Download a copy of MissioLife: Image for free right now!

October 2, 2012 in About MissioLife

NPH is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and is doing so by celebrating 100 years in 100 days at 100.NPH.com.  They’ve been doing a lot of contests with some great prizes (you should check it out!), but today they’re giving away a free 6-week module of MissioLife.

This is the Image lesson of first module of year 2 of MissioLife, which is now available!

Head to the MissioLife Facebook page to get the download.

Hurry,  it’s only available until Thursday, October 4!

Download a copy of MissioLife: Breathe free right now!

September 14, 2012 in About MissioLife

NPH is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and is doing so by celebrating 100 years in 100 days at 100.NPH.com.  They’ve been doing a lot of contests with some great prizes (you should check it out!), but today they’re giving away a free 6-week module of MissioLife.

This is the Rhythms lesson of first module of year 2 of MissioLife, which will be available for purchase soon.

Head to the MissioLife Facebook page to get the download.

Hurry,  it’s only available until Monday, September 17!

Download Rhythms for free, today only!

July 25, 2012 in About MissioLife

NPH is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and is doing so by celebrating 100 years in 100 days at 100.NPH.com.  They’ve been doing a lot of contests with some great prizes (you should check it out!), but today they’re giving away a free 6-week module of MissioLife.

This is the Rhythms lesson of first module of year 2 of MissioLife, which will be available for purchase soon.

Head to the MissioLife Facebook page to get the download.

Hurry,  it’s available today only!

MissioLife Webinar

June 5, 2012 in About MissioLife

Last week we did a webinar all about the MissioLife philosophy and theology.  In case you missed it, you can watch the recording of it right here. The very beginning of the intro got cut off, but you didn’t miss any content.

 

Mission Starts With Beauty

May 16, 2012 in By Ryan, Missional Living

If I’m not careful, I let myself get stuck staring at a computer screen all day, pretty much every day. As the weather gets nicer outside, I find this dreadful. Last Monday, I intentionally took a 15 minute break, went outside, laid in the sun, played with the grass, and felt the breeze. It was more beautiful than the rest of my day and something I’m convinced I need to do every day, because as I laid in the grass, God gave me life for that day.

In the first creation narrative of Genesis, God declares the goodness of God’s creation seven times. God even looks upon everything God has created and finds it “supremely good” (Genesis 1:31 CEB).

The story of God begins with beauty.

When we look upon the world we live in, we might struggle to come to the same conclusion as God did. The brokenness of sin and death is often much easier to find than the beauty of love and life. And maybe rightly so, because the world we are a part of now is different from the world God found “supremely good” in the beginning. Sin and death have come into the world, and the world is no longer how God intended it to be.

We might begin to think that God’s mission is simply to get rid of a problem. When we view God’s mission as getting rid of something, I think we miss the fullness of God’s abundant life.

Because the divine, the beautiful, the sacred, is to be found all around – if we simply slow down enough and pay enough attention. If we take a break from the manufactured computers of our lives, we can participate in God’s life-giving creation. If we take our focus off ourselves and put it on others, we can love the way God intended us to love. And just as we can participate in God’s life-giving creation, we can participate in God’s life-giving mission, helping creation live into the fullness of God’s life.

Recognizing and living in the beauty of God’s world is the beginning of living in God’s mission. If we take seriously the scriptural testimony to a God who is at work in the world, restoring and reconciling all creation to God’s self, we begin to see that God isn’t starting over from scratch and isn’t just solving a sin problem but is working to restore creation to its intended wholeness, beauty, and supreme goodness.

How does beginning with the goodness of God’s creation affect the way we view God’s mission in the world?

Right now, how can you slow down to see the beauty of God’s life in the people, places, and creation around you?

God’s Story and Invitation

May 3, 2012 in By Ryan, Missional Living

Throughout the last year of my life I have been awakened to a greater understanding of who God is, the story of God, and what God is doing in the world. It is an exciting and on-going journey. MissioLife (and Chris Folmsbee and others) has shaped and guided this journey into a missional life.

My story is similar to many others’ stories. I was raised in a Christian family, my dad was a pastor, and I have always belonged to the church. I was taught about believing in God, God’s love, God’s sacrifice, God’s forgiveness, and the life that is possible through it all. I was taught to seek God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. And I was taught to love others.

I am so thankful for and blessed to have parents and a Christian community that raised me in the love of God.

