In December and January, our 9:00 am Adult Bible Education hour will be a missional conversation for the whole church as we explore who God is calling us to be!  Each week, a link to a summary of the conversation  will be posted in the missional section on our homepage and links to other weeks and articles will be available there and at the bottom of this page.

We also encourage you to continue the conversation by email throughout the week by sending your thoughts and questions to missional@hopechurchonline.org. Tom Kelly, Pastor Kirk and the elders will be copied on your email and would love to dialog with you more on what being missional means for Hope!

Listen to the audio from our Sunday December 18, 2011 missional converation during the ABE hour as you follow along with the notes and slides below.

Exploding opportunities. This is the golden age of global opportunity. Many people feel that history is nearing its climax, and God is giving His Church unprecedented ways to finish the task of carrying the gospel to every people on earth. We don't know God's timetable, but we can recognize that we live in an era of history with never-before-experienced opportunities.

Global shifts. A number of changes that are transforming the missions landscape. The number of Christians is exploding, especially across South America, Africa, and China. Technology and ease of travel are providing access to the furthest regions of the world. Mass migrations of people are bringing unreached people to our doorstep. And today, the potential of mobilizing millions of Christians around the world is creating an amazingly powerful new missions thrust.

Thanks be to God and all of you, I can report this morning that Hope Has 5 teens who are seriously considering "global" Missions.  How will we respond to them?

As churches embrace these new opportunities, they have begun to recognize the importance of owning the mission, not just owning the missionary. Rather than seeing their church's role as limited to sending out John and Mary Doe as missionaries to Odessa, they define their task as bigger and more mission-focused: We are helping to launch a church-planting movement and expand Christ's Kingdom in Odessa. As part of that process, we are fielding John and Mary Doe there and partnering with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in the XYZ church of Odessa. Do you see the difference? This new attitude does not mean you love or support missionaries less, but it does mean that you develop a passion and commitment for the global mission. We will come back to talk more about this shift from a focus just on the missionary to a focus on the mission.

This video will demonstrate how one church refused to use excuses and instead chose to FOCUS with exciting impact.

What was Cool River's motivation for pursuing a global FOCUS? They believed that God was a God for the nations and that their hearts needed to be passionate about the same thing. What was the impact?

In a particular location of Southeast Asia, they improved the educational opportunities with computers, taught better health practices, and made clean water available. By building bridges of friendship, they were able to share Christ. Back home, they had new understanding and passion to impact their own unreached community.

Defining what does and doesn't change. God's people are always called to proclaim the changeless truths He has revealed and to do so in ways that serve their particular generation. If the church loses its biblical foundation, it becomes useless—salt without savor. But if the church refuses to change its methodology, it loses its voice to those beyond its walls who desperately need its message.

One illustration: In the early 20th century, a new way of mass communication became available—radio. Christians with a passion for the lost seized this brand-new medium and used it to communicate the unchanging truth of God's Word to millions of people who had never heard Jesus' name.

Generalizations: In the traditional church model we were often out of touch with  our missionary. We prayed and gave some support and saw them about once every four years. Today we can be connected in so many different ways.

The contemporary church centered their efforts on local outreach through programs and performance. Some became more focused in their support of their Missionaries but many became overwelmed with all that they were doing to consider theneeds of others  in remote places in the world.

The Missional Church seeks to engage culture locally, regionally and globally as Jesus did as he walked on this earth. We are still learning what that may mean but we are not shrinking back from the Great Commandment or the Great Commission.

The Leader in the Traditional Church was seen by how available he was to his congregation.  His work was to be available to his people  to"hatch", "match", "patch" and "dispatch".  The Leader assumed many of the responsibilities of a Business person in running the church. His value was determined by measureable Outcomes. The Missional Church Leader desires to be an example to his people And desires to engage with the culture that he comes in contact with that God may Choose to work through his people and himself. He leaves the results to God but his People and himself senses God's peace in the process.

The Traditional Church saw the need of higher education and where it was attained as the standard for being equipped. The Contemporary Church pursued seminars and conferences as the best mode of equipping people. The Missional Church favors coming alongside their people with "just in time" coaching and mentoring.

Does change imply the old was bad? Help the group clearly understand that new methods do not condemn the old. If some in the group are struggling with this concept, return to the radio illustration: Starting Christian radio broadcasts to remote areas of the Andes did not imply that the pioneers who spent weeks in itinerant trips across South America were failures. They used the methods available in their day. When radio became available, a new generation grasped the opportunity to use it for great missions impact. Initiating radio broadcasting did not condemn past missions efforts, nor did it replace all missionary evangelists. The two became complementary.

Individuals differ widely when it comes to embracing change. Some do it easily. Others are more comfortable with traditional approaches. Change agents need to be patient with those who change slowly. Traditionalists need to applaud change agents who move ahead aggressively.