This is the first article in the series 7 Practices of Gospel Formation for Missional Presence
Redeemer Family,
Good afternoon! I hope this finds you well today.
REVIEW
This past Sunday we kicked off a very important season in the life of our parish. Redeemer is now six years old and it’s time for us to clarify and focus our reason for existing. We must hone in on our why.
Difficult as it may be to distill the why of a church like ours into one sentence, I think this one comes pretty close: Redeemer exists to practice Gospel Formation for Missional Presence.
We do this through the Seven Essential Practices of the ancient church:
STORY: Telling the story of the Bible as the true and better narrative in which to understand God, ourselves, each other, and the world.
Q: What story am I in?
IDENTITY: Embracing a new identity in Jesus that is received, stable, and secure.
Q: Who am i?
BELONGING: Finding belonging in the church family and extending hospitality to strangers.
Q: With whom do I belong?
VIRTUE: Cultivating virtue through redemptive habits.
Q: How do I change?
CONTEXT: Seeking to understand our context in the city in this cultural moment.
Q: Where do I make my life?
VOCATION: Laboring in renewed vocations for the common good.
Q: What is my purpose?
IMAGINATION: Reordering our imaginations through mystery and beauty.
Q: How do I love?
Now, some of you have asked about what it means to move deeper into Story Practices and so I want to take a moment to share some helpful resources.
Listen to Teaching on Practice #1: Story
If you missed Sunday’s sermon on this first practice, you can listen to it here.
Books to Read on Understanding the Biblical Story
101 - A Walk Through the Bible by Leslie Newbigin
201 - The Drama of Scripture by Bartholomew & Goheen
301 - The Mission of God by Christopher JH Wright
Re-Storying Habits to Take Up
Daily Bible Reading. Consider using the Lectionary in the Book of Common Prayer which assigns various texts to each day of the year.
Reading great fictional stories.
Participate in a Redeemer Small Group starting the first week of February.
Un-Storying Habits to Drop
Binge-watching tv shows and movies whose narratives tell a false story about the meaning of happiness, love, life, joy, etc.
Near-addiction levels of immersion in social media and news stories.
Beginning and ending every day with your smartphone.
Classes to Take
Redeemer’s Foundations Class [Begins Sunday evenings on March 19th]
Resources to Deepen Your Understanding of the Power of Story
Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian
Reading Black Books by Claude Atcho
A Landscape with Dragons by Michael O’Brien
Redeemer family, I don’t want to throw the word “excited” around too casually… but I am genuinely excited to walk through this 7 Practices series together! I hope it clarifies and focuses our why and I hope we grow together along the way.
In the Father’s love,
