Dream Awakener

Here are a series of posts that I have done over the last couple of months on The Mission-Shaped Church.

Missio Dei - Mission of God
This is the idea in scripture where you have God the Father sending the Son, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit, and then the Father, Son and Spirit sending the church into the world.

A Future-Shaped Mission Part One
A quick look at globilization, new media and asking the question of the churches role in the context we find ourselves.

A Future-Shaped Mission Part Two
This entry is basically about how our eschatology shapes our missiology, which in turns shapes our eccesiology.

A Future-Shaped Mission Part Three
The fleshing out of Part two, asking the question:  If the life of the coming age is the elimination of hunger and thirst and in its place abundance, how are our economic practices at this moment anticipating the reality of abundance and the elimination of hunger and thirst?

The Mission-Shaped Church and the Kingdom of God
Some have domesticated, tamed or emasculated the good news by limiting it only to another time and another place, and followed the way of the Gnostics, but Jesus was bringing Good News for today in this place, as well as to the people of Galilee and surrounding areas for that time in that place. Here are some great quotes on the Mission-Shaped Church and the Kingdom of God.

Church as a Sign
The Church is a sign of the kingdom, pointing people to the reality which is beyond what we can see. So what kind of sign are we?

Church as a Foretaste
The community that has learned to love one another, build one another
up, admonish one another, encourage one another, forgive on another, live in harmony with one another, honor one another and be at peace with one another -  becomes a community where the promised fulfillment of creation is visible, tangible and experienced, even though not yet perfected.  That community becomes a theological experience, a foretaste of the coming reign of God.

Church as an Instrument
We see throughout this letter to the Ephesians that the church is to be kind of a preview or movie trailer of what is to come.  The church is to embody the ministry of reconciliation, it is to be an instrument through which God’s will for justice and peace and freedom is done in the world.

The Church in the US - Not Optimistic, Nor Pessimistic
Leslie Newbigin was an amazing missionary in India.  When he lived in Madras his house was half-way between the airport and the city, so it was a great place for different pastors and priests to stop off and have lunch.  After lunch, people would always ask him a question.  They would ask, “Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of the church in India?  To which he had to develop a standard reply.  He said…

The Test of a Missional Church
A quick entry on the one real hermenutic of the gospel.  A must read.

You can go to Kairos Los Angeles for an audio series on The Mission-Shaped Church.  You are free to download the mp3’s.