Most of us still view the Gospel as a systematic set of beliefs and doctrines we try to transfer cognitively onto someone else. The word Gospel simply means good news. Its a modifier. Its good news of something else. The gospel is the good news of the Kingdom of God. We tell them the good news of the story of God, and that He is inviting people into the story. Way things are in heaven, He has made a way for those things to come here on earth. As Paul would say, “the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.” (1 Cor 4:20)

There a piece of Scripture I’ve often missed in Matthew 16:13-20. When Jusus is talking to Peter about building His church, He turns to Peter and tells him that He (Jesus) will build His church. And what does He give Peter? Not the keys to great conversations, not the keys to winning arguments. Not even the keys to build an amazing church. He gives him the keys to the Kingdom. As if to say, “Peter, be all about the Kingdom. Be a people who are all about the Kingdom. You do that, the whole church thing will follow. I’ll build my church, you worry about the Kingdom.”

Even as Jesus is leaving them, he parts with His disciples saying “I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom.” This thing I’ve been showing you, inviting you into, I am assigning you now with the task of showing it and telling people about it.

How do we do it? We remember the stories. Remember the time the wine ran out? Remember what we did? The 500 gallons we turned into wine and kept the celebration going? Remember Zaccheus? The guy that people ostracized and they chased up the tree? They hated him. Remember how we walked over to the tree and Jesus called him down and we had dinner with him? We protected people that shouldn’t have been protected? We ate with people that people didn’t think we should eat with? Remember what people thought of us? Remember what we did on the Sabbath? Everyone was going to church and doing their religious thing. We stopped and helped people? We did things that were practical. More than rhetoric. We fed and healed with no strings attached. Remember what people said about us. When we saw people who were hungry, we fed them. We should do all those things.

This is why the Kingdom is good news. You demonstrate and proclaim. They will come to you and ask you tell them what they have seen or been experiencing. You should expect people to ask about the hope in you. Not the doctrine. And do so with gentleness and patience. Paul must have known that sharing your faith is a living story and a running conversations. Keep demonstrating. Keep proclaiming.

(Adapted from Hugh Halter, Verge 2013)

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Remember Kony 2012? Last I checked, the YouTube video had close to 100 million views. I remember every day logging into my Facebook and someone else had posted something about how we need to stop this guy, how big of an injustice it is, etc. Great! I agree. But it is 2013. Kony is still at large kidnapping children and enlisting them into his army, and the US has more or less forgotten about it. Remember Darfur? How about Haiti? Guess what, these areas are still either war ravaged or poverty stricken. But, we sure were aware that they were in need for a while.

Getting young people, who are notoriously reluctant to engage, to pay attention to something not pop-culture based, is quite a feat. Getting them to put aside their micro-attention spans and keep paying attention past the next “viral” thing is an even bigger challenge. Getting them out from behind their “devices” and actually taking action (as opposed to checking out YouTube) has proven next to impossible.

Over the past few months (coming out of Passion 2013), my Facebook has seen a few days where the End It movement has taken up a few spots on my feed. Love the idea. There is injustice in the world taking place. 27 million people are slaves today through the use of child labor, sex trafficking, bondage, and work without wages through coercion. Something must be done. But what? My worry is that awareness, particularly social media trending awareness, has done very little in the past when it comes to young people here in America.

We are a culture who feels like we are doing something by clicking “share.” A culture who feels like success is measured by YouTube views and website hits. Even as I write this, the success of this blog will be ‘how many people who read this?’ We have got to move beyond awareness.

Jesus didn’t call his disciples to handle brokenness from afar. “Peter, make sure people know that there is brokenness, and have other people get involved in fixing it.” Jesus told his followers to show the Kingdom in their actions, not just point out everywhere the Kingdom is not.

How about this? Have a banquet (Luke 14). Invite all the poor and broken people. Sit down and have a meal with them. Love them, get to know them. Maybe lost and forgotten girls in this world will know they are neither lost nor forgotten.

How about this? Make disciples, teaching them to obey all that I’ve commanded (Matthew 28). Show the kingdom to them, tell them about it. Maybe broken and sinful men will have the power to overcome sin because of their faith in Christ. He is the only hope for transformation and conquering sin.

How about this? Go to all nations. Be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. Lose your life, sacrifice everything, and you might find life. How will they ever believe if they haven’t heard? How will we expect life change (with leads to culture change) without the Spirit changing lives?

Do something. Jesus never said ‘donate now.’ Jesus never said ‘just raise awareness.’ Jesus said go.

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For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

How substantially different Jesus operates from how we opperate in Church today. I have so often looked forward to someone going from a nonbeliever to a believer, and as soon as they are ready, we ask questions like “Do you know you are a sinner in need of grace?” “Yes!” “Do you know Jesus died on the cross for sin?” “Yes!” The problem is, as David Platt points out, even the Devil could say yes to those questions. Jesus is challenging people away from making any sort of quick or emotional decision about following Jesus. Yet, we make the doorway in our culture to follow Jesus so wide and so shallow that I think so many have ‘made a decision’ to follow Jesus, yet lie in ruins. The great preacher John Stott has a great indictment about this:

The Christian landscape is strewn with the wreckage of derelict half-built towers. The ruins of those who began to build and were unable to finish. For thousands of people still ignore Christ’s warning and undertake to follow Him without first pausing to reflect on the cost of doing so. The result is the great scandal of Christendom today, so called nominal Christianity. In countries to which Christian civilization has spread, large numbers of people have covered themselves with a decent but thin veneer of Christianity. They have allowed themselves to become somewhat involved, enough to be respectable. Their religion is a great soft cushion. It protects them from the hard unpleasantness of life while changing its place and shape to suit their convenience. No wonder the cynics speak of hypocrites in the church and dismiss religion as escapism. – John Stott

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This is how we know him [...] whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked. – 1 John 2:3-6

Over then next couple of months, we at Resonate will be traveling through a study of how Jesus walked, His call to follow Him, and what that looks like. As I was thinking through this topic, I was remembering some of what Hugh Halter talked about last year at Verge. Part of how Jesus walked and how He interacted with the world was to challenge inaccurate views of what people held to be holy and sacred. He was an iconoclast, to say the least. He was sacrilegious! He worked to tear away at religion to get to what is glorious and true.

