We say often that Church at Cane Bay is a church of Missional Communities. That the gospel of Jesus is the heart of our church, but Missional Communities are the lifeblood of the church. They are the means where our church intersects our community with the gospel.
Many of you are new to us, so let me define what a Missional Community is - in short, it’s a community on mission. Pretty simple right? A longer definition is - a community of people organized to see that every man, woman, and child within their specific mission has multiple opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the gospel of Jesus.
Ultimately, this is a group that has a defined mission in our community. Every week they get together on a given night of the week. They share dinner together each week, building a strong sense of community, then move into a period of time where they pray for and plan for their mission, making sure that the gospel is seen and heard in their lives. Then there is a period of bible study time, where they study the passage of Scripture that will be taught on the following Sunday morning, allowing people to hear from God for themselves before they apply God’s word on Sunday.
So, here are SIX reasons you should join a Missional Community -
1. God Desires for You to Be on Mission
Ephesians 3: 7 - 13 (ESV) - Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
It's a GRACE to us to PREACH the UNSEARCHABLE riches of CHRIST.
God doesn't just desire for you to be on mission. It's a gift to you to be on mission, telling people of the goodness of Jesus that is so great that we can never discover just how great He is. And we do this together, as the body of Jesus (the church) meeting needs in our community with the gospel of Jesus. We best learn how to do this in community with each other. Just as our kids learn about life from the community called family, we learn about mission in another community called MC.
2. God Desires for You to Have Community
Hebrews 10: 24-25 (ESV) - And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
God desires YOU to be in community, but it's ultimately for a purpose that's greater than YOU.
As we gather together, we better learn how to spur each other onto things greater than ourselves: things like love and good works. Those things exist for the goodness of others, displaying what Jesus Himself came to display. In other words, community exists so we can better show the love of Christ as the body of Christ.
3. There's a Mission that Matches Your Passion
At Church at Cane Bay, we have a group that matches whatever you may be passionate about. From engaging with the schools in our community to being involved with single parents or foster kids, there is a place for you. For more details on our groups, head to this link - http://churchatcanebay.org/#/next-steps/missional-community
4. For Every Man, Woman, and Child
This is our Mission Statement as a church - that every man, woman, and child in a ten mile radius will have multiple opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Acts 1:8 (ESV) - and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’
Many are called to the ends of the earth. Many are called out to other places in our nation and state. But we are all called to our Jerusalem, which for us, is Cane Bay. he early disciples took that seriously, and if we are serious followers of Jesus, we realize that it’s the most important task we have. It is why the church exists - to express the glory of God to a world in need of someone great enough to glory in. We aren’t a people called to stay, but a people called to go. We aren’t a people who are focused in, but a people who are focused out. We aren’t a people who are kept, but a people who are sent.
Last year, we saw our Missional Communities provide over 14,000 gospel touches in our community. That's an incredible start, but it's not every man, woman, and child. There is so much more work to do.
5. Church Doesn't Reach Lost People
A recent UK survey shows that 70% of the population has no intention of every going to church again. That means that nothing inside of the church will ever reach them again. Better programs, better music, and better guest services. Even in the face of great tragedy, these people say they won’t go back. The UK is a good picture of where we are going culturally, so it's important to keep an eye on them.
We can’t improve the product of ‘church’ to get them there. We have to reach people apart from ‘church’. So we can’t just fix the programs to get them to return. We have to get them there the first time and that doesn’t happen inside the doors of the church. We have to get outside of the walls and we do that best together.
6. Everybody's Doing It
Here’s what I love about Church at Cane Bay. You guys get it. You understand the importance of the mission. Every year, we see a great commitment to the mission. Over the last year, we’ve seen it grow to our largest numbers. We always aim to see 100% of those in church on Sunday plugged into Missional Communities. It’s a crazy high goal. It just doesn’t happen. As we talk to other leaders and read studies, we see that around 60% is pretty astonishing. So let me tell you what happened last year. Not only did we meet that goal, but we exceeded it. We had 107% involvement in Missional Communities, meaning that we had more people involved in Missional Communities last year than we had attend Sunday morning on average. That means our Missional Communities are reaching into the harvest and engaging lost people. That means that God is doing something incredible. And we get to be a part of it.
I hope this encourages you to become a part of what God is doing in Cane Bay through Missional Communities. It's a journey to join the Spirit of God in real Kingdom work. Do you want to be a part of it? Join us by signing up for a group at mcsignup.org.
