Week 1: Why are we meeting?
Canoeing the Mountains
The book Canoeing the Mountains offers a helpful illustration of the Lewis and Clark expedition, who were told by the “experts” that they could canoe from one coast of America to the other. However, when the Great Plains became the Rocky Mountains, the crew would have to leave their familiar canoes to become mountain climbers.
This history is being compared to the new season of American Christianity. For 17 centuries, the church was the major cultural force. Are we prepared to do church in what is now a post-Christian society?
Magnify God by multiplying frontier disciple-makers
through Bible, prayer, and outward community
Magnify God – Our fundamental reason for existence is to reflect God’s glory back to him, and to share it with others.
Multiplying – We do not want to waste our time, so we focus on the work that multiplies. Instead of simply worshiping God alone, we want to multiply the number of worshipers.
Frontier – The pioneers were rugged and self-dependent. With a few tools, you could drop them in any uncharted territory, and they would start to build a community around them. We want a rugged faith that we can take into uncharted territory and build a community of faith.
The tools we use are Bible, Prayer, and Outward community – building daily rhythms that can be shared with others.