Jesus was sacrilegious with Scripture.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. – John 5:39-40

Does our knowledge of Scripture help us live it? The Pharisees were great at their study. They studied it, rewrote it, spent as much time in it as anyone in our day. Jesus sat with people like us, and said, “You are missing it.” James would go on to say “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.” (James 1:22-23). You only know what you obey. You only know what you do. James says you never really knew it if you didn’t obey it.

As a pastor, people always say they want more “meat” in a sermon. If I were to apply James’ principal, maybe we should just try one Scripture at a time. Let’s start with love your neighbor as yourself. When you finally get that one down… literally loving our neighbor and treating them as well as we would treat ourselves, then we will move onto another one. After that one, we can try James 1:27, “visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” Once we practice that, we can move onto another. Otherwise, we don’t really KNOW the Word of God.

Jesus was sacrilegious with the Sabbath
He often just did practical things on the Sabbath and it made people mad. He would heal people on the Sabbath. He would eat grain from the fields on the Sabbath. He healed and asked a man to walk and carry his mat on the Sabbath.

Austin New Church in Austin decided on a really radical idea. What if we didn’t do an Easter church service and instead served the poor throughout the city on Easter. Seriously… Easter. One of the two Sundays in the Church calendar that you don’t mess with. Imagine if CNN did a story on the fact that every church in your city did that. May that help people perceive the glory of God? How he acts, cares, and loves? May people see what the Kingdom is like?

Jesus was sacrilegious with discipleship
Jesus came because He desires people to walk how He walks. Now, I know the Gospel, that we all fall and don’t walk as He walks, so He came to die and be a propitiation for our sins for those who believe in Him. He was resurrected. But then He ascended and sent the Holy Spirit to us, so that we have power to overcome sin and walk the way He walks. So, He set the pattern for discipleship. He finished with His disciples and said, “Go and do everything I just taught and showed you. Continue the ministry and kingdom work that I began.” And Jesus’ discipleship was never about power or status. He did not come to be served but to serve. He showed the kingdom to be very unlikely what everyone exptected.

You have the option to change the game. We should be people who do unorthodox things. Jesus seemed to be the most unreligious person people met. He was accused of being drunk and being friends of sinners often, never accused of being friends of the religious. Jesus was sacrilgeous to sinners.

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Who I am in Christ

Because you are in Christ, every one of these statements is true of you.

I am loved (1 John 3:3)
I am accepted (Ephesians 1:6)
I am a child of God (John 1:12)
I am Jesus’ friend (John 15:14)
I am a joint heir with Jesus, sharing His inheritance with Him (Romans 8:17)
I am united with God and one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17)
I am a temple of God. His spirit and his life live in me (1 Corinthians 6:19)
I am a member of Christ’s body. (1 Corinthians 12:27)
I am a saint (Ephesians 1:1)
I am redeemed and forgiven (Colossians 1:14)
I am complete in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:10)
I am free from condemnation (Romans 8:1)
I am a new creation because I am in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12)
I am established, anointed, and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21)
I do not have a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7)
I am God’s co-worker (2 Corinthians 6:1)
I am seated in heavenly places with Christ (Eph 2:6)
I have direct access to God (Ephesians 2:18)
I am chosen to bear fruit (John 15:16)
I am one of God’s living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5)
I have been given exceedingly great and precious promises by God by which I share His nature (2 Peter 1:4)
I can always know the presence of God because He never leaves me (Hebrews 13:5)
God works in me to help me do the things He wants me to do (Philippians 2:13)
I can ask God for wisdom and He will give me what I need (James 1:5)

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We take time to rest, play, create and restore beauty in ways that reflect God and the work of the Gospel to others

After powerfully and joyfully creating the universe, God rested. We were created in his image and therefore were made to joyfully create and rest as well. We regularly take time to rest, play, create and restore beauty in ways that reflect what God is like to our community. (Genesis 1:1-Genesis 2:3; Deuteronomy 5:12; Mark 2:23-28; Hebrews 4)

In every culture and with every person we witness the desire to rest and create – although the means by which people work it out might be different, we find a universal and historical practice of ReCreating. However, apart from the gospel people remain restless in their work and labored in their rest. The Gospel enables people to rest while working because the work that justifies them was accomplished in Jesus – they don’t need their work to give them significance any longer. The Gospel also enables people to truly rest when not working, because they know that God is always working–they don’t have to worry their lack of work will stop the world from spinning.

Upward

Because God has accomplished everything necessary for our justification and is the one who will finish the work He started in us, we can rest. Whether working, playing, sleeping or creating – we rest in His work and His abilities and His power. Our rest then is not only a result of the Gospel, but a demonstration to the world not at rest in the gospel.
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• How and where in your life are you at rest in the Gospel?
• Where are you restless and what about the Gospel are you not believing?

