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Key: Family Culture

How can our church develop a sustainable culture of joining God’s mission? 

Our church must transition from “mission” only being the subject of sermons to developing deep relationships as the family of God which overflow into love for our community. 

Think about a three-tiered fountain. Our personal relationship with God is represented by the top tier of the fountain. This is the most important relationship we have in the Kingdom. It is the source of God’s new, eternal life in us! Think of that life springing up from the source and filling us to overflowing. Our lives are being filled and changed by God, but His new life is not meant for us to experience alone, it’s meant to overflow. Just like the three-tiered fountain, God’s love overflows from the first tier to the second tier.

The second tier represents the family of God. God’s love overflows from our personal relationships with Him, which produce a shared life in community as His family. We get to discover His new life together! What you’re learning from the Lord impacts how I am growing with Him. My relationship with God helps you grow in your relationship with Him. And as His family, we get to experience His new life together as we see throughout the New Testament. Acts 2 paints a beautiful picture of people’s relationships with God overflowing into shared love for each other. 

As the early church in Acts 2 was seeking God, their relationships with each other started to change. They started selling their possessions to make sure everyone had what they needed. They ate their meals together in each other’s homes. They were living life together every day. 

In the Kingdom of God, our heavenly Father is leading us to actively live our lives together as His family, His house, Jesus’ body, and Jesus’ bride.

As we grow deeper relationships with Him and with each other, we learn how to overflow this Kingdom life into our neighborhoods and cities. This is represented by the second tier of the fountain overflowing into the third tier. The love that we share one for another is what equips us to then overflow towards our local communities.

An overflowing, three-tiered fountain is a helpful picture of God’s love overflowing from us, towards other believers, and into our communities. But there is a challenge that we find churches around the world are facing today in reaching a vibrant third tier of mission culture.

It can often be assumed that God’s people should be sent off individually to simply figure out how to “do” His mission. But if our church community hasn’t experienced praying for each other, eating meals together, sharing the gospel with one another, or building deeper friendships, how can we expect to be able to reproduce any of these missional practices when we’re sent out? 

When we pray for each other, we’re prepared to pray for our neighbors.

When we serve each other, we’re equipped to serve our cities.

When we talk about the Gospel together, we’re ready to discuss the Gospel in conversations.

Whatever output we expect to see at work in the mission, we must first practice it together as God’s family. 

As God’s family, we must be continually growing deeper relationships of ministering to each other. This is not only an authentic experience of God’s Kingdom-culture, but it also successfully equips us to overflow His love towards others.

What we experience together is what we’ll overflow into our community. 

What practices can help our local gathering of God’s family to regularly celebrate, mourn, share, discuss, reconcile, serve, and learn with each other?