Ripe for Harvest

274 • R IPE FOR H ARVEST

Review the following appendices in Planting Churches among the City’s Poor: An Anthology of Urban Church Planting Resources (please refer to the Appendix Table at the end of this session in order to find the location of each document listed below, i.e., its volume and page number), and then answer together the questions under Seminar Group Discussion . • The Story of God: Our Sacred Roots • Once Upon a Time: Understanding Our Church’s Place in the Story of God • Christus Victor : An Integrated Vision for the Christian Life and Witness • The Theology of Christus Victor : A Christ-Centered Biblical Motif for Integrating and Renewing the Urban Church • There Is a River: Identifying the Streams of a Revitalized Christian Community in the City • The Kingdom of God: Church Planting in a Universe at War • A Theology of the Church in Kingdom Perspective • A Schematic for a Theology of the Kingdom and the Church • The Nicene Creed • Substitute Centers to a Christ-Centered Vision • The Picture and the Drama: Image and Story in the Recovery of Christian Myth Seminar Group Discussion 1. In five bullet points, list out the key framework of a Christus Victor theology. Why might this kind of theological framework be uniquely helpful for planting churches in the city, especially among the poor? 2. How does Christus Victor theology help us understand the Bible and Gospel as story? Why is storytelling and storyliving a sound approach for sharing the Good News, especially among postmodern people today? 3. What are the benefits of freshly appropriating of the Jesus story in the Church Year offer us as church planters and ministers a great framework for our preaching, teaching, and conducting services as we build new Christians and their congregations? 4. Why must we be careful to share with others the “historic orthodox faith” and not merely the latest ideas about Christ and the Bible? Explain.

Context Values/Vision

Prepare Launch Assemble Nurture Transition Schedule/Charter