 The year 2018 is rapidly coming to its conclusion… and as I visit New Jersey District congregations, and reflect upon the ministry priorities of Jesus for His people, there are four ministry focuses that seem paramount in our life together in the year 2019.
ministry focus #1: biblical literacy A frequent message and exhortation of Jesus for His people was to encourage them to know, and to build their lives upon, the sacred Scriptures. “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples…” For “everyone then who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a wise man...” Or this admonition from the desert wanderings of ancient Israel, remembered and used by Jesus when He was tempted by the devil, “that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” In order to address this ministry priority of Jesus for His disciples, two workshops have been scheduled and made available for New Jersey District congregations in 2019: the parables of Jesus (click link to download promotional materials)…one-third of Jesus’ teaching was given to His disciples through the parables
the Divine Drama (with notes from The Bethel Series)…these two resources provide a comprehensive introduction into, and an overview of, the grand narrative and major biblical themes of the Scriptures
ministry focus #2: evangelism We are very familiar with these departing words from Jesus to His disciples: “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Or these words recorded by Luke in his Gospel, “thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” In order to address this ministry priority of Jesus for His disciples, three workshops have been scheduled and made available for New Jersey District congregations in 2019: life is all about stories (click link to download promotional materials) …life is all about stories and every person has a story so how have you gone about making sense of your story…God has a story that makes sense of every human story and evangelism can be understood as helping people make sense of life’s story in light of His story of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ
celtic evangelism (click link to download promotional materials) …Patrick was sixteen years old when Celtic pirates from Ireland invaded northeast England, captured Patrick and many other young men, and sold them into slavery…as a slave to a prosperous tribal chief and druid named Miliuc, Patrick grew in his understanding of the Irish Celtic people – their language and their culture – many years later God would use Patrick in a powerful way as His special evangelist to those who made him a slave…this workshop will study the missionary and evangelistic methods of St. Patrick as he engaged in Celtic evangelism
every one a witness…is an evangelism training event that teaches you to witness to your friends and any other de-churched and non-churched people you may know, using the LASSIE approach to witnessing (Listen, Ask, Seek, Share, Invite, and Encourage) and naturally sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ through relational, contextual witnessing…Rev. Mark Woods is the author of this training resource and will be the workshop presenter and trainer
ministry focus #3: biblical and adaptive leadership Lesslie Newbigin, one of the foremost missiologists of the 20th century, retired from missionary service in India and returned home to England in the 1970s. What he found in his beloved homeland was a more challenging mission field than he left behind. He wrote this: “England is a pagan society and the development of a truly missionary encounter with this very tough form of paganism is the greatest intellectual and practical task facing the church” (Unfinished Agenda, 1993:236) Newbigin foresaw that the West was quickly becoming a mission field and the church needed to develop a truly missionary encounter with their friends and neighbors. In other words, if western societies have become post-Christian mission fields... ...how do we lead a congregation to be faithful to the mission that God has put before us when the world has changed so radically? ...what kind of leadership does it demand of those of us who have been called to lead God’s people at this time and in this place? In order to address this ministry priority of Jesus for His disciples, two workshops have been scheduled and made available for New Jersey District congregations in 2019: adaptive leadership…four Saturday mornings have been set aside in order to discuss core adaptive leadership practices identified in Tod Bolsinger’s book Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory
teaching fish to walk…a workshop on adaptive leadership by Peter Steinke, who is the author of this resource and who will be our presenter
ministry focus #4: missional lifestyle training Everyone has a mission, that is, everyone is being sent by God to do something, somewhere, at sometime; whether they fulfill the purpose for their sending, that is another matter. Personally I have embarked on many mission projects in my life. Some of them are rather trivial, such as my fifty year-old quest now to get a hole-in-one in golf. But other mission projects are much more important such as earning a paycheck to provide for my family; being a loving spouse to Carol and a caring father to our four children: Leah, Joseph, Joshua and Jonathan; and a good friend to many. Yet my primary mission, the foremost reason that I exist according to God’s plan, purposing and sending, is to “go and make disciples of all nations.” This mission is to permeate all of my life and it is to permeate your life as well. Forrest Gump, in the movie Forrest Gump, would periodically ask his mother, “Momma, what’s my destiny?” Your destiny, as a Christian, is to be and live as His disciple and to make disciples of the nations. In order to address this ministry priority of Jesus for His disciples, two workshops have been scheduled and made available for New Jersey District congregations in 2019: missional lifestyle training…so that we might become more intentional and equipped in joining Jesus in our every day lives as His missionaries; the workshop presenter and trainer will be Rev. Greg Finke, the author of “Joining Jesus on His Mission”
a door set open…a workshop that explores the implications of ministry for those congregations who are committed to His mission and is based upon these words from Revelation 3:8: “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have but little power, but you have kept My word and have not denied My name…”; Peter Steinke, who is the author of this resource, will be our presenter
It is my hope and prayer that you will experience the good life in 2019…”and He has showed you what is good; and what does the Lord require of you: but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Your brother in Christ and in His mission, Tony |