows the uncle’s discomfort with the situation and they largely ignore him to begin with. Use the scene to indicate the difficulty some have in broaching the church family perimeter.

During the service, as an visual exercise, have everybody stand up and break into groups of eight or so. Have each group designate one person as the “outsider” and then have the other seven get into a group hug standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Instruct them to keep hugging no matter what, and then tell the outsider to gently try and get in. (If you want to make this even more effective, instruct all the group hug people beyond the hearing of the outsiders that as a church they must not allow worldly infiltration—and instruct the outsiders outside the hearing of the group-huggers that they may not touch, but must try and talk themselves into the group.) When the exercise is finished, have the outsiders describe specifically what they “saw” as they tried to get in (inevitably they saw everyone’s “backsides.”

If you’re really, really ambitious, this would be a good week to imitate Jim Henderson’s Off the Map seminar and invite an unchurched and non-Christian person to be an interviewee (see www.off-the-map.org and AKA Lost by Henderson for more information on how to effectively interview an irreligious, unchurched person).

Bill T-B

Small Group Discussion (Romans 7-8 and John 11-12 and Deuteronomy 5:1-6:9)

In our culture, Christianity seems so benign, so safe, and so sane. Look around most church sanctuaries—the men look bored and the women look tired. But the truth is, it’s only cultural Christianity that’s so insipid and uninspiring. Biblical Christianity is edgy. It pushes us to the edge and can make us feel, well, uncomfortable...but it’s in the discomfort that reminds us how alive we really are. This week, as you read the designated scriptures, look for places where cultural Christianity has toned down the biblical rhetoric. Then, during your small group time, discuss what you saw and what it would mean to honor these words as they were written, rather than as they’ve been interpreted.

Bill T-B

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5th Sunday in April (Week 16) Christian’s Mission (1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:24; Jeremiah 31:7-14 and 33:14-16; Romans 10-11 and 1 Thessalonians and Revelation 21-22)

“The days are coming …” Christian mission often seems like an endless task, but in fact there is an end point. There is a time of fulfillment when our labors will cease, and God’s mission will be accomplished. It may not happen in our lifetime, but it will happen. And even if it does not happen in our lifetime, we will still be “caught up in it” when time stands still on the day we die.

Team Meditation (Jeremiah 31:7-14 and 33:14-16)

Life is a struggle, but Christian life is a real struggle. Being Christian in today’s world is about one of the hardest things you can do. The pressures not to be Christian are immense. The penalties for being Christian are severe. No wonder Christians through the centuries have imagined the coming of the Lord in violent images … shattering enemies and bringing justice, trampling death and bringing healing, turning on a blinding light to illumine the darkness, confronting evil behavior to model the fruits of the Spirit.

The coming of the Lord is a comfort. That is the only word for it. It is healing balm to aching joints and deep wounds. It is vindication for a lifetime of victimization. It is clarity amid ethical ambiguity. It is perfect beauty, truth, and goodness that replaces all of the approximations we have know before. It is a new start; it is a new intimacy. Whatever God’s future will look like, it will contain an infinite sigh as we sink into the cleansing bath of God’s love.

Worship Theme (1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:24)

Time, after all, is a relative thing. Humans see it as a passage of history. God sees it as an instant of new being. Humans have a hard time looking at life from a divine perspective … but we do have glimmerings of insight. We know how a single instant of time can “change everything” about our intimate relationships, our future careers, and our attitudes and hopes. In a single instant we can be totally other than we are.

Of course, it is impossible to imagine what resurrection and eternal life might look like. All we know is how different it will be. The question we all want to ask, i.e. “When will it happen?”, is inconsequential. We’re talking about time and eternity here! Comparing chronological time to God’s sense of timing is truly like comparing apples and oranges. Two different fruit. When it happens, all we know is that it will be totally different and absolutely wonderful. Do we really need to know more?

Worship Design (1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:24)

Begin the service with the introduction to the movie What the Bleep Do We Know? (2004). Use the clip at Chapter 1, timestamp 3:20­­–6.27 that “introduces” all the contributors to the movie and their perspectives on reality, time, quantum mechanics, and related fields/philosophies. The segment asks a number of questions, some ultimate and some interesting, but in any event it will set a mood of wonder. Use this clip to launch a discussion on living in the mystery, particularly in the mystery of the end of time as we know it. You may want to freshen up your understanding of the new sciences (quantum physics, chaos theory, etc.) by reviewing Margaret Wheatley’s Leadership and the New Science: Learning About Organization from an Orderly Universe. Use what you know of these sciences to explore the rabbit hole of mystery, especially in terms of the divine mysteries and the end times.

Bill T-B

Small Group Discussion (Romans 10-11 and 1 Thessalonians and Revelation 21-22)

What would life be like if we lived in the reality of all things new, the nullification of sin’s affect on our heart and our world, and in perfect harmony with all creation? That’s one of the main themes of the passages for this week. As you read, look at how Paul and John express the hope of the future, especially in terms of peace, harmony, and the removal of sin. During your small group time, discuss the differences between Paul’s vision of the future and John’s. Where are they in harmony and where do they see differently? Finally, how does the future affect the present once the past has been left behind an no longer affects the future?

Bill T-B