This week we are meeting at our local connection points, Lux and G&D from 7:15-8:30pm.  We will be reading and discussing Acts 6-8 (or whatever is on your heart).  Look forward to seeing you there.  I will be posting pics from last weeks table event at our home.  Next week we’re doing it again so clear your calendar as this is going to be a great tradition and community building time.  See you soon.

Steve

Eikon is meeting the next 2 weeks at our Missional Locations.  If you want to join us for a great conversation on Acts 3-5 and on the changes in our culture that are affecting Christianity in both positive and negative ways, we would love to have you (even if you have’nt come in the past!!!).  We are looking forward to see how God uses us in these locations to bring His message to His creation.  We meet Thursdays from 7:15-8:30pm at:

LUX Coffee Bar
Central Ave just South of Campbell on the West Side

Goerge & Dragon English Pub
Central Ave just North of Indian School on the West Side

Cheers!

Steve

Just a reminder that our meeting this week is back at our home from 7:15-8:30pm.  We will have some snacks and refreshments available and will spend our time hanging out, recaping last weeks gatherings, sharing prayer requests and studying Acts 3-5. 

Hope you can join us- even if you have to come late!

777 W roosevelt St #2 Phx, 85007.  (7th ave and Roosevelt on South side of Road)

Steve 480.208.0137

It  has been some time since I have posted something on this site but please keep checking back often as I will be writing more extensively and will be posting some of the things that come out of our missional experiments at LUX and George and Dragon.

Meetings this week will be held at LUX coffee shop and George and Dragon english pub.  They are both located on Central Ave.  We will be meeting from 7:15-8:30pm and will be discussing Acts 1-2, following up on last weeks discussion.  If you weren’t able to make last weeks meeting, no worries. Just show up to the location of your choice with a bible and be ready for some good conversations.

For questions, send me an email or give me a call.  I look forward to seeing you this week and to see what God does.

Steve Wright
swright@bethanybiblechurch.org or stevewrightbbc@gmail.com or 480.208.0137

Young Adult Christmas Party
Sunday, December 21st (This Sunday)
7:00-9:00pm
@ Grace Community Church
9 churches from around the valley
Karaoke DJ, Rockband Competition, Wii Station, Games, Food, Prizes

The purpose of this party is to join together young adults from around the valley
to celebrate Christmas, make fools of ourselves at karaoke & watch face melting solos.

Meet at BBC at 6:45 to catch a ride on the Party Bus (aka church bus).

Questions call Steve Wright
480.208.0137
swright@bethanybiblechurch.org

We are now going to meet at my home for the next few weeks in December.  Our address is…

777 W Roosevelt St. #2
Phoenix, AZ 85007
(7th Ave and Roosevelt)
480.208.0137

We will be serving refreshments and desserts and will still meet at the same time 7:30-8:30pm but will have the food ready by 7:15 if you want to come early and hang.

The reason we decided to meet at our place was to create a better environment for intentional discussion on how we can best impact Phoenix with the message of Christ.  We feel that as we begin this journey, we need an environment that is condusive to creating an open dialogue that all can be involved in.

We hope that you can make it this Thursday.

Bring a friend.
Bring an open mind.
Bring an idea(s).
& Be ready to see God move.

LEAVING:

The word Mission theologically means “to be sent” and leaving is where living like a missionary really begins. Leaving isn’t just about going overseas or participating in short or long term mission trips, it’s about replacing personal and Christian activities with time spent building relationships with people in the surrounding culture.

Whatever your situation is, there are plenty of reasons that we don’t do this on a regular basis. However, Jesus spent countless hours with those outside of the faith and 99% of the miracles performed happened outside of the church walls. So if we want to live an intentionally Missional life then we have to look no further than Jesus- who embodied the message by the way he lived and the people he surrounded himself with.

Maybe in your personal devotions or in a group setting, try reading through one of the Gospels and look for the places where Jesus did ministry. Is there a pattern that you see? Are there places that Jesus seems to spend a lot of time? Did Jesus seem to have a strategy to his missional journey? Who did Jesus hang out with?

Then, according to what you read, imagine if Jesus were here in the flesh today. What would his ministry look like if he were in Phoenix? Where would he hang out? Who would he hang out with? Does your life reflect what you think His would be like?

