This video is a great example of what a missional community or gospel community could look like.
(HT: GCM Collective)
Strategically Small, Strategically Simple
Small communities determine a size in which mutual discipleship and care can realistically take place. They create a simplicity that militates against a maintenance mentality: there are no expensive buildings to maintain o complex programs to run. They determine a style that is participatory and inclusive, mirroring the discipleship model and table fellowship of Jesus himself.
Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, pg. 93
My personal summary would be that to be strategically small and strategically simple is also to be strategically reproducible; therefor, a community structure that is easily multiplied.
What’s Next?
I enjoyed reading this great example of a gospel community from Seth McBee. This particular story of a simple prayer challenged me. You can read the rest here.
He suggested, “Ask the Spirit, ‘What’s next?’”
At that time, I rarely asked the Spirit to guide and empower me for mission because I was doing nothing that would require the Spirit. I was insular, hanging around only Christian people, and rarely ever engaging anyone with the Gospel or showing them the effects of the Gospel and how that might look in our community. There was no reason to pray. It would have been like asking God to help me flip the channels on my television.
Well. My wife and I prayed… Spirit, what’s next?
If you want to open the power of the Spirit like freeing a hungry lion from its cage, then ask the Spirit what’s next with a desire to show others what He’s like for the sake of making disciples.
Gospel Community
“We are not saved individually and then choose to join the church as if it were some club or support group. Christ died for his people, and we are saved when by faith we become part of the people for whom Christ died. The story of the Bible is the story of God fulfilling the promise, “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God” (Exodus 6:7; Revelation 21:3). If the gospel is to be at the heart of church life and mission, it is equally true that the church is to be at the heart of gospel life and mission. John Stott says:”
The church lies at the very center of the eternal purpose of God. It is not a divine afterthought. It is not an accident of history. On the contrary, the church is God’s new community. For his purpose, conceived in a past eternity, being worked out in history, and to be perfected in a future eternity, is not just to save isolated individuals and so perpetuate our loneliness, but rather to build his church, that is, to call out of the world a people for his own glory.
Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, pg. 39
The Heidelberg: Lord’s Day 17
Q & A 45
Q. How does Christ’s resurrection
benefit us?
A. First, by his resurrection he has overcome death,
so that he might make us share in the righteousness
he obtained for us by his death.1
Second, by his power we too
are already raised to a new life.2
Third, Christ’s resurrection
is a sure pledge to us of our blessed resurrection.3
1 Rom. 4:25; 1 Cor. 15:16-20; 1 Pet. 1:3-5
2 Rom. 6:5-11; Eph. 2:4-6; Col. 3:1-4
3 Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:12-23; Phil. 3:20-21
The Heidelberg: Lord’s Day 16
Q & A 40
Q. Why did Christ have to suffer death?
A. Because God’s justice and truth require it: 1
nothing else could pay for our sins
except the death of the Son of God.2
1 Gen. 2:17
2 Rom. 8:3-4; Phil. 2:8; Heb. 2:9
Q & A 41
Q. Why was he “buried”?
A. His burial testifies
that he really died.1
1 Isa. 53:9; John 19:38-42; Acts 13:29; 1 Cor. 15:3-4
Q & A 42
Q. Since Christ has died for us,
why do we still have to die?
A. Our death does not pay the debt of our sins.1
Rather, it puts an end to our sinning
and is our entrance into eternal life.2
1 Ps. 49:7
2 John 5:24; Phil. 1:21-23; 1 Thess. 5:9-10
Q & A 43
Q. What further benefit do we receive
from Christ’s sacrifice and death on the cross?
A. By Christ’s power
our old selves are crucified, put to death, and buried with him,1
so that the evil desires of the flesh
may no longer rule us,2
but that instead we may offer ourselves
as a sacrifice of gratitude to him.3
1 Rom. 6:5-11; Col. 2:11-12
2 Rom. 6:12-14
3 Rom. 12:1; Eph. 5:1-2
Q & A 44
Q. Why does the creed add,
“He descended to hell”?
