Calling God’s People Together… To Love Our Communities to Christ.

1. Calling God’s People Together…To Love Our Communities to Christ. The Mission America Coalition Contending together for the heart and soul of America

2. Loving our Communities to Christ: The Genesis • Perspective: “Lift up your eyes and see…” God is at work. • In most of the world: amazing church growth. • In the western world: decline, both church and culture. • Something’s wrong. What is God saying? • A Simple strategy: Listen for God’s voice, and follow Him. • God has been at work in America. • M.A. Coalition—many listening posts, one message: cities. • Varied approaches, a few common themes, one “framework.”

3. Loving our Communities to Christ: The “Principles” Common themes - Bedrock transformational principles: • Cities are transformed when people are transformed. • There is no shortcut. • People are transformed when God transforms them. • It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing. • God transforms people when His Church prays, cares, and shares. • Simple, transferable, biblical principles.

4. Loving our Communities to Christ: The “framework” • The Premise: Jesus is the hope for the world…And the Church is God’s chosen vehicle for evangelism • The Church is commanded (Matthew 28:19-20) to show and tell the good news of Jesus • When church is being church, there is no more powerful force on the planet. • Not a new thing – an old thing. • The Prescription: For Church to be Church—its culture must change. • Repentance, revival, renewal • Not a program or campaign: authentic change that is transformational, permanent, and self-replicating – The DNA • “one thing is needed…”

5. Loving our Communities to Christ: The “framework” • It takes the The Whole Church: God’s power is released in unity, and diluted by division. • Clergy and laity, inter-denominational, church and ministries. • It takes a city-wide church to win a city-wide war. • Church unity can happen in a city; Church unity can happen around evangelism. • It takes the The Whole Gospel: God’s love expressed in word and deed. • Prayer, Care, and Share—sequential, layered, integrated—incarnated • Irreducible minimum: simple, focused, foundational biblical principles. • Pastors, Individuals, Churches, Community—saturation.

6. Loving Our Communities to Christ Begins with: “A broken and contrite heart” Psalm 51:10-17 • “Broken” A Christ-like brokenness for the lost: • “When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion.” • “Jesus looked at the city and wept over it.” • “Contrite” Repentant for the state of church evangelism in America: • “The harvest is truly plentiful…” • “But the laborers are few.” A Call to Unity A Call to Action “Calling God’s People Together...to Love Our Communities to Christ”

7. Prayer Care Expressions of God’s love that create light. Share “Three essential Building Blocks of evangelismand cultural change.” What drives us to our knees? How does God’s light shine through us? “How shall they hear?” (Romans 10:14) “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14)

8. Prayer, Care, and Share Together Multiplies Kingdom Impact Exponentially Doing two or more together Share 1 1+1=3 1+1=3 3 3 9 Doing each separately 1 1 3 Prayer Care Prayer Care 1+1=3 1+1+1=3 1+1+1=9 Exponential Increase Share

9. Loving Our Communities Framework “Building a foundation of Prayer, a lifestyle of Care, and a willingness to Share.” Begin Share Phase Share Care Begin Care Phase Prayer Begin Prayer Phase Individual Church Teaching about prayer Individual Church teaching about Care Individual Church teaching about Share Community Prayer Event Community Care Event Community Share Event

10. Loving Our Communities Framework Communities Transformed A three year commitment to people, church, and city transformation Churches Transformed Year 3 People Transformed • Three Year Cultural Change: • Transformational • Permanent • Self-replicating Year 2 Share Care Prayer Year 1

11. Can You Imagine…

12. Can you imagine a community of people… • Having such a love for one another, and such a common identity and singleness of purpose, that “all will know…and the world may believe” that we are disciples of Christ, and messengers of His love to a troubled world? • Who are all “ambassadors for Christ,” pursuing an authentic, biblical lifestyle; and whose testimony for Christ is therefore so distinctive that they “shine as lights in the world” with a gospel message that can clearly be “known and read of all men?” • Who do not simply isolate themselves and rail against the culture, but rather have their hearts broken for it, and as a result find new ways every day to “love their neighbors as themselves?”

13. Can you imagine a community of churches… • That serves together as one church—prayerfully united together in the power of the Holy Spirit, and reflecting together the glory of Christ as the “Light of the world?” • Where “the word of God is living and powerful;” and where Christ is so incarnated in the lives of its people that, like all living organisms, it grows and reproduces naturally? • That is “not conformed to this world” but rather “transformed;” so that its people collectively serve as living proof of a loving God to a watching world?

14. Can you imagine a city… • That sees in its Christian community a gospel message incarnated so completely that it is “astonished,” and feels literally compelled to give glory to the God they can see working through us? • Where every person is being prayed for by a friend, and that is literally saturated with the gospel message—presented not only in the sanctuaries, but also in the lives of believers who are loving their communities to Christ? • That can see in individual Christians such a practically attractive, spiritually compelling, proof-positive lifestyle, that their claims and pronouncements about a life-changing God finally ring true?

15. Loving Our Communities is... A Catalytic Framework For Culture Change In Churches and Across Cities Through A Prayer-Care-Share Lifestyle "LC2C"  - - Think ... Process, not program The Gospel, proclamation & demonstration& saturation Coaches, not consultants Collaborative ... Transformation "LC2C"  - - Let's talk ... Check out www.LC2C.blogspot.com Email LC2C@missionamerica.org Can you imagine the whole Church loving their communities to Christ?