But I have also learned in the last year or so, that maybe there’s something about being Christian that I missed growing up. Chances are that I was taught more than I learned, and that now I’m aware of what I have been taught all along. Regardless of whether I missed it or was never taught it, I’m discovering that there is much more to following Christ than just being forgiven and trying to love God as much as I can.

I’m discovering that my life has nothing to do with my own story and everything to do with God’s Story.

I’m discovering that when I place my life into God’s Story, I find who God created me to be.

I’m discovering that I’m learning more and more about what God’s Story really is.

And I’m discovering that God’s invitation is not just for my sins to be forgiven but for each of us to be a part of God’s redemptive mission to restore all things to their intended wholeness.

That is why MissioLife has been a valuable resources for me and our community. It has guided us further into God’s Story and God’s invitation to be part of God’s loving activity in the world. I look forward to sharing more about our experience with Missio Life.

Whether you have used MissioLife or not:

How do you understand the Story of God? What is God doing in your life and in the world? How can you respond to God’s invitation?

A Missional Prayer

April 12, 2012 in About MissioLife, By Chris, Missional Living

Pray this Scripture today  – Isaiah 52:7-10

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.”

In what ways are you bringing peace, goodness and salvation to your world?

How are you living in such a way that reveals to the world around you that God reigns?

In what do you put your daily hope?

On Mission, Part 4

April 10, 2012 in About MissioLife, By Chris, Missional Living

This is 4th in a series of posts called, “On Mission.”  Click for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

 

So far in this series of posts we have covered the term “missional,” the origins of the mission of God, and the nature of the mission of God.  I think our next step in a better understanding of the mission of God is to realize the four key components of the work of God’s mission.   This is how we, the people of God, the church, find ways to participate in God’s mission.

Component # 1 – Evangelism – proclaiming and performing the gospel

Component # 2 – Contextualization – making the gospel message relevant

Component # 3 – Liberation – setting the “captives” free (Think Luke 4:18 & 19)

Component # 4 – Impartation – converting culture from hearers to storytellers

It is imperative to know what we mean when we use the word “missional” to describe how we are living.  If you say you are missional and you are not integrating the above components into your everyday life and the life of your church, you are confused as to what missional is.  Each of these four components has subsequent aspects of mission implicit within them (Think Liberation: Justice), however, in my opinion, these are the four main components of missional living.

People who live missionally share the gospel message that Jesus is King, make that message relevant to the every day life of people, work to free people from the constraints that keep them from a restored relationship with God and find ways to convert people into disciples who are making disciples.

Why MissioLife?

March 23, 2012 in About MissioLife, By Chris

Henri Nouwen once said, “People want to see and hear stories and experience their own stories in the context of a larger, more dramatic, more explicit, or more intense one.”**

This is one reason we have created MissioLife.  We desire to help you as you guide your children, adults and teens into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ to see their lives wrapped up or implicated in the story and mission of God.

By intentionally moving through the entire story of God each year, you will be guiding your whole community into an intense story in which they’ll find meaning for God, self, their relationships with others and with the surrounding world.

It is within the whole story and mission of God that we see God’s passionate and consistent pursuit of a restored relationship with humanity.   God’s mission is to restore the world to its intended wholeness and God is calling you and I to join with the entire Church to participate with God in this redemptive work.

MissioLife is simply a tool to help you as you inspire others toward living in the way of the One the story of God serves, Jesus.

**From Sabbatical Journey: The Diary of His Final Year, page 10

A Rule (or Rhythm) of Life

March 21, 2012 in By Chris, Missional Living

Reflect on this quote:

“A rule of life is an intention to place Jesus Christ at the center of life, ministry and community.  It serves to train us in the ways of Jesus and to remind us who is Lord of our lives.  We can view a rule of life as a tool for shaping our Christian formation and leading us into a deeper relationship with Christ and others.  A rule of life can also give shape to our daily lives, not in a rigid way, but in a life-giving way.”**

Reflect on this one also:

“A rule of life means embracing certain values and practices for one’s spiritual formation.  It should provide structure for many areas of our lives – prayer, Scripture, fellowship, worship, Sabbath, mission, justice, service, sacraments, work, friendship, rest, nutrition, exercise, creativity, giving and so on.”**

Do you have a rule of life?  In what ways are you intentionally placing Jesus Christ at the center of your life?  In what ways is your rule of life, life-giving?

**Taken from Mike King’s Presence-Centered Youth Ministry, p. 151