City Networks and listening

In the Luke Ten Community, we believe that the individual house church is important but it's not enough by itself. Our sense is that the Lord has said to us, "Smaller still. And, wider yet."

Smaller still is the "church of two" (CO2). A house church made up of multiple CO2s is well on it's way to becoming a "vibrant family of Jesus".

"Wider yet" means that individual house churches and their leaders are connecting regionally. In fact, this is the seventh of the seven key practices of the Luke Ten Community: Connecting in regional networks.

One of the expressions of this regional connection here in Colorado is periodic All-Gatherings. (See the picture above.) These grow out of our MRTs (regional apostolic teams) listening together for the Lord's direction. To see more of what is going on in Colorado, go to http://www.coloradohousechurch.com/

The Luke Ten Community is a "community of practice". That means that we learn from each other on many levels. We would love to hear how the Lord is directing your regional network. Send me your story and I'll share it with the larger Community.

John

10:2b - From Eastern Europe to central Texas

The fourth of seven practices that the LK10 Community is committed to is obedience to Jesus' command in Lk 10:2 to "beseech the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers". Jim and Cathy Mellon (as well as many others) have been praying this prayer for the Killeen area of Texas. See http://storiesfromtherevolution.blogspot.com/2010/09/102b-virus-1.html

So, what does it look like when the Lord of the harvest answers that prayer? See the video below for Wade Adams' (thank you, Wade!) interview with Roger Russell. Here are some of the things that jump out at me...

1. Roger is an experienced, mature "worker". (Sometimes we ask that God would send us people who are "fully formed".)

2. Roger has undergone a "radical personal transformation" from "strategic planning" to listening to God.

3. Roger is clear that God has called him to central Texas to plant churches. He has a vision for that region and then the whole country and the world.

What jumps out at you in the interview?

Note: Roger and Wade and Jim are part of an MRT (an apostolic team) that meets at a Starbucks every week to listen for God's instructions re church planting in their part of Texas.

John

The 10:2b Virus (2)

The Luke Ten Community is defined by seven core practices. Anyone who is seeking to live out these practices qualifies to be part of this Community. These practices are spelled out in The LK10 Invitation which you can read here: http://lk10.com/media/lk10_visionpaper_2_0.pdf

Here's Practice #4: Praying Lk 10:2b

In LK. 10:2, Jesus made a startling statement. In front of Him were 84 (12 + 72) church planters (“sent ones”, apostles). That sounds like a lot to us, but His evaluation was that it was only a “few”. Apparently, He saw the need for many more. And, in addition to identifying that need, He gave the solution. He commanded them to engage in the practice of “beseeching the Lord of the Harvest for more workers”. In this context, workers are both people of peace and more church planters.

We engage this practice with our CO2 partner (as well as others) for the region we are called to as close to daily as possible. This relentless widow lady in LK. 18 is our model for this kind of tenacious praying.

Key quote: “The 10:2b Prayer is the leadership solution.” -Kenny Moore

In the video below, Jim Mellon tells of some amazing answers to this prayer. Notice the wide variety of harvest workers that the Lord of the harvest has sent to Jim and Kathy. Notice also how naturally mission flows from this kind of praying.

More from Jim tomorrow.

John

Church Flows from Listening

My approach to this blog is that I don't post anything unless God gives me something. (Think John 5:19) And, recently He hasn't given me much to post. But, my sense is that this is about to change.

See below for an interview with Robbie James who is a church planter in Brighton, CO and who is part of the Denver Leadership Team. This is another great story of a church (and churches) that is learning to listen to Jesus as the Head of the church. I especially love that they are developing what they call "a culture of honor". You will also get a sense of the spontaneous church multiplication that is occurring north of Denver.

John

City Networks and Listening

We've talked about the idea that "church emerges out of listening". What this means is that we really believe that Jesus is the Head or Leader of each individual church and that, as we listen to Him, He brings the agenda for each meeting.

This same thing is true on the larger level. The house churches in Denver are connected in a relational network. Jesus is also the Head or Leader of this expression of church, and, as we listen to Him, He brings the agenda for the network as well. Church, at every level, emerges out of listening.

See below for two encouraging examples of what people in the Denver Network are hearing. One has to do with connecting women across the city. The other has to do with helping people, especially new believers, learn the Bible.

What a concept! Jesus really is the Head of His church on every level. And, He really is expert at building His church on every level (Mt. 16:18). Our job is not to do a great job of figuring it all out but to do a great job of listening to Him.

John

From Christal Haner: One of the amazing benefits of house church is the close community that we share within our own house churches. One of the more difficult areas of house church is the lack of that broader sense of connectivity within the body of Christ. For a couple years our network (ASPEN) has been putting together a semi-annual women's retreat. So far it has just been about 16 of the women from our network coming together to check in and worship together over a weekend. While I was praying about it for the Fall retreat, I felt a strong need to open up our women's retreat to the entire Denver house church network. So, we would like to invite all of the women in your house churches to be a part of our women's retreat this fall.

From Sean Hyatt: I am writing to ask for your help in praying and listening about a project/vision I feel the Lord has put on my heart. I've chosen to send this email to you specific guys & gals because I am close to you and I trust you to pray and truly listen to what the Lord might speak to you on this. Thank you ahead of time for reading this lengthy email :))

I would like to write, illustrate, and produce a new full-color home Bible study chart. We used to use these as an evangelism and soul-winning tool in the denomination I grew up in. They are designed so that you can teach an individual, family or group for about 12 weeks, an hour or two each week, in the comfort of their home or somewhere out in public in their territory. It is basically like Bible 101. Someone who is interested in learning more about the Bible (or who is simply hungry for God) can go thru this home Bible study with you and learn all about the Bible and all the major stories and themes in the Bible, including the gospel message. It is a powerful soul-winning tool for an individual or a group, and a powerful discipleship tool as well.

Before, when we taught weekly home Bible studies to seekers, at the end of the 12 or so weeks when the study was finished (since all we had to offer them was traditional church) we basically said, "Congratulations! Now that you're saved, you get to come to our church, sit on a cold pew, stare at the back of peoples heads, and marinate for a decade or so" :) ... but now that we understand organic church planting, once the study is done we can simply keep meeting weekly in their home (or the coffee shop or workplace or park or wherever), and a new church is planted with their oikos. A much better situation after the Bible study is done.

There was a time when I was a teenager and a young adult that I was teaching multiple ongoing weekly 'chart' Bible studies in multiple homes, and winning multiple sinners to Jesus...it was a very exciting and fulfilling time. Colorful chart Bible studies also are great for teaching children or teens or young adults (or anyone without a basic biblical foundation) all the basics about the Bible, Jesus, the gospel, and the kingdom of God.

Any and all feedback or ideas, positive or negative, are welcome (truly!). I just want to get some further direction from the Lord before proceeding...

Healing flows from listening

More and more we are seeing regional or citywide gatherings of house churches. This last weekend (May 21 - 22), many house churches from Denver came together for a wonderful time of worship, fellowship and teaching. On Friday night there was a time of ministry and one of the men experienced a rather dramatic physical healing. On Saturday morning he told what God had done. See below for that story.

C02's in the Land of Enchantment - Part 2

In this Part 2 of a Two-Part conversation, Peg Batcheller, a Church Planter in Albuquerque, New Mexico, continues to share stories of the effect that C02 has had on her and others who have been practicing these two disciplines.

C02's in the Land of Enchantment

Peg Batcheller is a Church Planter in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In this Part 1 of a 2-part audio podcast, Peg shares the impact that C02 is having among many of the house churches in Albuquerque and among the variety of cultures that co-exist in New Mexico. C02 has helped to revitalize house churches that had become stale and churches have been planted that emerged out of two people practicing C02 together. Also, a regional network has begun to emerge, organically, as the groups that are practicing C02 have begun to meet and join together.

Click the Play button (the little arrow on the left) on the player below to listen to the podcast.

CO2s and City Transformation

The house church leaders in Denver meet together each month. We have two goals when we gather - connecting with each other on a heart level and hearing what God wants to say to us.

At our last meeting on 11/13/09, after dinner our group of 25 broke up into smaller groups and did SASHET. Then, we spend time alone listening (ie, VIRKLER) to God about this questions: "What do you want to say to us about Denver?" After about twenty minutes, we shared what we had heard in our smaller groups and then with the whole group. Out of this corporate listening time emerged a very encouraging prophetic message which you can read here: http://www.coloradohousechurch.com/blog/2009/main/report-from-the-denver-network-all-city-meeting/#more-377

The point? The two basic disciplines of SASHET and VIRKLER are effective tools with two people (CO2), with a small group (house church) and with a city-wide group.

John