Community
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The mission of God has a church. So the church needs to be in sync with the mission of God. This is the guiding philosophy of the Forge Missions Training Network, which has helped church leaders and laypeople alike all over the world to reach their neighbors, their neighborhoods and their communities with the gospel. In these guides you and your friends will be equipped to be missionaries where you are—which is why God has a church in the first place.
In Community: Living as the People of God you'll explore the dynamic image of church not as a building but a people, not a place but a movement, not a weekly event but a lifestyle. You'll consider how you and your friends might begin to employ your skills and gifts not as a service to the church but as a fulfillment of God's mission to spread the good news of God's kingdom to the ends of the earth. And you'll gain a fresh understanding of how you might relate to one another not as members of an institution but as a family on an exhilarating adventure.
Other volumes in the Forge Guides for Missional Conversation:
Culture: Living in the Places of GodMission: Living for the Purposes of GodPower: Living by the Spirit of GodVision: Living Under the Promises of God
"The possibilities we can imagine for our life are largely determined by the assumptions we have adopted about what life is all about. For most people, these assumptions lead us away from being on mission everyday with God. Through the practice of tried-and-true spiritual disciplines done together in community, these guides will help people uncover those assumptions and renew their minds in light of what God's Word says life is all about, so they can begin to really live, think and act like missionaries in the places God has called them."
"If we truly understood that we are missionaries wherever we live, it would absolutely change everything. That is not an understatement, and the Forge Guides for Missional Conversation guide us into exactly how to go about doing that."
"Most churches no longer need to be convinced to move outside the confines of the church building and engage in God's mission. What churches are now asking for are practical resources to activate congregations toward missional action. Scott Nelson's Forge Guides for Missional Conversation do just that. He has created a series of helpful tools that provides serious theological reflections along with practical steps in getting there. I cannot recommend these guides more highly to any group serious about engaging God's mission."
"Scott Nelson has given us a gem. If you want to live on mission with others in a way that is faithful to God, mindful of your context, with theological depth, then the Forge guides are for you. Get a group of people, start engaging these guides, and you will find the life you were meant to live!"
"The Forge Guides are full of simple but provocative questions that are designed to help groups become a transformative presence in any context."
Foreword by Alan Hirsch
Introduction to the Forge Guides
Using the Forge Guides
Introduction: The Missionary Nature of the Church
Session 1: Living as God's Elect
Session 2: Living as Foreigners and Pilgrims
Session 3: Living as the Body of Christ
Session 4: Living as the Temple of the Holy Spirit
Session 5: Living as the New Creation
Session 6: Living as the Fellowship of the Faith
Appendix: Tips for Having Great Small Group Gatherings
Recommended Resources for Further Study
Notes