(Download a 'Word' version of this page here.)
Introduction
READ Luke 4:14-21
WATCH ‘Home Mission Stories – Ilfracombe… the full story’ – you can download it if you wish at www.vimeo.com/363398073
Questions
1. What are your initial impressions of the video? What stood out to you? What questions did it raise for you?
In Luke 4, Jesus read from Isaiah some words that would define his whole ministry. In fact, these words are sometimes referred to as the 'Nazareth Manifesto' for Jesus' mission. Jesus sends us as his disciples to continue his mission on Earth (John 20:21) in the places he calls us to live.
2. In the video, who were 'the poor', 'the prisoners', 'the blind' and 'the oppressed' that Ilfracombe BC are serving?
3. Who are 'the poor', 'the prisoners', 'the blind' and 'the oppressed' in your community (Luke 4:18)?
In Luke 4:19 Jesus reads about proclaiming 'the year of the Lord's favour'. This is a reference to the year of Jubilee in Jewish culture when every 50th year people's debts are cancelled and land is returned to its original owners' family. Jubilee is very, very Good News for the Poor! In his book Underground Church, Brian Sanders writes,
"Inclusion and care for those who are poor and marginalised is not just a box that churches need to tick, it is a defining practice that reflects our deepest understanding of the good news. The gospel is predicated on the revelation of our own poverty, and the materially poor remind us not only of that, but also of the ever-present need in the world. If we build churches that exclude the poor, we risk losing our grip on the reality and power of the gospel as good news for those in need." (p45-46)
4. Do you agree with Sanders? Why / why not?
5. How are Ilfracombe BC being 'Good News for the poor and marginalised'?
6. Share some examples of how your church has been/is being 'Good News for the poor and marginalised' in your community.
When Jesus sends out his twelve disciples on his mission in Matthew 10 he says in vs 9-10,
"Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light." (The Message)
7. What do you note about the physical resources Ilfracombe BC have available for the mission of God in their community? Where do they seem 'resource rich' and where are they 'resource poor'?
8. How does this limit them in serving in God's mission in their community?
Age can sometimes seem like a reason why we might not be able to engage in God's mission. In the video, Keith says to us,
"Age doesn't mean anything in God's work - it doesn't matter how old you are, you can still work for the Lord in what he calls you to do."
9. What might keep you from fully engaging in God's mission in your community?
10. How will you overcome this?
Jesus' mission to the poor, the outcast, the isolated and the rejected in society is seen not only in his words in Luke 4 but throughout his entire ministry. In following Jesus, we too are called to be Good News to the least, the last and the lost in our communities.
A question is posed to us at the end of the film. Spend some time in silence reflecting on the question and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in answering it for yourself. Then share your answer with your small group and spend time praying for each other, asking God to help you put in to practice that which he has inspired you to do and be in his mission. The question is,
How might God be calling you to serve in his mission in places like Ilfracombe?
Further Prayers...
Pray for,
~ those in Ilfracombe Baptist Church who are faithfully serving God and his mission
~ a new Missioner to be called to help continue and expand the work already begun in Ilfracombe
~ all the resources required for the Missioner (housing & finance) to be provided by God through his people as we 'Partner Together for the Gospel' (Philippians 1:3-5)
~ God's Kingdom to come and his will to be done in Ilfracombe and in your community as it is in heaven
Final Prayer (to be said together)
Lord Jesus, you have no body on earth but ours,
no hands but ours,
no feet but ours.
Ours are the eyes through which
your compassion must look out on the world.
Ours are the feet by which
you may still go about doing good.
Ours are the hands with which
you bless people now.
Fill us with your Spirit
that we might be a blessing to others.
Amen
(Teresa of Avila, 1515-1582)
lfracombe's new Missioner will be supported by a Home Mission grant. If you'd like to support them in this Vision, please give online here – www.give.net/20036313, or by text - text SWBA002 to 70191 (£10) or 70970 (£5), or by cheque made payable to 'BUGB - SWBA Home Mission' and posted to,
Home Mission
SWBA
36-38 Wonford St,
Exeter
EX2 5DL
Thank you!
Find out more about Home Mission here – www.swbaptists.org.uk/mission/home-mission/