Christ Episcopal Church
SPRINGFIELD, IL

Following is Fr. Tournoux's current "Rector's Reflections" article from the Christ Church Tidings Newsletter.  This issue and several past issues are available in PDF format.  You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer in order to view any PDF documents.  Please click here to get Acrobat Reader, if needed.

The Evangelization of Postmoderns Through Holistic Cells:

March 2010
February 2010

An Introduction to Postmodernism:
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009

(March 2010)

Over the past six months, we’ve been discussing the evangelization of Postmoderns through holistic cell groups. This month, I will introduce the Upward, Inward, Outward, and Forward values of God’s Kingdom.

More specifically, the Upward (Mark 12:30) value of God’s kingdom is the experience of Jesus Christ’s presence in a cell group (Matthew 18:20) so that God’s people build a living and loving relationship with Jesus (John 15:5; 17:23), manifested in obedience to the Word (James 1:21-25), life transformation (II Corinthians 5:17), Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and Holy Spirit empowerment (Luke 11:13; Acts 1:8). Bible application (II Timothy 2:15), prayer (Acts 2:42), and worship praise (Ephesians 5:19-20; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews13:15; Revelation 5:8-9) are normative to cell life, which will result in the evangelization of Postmodern pre-Christians (Acts 2:42-47, 6:1-7).

The Inward (Mark 12:31) value of God’s kingdom is the experience of Jesus Christ’s presence in a cell group (Matthew 18:20) so that God’s people are gifted by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:4-11) for body-life ministry (Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12:12-31; I Peter 4:9-11) expressed in love (John 13:35; I Corinthians 13; Philippians 2:1-5). S.H.A.P.E. (Spiritual Gifts / Heart / Abilities / Personality / Experiences) discovery (Psalm 139:13-16) is normative to cell life and equips members (Ephesians 4:7-13) to effectively manifest the mutual ministry of "the ‘One Anothers’ of the New Testament" (Carl George, Prepare Your Church for the Future, 129-132), resulting in Christ’s body (Ephesians 1:22-23) being built up in unity (Ephesians 4:16), and evangelism of Postmodern pre-Christians naturally taking place (Acts 2:42-47, 6:1-7).

The Outward (Matthew 28:19) value of God’s kingdom is the experience of Jesus Christ’s presence in a cell group (Matthew 18:20) so that God’s people, who are blessed of God to bless others (Genesis 12:1-13; Acts 4:1-22; II Corinthians 2:14, 5:11-21), will be mobilized to share their new life in Christ with their Postmodern pre-Christian friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors (Matthew 9:10; John 1:40-41; Acts 10:9-48, 16:16-34). Non-threatening relational evangelism will take place by bringing and including pre-Christians in cell life (Mark 1:16-18), culturally relevant compassionate servant ministry (Matthew 5:16; Mark 10:45; Acts 3:1-10; I Corinthians 9:19-23; I Peter 2:12), cells working together as mission teams (Luke 5:1-7; John 4:37-38), penetration of people groups (Luke 10:1-9; Acts 1:8, 10:34-48, 13:1-3, 26:17-18), prayer (II Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 6:12, 18; Colossians 4:2-4; I Timothy 2:1, 4), and seeker sensitive personal testimony (Colossians 4:5-6; Philemon 1:6; I Peter 3:15), which will result in the evangelization (Romans 10:17; I Peter 2:12) of pre-Christian Postmoderns.

The Forward (Matthew 28:20) value of God’s kingdom is the experience of Jesus Christ’s presence in a cell group (Matthew 18:20) so that God’s people are continually transformed (Romans 8:29; II Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 1:6, 3:12-14) and developed for leadership of holistic cells (Exodus 18:13-27; Acts 2:42-47; Romans 16:3-5). Grassroots leadership formation and development through mentoring (Exodus 17:14; Deuteronomy 31:1-8; I Kings 19:19-21; Mark 3:13-14; Acts 9:26-28; I Corinthians 1:11; I Thessalonians 2:8; II Timothy 2:1-2) and a systematic process of training (Luke 9:1-10, 10:1-24) and equipping (Ephesians 4:11-16) will assure an ever-expanding multiplication (Genesis 1:28, 9:7; Mark 4:30-34; Luke 13:20-21) of cell groups reaching Postmodern pre-Christians with the Gospel (Acts 9:31, 12:14) "house to house" (Acts 20:20). Please join me next month as I begin a more in-depth discussion of the Upward value of God’s kingdom.

Faithfully in Jesus Christ,