We now approach work not needing validation or security – we can truly work unto the Lord and be free to do it as worship (not worshipping the job, the boss, the paycheck or the credibility we obtain). We can also truly rest – vacation or not, sleeping or not, etc… because the world is held together and run by Him and it will be restored by His work in and through us, not our work apart from Him. We can also create freely, not dependent on the quality of the creation or the validation of others to say it is good, but rather because we are already called good in Jesus Christ. Finally, we are free to play, because our Father is in charge and gives us all we need.

• How could our work be a better reflection of the Gospel to the world around us?
• In what ways could we be ‘playing’ and ‘creating’ such that it would be an appropriate display of the Gospel to our culture?

Inward & Outward

We recreate together as a way of preaching the gospel to one another. We also become a display together of the truth of the gospel to a watching world. Our resting, creating, working and playing all proclaim that our God is Creator, Sustainer, Provider and Redeemer.

• How could you and your community reshape its weekly, monthly and yearly rhythms to live out
  this rhythm?
• Where in your culture does the Gospel need to creative, playful work of the Gospel?

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We regularly eat meals with others to invite them into Gospel Community

Meals are a daily reminder of our common need for God and his faithfulness to provide both physically and spiritually. Jesus called us to remember him and his sacrifice for us through a meal. When we eat together, we commune around this truth. We regularly eat meals with those not in our immediate family or circle of close friends, discipling them toward a life of dependence on God. (Leviticus 23; Matthew 6:11; 26:17-30; Acts 2:46-47; Romans 12:13)

In every part of the world hunger is a daily reality – whether they have plenty or lack – we all get hungry more than once a day. God gave Adam and Eve the opportunity to demonstrate their faith through the eating of food. They choose to eat unto themselves out of unbelief and rebellion. God has likewise given every person in every part of the world a regular reminder of their need and an opportunity to eat unto themselves in unbelief and rebellion or unto God in faith and with thanksgiving.

So what does this mean for our three values: Upward (me and God), Inward (me and God’s people), Outward (me and kingdom reconciliation)

Upward

Whatever we do, whether we eat or drink, we do it unto God. Every meal really is a demonstration of the gospel. We come hungry (a real need) and our need is graciously met (Whatever we have is from God). Since we eat three times a day, we get a gospel reminder over and over again IF we eat unto God. It’s interesting that throughout the Story, food continues to be the prime example of God’s provision meeting their need. And in every case, they ate unto God or unto themselves.

• How might you eat differently if your eating was informed by the Gospel and unto God in faith?

Inward

When we eat together we commune over our common need and God’s provision. In doing this we proclaim the gospel to each other over and over again. That is why it is so important to eat together regularly – a loving community of believers communing around the work of Christ is the best apologetic of the gospel AND eating together is one of the ways we are commanded to do this.

• Consider how you might ‘preach’ the gospel to each other through our ‘common’ meal – The Lord’s
  Supper…

Outward

The table for the Jews, as also in our day, is very symbolic AND communicative – who we eat demonstrates who we love. This is why Jesus was called a friend of sinners – he ate with people who were dirty, unreligious, and visibly or sociably unacceptable. The table is one of the most powerful displays of God’s love and acceptance of sinners.

• How often do we eat with those who don’t believe what we do?
• How should you and your community shape its life around communing at the table with unbelievers?

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We intentionally bless others through words, gifts or actions

God desires that all people would be blessed through Jesus. And now, as his Body, we believe we live out this mission as we bless others. We intentionally seek God’s direction for who he would have us tangibly bless each week (Genesis 12:1-3; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 2:12). We all have talents, resources and time. Some of us believe we have earned these things and therefore we are entitled to them. This leads to greed and selfishness stemming from pride and causes fights, quarrels, divisions and anxiety (James 4:1-6). When we believe that all we have is from God’s gracious hand – gifts given not due to our own work – then we selflessly share what we have for the sake of others leading us to acts of service, sacrifice and love.

So what does this mean for our three values: Upward (me and God), Inward (me and God’s people), outward (me and kingdom reconciliation)

Upward

Just like Abraham we have been blessed – we have received unmerited favor and provision. This is not because of anything we have done, but because of all that God has done for us in Jesus Christ. We are co-heirs with Christ and blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

• Take some time to write out and meditate on all that God has blessed you with in Jesus Christ…

We are not blessed just for our own good. We have been given what we have so that others might also receive. We must regularly take account of what has been given to us and realize that it is not ours, but God’s to steward. Then, in light of the gospel that reminds us that He become poor so that in his poverty we might become rich, we are freed up to pour out our lives and things so that others might be blessed and taste and see that the Lord is good.

• Identify all that God has given you to bless others with and ask Him to show you what to do with it…

Inward

When we believe the gospel and realize that I didn’t gain what I have nor do I really own what I have, and then see that our Father in heaven provides for his children through sharing what we He has given us each other. Then I come to see that I don’t really own anything and yet at the same time I have more than I ever dreamed (brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, houses, cars, clothes, food, etc (Luke 18:29-30)). All that we have is His and all that is His is ours.

• Identify the needs of your family as well as the resources given to the family and then ask God how you are to take care of each other.

Outward

God’s intent in blessing His people has always been so that those who don’t know Him and his grace might see Him at work in and through us and come to Him through our lives. We must direct our eyes outward and begin to believe that He has given us everything for life and godliness. He has resourced us with what we need to do the gospel work of blessing others who don’t know Him yet.

• What does the culture or community you are sent to really need and how has God blessed you and your community to display the grace of the Gospel to them?

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We gather together to celebrate God’s extravagant blessings in Jesus

God’s calls people to regularly celebrate his goodness and grace. We gather weekly in missional communities and regularly as a larger family, to share stories and celebrate all that God is doing in and amongst us. We invite everyone to these celebrations as a way of displaying and declaring God’s Glory, exhorting each other in the Gospel and encouraging each other in Mission. (Leviticus 23; Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:24-25)

We are created to worship and one of the ways is through celebration. Every person in every part of the world celebrates. The question is: To whom or what is the celebration directed? Because of sin and idolatry we are prone to celebrate the creation instead of the Creator.

So what does this mean for our three values: Upward (me and God), Inward (me and God’s people), Outward (me and kingdom reconciliation)

Upward

If we truly understand and believe the gospel, we should be the most celebratory people on the planet. God regularly called his people to celebrate through feasts and parties because he did not want them to forget His grace and abundant provision. The very celebration wasn’t just a response – it was also a demonstration of what God is like and has done. We must enter into a regular rhythm of celebrating God’s extravagant blessings.

Part of my ability to live out the gospel is dependent upon my regular reflection on the gospel. I need to regularly set my affections on things above – the work of God in Jesus Christ and what is now true of me because of Him. I should ask myself:

• How is gospel celebration a part of my everyday life? How should it be?

Inward

We are called to not give up meeting together so that we might spur each other on to love and good deeds. Jesus himself demonstrates this through his first recorded miracle – at a wedding feast where he affirms the celebration of life together because celebrating life together demonstrates the working out of and one of the purposes for the gospel. Ask yourselves:

• How often are we gathering together to celebrate and how does the Gospel inform it?

Outward

The people God has sent us to are also celebrating – they happen to be celebrating a different god and a different story. We need to enter into their celebrations and do it unto the true God, fully aware that even this celebration is within His Story. Then, within the celebration we are to look for ways to serve, redeem, bring gospel light, etc…

• What celebrations should you and your community be participating in as you seek to bring the Gospel to bear within the culture God has sent you to?
• What celebrations should you be creating in order to invite others into the celebration of the Gospel?

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We submit to God through consistent backward and forward listening

Jesus listened to God in prayer to know his Father’s will. We listen to God because through the Gospel we are now aware of our ongoing need for Him. We listen ‘backward’ by regularly interacting with God’s Word–the Story and the Son. We also listen ‘forward’ to hear what God is saying to us today. We believe He declares to all people what He is like through His creation and specifically speaks to those who belong to Him through His Spirit. (Mark 1:35-37; John 16:7-15; Hebrews 1:1-3; Romans 1:20)

Everyone is listening to someone or something as the primary voice or voices that they submit their lives to – an expert or teacher that they follow. These might include a school of thought, a leader or charismatic personality, demons, or lies from the past. Until the Creator is THE Expert and THE Teacher to whom they compare all other voices, they are prone to deceit and lies and worship of self or others. As Believers, I think we need to be better listeners before we become talkers, or as the Psalmist states: When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. – Prov 10:19 (NIV).

So what does this mean for our three values: Upward (me and God), Inward (me and God’s people), outward (me and kingdom reconciliation)

Upward

The gospel reminds us that we are fully dependent upon God’s Spirit to teach us the truth, convict of sin, and show us the way to go and empower us to do everything God wants. So, we must walk in submission to the Spirit if we are going to live as God intends.

Pay attention to what you say to yourself. C.J. Mahaney states in his book, Living the Cross Centered Life, that when listening to ourselves, we should speak the gospel to ourselves. In order to regularly realign ourselves to the truth of the gospel, we need to listen closely to what we say to ourselves and compare that to the gospel and our gospel identity. Where what we are hearing doesn’t match up to the gospel, we should preach the gospel again to ourselves (2 Peter 1:9). Ask the Spirit:
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• Where is my self-talk out of line with the truth of the Gospel?

Inward

We need to listen to each other carefully to discern where they are not yet gripped by the gospel, paying careful attention to whether their story is about them and dependent on something other than God. Listen for the fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16-24)

Outward

The people in our community are telling us what they believe and why. We need to ask questions and listen. If we are to be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have, we must spend less time just preparing answers and as much time listening for the questions. Listening to others first is prerequisite for gospel engagement. We should be listening constantly to know which story they believe in and where that story has proven weak and ineffective to save. (Acts 17:16-33)

I think the strongest voice people are listening to in our culture is that of Consumerism. Alan Hirsch has an excellent analysis of this:

What are some next steps you and your community should take to grow in Gospel Listening?

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We know and submit our lives to the Story of God while also becoming familiar with each other’s stories and the stories of our culture.

God has been unfolding his Story since before time began. We believe we are participants in the Story and our only hope for redemption and restoration from our fear and prideful rebellion is when by faith we submit our lives to the overarching Story of God. Therefore, we regularly reacquaint with and submit ourselves to The Story by interacting with God’s Word. We look for ways and times to tell the Story often. We also take time to listen to others stories and lead them to submit their lives to God’s Story (Genesis 1:1-2; John 1:1; Psalm 1; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Every person on the planet is living their life inside of and in light of a larger story shaped by the country they live in, the cultures surrounding them, the family they were raised in, the worldview they believe… Until they understand all of this in light of the Redemptive Story of God, they will give themselves to lesser stories that do not work.

So what does this mean for our three values: Upward (me and God), Inward (me and God’s people), outward (me and kingdom reconciliation)

Upward

We are a story-formed people who are living our lives based upon and within a story. All of our beliefs, identity and actions are all connected to the dominant story. This is why we need to know it and we are to talk about it when we sit, stand, walk along the way, eat, lie down, etc… (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

I need to continue to grow in the gospel of grace and truth. I need to be self-aware and let the Spirit and the Word show me where my life past and present is not in line with the gospel story.

