Going Missionally as a Small Group
Mission is your group’s effort to support one another in loving, serving, and sharing Jesus with the people in your lives who don’t yet know Him.
Living life on mission isn’t optional. It is an essential part of being a disciple of Jesus (Matthew 28:19). It also has many practical benefits in the life of a missional community:
- Promotes community through shared purpose.
- Exposes our sin and need for Jesus, providing opportunities for discipleship.
- Keeps groups from becoming stagnant, ingrown, and insular.
- Embodies Jesus’ vision for who we are as the Church and aligns with our calling to guide our neighbors to a hope-filled future.
It is helpful for groups to have a clear picture of what exactly we mean when we talk about “mission.” We’ve included four clarifying statements you can use with your group below, as well as discussion questions for each area:
1 | Mission Is People, Not Projects.
When you hear “mission,” don’t think “service project.” Rather, think about the people God has put in your path — the neighbors, coworkers, classmates, teammates, and community connections you interact with regularly. God doesn’t see these people as “projects,” but rather as His sons and daughters made in His image, people He loves and is drawing toward Himself.
2 | Mission Is Intentional, Not Additional.
I like to say that being missional is about a new intention, not a new direction. Oftentimes we don’t need to add more relationships and activities to our busy lives to faithfully live out Jesus’ mission. Rather, we just need to think about who God has already placed in our path and be intentional to love, serve, and share Jesus with them.
This doesn’t have to be complicated! In fact, it’s as simple as what we see in the life of Jesus, where He listened to, served, and loved whoever He happened to cross paths with. He didn’t have an eight-step ministry plan. He was simply present and available to those who needed to hear His truth.
Key Question: How can you intentionally love, serve, and share Jesus in your current relationships with the people God has already placed in your life?
3 | Mission Is A Team Sport.
Mission in missional communities goes beyond praying for one another as we individually seek to reach our neighbors. Prayer is an essential starting point, but it’s not the ending point. Mission in missional communities is a team sport as you actively look for opportunities to support one another in loving, serving, and sharing Jesus with people who do not yet know Him.
While some missional communities will try and proactively reach the same group of people together (missionary team approach), geography and other factors can make this a challenge for some groups. Many missional communities will look instead to support members as they reach the people already in their lives (team of missionaries approach). This often looks like creatively coming up with opportunities to get the missional community together with those friends — for example, a Superbowl party, summer picnic, helping someone move, or a game night are great ways to bring people together.
Key Question: What are opportunities for your group to join you in loving, serving, and sharing Jesus with the people in your life?
4 | Mission Requires Declaration.
While we want to demonstrate the good news of Jesus by loving and serving our neighbors with our actions, we also want to declare the good news of Jesus with our words. We don’t just want to be seen as “nice” people who serve the needs of those around us. We want to get to know the stories of the people in our lives and speak the gospel to them in such a way that it sounds like good news — real, hope-filled good news that makes sense in the context of their lives.
Key Question: How can you demonstrate the love of God to the people you are reaching? How would the gospel sound like good news to the people you are reaching?
Getting Started: Group Exercises
Where do you begin? Pray and ask that the Spirit would lead and guide your group as you discuss mission together. We believe that prayer empowers everything that matters and that the empowerment of the Holy Spirit is essential for mission. Ask each person in your group to reflect on these questions and then share with the group:
- Where has God already given you relationships and favor with neighbors, coworkers, classmates, or others who may be open to the hope of Jesus?
- How can you intentionally love, serve, and share Jesus in your relationships with the people God has already placed around you, both in word and in deed?
- Are there opportunities for your group to join you in loving, serving, and sharing Jesus with the people in your life who are still exploring faith or who do not yet know Him?
- How can you demonstrate the love of God to the people you are reaching? How would the gospel sound like good news to the people you are reaching?
Mission + Group Gatherings
How do groups go missionally when they gather together? Sometimes groups will hang out with their friends who are still exploring faith by hosting an event like a summer BBQ or Superbowl party.
Other times, groups will meet for a family meal with just the core of the group that is following Jesus. Here are a few ideas for how a group meal can be missionally focused: