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LifePoint Church recently released a music project called “Illuminate, Children of Light“. I encourage you to purchase the CD for yourself and then get another on for a friend.

Micah Huebner, one of the worship leaders at LifePoint Church, explains the backstory for the song “I See The Poor” in the following video. Thanks to all the folks who made the project a reality and to those who are purchasing the CD. Half of all the proceeds from the sell of the Illuminate CD are going to send mission teams around the world. Purchase more CDs right now…all of you.

‘I See the Poor’ Song Story from LifePoint Church on Vimeo.

I have been studying a while about God’s movement in Scripture and how He sought out a person or people who were to be called by His name for His purposes. Following His call God would send them out to accomplish His work.

Abram was one of the first in scripture that God sought and then sent out.

Jerry Rankin states, “The global missions movement is scarcely a hundred  years old, but the task of evangelizing the nations was in God’s heart before the foundation of the world; it was expressed in God’s call to Abraham before it was set into motion in the first Christian century.”1  God chose through Abram to execute His mission plan for a people who would join Him in seeking to bring a redemptive work to all people. In Genesis 12, God extends His call to Abram to go on a journey with Him. Ron Blue writes, “Although God did not reveal the destination of Abram’s journey, He lavished on His obedient servant some incredible promises.”2

God’s covenant with Abram was to make through him a great nation of people, and through Abram all the nations of the world would be blessed (Gen 12:2-3). The covenant that God made with Abram, later renamed Abraham, is repeated in Genesis 22:18, “and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice,” to remind him that God is looking and calling a people to Himself who will take up His heartbeat and mission.

Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser writes, The fact remains that the goal of the Old Testament was to see both Jews and Gentiles come to a saving knowledge of the Messiah who was to come. Anything less than this goal was a misunderstanding and attenuation of the plan of God. God’s eternal plan was to provide salvation for all people; it was never intended to be reserved for one special group, such as the Jews, even as an initial offer!3 Paul echoes this in the New Testament. In Romans 4:13, he identifies Abraham as the “heir of the world.” “In Galatians 3:8 he argues that the promise in Genesis 12 foreshadows the gospel going to all nations.”4

John Stott writes, “Now we are Abraham’s seed by faith, and the earth’s families will be blessed only if we go to them with the Gospel. That is God’s plain purpose.”5  The Abrahamic covenant was so important to the story of the Old Testament and the mission of God that He repeated it three times to Abraham, once to Abraham’s son Isaac (Gen 26:4), and once to his grandson Jacob (Gen. 28:14).

Who else in Old Testament do you see God seeking and then sending?

1 John Mark Terry, Ebbie Smith, and Justice Anderson, ed 31 s., Missiology: An Introduction to
the Foundations, History, and Strategies of World Missions (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers,
1998), 30.

2 Ron Blue, Evangelism and Missions: Strategies for Outreach in the 21st Century (Nashville:
Word Publishing, 2001), 21.

3 Walter Kaiser, Missions in the Old Testament: 33 Israel as a Light to the Nations (Grand
Rapids: Baker Books, 2000), 10.

4 A. Scott Moreau, Gary R. Corwin, and Gary B. McGee, Introducing World Missions: A
Biblical, Historical, and Practical Survey (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 31.

5 Ralph D Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A
Reader (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1981), 18.

I would like to introduce you to Michael Carpenter, the pastor, of Matthew’s Table. The church he pastors is radically different than the other churches in Lebanon, TN., but I will let him explain what that difference looks like in reality. Michael is a leading thinker and practitioner in the area of missional engagement  of the church in its local context and the church today can learn much from what Matthew’s Table is experiencing.

How did you begin Matthew’s Table?

We began dreaming about Matthew’s Table about two years before we ever moved to TN. If one reads through the Gospels, they will find that Jesus spent a lot of time not only teaching, healing, casting out demons etc, but also simply sharing a meal with a group of people. Furthermore, many of his teachings occurred in the context of being gathered around a table. So, what we find in the stories of the Gospels, is how the lordship of Christ is not only revealed in his working or miracles or his casting out of demons, but his Lordship is also revealed in ordinary, everyday places. Nowhere else in the gospels is this more obvious than in how Jesus ate and drank and with whom he did so (ex: Matt 9:9-10).

But to answer your question, Matthew’s Table began very simply with a backyard bar-b-que with friends, neighbors, and relatives. On a June day in 2008, we cast a vision for a church community that is seeking to be a people who live Jesus centered, missional lives. The outcome being a transformational shift in perspective (faith), purpose (hope), and passion (love) evidenced in how we relate to enemies and friends, neighbors and strangers, our families and the world. Many gathered that summer day made the decision to join God’s mission through Matthew’s Table in Lebanon and the world.

What does a typical gathering of Matthew’s Table look like?