Inward

I find it fascinating to note how often the New Testament writers are imploring people to remember the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1; Galatians 1:6-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:5; 2 Timothy 2:8; 2 Peter 1:15), and even to remember it as part of our maturity (2 Peter 1:9). Its important how much we tell the story of God to each other as part of our growth.

We need to get to know each other’s stories and pay close attention to where we are not believing the Gospel. As we hear each other’s stories ask:

• Where in your story are you struggling to believe the Gospel?
• What about your Identity in Christ are you struggling to believe, and how does the Gospel answer your need?

Outward

Paul was a good example of understanding the stories. He often used stories and cultural cues that shape the people to help engage in how he told God’s story (Acts 17:16-33; 1 Corinthians 15:32; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

In order to be an effective missionary, we need to know the story of our culture – what has shaped it, what is the dominant story line, what are the idols, where are the open doors for the gospel – both demonstrated and declared and be prepared to show how the Gospel Story fills in the gaps, corrects the lies or successfully completes it’s story.

• What are some next steps you and your community should take in order to be a Story-formed people?

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In our discipleship at Resonate we focus a lot on who we ARE and what Scripture will tell us about our identity in light of the Gospel. Through resources like The Gospel Centered Life, we focus on identity, which in turn leads to action. For example, who we are in Christ is a people who have been blessed, not because we earned blessing but that it was given to us while we were still sinners. But that blessing was never meant to end on us… we were blessed to be a blessing, so therefore our identity as ‘blessed’ people in Christ is meant for action. The struggle is for people to see themselves often as truly blessed, but our identity in Christ is people who have been LAVISHLY blessed.

If we start basing our discipleship on what we DO, instead of a growing understanding of who we ARE, then we’ve missed the point. Trust me, I am heavily about the doing, but I think its a marker and fruit of a further understand of who we are. So, how do we make the move from focusing so much on missional to incarnational (that spurs the mission). Out at Soma Communities in Washington, they have come up with the concept of Rhythms which I think is incredibly helpful. Instead of looking at doing in terms of tasks, they look at doing in terms of lifestyle and living. Over the next few weeks, we’ll unpack some of these, but here’s a brief overview of the six Rhythms:

Story-formed

We understand, experience and intersect with God’s Story and Other’s.

God has been unfolding his Story since before time began. We believe we are participants in the Story and need to understand it and see how our lives intersect with it. Therefore, we regularly reacquaint ourselves with the Story by interacting with God’s Word. We look for ways and times to tell the Story often. We also take time to listen to others stories and help them find their lives within God’s Story. (Genesis 1:1-2; John 1:1; Psalm 1; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Listen

We set aside regular times to listen to God both backward and forward.

Jesus listened to God in prayer to know his Father’s will. We are also called to listen to God. We listen ‘backward’ by regularly interacting with God’s Word-the Story and the Son. We also believe he speaks today through his Spirit in us and through creation. We spend time actively listening ‘forward’ to hear what God is saying to us today. (Mark 1:35-37; John 16:7-15; Hebrews 1:1-3; Romans 1:20)

Celebrate

We gather together to celebrate God’s extravagant blessings.

God calls people to regularly celebrate his goodness and grace. We gather weekly in missional communities and regularly as a larger family, to share stories and celebrate all that God is doing in and amongst us. We invite everyone to these celebrations as a way of displaying God’s glory. (Leviticus 23; Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:24-25)

Bless

We intentionally bless others through words, gifts or actions.

God desires that all nations—all people—would be blessed through Jesus. And now, as his Body (soma), we believe we live out this mission as we bless others. We intentionally seek God’s direction for who he would have us tangibly bless each week. (Genesis 12:1-3; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 2:12)

Eat

We regularly eat meals with others to invite them into the community of God.

Meals are a daily reminder of our common need for God and his faithfulness to provide both physically and spiritually. Jesus called us to remember him and his sacrifice for us through a meal. When we eat together, we commune around this truth. We regularly eat meals with those not in our immediate family or circle of close friends, discipling them toward a life of dependence on God. (Leviticus 23; Matthew 6:11; 26:17-30; Acts 2:46-47; Romans 12:13)

ReCreate

We take time to rest, play, create and restore beauty in ways that reflect God to others.

After powerfully and joyfully creating the universe, God rested. We were created in his image and therefore were made to joyfully create and rest as well. We regularly take time to rest, play, create and restore beauty in ways that reflect what God is like to our community. (Genesis 1:1-2:3; Deuteronomy 5:12; Mark 2:23-28; Hebrews 4)

The post Incarnational Over Missional appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

We sometimes ask people to imagine they are part of a church planting team in a cross-cultural situation in some other part of the world:

• What criteria would you use to decide where to live?
• How would you approach secular employment?
• What standard of living would you expect as pioneer missionaries?
• What would you spend your time doing?
• What opportunities would you be looking for?
• What would your prayers be like?
• What would you be trying to do with your new friends?
• What kind of team would you want around you?
• How would you conduct your meetings together?

We find it easier to be radical in our thinking when we transplant ourselves outside our current situation. But we are as much missionaries here and now as we would be if we were part of a cross-cultural team in another part of the world. Mission is central to us wherever we are. These are the kind of questions we should be asking wherever we are?

How would you answer those questions?