A. To assure me during attacks of deepest dread and temptation
that Christ my Lord,
by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul,
on the cross but also earlier,
has delivered me from hellish anguish and torment.1
1 Isa. 53; Matt. 26:36-46; 27:45-46; Luke 22:44; Heb. 5:7-10
The Heidelberg: Lord’s Day 14
Q & A 35
Q. What does it mean that he
“was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary”?
A. That the eternal Son of God,
who is and remains
true and eternal God,1
took to himself,
through the working of the Holy Spirit,2
from the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary,3
a truly human nature
so that he might also become David’s true descendant,4
like his brothers and sisters in every way5
except for sin.6
1 John 1:1; 10:30-36; Acts 13:33 (Ps. 2:7); Col. 1:15-17; 1 John 5:20
2 Luke 1:35
3 Matt. 1:18-23; John 1:14; Gal. 4:4; Heb. 2:14
4 2 Sam. 7:12-16; Ps. 132:11; Matt. 1:1; Rom. 1:3
5 Phil. 2:7; Heb. 2:17
6 Heb. 4:15; 7:26-27
Q & A 36
Q. How does the holy conception and birth of Christ
benefit you?
A. He is our mediator1
and, in God’s sight,
he covers with his innocence and perfect holiness
my sinfulness in which I was conceived.2
1 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Heb. 9:13-15
2 Rom. 8:3-4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 4:4-5; 1 Pet. 1:18-19
The Heidelberg: Lord’s Day 9
Q & A 26
Q. What do you believe when you say,
“I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth”?
A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who out of nothing created heaven and earth
and everything in them,1
who still upholds and rules them
by his eternal counsel and providence,2
is my God and Father
because of Christ the Son.3
I trust God so much that I do not doubt
he will provide
whatever I need
for body and soul,4
and will turn to my good
whatever adversity he sends upon me
in this sad world.5
God is able to do this because he is almighty God6
and desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.7
1 Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11; Ps. 33:6; Isa. 44:24; Acts 4:24; 14:15
2 Ps. 104; Matt. 6:30; 10:29; Eph. 1:11
3 John 1:12-13; Rom. 8:15-16; Gal. 4:4-7; Eph. 1:5
4 Ps. 55:22; Matt. 6:25-26; Luke 12:22-31
5 Rom. 8:28
6 Gen. 18:14; Rom. 8:31-39
7 Matt. 7:9-11
The Heidelberg: Lord’s Day 7
Q & A 20
Q. Are all people then saved through Christ
just as they were lost through Adam?
A. No.
Only those are saved
who through true faith
are grafted into Christ
and accept all his benefits.1
1 Matt. 7:14; John 3:16, 18, 36; Rom. 11:16-21
Q & A 21
Q. What is true faith?
A. True faith is
not only a sure knowledge by which I hold as true
all that God has revealed to us in Scripture;1
it is also a wholehearted trust,2
which the Holy Spirit creates in me3 by the gospel,4
that God has freely granted,
not only to others but to me also,5
forgiveness of sins,
eternal righteousness,
and salvation.6
These are gifts of sheer grace,
granted solely by Christ’s merit.7
1 John 17:3, 17; Heb. 11:1-3; James 2:19
2 Rom. 4:18-21; 5:1; 10:10; Heb. 4:14-16
3 Matt. 16:15-17; John 3:5; Acts 16:14
4 Rom. 1:16; 10:17; 1 Cor. 1:21
5 Gal. 2:20
6 Rom. 1:17; Heb. 10:10
7 Rom. 3:21-26; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-10
Q & A 22
Q. What then must a Christian believe?
A. All that is promised us in the gospel,1
a summary of which is taught us
in the articles of our universal
and undisputed Christian faith.
1 Matt. 28:18-20; John 20:30-31
Q & A 23
Q. What are these articles?
A. I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Bon Iver: Live Performance Videos
A few videos for your listening pleasure.
Perth by Bon Iver
Calgary by Bon Iver
