Breaking Ground
Have you ever experienced an epiphany or moment of clarity about something in your life or world? If so, what was it about & how did it impact you?
The Dig
This Sunday, we continued exploring the concept of vision & Element3’s new vision statement; which is for Element3 to live as a Centered Set Church that fosters transformative growth towards Christlikeness through Worship, Connection, & Service.
Read Exodus 19:3-6. As Pastor Mike explored in his sermon, this passage serves as God’s original vision statement for His People. In it, God calls Israel to respond to His gracious liberation by letting Him transform them into a unique Kingdom of Priests or representatives of His character in the world.
How does this serve as a foundational & timeless vision statement for God’s People? What does it mean to represent God’s character in the world?
How can this help us understand our own vision statement as a church? How does our new vision statement merely recontextualize & reframe this universal calling to our present moment?
Critically, God’s People consistently fail to live out this vision throughout Scripture. In response, God repeatedly sends them prophets or people that God empowered through visions to see their present circumstances from His perspective so that they could deliver a twofold message of comfort & challenge to God’s People, urging them to re-embrace God’s original vision for them.
Why is it important to recognize that pursuing any idealistic vision will, at times, include both going astray & having to recommit? How does accepting that reality reorient how we think about such a vision & go about pursuing it?
Why do we need to practice both comforting & challenging each other as we pursue this vision together?
Finally, Pastor Mike concluded by highlighting that Jesus & the Prophets upheld that how we do things matters as much as what we do. Thus, how we pursue this new vision together will require a commitment to our church’s shared values:
- Diversity
- Grace
- Growth
- Humility
- Trust
What stands out to you the most about these values? Which do you find most comforting & challenging? Why?
Why do we need each value in order to healthily pursue our vision together? How can they guide us in terms of how we go about pursuing E3’s vision together?
Getting Out of the Hole
Take time each week to reflect upon the Sunday sermon.
- What do you think it means to be a kingdom of priests? What does that look like in our current time & culture? How does our new vision statement reframe & capture this calling in the 21st century?
- Consider E3’s Values of Grace, Growth, Humility, & Trust. What role do shared values play in a community? How do they impact our pursuit of our vision together?
- How does our new vision statement & values interact to help us achieve our mission of making disciples of Jesus? How can you help E3 better live these out in this next season of our church?
Additional Resources*
Centered Set Church by Mark D. Baker
Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
TheBibleProject.com
Coming Up This Week:*
Sunday, April 26th: Join us next Sunday as we continue exploring E3’s new vision statement!
* Please see mye3.org for details.