The post Transplant Ourselves appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

After much discussion with others about what community can and should look like within the context of going and making disciples of all nations, we are aiming towards a four level way of looking at relationships and community at Resonate. This is largely based upon Jesus’ model of relationships, from a 2-4 person model of intimate relationship (Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36; John 21:20; John 21:15; Matthew 26:37), the 12 person model as with the Disciples, the 12 plus witnesses larger context (Luke 20:45; Mark 3:7; Matthew 5:1; John 13:35; Acts 2:47) as well as larger church-wide gathering (Acts 19:39; Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 2:46; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2)

It will be HIGHLY important to remind you of two things before you read through all this:

1. Relationship and Community is HIGHLY organic. That is to say that its not easy to program relationships, growth, dynamics, and people’s spiritual journey. Sometimes relationships form very naturally, sometimes they need to be developed very intentionally. Some people have a knack for community, some people are more closed off and it requires more work to learn to trust. Either way, the constant preaching of the Gospel addresses all our deficiencies as broken, relational beings, and helps remind us of our sin and need for God to be center in relationship. All that being said, we can provide a trellis for which the relationship vine can grow, allowing structure for something that will grow organically.

2. This requires intense leadership and discipleship of a few key individuals. Community that continually grows and focuses on discipleship does not form just by putting people in a room together. At Resonate, we train, admonish, teach, develop, grow, disciple, encourage, and equip a few leaders to provide structure, vision, and leadership to our larger communities. This HAS to happen, otherwise you end up with small groups that gather, sometimes talk about Jesus, and really do not show any signs of disciple making disciples.

Four Levels of Community at Resonate 

Relational – LifeTogether

As I have found in my experience, even within the traditional ‘small group’ model, there are often just 2-4 people that I may TRULY do life with. They were the people that I spent any considerable time outside of ‘small group’ with, who knew me well, consistently had dinners with, etc. They are almost always same sex relationships, often groups of about 2-4 men or 2-4 women who develop a framework for confession, accountability, encouragement, prayer, and support. An even small community that allows very high levels of vulnerability. LifeTogether RARELY has to be “programmed,” because most people often develop or connect with 2-3 close friends. It is simply looking at these relationship with the lens of discipleship and the Gospel.

Communal – LifeGroups

The traditional small group model was birthed out of a good place, that is… Jesus’ model of intimate relationships. Jesus chose twelve men to follow him around, to go deep in spiritual development, and to be His disciples. In relationships of about twelve we develop dynamics including conflict, refinement, and bearing with one another in love that may not happen among the the smaller LifeTogether relationships. In these groups, there is an ability to walk together through spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, study of Scripture, fasting, and accountability. This also provides a context to plan, develop, and implement the larger LifeGatherings below, as well as pray, equip, and remind each other of the mission to make disciples. Most LifeGroups will meet 3-4 times a month.

Missional – LifeGatherings

Taking the definition from the previous post, this is truly the “Missional Community.” This is often groups of 30-50 and provides the ideal environment for building new relationships. Often these groups are formed geographically, but can also be focused on specific segments of society. Say a LifeGroup starts as a group of artists who really have a heart for the artist community within Atlanta. That same LifeGroup may start having LifeGatherings with other artists in the area with the intention of making disciples and proclaiming the Gospel to an artist community. Often these will occur over meals, just as the early church did (1 Corinthians 11: 20; Acts 20: 7) and Jesus did, so much so, he was even called a glutton (Luke 7: 34). Within these larger groups is where we socialize, serve, and celebrate, alongside nonbelievers or young Christians, as well as allowing them to see our joy, celebration, and love for each other. Most LifeGatherings will occur 1-2 times a month.

Incarnational – Resonate Gatherings

Eventually, as the pattern of meetings gets established, Resonate will begin to meet every week for the purpose of gathering all the LifeTogether groups which are part of LifeGroups which are part of LifeGatherings together to celebrate together. We will be ‘incarnational,’ representing the very body of Christ as we worship together. At these larger meetings, we will tell stories of how God is working in each missional context, pray for the larger needs of the city, mobilize and leverage the larger influence for larger mercy projects, celebrate the diversity of God’s people, and to continue to rally around the message of the Gospel of Jesus through teaching, songs, liturgy, and more. As people who have ‘Good News,’ this will often be a celebratory environment, but also recognizing the awe and wonder of the God who created all things.

Going Forward

We are novices at this, and don’t have all the answers, and some of this could change, but at this point, this is where our biblical convictions, cultural discernment, and vision has lead us. We look forward to seeing how best this plays out in our communities. If you are interested in getting involved in one of our LifeGroups, drop me a line at chriscase@resonateatlanta.org.

The post Why We Won’t Have Small Groups (pt 2) appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

Let’s backtrack just a little bit. Traditional ‘Small Groups’ were birthed with the rise of the American mega-church. As churches moved to a slightly more seeker oriented model, they grew to be less personal, relational, and shepherding-based. The solution to this problem was ‘small group’, which would allow people to feel ‘connected’ as well as offer some form of ‘discipleship.’ Most of these were based around Acts 2:42.

Now, nothing was necessarily bad about focusing on Acts 2:42, and groups would study the Word together, pray together, and sometimes do meals together. Many people got involved in groups, had some level of openness and connection to people around them, and (hopefully) spent some time studying Scripture. The problem arises with whether or not this process helps create disciples. We see people often becoming nicer in small groups or perhaps knowing the Bible better, but you don’t often see people whose lives and spirits look more like Jesus, which is what discipleship should do.

People started connecting the Sunday morning preaching of the Word, and a small group of prayer and studying the Word, to being discipled. Even Willow Creek, who was one of the leaders in the modern small group based mega-church ministry model, recently admitted in their Reveal study that they struggle taking their “close-to-Christ” marginal Christians to being “Christ-centered” believers.

