Tagged: micro RSS

  • Mark 8:47 am on August 11, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , CO2, Life Transformation Groups, , micro   

    Micro Rhythms 

    Our Micro is really blossoming in some wonderful and formative ways.  (Read more on the Micro Layer.)

    It began with going strictly by the LTG brochure you can read all about on CMA’s website, 25-30 chapters of God’s Word each week, 10 character-conversation questions (accountability) and praying for the “sojourners” in our lives.  We then tossed in some material from CO2 (Church of 2), learning to tap into what is going on in “my heart, your heart, and God’s heart.”  We found both of these structures helpful and we flow pretty seamlessly between both of them.

    We read plenty of God’s Word. We use YouVersion.com‘s free, customizable Reading Plans to stay in sync with each other – each day reading the same Scriptures and dwelling in the Word – letting God speak to us as we cultivate a spirit of “listening prayer.”

    We check in with each other…as close to daily as possible. At the end of our reading and journaling, we take 5 minutes to write an email to the group – writing what we thought about, prayed about and heard from God during our reading.  It gives us a daily “check-in” opportunity, even when we are not meeting up with each other in the flesh.  When we meet up once a week, we don’t have to spend all our time going over the minute details of our life because we already know!  Instead, we check in spiritually -

    “What are the deep issues of your heart, today?” “What are you hearing from God?  What are you doing about it?  How can we help you?”

    We usually have more than enough to share with each other!

    We confess sin to each other. Each week we ask, “Is there anything we need to confess today?”  Sometimes its sin that is shared, other times its a testimony!  When sin is confessed, the others listen closely to the one confessing, and when everything is said, they respond by saying,

    “I hear what you are saying.  You’re right – this is sin, and wrong…but God forgives you.”

    Hearing these words is like salve to the soul…

    We pray for harvest workers and for the lost in our city. We meet at 9:00am-10:30am each week – and at 10:02am our cell phone will chime reminding us to pray the pray we read in Luke 10:2 - “Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest to cast out workers into his harvest field!” We take a few moments to thank God for what he is doing in Chicago, and to plead that God open up the hearts of those we know who are searching for truth.

    After 9 months – this is what our Micro looks like.  It has embedded within it the seed of a faith community – and while our group may not look exactly like others that start, our rhythms can easily be passed on and re-molded in countless ways.  Have you thought of trying it?  It’s AWESOME!  More and more Micros are starting in our house church network all the time, and I believe it makes us healthier.

    I wouldn’t give up my Micro for anything – it is a chance to be real.  It is a band of brothers.  It is the core and starting place of mission.  It is life transforming!

    Share
     

  • Mark 7:10 am on September 23, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: macro, mega, meso, micro, mono, onions, shrek   

    Churches are like Onions 

    It has been several years since we first asked the question, “Who was Jesus’ church?” but the question seems once again at the forefront of our dialogue in our house church network here in Chicago.  When God came to earth as Jesus, there is no doubt that he sought out to develop a spiritual family – adopted through the grace of God.  But how did he understand that family?  And how does that impact how we live as that family today?

    ———–

    MONDO - Was Jesus’ church the crowds?  The amazing impact he had on teaching to hundreds, maybe thousands of hearts at the Sermon on the Mount, or numerous other occasions when anyone within ear shot heard whispers of God’s Kingdom.  They experienced his healings, heard his wisdom, and witnessed his death.

    MACRO - Was Jesus’ church the 70 disciples he trained and commissioned  in pairs to proclaim and display the subversive Kingdom of God to villages and people groups all over the Empire?  Certainly he spent enough time with these disciples to share the vision of the Kingdom with them, and apparently they were ready to leave their wallets and responsibilities behind as they set out as the world’s first missionaries.  They trusted Jesus, and he trusted them.  Certainly they too were his church.

    MESO - Were the 12 disciples the church of Jesus on earth?  These foolhardy friends were present with Jesus daily.  They not only experienced the MEGA and the MACRO, but they were given special attention – a director’s cut on Jesus’ confusing teachings, and the impartation of his Holy Spirit.  They became the catalyst for the Church worldwide as we read about it in Acts.  No doubt they saw themselves as Jesus’ church.

    MICRO - But maybe Jesus’ church was “smaller still.”  Regularly we read about the companions of Jesus; Peter, James and John.  They found Jesus at his strongest (Mount of Transfiguration) and his weakest (Mount of Olives).  Surely they understood him better than any other people on the planet.  The Gospel of John accounts a very intimate portrait of Jesus Christ, very different from the other writers – could this be from John’s close friendship with his Lord?

    MONO - At the end of the day, everyone mentioned above misunderstands Jesus Christ and his mission.  Ultimately, Jesus’ church was his personal (not private) relationship with the Triune God.

    ————–

    Obviously the question is a misnomer.  All of these layers: MONDO, MACRO, MESO, MICRO, and MONO are layers in Jesus’ faith community.  Think of these as “layers of an onion.”

    Consider the movements of Jesus Christ throughout the ages; each one promotes as special only a certain layer of the onion, many times to the exclusion or in reaction to the abuses of the other layers.  The Chinese house church movement, the Mega-Church movement in America, George Whitfield’s frontier revivals, the Anabaptists of 16th Century Europe, the “anamcharas” (soul friends) of 6th Century Ireland.

    As we watch this particular organic network of faith emerge in Chicago, and truly all around the world – it will benefit each follower of Christ, each faith community, each network, to consider how a healthy onion is made up of healthy layers.  The Underground Church Network aims to grow a healthy onion!  But how?

    This is the beginning of a blog series that will unpack the current reality and future plans of how one organic church network in Chicago is attempting to develop healthy layers of Christian community.  We’ll look at each layer – MONO, MICRO, MESO, MACRO, and MONDO.  Stay tuned!

    Share
     

    • Christi 12:13 am on September 24, 2009 Permalink

      great insights…interesting stuff to think about…glad you guys are in Chicago!! :)

c
compose new post
j
next post/next comment
k
previous post/previous comment
r
reply
e
edit
o
show/hide comments
t
go to top
l
go to login
h
show/hide help
esc
cancel