Exponential - Main Session 2 - On the Verge: See it - Rob Wegner

For a missional movement, we have to see it before we will get it or do it.

Jesus sees us advancing as a revolutionary, freeing force that recaptures the kingdoms of darkness.

Here’s the church, here’s the steeple, open it up and here’s the people. The devil thought up this memory device. It identifies the church as a place, or a destination event.

We are the church. It is not an event or destination, but an everyday mission.

Optometrist – new lenses clicking in place until we can see clearly.

Traditional ecclesiology – location with centripetal force pulling people attractionally towards it.

Three overlapping circles (Collins – hedgehog image)

Church growth efforts brought helpful missiology inside this existing box and we did it better which led to exceptional growth within our traditional ecclesiology.

Granger hearts began to change and we began to see the church being sent out into our city and around the world. Incarnational mission.

Difference between missional activity and a missional lifestyle. Repeated missional activity can lead to a missional lifestyle or missional activity can be an occasional effort to check a box or get an annual rush from a mission trip that doesn’t impact our everyday lives.

Incarnational Mission created a different direction of movement, an externally focused movement. People out there started asking, where’s this church that we keep hearing about (20-30 minutes away). Do we rent buses and bring them to us? If we tried to control it or centralize it, we would kill it. We said, God what you are doing over here is different. Let’s figure out how to be and gather the church there. Started Monroe Community Center out of former food pantry. Over time Mayor came and said crime had all but dried up since community center work began.

Multiplication Church Planting – Exponential

Started coaching leaders in India about multiplication, leadership development, missional ministry, started slow but then started exploding with growth. Within 18-24 months, 15 disciples going out, each pulling 15-20 disciples together and growing. Soon over 1000 churches were up and running. It was like the book of Acts all over again.

Overlap of three circles is Mission. It is the heart of the church, our mission, our missional energy and goal at every level.

God – what is it that we need to see, get, and do, individually and collectively, as the church?