So why not challenge the whole weekday spiritual formation process? Why not base spiritual formation around Acts 2:42, but also Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:18-20, and the whole breadth of Jesus’ teaching? Maybe we should include the first AND second part of the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) in our community and weekday discipleship.

So here’s the deal, our LifeGroups will be missional communities. I think Austin Stone Church has a great description of this:

We’re just starting this out, so we’re not sure all the details on what it looks like, but I think its time we say “no” to small groups, and “yes” to discipleship within missional community.

So what will this look like at Resonate? Part 2 to come…

The post Why We Won’t Have Small Groups (pt 1) appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.

Visit the list from The Resurgence here.

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I encourage you to go ahead and read it, but love this last paragraph in relation to Resonate:

We either give life to cities or we take life from cities. What kind of life are you giving to the city? Are you giving or taking, consuming or renewing, using or strengthening the city? To love a city we have to love more than its stuff, its entertainment, its dining, and its landscape. We have to love its people. To renew a city we must love its souls. We should renew the city because it is a growing, socially dense, and diverse community of people—eternal souls.

The post Why the City Needs the Gospel appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

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So, what keeps us from that passion? The writer of Hebrews said “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Heb 12:1). Do you catch the nuance in this statement? I think we can often identify and work on the “sin” that so easily entangles us, but what about everything else that “hinders.” What about the things that are not actually sinful in your life that rob you of your affinity towards God? What might it be? Do you have more emotional connection to a bunch of 18-22 year olds on a football field than for God? Do you easily laugh at the things God would detest simply because you are just mindlessly engrossed in a television show? Do you quickly retweet a profound statement about God without ever thoroughly grasping it or taking it to heart in your own life, working hard to keep up with your online “community” and “followers”? Everyone has them… the things that are not inherently sinful, yet steal our affections away from Christ. What is it for you?

The post What Steals It For You? appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

With that said, its been amazing to hear constantly from people who felt like a worship service just wowed them, or moved them. Without intentionally programming in things to inspire awe and wonder… God shows up, and people respond with awe and wonder. There’s a great article over at the Gospel Driven Church that talks about this. The second half of the article, where he compares the ‘wow’ church to the valley of dry bones without breath is a powerful analogy. Here’s the second half of the article:

In Ezekiel 37 we find that well-known prophetic vision of the valley of dry bones. I find verse 8 curious:
And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.

Looks alive. Still: it isn’t.

Is this what we’ve crafted with many of our ecclesiastic enterprises? Have we only set loose an army of shiny, platitude-dispensing golems?

Is this also true of even churches with “sound doctrine,” where human ingenuity and personality and tradition reign?

What’s the prescription for the awesomeness-driven church?

Ezekiel 37:9-10: Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

The prescription is life-giving proclamation that pleads for the Holy Spirit and his reviving wind. And the result is a church alive, fired with gospel militancy and mobilized for kingdom mission.

Holy Spirit, come.

The post Awesomeness in Church appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

How is it for you? Do you regularly feel, experience, taste and see that the Lord is good where you worship? Do you even involved in the localized body of Christ? Leave a comment below.

The post What’s Your Experience? appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

He offered some pretty eye-opening stats in regards to orphans. Here are just a few:

-Over one fifth of foster children will become homeless at some time after age 18.
-Approximately one third of foster children will receive some form of public assistance shortly after aging out of the system.
-Over a third of foster youth earn neither a high school diploma nor a GED.
-118,000 of the children currently in foster care are waiting to be adopted.

You can find the rest here.

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Paul tell the Romans that he is obligated to the people, eager to preach the gospel, and not ashamed. He had no fear. Chandler talks about how Paul must have been one of the most frustrating cats in the ancient world. “We’ll kill you, Paul!” “To die is gain!” “Fine, Paul, we’ll let you live.” “To live is Christ!” “Ok, Paul, we’ll throw you in prison!” “Give me a hymnbook.” There’s no fear in his words… because he knew the one greater than himself.

Today’s church prays for safety…the church in Acts prayed for boldness

If we are true to the gospel and people’s lives are being transformed by the Word and the Spirit, then we will create many enemies. But we must still have boldness and not fear for our safety. If we are truly missional, drug dealers and prostitutes will lose their clients, the homosexual community might lose practitioners, the governmental powers that be may be disrupted by our efforts. There’s a holy disruption that happens in the early church, and it seems the church in America has lost that. The only disrupters are people who do not disrupt with love, but with hate. We will disrupt by loving the people around us so much, that we want them to know Christ, both through our words and our deeds, so that we are known by our love.

So, do you want to be a disrupter with us?

The post Ready to Disrupt Atlanta? appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

Here’s the demographic… “all nations.” It never sounded like Jesus was seeking to target one people group over another. That is not to say we won’t have strategy and an identity. Our neighbors within 3 square miles are 1/4 married, 1/4 previously married, 1/2 single. The largest percentage of average incomes are neck and neck between households that take in about $50k-$75k and those that take in under $15k. Age ranges are mostly 24-44, with still plenty 45+. Its over 1/3 black, a little over a half white, and the rest of various racial backgrounds.

Resonate is for everyone because the Gospel is for everyone.

When I look at the church in Acts, I see the Gospel bringing together a fashionista, a demon possessed girl, and a soldier. I see churches being founded by Alexandrians, Jews, women, men. It is the Gospel that bridges these divides, and I think we do the Gospel a great disservice by shooting for demographics.

And that is why Resonate is for everyone… because we ALL need the Gospel.

