Commissioned, part 1 — “The First Commission”
Welcome to our new series Commissioned, where we will examine the practical nature of our beliefs, finding encouragement to put the Gospel message of Jesus to work in our lives.
1. In the Primer Podcast, Rich Stearns shares the story of his conversion to Christ. Share some aspects of your story that may be similar or different from Rich’s story. What made you become willing to “bet the farm” on Christ?
2. Rich talked about something he called the “fire insurance gospel”—where our faith is little more than an insurance policy against hell, one that has little bearing on our actual lives here on earth. Talk about your experience with this way of thinking about the Christian faith.
3. In the conversation, Rich says that Jesus commissioned us to go into the world as his ambassadors to finish his rescue mission. How does this way of understanding our faith serve as a corrective to the “fire insurance gospel”?
In Luke 6, Jesus tells his disciples some revolutionary things that challenge the status quo. As you read and answer the next few questions, think about your own calling as a disciple of Jesus.
4. Read Luke 6:20-26. How do these “blessings and woes” reorient the way you look at what a truly successful life looks like? How does this passage reframe the way you view the pursuit of wealth, comfort, happiness, and notoriety?
5. Read Luke 6:27-31. Talk about what our Christian witness would be like if we all loved like this—without condition or expectation.
6. Read Luke 6:37-42. Does this passage make you re-examine how you think about judgment?
7. Read Luke 6:46-49. What would happen if we actually let our belief become the starting point for the way we live each day?
8. Reflecting on Luke 6 as a whole, what is life supposed to look like in God’s Kingdom? What do you think your role is in this Kingdom?
9. Rich implies in the podcast that when we place our identity in the kingdom of the world and not in the Kingdom of God, we are like the man who build his house in the path of the flood. Where do you find your deepest meaning?
Find Rich Stearns’ book Unfinished here , on Amazon, or purchase at the Mission Cafe.
(*Video available after Sunday services)
