SEE 

With JESUS …

• Where you live, learn, work and play …

• To the people, place or pain God has called you …

• As you connect, eat and do life with others …

SEE - Others Through His Eyes

Exodus 3:7-10

Then the LORD told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

Matthew 9:36

When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Mark 10:21

Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

SEE OTHERS

• All mission and ministry begins with seeing.

• You first have to get out of your own headspace long enough to notice others.

• Look around you and see people through the eyes of Jesus’ compassion.

• Without first seeing others none of the other sections of the Mission Circle (PRAY-SHOW-TELL-DISCIPLE-GATHER-REPLICATE) even gets started.

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE

John 4:35

You may say there are still four months until harvest time. But I tell you to look, and you will see that the fields are ripe and ready to harvest.

Mark 5:18-20

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Matthew 28:19

Go and make disciples of all nations.

• Look at your circle of influence (where you live, learn, work and play) and see the harvest! This is your God-ordained mission field and it is ripe and ready for harvest.

• Each person in your MicroChurch has his or her own circle of influence.

  • Have each person in your MicroChurch prayerfully discern the answer to the question, “Whom does Jesus want me to see and minister to?” Specifically, Who Are Your 3? For Your 3 think of …

    • People in your circle of influence who are far from God (need Jesus)

    • Christians who need discipling (need maturity)

  • To come up with Your 3, make a list of 10 or 20 people who need Jesus, including those who need discipleship. Of course, you can seek to impact all them for Jesus. But sometimes, focusing on just 3 or even 5 can help you get some missional traction. So from your 10 or 20, who do you think Jesus is asking you to focus your missional attention on? The 3 may change over time as people either come to faith or prove unresponsive to your witness and discipleship. Who Your 3 are is a dynamic thing, then. So keep praying and seeking the Spirit’s direction on Your 3.

  • Who Are Your 3?

• Your MicroChurch has a circle of influence too.

  • Just as the individuals in your MicroChurch prayerfully discerned the answer to the question, “Whom does Jesus want us to see and minister to?”, do the same as a MicroChurch as a whole.

  • Look at the neighborhood around where you gather. Are there people you could meet? Are there needs you could meet?

People, Place or Pain

• God may call you to look beyond your given circle of influence to see some other people, place or pain.

  • People - An ethnic group, sub-culture or age group

  • Place - A foreign country, part of your city or college campus

  • Pain - An addiction, a medical condition, a financial situation or an injustice

• God may be calling an individual (whom you MicroChurch could then support) or your MicroChurch as a whole

Person of Peace

• Look for a Person of Peace (See Luke 10:5-12) in your circle of influence or people/place/pain.

Mission Vision

• Take a look at where all of this could lead.

• Make a Circle of Influence Map.

  • Include those who need Jesus and those who need discipleship (first generation) - Your 3.

  • As able, fill in possible names for second generation and third generation impact.

• Circle of Influence Map printable PDF file

Missional Quotes

Maybe the reason people today are drawn to Jesus but not his followers is because many Christians are NOT like Jesus—we don’t really see what Jesus sees in people. We don’t really feel the way Jesus felt toward people straying far from God, living messy lives. Christians can subtly become pharisaical without even realizing it.

Your life, as we will see, was meant to be a tool of restoration in the hands of the Master Artist. But we must become more like Jesus than the Pharisees—and that starts with the right attitude of heart. Jesus must have pictured what he created people to be, and that vision affected how he felt about them.

I’m sure those he encountered picked up on his attitude toward them, and that’s probably why so many muddied people flocked to him— in his eyes they saw a glimmer of hope of what they were meant to be.

I’m convinced that people intuitively pick up on our attitude toward them. What’s in your heart toward people will be felt by them. Do we have good will toward all people? Are we for people or really against them? Do we truly believe they have immense value and worth to God?

Or are we secretly disgusted, bothered, shocked, judgmental, wanting to “fix them” quickly? I’ve come to believe that many Christians repel those who don’t follow Christ because we don’t share God’s heart for them.

— Mud and the Masterpiece - John Burke

Jesus’ strategy is to get a whole lot of little versions of him infiltrating every nook and cranny of society by reproducing himself in and through his people. In short, his aim is to fill the world with lots of “little Jesuses”—an active Christlike presence in every neighborhood and sphere of life. This is the Conspiracy of Little Jesus.

— The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch

Every believer is given a distinct circle of influence made up of the places they live, learn, work, and play. It is in these locations that believers are to own the lostness of those around them and see to it that they take personal responsibility for ensuring that every man, woman, and child has repeated opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the Good News of Jesus Christ.

— Gospel Saturation Primer by Christ Together

OTHER RESOURCES

• A great resource for seeing your circle of influence as your mission field is The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside Your Door.

PRINTABLE PDF

• SEE printable PDF