Mission Church: Teaching Podcast

We are about to encounter three people whose lives were strangely connected and completely changed by the gospel of Jesus. (Just so we are all clear, the gospel of Jesus is this: Humans mess things up. Jesus redeems with love and makes all things new.) And here’s the bottom line about these three people as well as for us: When people are changed by the gospel of Jesus, they are on mission to bring change. We invite you to identify with one of these three people, in your own gospel story or even in how you want to bring change wherever your two feet take you.

Happy Birthday Mission Church! Phew, turning 7 sure took a while, but we wouldn't trade those memories for anything! Today, we look back on 7 key turning points in the past 7 years, and we are reminded that it is not by our might or our power, but by God's Spirit. THANK YOU for being a part of the story God is writing through Mission! The best is truly yet to come!

At Mission we have 3 core values: Gather Differently Grow Intentionally Go Missionally Why do we have these values? What do they accomplish? They help guide your growth spiritually. They help us move specifically. You might be thinking, "From what to where?" Well, let's get that answered!

Because God is Servant, we are Servants; right? But what does it look like for us serve as God the Son, Jesus Christ served? What does it look like for us to serve like Jesus served? Perhaps it's because our barrier to declaring the love of Jesus isn’t our belief that it would benefit those we are serving as much as it is a barrier of fear that we won’t know what to say to those we are serving? Maybe?

Since, well, forever, God's mission has been helping people find and follow Him; to bring them back into perfect connection with a Father that loves them unconditionally. And yet why is it so easy to push God's core attribute of 'Missionary' off to the side? Keeping real busy doing stuff at church and with other Christians to distract God, posting pictures from our devotional times to throw him off - hoping maybe God will forget about His plan. Except that he won’t because it’s who He is.

A Missional Community is defined as a family of missionary servants helping people find and follow Christ. As we Go Missionally as family – as we Go and imitate God, we Go and extend to others what's been extended to us. Because God is family. We are family.

We often think about worship as something we DO or something we GIVE, but today, guest speaker Ted Coniaris takes the mic to teach us how through worship, we can also be posturing our hearts to RECEIVE from God. He's got what you need! Are you willing to receive it?

At the end of Matthew 28, Jesus gives His disciples their job description. It's called The Great Commission, and Jesus commands us to "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit... " In the book of Acts this is what we see being carried out time and time again. One distinctive feature of a disciple is they don't hold in their allegiance to King Jesus. They go public with it so that everyone knows what they believe and who they belong to. Get those air-horns and cow-bells ready because today, people are going public with their faith in Jesus!!!

The disciples were called "Christians" first at Antioch because what they did and how they lived reminded people of Jesus. So, what would our city name us today? Does what we do and the way we live remind people of Jesus?

Get ready to lean into one of the most important stories in the entire Bible and one of the most important stories in the entirety of church history: Acts 10. The reason this story is one of the most critical stories in church history is that because up until Acts 10, many people within the church thought that peace with God was distributed to just a select few. However, that thinking was about to be redefined, along with the boundaries of Jesus' love.

Chains... they hold us back and hold us down; keeping us imprisoned when we might not even know it. As a former prisoner, guest speaker and author Louis Dooley can relate to the idea of chains first hand, but more importantly, he knows who can break them. It's time to be set free!

What does following Jesus look like? How would you describe it? Guest speaker Hannah Gronowski, the founder of Generation Distinct, uses words like "exciting", "fulfilling" and "adventurous" when talking about her pursuit and passion of what God has inspired within her. Oh, by the way, this kind of adventure is accessible to EVERYONE; no matter your age!

Remember the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz? He was a silly, laughably-lovable character, but he was also debilitated by fear. Can you relate? Guest teacher, Ricky Brown, takes fear head-on, and he's not fighting fair. Put 'em up! Put 'em up!

So... what is a movement? How does it begin? What does it even look like? We know lot's of questions might come to mind here, especially because our vision as a church is to - "Experience a movement of Jesus in The 10 in our lifetime!" Well, sit back, relax, and let guest teacher Pete Coco demystify the most essential attributes of movements that change the world.

We know metaphors aren't foolproof. However, when we think about riding a bike, it seems an awful lot like living life the way Jesus intended us to live it: To the fullest; uphill climbs and all. So, pump up those tires and start pedaling, you're in for the ride of your life!

Once Saul got to Antioch, the rest is history. Few have ever lived a more SENT life. But before his time in Antioch, Saul was hanging out in Tarsus. And by "hanging out", we mean God was preparing him to live his sent life to the fullest. Listen along and learn that though waiting might not feel needed, it's the only way to earn your wings.

We're taking a look at the other side of Saul's story in this teaching. God gave the disciple Ananias some clear instructions: "Go meet Saul on Straight Street." Amazingly, Ananias' response wasn't: "Ya know what God...this sure makes a lot of sense. Saul is on his way here to send us all to prison anyway. This will definitely speed up the process. How about not?" Instead, Ananias responded in obedience. Noah was obedient long before he saw a rain cloud. Moses was obedient long before the Red Sea parted, and Ananias was obedient long before he knew how things would turn out on Straight Street.

Saul was a bad, bad man. In Acts 9, his resume is recorded as "breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples" and "taking them as prisoners." But on the road to Damascus, Saul encountered the risen Jesus. What Saul deserved was blindness, what he received was sight. What Saul deserved was death, what he received was life.

"Volunteering? Who me?" Yes, you! Let's be honest, when it comes to church, it's easy to stay on the sidelines and be a spectator. Even in the early church, thousands watched while a few worked. But imagine if our response was, "Put me in coach! Where do you need me?" A movement of Jesus in our lifetime would be inevitable!

To fear something and to be afraid of something are not entirely the same thing. The difference is in your relationship to them or their relationship to you. Why do we bring this up? Here’s why... The question we're then faced with isn’t: do we fear something or someone, the question is: Do we Fear God.