Thanks for this post Shawn, and for your example as someone who seeks to live a missional life.
I recently finished reading your book "The Table I Long For". It certainly challenged me to live a more missional life. I particularly like the idea of being in a public space regularly, allowing me to get to know people who frequent that space and allowing them to get to know me, and am looking to implement something like that myself. Your book was given to me by our pastor, who has also read it and recommended it to me. As I read through it I made lots of notes of things that stood out to me, with a veiw to sharing those notes with and discussing them with our pastor.
I am part of a group that meets in someone's home 2 or 3 Sabbaths a month in the town I live or a nearby town (and attend the 'church program' about 45 minutes drive away, on average, about one Sabbath a month), and all of us in our group have been trying to live life in a missional rather than just an attractional way for a number of years now. For our group, we spend time sharing what's been happening in our lives, we encourage each other, have a time of Bible study, and share a Sabbath meal together. And during the week we often interact with other members of our group. When I first started attending the group I knew almost immediately that it was the sort of 'church' I wanted to be part of rather than just 'going to church' to be a spectator.
There is something wonderful about meeting as a group, where the aim is not to indoctrinate, but rather to add flavour to each other's lives and the lives of those in our wider communities, 'no string attached'.
Thank you so much for sharing, James! And thanks for your kind words about my book. I'm glad you've been inspired to seek to live a more missional life and to prioritize community!
Hi Shawn! I love this approach. Every service in Apopka ends with "now go, and be the church!" I am praying that I will be just that for my family, neighbors, and so on. Also, as I read this very well-written piece, I was reminded of a conversation Norm and I had with someone you know very well. It was during this time of transformation, and we were discussing how we noticed a change, and this person, who loves you very much, said, "well, perhaps we've been doing it wrong all along!"
Beautifully said!
Thank you so much!
Thanks for this post Shawn, and for your example as someone who seeks to live a missional life.
I recently finished reading your book "The Table I Long For". It certainly challenged me to live a more missional life. I particularly like the idea of being in a public space regularly, allowing me to get to know people who frequent that space and allowing them to get to know me, and am looking to implement something like that myself. Your book was given to me by our pastor, who has also read it and recommended it to me. As I read through it I made lots of notes of things that stood out to me, with a veiw to sharing those notes with and discussing them with our pastor.
I am part of a group that meets in someone's home 2 or 3 Sabbaths a month in the town I live or a nearby town (and attend the 'church program' about 45 minutes drive away, on average, about one Sabbath a month), and all of us in our group have been trying to live life in a missional rather than just an attractional way for a number of years now. For our group, we spend time sharing what's been happening in our lives, we encourage each other, have a time of Bible study, and share a Sabbath meal together. And during the week we often interact with other members of our group. When I first started attending the group I knew almost immediately that it was the sort of 'church' I wanted to be part of rather than just 'going to church' to be a spectator.
There is something wonderful about meeting as a group, where the aim is not to indoctrinate, but rather to add flavour to each other's lives and the lives of those in our wider communities, 'no string attached'.
Thank you so much for sharing, James! And thanks for your kind words about my book. I'm glad you've been inspired to seek to live a more missional life and to prioritize community!
Hi Shawn! I love this approach. Every service in Apopka ends with "now go, and be the church!" I am praying that I will be just that for my family, neighbors, and so on. Also, as I read this very well-written piece, I was reminded of a conversation Norm and I had with someone you know very well. It was during this time of transformation, and we were discussing how we noticed a change, and this person, who loves you very much, said, "well, perhaps we've been doing it wrong all along!"