Food. Eating together is a central part to our gathering. Meals are a reminder of our common need for God and his faithful provision. The command Jesus gives in regards to worship is to remember him and his sacrifice for us through a meal. When we eat together, we commune around this truth. In doing this, we demonstrate the Gospel to each other week after week. So every time we gather together as a church community we eat and drink in remembrance of Christ – looking back to the cross and forward to his return.

Learning. For us, the Bible is the primary authority that shapes us for how we live as a community in the world. We believe that the story the Bible tells informs every aspect of our lives. Our reading of the text and preaching from the narrative each Sunday is a reflection of this value. Also, we take a very dialogical approach to preaching and teaching. So one can expect a lot of questions, answers, and questioning of answers. This kind of inquiry and reflection requires a patient, intentional process on our part.

Kids everywhere. We have a designated “kid’s korner” but children are included in every aspect of our gathering. Sometimes we have to pause until a baby stops crying or a another tattles on someone for not letting her use a crayon – typical family stuff – but Jesus did say “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” So maybe we have something to learn from them as well. Besides, children are not only God’s gift to parents, but also the church. In other words, we all take a vested interest in each other’s children.

How did you decide on Lebanon, TN for Matthew’s Table?

The short version is that we were given my Grandmother’s house to live in after she passed away in ’08. I grew up in Lebanon, but never thought I would come back here in order to plant our church. Up until the offer on the house came about, we had been praying and seeking to go to a city in the Northeast. However, Lebanon seemed like where God wanted to send us.

In Lebanon there are a lot of churches and most are doing a great job of reaching and serving the people they are reaching and serving. But there are also some pretty big gaps. Even with all the churches, only about 25-30% of the population is showing up to church on any given Sunday.  Furthermore, Wilson County is the fastest growing county in the state with a lot of young families who like the proximity to Nashville, the great school system, and the small town feel of Lebanon.

The Bible begins with God creating a world that He claimed to be good. God created the land, seas, light, dark, animals, and plants, and He saw that something was missing. Then He created man and woman, giving them the responsibility to care for His creation (Gen 1:27-31). In Genesis 3, the Bible tells of a massive rebellion by a small number of people that affected billions for generations to follow. Since the day that Adam and Eve ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge and good and evil, God has been seeking after a right relationship with His people. Gailyn Van Rheenen writes, “Mission does not originate with human sources, for ultimately it is not a human enterprise.” God’s plan has been a mission of redemption for His people since the man and woman disobeyed. Andreas J. Kostenberger and Peter T. O’Brien state, “From the first glimmer of the gospel in Genesis 3:15 to the end of this age, however, mission is necessitated by humanity’s fall into sin and need for a Savior, and is made possible only by the saving initiative of God in Christ.” God has been active in His mission to seek after His people; He went looking for man and woman in the garden (Gen 3:9). This same pattern is evident throughout the Bible. In both the Old and New Testaments, God commands His people to seek after others who will become His people.

Five or six years ago we made an intentional decision as a staff team to move our high school students (9-12 grade) to a serving role on Sunday morning. We had read about the nationwide trend among new college freshman who were leaving their home church’s youth ministries to attend college and not getting involved in a local church near their universities. We wanted to change this trend and see LifePoint students committed and plugged in to the local church during their college days. We believed  serving in a local church ministry was key to keeping students and families plugged in and committed.We spent time studying and learning from other churches who had made the move we were embarking on with our  students. We saw the difference it was making in their churches and in the lives of the students who were involved. As a staff team we decided the risk of upsetting the “apple cart” was worth it.  This new ministry would be called Max Impact.

The move was not fully accepted at first, probably due to our team not communicating effectively. Some people didn’t want their high schooler involved in serving and there were students who didn’t want to serve so we provided one (1) Bible study class for those who needed a place to be on Sunday mornings. This class revolved around God’s call to serve, sacrifice and understand how we were S.H.A.P.E.d to serve.

Fast forward to today, the difficulties of the early days are gone and people are settled into the new normal of Max Impact. Yesterday, I watched as kids lead out in our stage crew. In fact, there were 4-5 students whose parents are vitally involved the Production and Worship Arts area currently. Students were leading in worship in Student Ministry and now students are training other students to lead also. It is a blast to see the culture of raising leaders firmly being passed on to another generation of Christ Followers.

Thank you LifePoint Church for being willing to take the risk and for creating a culture were serving is valued. If your High School student is not serving on Sundays please see David McCaman and he will help them get plugged in to ministry.

What is your preference for the type of church you or your family attends or would attend if they meet with a church gathering?

More Traditional

More Non-Traditional

More Organic/Missional/Incarnational

Remember, all of these are preference based. So, you are not better, more spiritual or more righteous because you prefer one over the other.

Weigh in and let me know.