The post Targets on their Backs appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

We can be a light in the darkness until we are actually in these areas. That’s why I love folks like Leonce Crump, Paul Palmer, Sean King, Kris McDaniel, Scott Armstrong, and many others who have a passion to transform the city… from within, being directly connected to the downtown areas.

4 Atlanta neighborhoods among nation’s most dangerous

Within these neighborhoods, the average household with a single mother is close to about 75%. That leaves children who are often fatherless, and a single mom who often works, which leaves for little extra educational and emotional attention. They do all they can. So, how do we decrease crime in these areas? First off, infuse the gospel into these areas, without which no heart transformation can happen. Secondly, offer ways for kids to be educated and loved, giving them a better alternative than the enticing lure of gangs and drug dealers. After school tutoring will only bolster kids opportunities to get a decent education, which statistics will easily lead to less poverty and crime.

So what is Resonate going to do about it? First, we’re not going to do it alone. We know we need to partner together with other Gospel focused, Kingdom minded churches to make this happen. Secondly, well… we need YOU to help make it all happen. Ready to change the world? Come join us…

The post Amongst the Most Dangerous appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

So, if you’ve toured this site, you’ve hopefully seen our threefold emphasis in ministry. We want to grow upward, build inward and move outward.

Jesus’ great commission to ALL of His disciples was stated as:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;

As I was thinking about our threefold emphasis, it really started working with the great commission… and the overall purpose for us as a people.

Upward directly parallels “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” Upward is directly focused on teaching and growing more mature in our relationship and walk with Christ.

Inward directly parallels “baptizing them…”. Baptism ultimately is for the community, since its a practice that we cannot do in isolation. Inward is all about the community, and growing through connections.

Outward directly parallels the “make disciples.” Jesus statement certainly implies that its about people who aren’t disciples already. Outward is totally focused on sharing the love of Christ outside our walls, through both word and deed.

We are passionate about all three areas, and look forward to transforming the city through growing upward, building inward, and moving outward.

The post Three Directions & the Commission appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

But I am learning. I like to think I’m getting better. And its only scripture that is changing things.

None of us is as smart as all of us.

I struggle to read about the church or Peter/Paul and seeing only a few leading the church. Peter instructs the church by saying “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10, ESV). If that’s the case, the church is never meant to be for spectating. If that’s what you or I do on a Sunday, then we aren’t really doing Church.

So my question to you… at your church do you feel more like a spectator or a participator?

The post We Before Me appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

The long term goal with this would be for Resonate to be an umbrella for multiple targeted community shaping ministries. Examples of this would be a tutoring facility, that offers low income households a way to tutor their children (which I believe is crucial for economic transformation), or a counseling center that would draw a secular crowd, but ultimately offer Gospel based counseling. We want to create the city on a hill, where our light is bright and cannot be hidden no matter what day it is… and it is this light that people are drawn to. Our desire is to be known as the place to go for help… the place known for compassion.

With that vital to our vision, we want to start as a seven day a week place. The most direct way to do this is with a coffee shop. In the US, coffee shops have become the Third Place for people (1. home, 2. work, 3. third place). Even currently at the church I work at, people come in weekly that met by rubbing shoulders with other people in the congregation at a local coffeeshop. Why would we not want to harvest and create that kind of atmosphere as the church? Why not sell coffee and have a place that tells the story that is beyond consumerism and individualism? A place that celebrates diversity and creativity? Help us make this happen by joining us.

The post Seven Days a Week appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

Chandler starts his study on Philippians but not starting in Philippians. We looked at the initial start of the church in Philippi in Acts 16. Although I know Jesus is our model, Paul certainly comes close! First he talks to Lydia: an ethnically Asian women with property in large cities and involved in the garment trade… a stable, intelligent, strong women to say the least. She’s the New York fashionista designer of her time. Paul walks right into her prayer group, and appeals to her intellect and she responds to Paul’s message.

Next you have this crazy slave girl, who wanders the streets shouting at Paul and his entourage. She’s no under control, she is not stable, and she has been used and oppressed her whole life. Paul, instead of communicating the Gospel in a rational clear way, instead just “gets annoyed” (love that about Paul!) and drives out the demon in her.

Lastly, you have this blue-collar, ex-GI prison guard whose deeply devoted to honor and his job. When the prison get destroyed, he is ready to kill himself because of his commitment to his duty and pride in his job. Paul just shows great compassion and humility through his actions, and the guy then wants to know how he can be saved.

So this is the start of the church in Philippi: a foreign fashionista, an unstable stave girl, and a blue-collar ex-GI. Yet this ends up being the one church that Paul does not write a letter trying to correct them, but simply longs to be with them and loves them.

And this is the same kind of church I am longing to build. The gospel can transcend race, status, role, nationality, and intelligence. It is for ALL people, and a church can be so ‘moving rhythmically’ (Eph 4:13, Message) with ALL people, like Philippi. So, come join us to transform the city with the gospel… and we can be that kind of place!

The post A Fashionista, A Crazy Slave, and an Ex-GI appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.

As I, Chris, work through the experience as a church planter, the details and transitions of behind the scenes, as well as working out the vision of exactly what we will be doing, I’ll be blogging, sharing, doing whatever I can to help document, shape, and share all that is going on in my head.

I invite you into this conversation, through supporting us, through refining us, through being at least a part of the online community of this blog and the discussions that it generates. In the meantime, be sure to connect to our twitter and facebook pages in order to keep up to date on the latest from resonate::atlanta.

I look forward to this journey, and look forward to your role in making it all happen!

The post So It All Begins… appeared first on Resonate Atlanta Church.