Here are a few examples of what leaving looks like:

Doing what you love with others
Committing one meal per week with a Sojourner

Going out of your way to build relationships

Looking for chances to talk to strangers

Finding your “Third Place”

Being intentional about building friendships at your Third Place

*Remember, Leaving is the first step in the missional-incarnational process.

Some questions to reflect on:

• What are some things you love to do that would be easy to invite Sojourners to do with you?

• What are some things that might be a struggle to give up in order to spend time connecting with people?

• Do you have a third place? If not, think and pray about a place that you can regularly plant yourself so you can practice Leaving and pray that God will provide you opportunities to connect with Sojourners there.

What is your Third Place?

Ray Oldenburg wrote a book called, The Great Good Place which is a compilation of essays about places around the nation where, to quote the classic tv show Cheers, “everybody knows your name.”

The first place according to Ray is the Home and the 2nd place is work and then comes the third place, a place where you go to form community, make friends, relax, grow, be.

As I was thinking about what my Third place is, I came to a realization that I wanted to share.  I realized that my third place is the church.  Now since I work in the church, it is my 2nd and 3rd place, but whose counting.  Seriously though, I have made my third place church.  From student ministry to young adult ministry to church activities, to church services, to…you get the picture.

Now to most that might not seem like a bad deal.  It’s a place where I make friends, grow spiritually and emotionally through my connection with God and others, where people know my name, etc.  But to me, that is not something I am proud of.  I want to have a third place that is actually OUT in the world where real people are doing life (not to say that real people aren’t doing life at church- you get where I’m going right?).

There are at least 10 coffee shops that I know of and can list off the top of my head within 5 miles of the church.  I’m sure that number is way less than the actual coffee shops there are!  There are countless other restaurants, shops and natural meeting spots that people would consider their Third Place if they used that type of language that are also close to the church.   And yet I find myself, week after week, solely relying on BBC to provide the place for me to develop meaningful relationships with others- not to mention maybe even sharing something spiritual with them.

So I am in the process of creating my Third Place.  As I mentioned last Thursday, LUX coffee shop has become my new connection point.  I am planning to transition more of my office time to the coffee shop with the hope that I will make some good friends.  It’s awesome the small connections I have begun to see God working out by just being there more often- even if I’m not drinking coffee.

So as we continue down the road of learning about what it means to be “Missional” followers of Jesus, I want to encourage you to be intentional about creating a Third Place.  Ask God to reveal where you should go or just pick a spot you like and ask God to open the door for some meaningful conversations. I think you’ll find that as you become intentional about creating a Third Place, God will show you how intentional He can get with those you will connect with.

I look forward to sharing more with you this Thursday night as we enjoy dinner, worship, communion and continue on this journey as followers of the Living Christ!

Steve

Well we are in the 2nd week of our new young adult ministry Eikon and the Lord is continuing to challenge, stretch, grow and draw me closer to His grand plan for His creation- specifically in our case, through a new expression of church. 

Last week we launched the new community with a challenging look back through history at how church was run pre-Constantine and post-Constantine and the implications of both.  Then we ventured into some majore cultural shifts that have taken place and that are taking place and we ended with a challenge of venturing into unknown territory to express Christ through new methods of church.  (I recorded the first talk and am working on having it loaded so you can download the mp3 if you missed it)

So this week we are going to begin our journey together by studying the book of ACTS together and asking God to reveal Himself to us through the text as we explore what it looks like to be a Missional Community in Phoenix, AZ in 2008 and beyond. 

I am so blessed to do this with you all and hope that through this, we will be bonded together as brothers and sisters in Christ- bonded to God as Ruler and Lord of our lives- and bonded to the world as friends of Sojourners.

May the God of creation give us wisdom, clarity, victory, failure, hope and love through His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We are finally beginning our young adult gathering this month and I am beyond excited.  We thought that a good way to kick off our first gathering is by sharing a meal together and then enjoying some coffee or soda after.  So here are the details:

6:30-7:15 Free BBQ dinner at BBC serving chicken, burgers and meatless alternative.

7:30-8:30 Our Gathering time where we will worship, learn and share together

8:30-10:00 Hanging out at LUX Coffee Shop 4404 N Central Ave (between Camelback and Indian School)

We can’t wait to see you there and have been praying for God to use this time to Glorify Himself.

Steve Wright
480.208.0137
swright@bethanybiblechurch.org