VISIONING GOD’S MISSION IN THE

CAPITAL SOUTH CONFERENCE AREA

Saturday, November 3, 2012

WITH GREAT APPRECIATION TO….

A Renewal Enterprisewww.arenewalenterprise.com

Opening WorshipHoly God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal,have mercy on us. Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,

now and forever. Amen

I believe in God, the Father almighty,creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,he is seated at the right hand of the Father,and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy catholic church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting. Amen

O Lord, I cry to you for help.In the morning my prayer comes before you. Let my mouth be full of your praiseand your glory all the day long. Every day will I bless you,and praise your name forever and ever. Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness,O God of our salvation,O hope of all the ends of the earthand of the seas that are far away.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,and all that is within me, bless God's holy name. You redeem my life from the grave,and crown me with mercy and steadfast love. Lord, hear my prayer,and let my cry come before you.

The Lord be with you.And also with you. Let us pray.

Draw your church together, O God, into one great company of disciples, together following our teacher Jesus Christ into every walk of life, together serving in Christ's mission to the world, and together witnessing to your love wherever you will send us; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have protected us through the night from all harm and danger. We ask that you would also protect us today from sin and all evil, so that our life and actions may please you. Into your hands we commend ourselves: our bodies, our souls, and all that is ours. Let your holy angels be with us, so that the wicked foe may have no power over us.Amen.

Agenda for Today• What is God’s Dream for this region of Texas?• How are we living out our purpose today? – As individuals? – As congregations? – As a conference?

• What loaves and fishes do we have?– Congregational resources, passions– Community partners

• How can we work together to make God’s dream even more of a reality?

• So now what?

What in the world is God up to?!

A speed date with the Bible

A speed date with the Bible!• Make two circles of chairs – the inner circle faces

out and the outer circle faces in – so that the people sitting in the chairs are facing each other

• You’ll have exactly 2 minutes to talk with each person – introduce yourself, listen to the Bible passage, and talk about what you hear

• When the facilitator says “Move!” the person in the outside circle moves clockwise to the next chair and repeat until the game is over!

Let’s practice!• Get to know each other – you’ll have 15 seconds

to introduce yourself to the person across from you – say your name, what congregation you’re from, and one funny or interesting fact about you.

• When you here “MOVE!” the person on the outside moves clockwise one chair over. Repeat until the facilitator says stop.

• Now we’re ready for our speed date with the Bible!

What in the world is God up to?!Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that…in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” – Genesis 12:1

What in the world is God up to?!And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength --- he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”– Isaiah 49:5-6

What in the world is God up to?!Unrolling [the scroll, Jesus] found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” – Luke 4:17-21

What in the world is God up to?!And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability…Peter, standing with the eleven, (explained) this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dreams dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my spirit…Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – Acts 2:1-21

What in the world is God up to?!So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ! – 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

So what in the world is God up to?• Without talking, write down your answer to this

question based on what you heard in your speed date with the Bible.

• In groups of 3 talk about what you wrote down.• As a team, try to compose a single sentence that

answers the question: What in the world is God up to?!

• Write it on flip chart paper and hang it on the wall!

I’ll bet you’ve seen this in action!

Turn to the person next to you and tell a story about how God’s mission of love (healing, forgiveness, freedom,

etc.) has come to you through a person you know and love.

Key Ideas

• God’s mission comes to us and through us to others

• God is up to something in the world (on a mission!) and invites us to be a part of it!

• Answering that call is the whole point of our lives --- and of our life together, as the church

What is God’s dream for this part of our State?

Picture it.

God has a dream for the South Austin Area

• The Biblical story tells us God is up to something in the world!

• And our job as the church is to be a part of that mission.

• What would happen in the South Austin Area– in our towns, counties, neighborhoods, and across our state – if we were more focused and more intentional about doing that job?

Picture it

• As you look at all the pictures on the wall, what jumps out at you?

• What do you hear God saying to us through these pictures?

Our Focus as a Synod:

GOD's PEOPLE    -  Growing in faith    -  Outwardly focused    -  Doing mission!

How are we already living out that focus?

• For each part of our purpose , examples of how this is happening:1. with you individually2. in your congregation3. in your conference

What are our Loaves and Fish?

• What are our congregational resources, energies?

• What are community partners doing – and how we can join in?

How can we work together to make God’s dream even more of a reality?

So now what?

Supplies

• Projector & screen• Flip Charts• Post it notes• Markers• Paper• Crayons• Newspapers?