Day 3 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below.
• During days 1-7 (at your own pace) read chapters 1 and 2 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 1-7, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 1.

"And he [Jesus] said to them [His disciples], 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Immediately they left their nets and followed him." (Matthew 4:19-20 ESV)

• What has following Jesus looked like in your life? What net(s) have you left behind? What have you "lost" for the greater gain of knowing your loving Savior, Jesus Christ?

• Finke writes, "...Jesus is moving out on his mission to redeem and restore all people to his Father's kingdom. And he invites us to join him. 'Come, follow me.' Joining Jesus on his redemptive mission is what I mean by the term 'missional living.' 'Missional living' is simply living each day as if it were a mission trip. The difference, of course, is that instead of being on a mission trip to a foreign land, we are on a mission trip to our own community. We are 'Neighborhood Missionaries.'" In following Jesus and living as a neighborhood missionary what "loss" may you personally experience for the greater gain of your neighbor or friend knowing and coming to faith in Jesus?

Day 2 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below.
• During days 1-7 (at your own pace) read chapters 1 and 2 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 1-7, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 1.

"And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, 'Do you see anything?' And he looked up and said, 'I see people, but they look like trees, walking.' Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly." (Mark 8:22-25 ESV)

My car was parked on our driveway last night. With the colder temperatures, all of my car windows were frosted. I hit the heat on and cranked up the defrost. In only a few minutes, what I couldn't at first see through my windows, things right in front and around me, eventually became crystal clear.

• When you came to faith in Jesus or when you've matured in your spiritual life, what was a particular nugget found in God's Word that at first looked fuzzy/foggy/blurred but then (by the Spirit's help) you came to see clearly as truth?

• Finke writes, "People struggle to put it into words, but we're sensing that Jesus is up to something, showing us something new, inviting us to perceive what he is doing next. It seems to be right there in front of us and yet still just outside our ability to see clearly or articulate fully. We are like the blind man in Mark 8:22 who is beginning to see but cannot quite make out what he is seeing." Can you relate? When it comes to living out Jesus' mission in reaching more and more people with His love and good news, this could be uncharted territory for you. Yet the mission has always been there right in front of you...you've just never seen it. What do you find exciting/challenging (maybe even scary)/inspiring/moving about this missional adventure Jesus has given you? 

Day 1 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below.
• During days 1-7 (at your own pace) read chapters 1 and 2 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 1-7, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 1.

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." (John 1:14a NIV)

• What does it mean to you to know and believe that God through His Son Jesus became flesh and made His dwelling among us?

• What further impression does John 1:14 from The Message give you - "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood"?

• Finke writes in Chapter 1, "...in order to join Jesus on his redemptive mission, we need to actually be with (dwell with) people who don't yet know him." Think about whom you live by, whom you work with, those in your community with whom you cross paths with regularly. Who are you dwelling among? Write these names down. Begin praying for these individuals daily that they would one day know Jesus as you do.