{"id":162,"date":"2007-09-10T10:12:52","date_gmt":"2007-09-10T10:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2007\/09\/sent-as-a-community-of-the-good-news-part-1.html"},"modified":"2007-09-10T10:12:52","modified_gmt":"2007-09-10T10:12:52","slug":"sent-as-a-community-of-the-good-news-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/09\/sent-as-a-community-of-the-good-news-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Sent as a Community of the Good News, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 14 of series: The Mission of God and the Missional Church<\/em>
\nPermalink for this post<\/a> \/ Permalink for this series<\/a>
\nWhen Jesus sent His first disciples into the world, He sent them as a community, not as a bunch of isolated individuals. How else would their mutual love prove to the world the genuineness of their discipleship? Even when the early Christians left their home churches to share the gospel elsewhere, they usually chose to do so in teams, not as Lone Ranger evangelists (Mark 6:7; Acts 15:22; 1 Thess 3:1-2). Through visitors, letters, and prayers, they maintained close fellowship with the churches that had sent them out. Christian community was that important to their mission, in addition to their well-being as believers.
\nChrist has sent you and me into the world, not alone, but as members of His church. We share together in the mission of the church, and the church shares in our personal (but not individualistic) aspects of that mission. The same Spirit who empowers us for ministry is the One who immersed us into the church at the moment of our conversion (1 Cor 12:13), so that we might engage in our mission as the sent people of God.
\nWhy is our corporate sending so important? First of all, we get our training, encouragement, and support for mission from our Christian community. Here we learn what it means to have intimate fellowship with God and with each other. Here we learn how to communicate our faith to others. Here we learn how to live in a way that reflects the good news to the world. Here we find hope when we are discouraged and receive prayer when we feel overwhelmed. Inevitably, those who try to fulfill their mission alone will fail. Solitary service is indeed an impossible mission.
\nSecond, many aspects of Christian mission cannot be accomplished by individuals working alone. You can probably tell your neighbors about Christ without help from other believers, but its unlikely that you’ll be able to evangelize a continent, or feed victims of famine, or build a hospital all by yourself. Yet, in partnership with other believers, you can do all of these things and more.
\nEvangelizing a continent, feeding victims of famine, and building hospitals are among the marvelous things Christians have done in community together. But they are grand in scale, and might not motivate us in our daily lives to join with other Christians for ministry. Yet there are many things that a handful of Christians can do together, tasks that require a few people and some organization, but not the kind of effort needed to evangelize a continent.
\nI think, for example, of one of Irvine Presbyterian Church’s best outreach ministries. It’s called Pizza Lunch. Every Friday during the school year, kids from the high school across the street come over to our church to buy a couple of slices of pizza and a drink. Then they hang out during their lunch break, listening to music, chatting with friends, and doing whatever it is that high schoolers do when they’re with their friends. These days, we’ll get 600 or more students at Pizza Lunch. And it builds lots of good will for our church among teenagers. When I’m at Starbucks and introduce myself to a kid as the pastor from Irvine Presbyterian Church, I often hear something like, “Oh, the pizza church! You’ve got a cool church!” (Photo to the right: a scene from Pizza Lunch)
\nNow you might think that Pizza Lunch as the dream child of our high school director, or of the Senior Pastor, or of the board of elders. But, in fact, the idea for Pizza Lunch first came from a couple of moms in our church. They saw all those kids. They paid close attention to the church’s location across the street. And they realized the potential. So they came up with the idea of Pizza Lunch. Once they got the go ahead from church leaders, they organized, bringing more moms on board, communicating with local pizza dealers, etc. etc. Before long, Pizza Lunch was born. And now it’s one of the best ministries of our church.
\nOne mom couldn’t do Pizza Lunch. Neither could two. But a dozen moms, with some help from our high school staff, can pull it off. What a great, simple example of mission done in community. I wonder what would happen if all Christians began to look with missional eyes at their world, and gathered a few others to join them in some new ministry.
\nIn my next post I’ll talk about another dimension of our communal mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 14 of series: The Mission of God and the Missional Church Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series When Jesus sent His first disciples into the world, He sent them as a community, not as a bunch of isolated individuals. How else would their mutual love prove to the world the genuineness…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mission"],"yoast_head":"\nSent as a Community of the Good News, Part 1 - Mark D. 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Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}