LEAD THE WAY
2. Join Jesus
This isn’t your MicroChurch nor mission. They belong to Jesus. And Jesus invites you to join Him in this ministry and mission.
Acts 20:28 (NLT)
So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders.
Matthew 4:19
Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me.”
Mark 3:14
Jesus appointed twelve that they might be with him.
John 15:5,7-8,9-11
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.
Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Acts 4:13
The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.
Acts 18:9-10
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.”
JOINING JESUS
This isn’t our mission. It’s Jesus’ mission. And the amazing thing is that we get to join Him. That’s why our mission statement is Joining Jesus in mission to those around us.
WITH JESUS
Our main mission, then, is to be with Jesus so that the rest of the mission flows from our relationship with Him.
That’s why we have prioritized our relationship with JESUS by putting it at the very center of who we are and what we do.
The health of the mission, then, depends on the health of our connection to Jesus and our MicroChurch’s connection to Jesus.
DAILY CONNECT
Model and equip others in Daily Connect and Practicing the Presence Prompts - PDF Bookmark File.
Obviously, there are many ways to stay connected with Jesus. Daily Connect and Practicing the Presence Prompts have been developed and time tested to focus on core practices that help us be with Jesus to become like Jesus.
Keep in mind that these are core practices. There are other ways to connect to Jesus. For some that may be through worship music or artistic expression, like poetry or painting. Others may want to spend time in creation. And don’t forget Sabbath. We all need a day of rest. So each person can certainly add practices and customize their own pathway to connect with Jesus. But once again, these 6 connections are important practices for all disciples to embrace.
Also, keep in mind that you can chunk the 6 connections throughout the day. For example, you could start your day with praise and repentance. Read Scripture and cover your prayer requests at lunchtime. And on the way home from work, listen for the Spirit’s leading, all the while practicing the Presence.
Finally, don’t become legalistic about Daily Connect. As Frank Laubach said:
If you are weary of some sleepy form of devotion, probably God is as weary of it as you are (Man of Prayer: Selected Writings of a World Missionary).
Or as the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah said about the people of his day:
Isaiah 29:13
The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.”
The last thing we want Daily Connect to be are merely human rules that don’t actually help us connect with Jesus. If they help you connect, good. If they only help for a while, no problem. Try something else or switch things up now and then. Just don’t become legalistic about them. The goal isn’t to check off some religious box that you completed the Daily Connect. The purpose is to learn how to communion with Jesus as a daily lifestyle.
CONNECTION QUOTES
It's never been about what we can do—it's about who we are with.
— Mike Pilavachi & Andy Croft in Everyday Supernatural: Living a Spirit-Led Life without Being Weird
A biblical Christian is not just someone who holds certain beliefs about the Bible. He or she is also someone who leads the kind of life demonstrated in the Bible: a life of personal, intelligent interaction with God.
— Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God by Dallas Willard
Even Jesus, when He walked as a man, lived as a Branch that bore the righteous fruit of Another. He often explained, “The Father abiding in me does His works,” or “I do nothing of My own initiative,” or “The word which your hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.” Jesus did not come to manifest His own life or His own name. As the Son of Man, His purpose in all things was to manifest the life, words, and works of His Father. Now, in the new covenant, it is we who are the branches and Christ is the Vine. And to the measure that Christ is formed in us, we too can say, “The Son abiding in me does His works. The words I speak are not mine but His.”
— Not I, But Christ by Jason Henderson
FRUIT HAPPENS!
Once again, it’s Jesus’ mission that we are on. Our main mission, then, is to stay connected to Jesus so that His life is expressed through us to those around us. Let’s not give people our “best,” but the OVERFLOW of Jesus living in and through us.
If we stay connected to Jesus, we can’t help but bear fruit. We could come up with a new bumper sticker … FRUIT HAPPENS!
How would your day be different if you intentionally interacted with Jesus on a moment by moment basis? How would your life change if you consciously did life together with Jesus?