As supporters of Mission Alive, you are our best ambassadors. You understand that Mission Alive views church “planting” from a different perspective. And sometimes explaining that perspective to those who view church planting in a more traditional form can be challenging. So, in the next two issues we will restate our core beliefs with the goal of making it easy to share the mission of Mission Alive.
We believe that God is a missionary God. He assumes the responsibility to cross the boundaries that separate divinity and humanity. While this is seen repeatedly throughout the Scriptures, we see God as a missionary most clearly in the incarnation. Since Jesus ascended, the Holy Spirit, God’s ongoing presence in the world, indwells and empowers God’s people to continue his mission.
God’s mission has been to fix everything broken in the world–God’s relationship with each human being, relationships between human beings and the relationship between each human and the whole of creation. This reconciling and redemptive work is the work into which God invites all his people.
For that reason, Mission Alive takes a mission-first approach with each new IFC (innovative faith community) we help start. That means our IFCs primary concern is to identify an area of community brokenness on which to work to bring about the transformation and flourishing of that community. Then allow faith to grow out of that flourishing. Much like Jesus fed the 5000 and the early church cared for widows, Mission Alive focuses on finding ways to help their neighbors. That is mission-first.
Our Commitments page on the website is an excellent place to direct someone who wants to learn more about Mission Alive’s beliefs and process.