Greetings from the UK, were the sausage is inedible and words that should not have a “u” in them do in fact.

Here are my notes from Tim Chester’s first talk at the Radstock Annual Conference. The talk is entitled “Organic Mission”, here is audio .

Main point: God is the great missions strategist.
— Mission can’t be planned beyond the next step because people are unpredictable and God is sovereign.
— Acts 1:8, Acts 8:1-4, I Corinthians 16:5-8
— Metaphors for growth in the Bible are organic (seeds, yeast, harvest, prune). Growth is like a sneeze.

1. We should have a humble confidence in God’s sovereignty.

— I can trust God to use my small contribution as part of his big mission plan.
— It is pride to think that we can organize church growth because Christ grows the church.

2. We should have a clear vision for mission.

— God’s sovereignty is no excuse for bad missions strategy.
— Paul has a plan: wherever God takes him, he will preach Christ and plant churches.

3. Put #1 and #2 together, and you have a liberating culture in the church.

— Because you are not confined by a plan, you are free to respond to Providential opportunities. And because you have a clear vision, they know how to respond.
— We need a culture in our churches where you don’t need permission to do mission.

For leaders, this means:
— Leadership is about creating an ethos of mission.
— Leadership is about organising the chaos that results (Acts 11:19-26) and catching up with what God is doing.

Questions for reflection:
— What is the functional DNA of the church?
— Is your vision clear? Would everyone in your team describe it the same way?
— Is your church flexible enough to respond to new opportunities?