Jesus was dedicated to the mission of God, His heavenly father. Jesus told those who were seeking to kill Him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise” (John 5:19). On yet another occasion, Jesus stated that His purpose was “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus spent His ministry demonstrating to His disciples how to be about His father’s activity. He told parables about seeking after lost sheep, lost coins, and lost sons (Luke 15). Jesus even sent His disciples on a trip to seek out people who were lost spiritually to tell them about His purpose in coming to earth (Luke 10:1-12). Jesus was the perfect example of being about the mission of God.

Before Jesus ascended back to heaven to be with His father, He commissioned the disciples to take on the activity of God. He commanded them to be on mission with God to reestablish the spiritual kingdom of God on the earth. The mission was and is God’s plan. The disciples would now take up the mantle of missions on the earth. Missions, as defined by Avery Willis and Henry Blackaby, “is the activity of God’s people—the church—to proclaim and to demonstrate the kingdom of God cross-culturally to the world.”

The disciples spent the rest of their lives living out God’s purpose for His followers and training others to be committed to the mission of God. God commissioned His one and only son, Jesus, to seek after His purpose in an active manner. Jesus, in turn, called each of His present and future disciples to be about the same activity and purpose He was about while He walked the earth. The commissioning recorded in Matthew 28:18- 20 gave the disciples their ultimate purpose for reestablishing the kingdom of God in the world, and that commission stands today as the clarion call for all of Jesus’ present-day followers

I previously wrote about raising our children to be global Christians. Here is the completion of my article.

In addition to her suggestions we implemented some ideas of our own that have made a tremendous impact on our family. These suggestions have influenced our thinking about being a global Christian rather than just a North American Christian.

1. We looked for people who were serving Christ in our community and around the world and hosted them in our home so our kids could meet them. We wanted our kids to hear God-sized stories about serving God in a context different than our own.
2. As a family we would get involved with local outreach ministry opportunities that would expose them to living a missional life. My wife and I wanted our children to understand that ministry was more than Sunday morning.
3. Our family has tried to make friends with people from other cultures living in the United States. When we lived in Houston, we lived on a cul-de-sac that was home to a Filipino family, a Chinese family, a Jewish single lady, and a Buddhist family. Our children learned early on that people worship differently than our family did. We would explain to our kids that the gospel was for all people, all nations, all races and tribes.
4. We led our children to be involved in mission education in our local church. The experiences they received in our home were undergirded by the mission education they received through our children’s ministry in the local church.
5. We made a commitment to give an annual gift to our church-wide mission offering that was taken up each Christmas. We explained that our offering was a gift that would help international missionaries accomplish the work God had called them to do. Our offering was equal to or greater than the most expensive gift(s) we would exchange during the Christmas season. This made a huge impression on our kids and us.
6. Lastly, we made a commitment as parents to take our kids on an international mission trip before each one moved into middle school. We felt it was important to expose them to other global Christians and to expose them to what living on mission internationally was like for other followers of Christ. Our trips together have been so beneficial for our children and our family. The decision has meant much sacrifice for our family but we have never regretted our decision.

All of these activities and decisions have had a cumulative effect on our kids. There is no way for me to narrow down the list and say “this one thing” made all the difference. Keeping our children consistently exposed to global Christianity has made me a better and more well rounded follower of Christ. He has changed my thinking, living and serving in the process of leading my family. We are not perfect nor do we have raising global Christ followers figured out. I am thankful for people like the Piper’s who exposed us and mentored us to having a higher vision for raising and growing our children into global followers of Christ.

There have been families throughout the years that my wife and I have tried to watch from afar and let them mentor us in what it means to be a Christian family. We looked for and found a family to help us develop our children into “global followers of Christ.”  When I speak about being a “global follower of Christ,” I am referring to someone who has a bigger vision and idea of what it means to follow Christ outside of the context in which they live.

One of the families that has mentored us in developing a global Christian mindset is John and Noel Piper. Noel Piper has written an article that influenced my wife and me tremendously concerning developing our children to think as a global Christian.Some of the ideas she listed in her article included subscribing to National Geographic magazine, reading missionary biographies together, putting missionary family pictures around for the family to see and pray for and teaching your children that America is not the only God-made country in the world.

What strategies are you utilizing to raise your kids to enlarge their view of global Christianity?

Part 2 tomorrow.

I have been reading Paul the Missionary by Eckhard J. Schnabel for the past year. Literally, it has taken me this long to work through the book and try to digest what I am reading. It has been challenging and interesting from a practical standpoint in light of the fact my family is about to move to another country and plant roots. Attempting to learn for the biblical example of the Apostle Paul has been a very rewarding endeavor.

Though I am not quite finished with the book I am wondering what other books have you found beneficial for living a “on purpose” intentional Christ-centered life in front of your neighbors and friends?