When Christ calls people, he invites them on a journey—a journey taken together in community.
We have reached a point in history, however, when we think of the church as a fixed place where isolated individuals show up, consume a Christian message, drink some coffee, and get on with their lives. The times demand, and the gospel proclaims, that we recover our identity as a church that is a people on a quest for the kingdom of heaven, formed intimately by a loving God and called onto a long journey for the sake of our neighbors and our world.
In The Missional Quest you?ll learn how to take your church on a long run, and how to sustain yourselves and one another along the way, through the power of God for the sake of the world.
"The Missional Quest is a practical guide for how to get everyone in your church engaged in the mission of Jesus. I dream of a church where 100 percent of the people are sold-out, surrendered and serving Jesus, and Lance Ford and Brad Brisco show us how to make it happen."
"Those who wonder why we need another book on missional church should read this one. Then you'll know. Lance and Brad have done a great job of putting the cookies on the shelf where we can all reach them. At this point in the movement we need this kind of practical 'how-to' guidance from coaches who have experience playing the game. These two missional leaders fit the bill."
"Not only are Brad Brisco and Lance Ford great friends, they are also highly gifted colleagues deeply involved in helping to birth and nurture the missional church in America and beyond. This is a top-class practical resource to help any community live into its own missional future."
CONTENTS
Foreword by Ed Stetzer
Introduction
Section One
Fostering a Missional Mindset (How Should My Church be Thinking?)
1. The Starting Line: Where the Missional Journey Begins
Section Two
Fostering a Missional Posture (What Steps Are Necessary?)
2. Stop and Go: Rhythms of Inner Formation
3. AD 30 All Over Again: Emphasizing Missionary Formation
4. Won't You Be My Neighbor?: Knowing and Loving the Ones We Live Among
5. Home, Work and God's Mission: Engaging Your First and Second Places
6. Where Everybody Knows Your Name: The Importance of Third Places
7. Launching Pads: Small Groups Becoming Missional Communities
8. Follow the Follower: Developing a Missional Leadership Approach
9. Have a Great Trip: What Matters in the Long Run
Appendix: "Sending Passages" in John's Gospel
Acknowledgments
Notes
About Forge America
