Mission Lab

We take a step back and linger a little longer over the values that our restarted church has embraced and is seeking to implement. We also spend a little time breaking down a reading by Jeff Chu, from "Everyone At the Table," that we read at the beginning of all our missional community gatherings.

After alluding to it on a number of occasions in the past, we finally come out with it and explain what it means to "restart" our church. We detail the events that led up to it, how it all transpired, why it transpired, and what it looks like. 

We go an unconventional route, sharing a sermon that Ty Gibson recently preached. But cut us some slack: we're on vacation!ff Be encouraged, challenged, and stimulated by this thought-provoking sermon by Ty as he grapples with the question of whether people who have never heard of - or seemingly rejected - Christ can be saved.

Shawn sits down with Ted Huskins, the Executive Secretary from the Northern New England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (the governing body that oversees churches in his region), to discuss the challenges of spreading the gospel in New England. Ted reflects on his experience moving from the "Bible Belt" to secular New England, and how his understanding of church planting and evangelism has changed as a result. He explains the church planting initiative that he is leading, and invites listeners to come join the movement at ground zero of secularism in the United States.

To email Ted Huskins, email thuskins@nnec.org.

Shawn sits down with Greg Jamrog, who recently embraced Christianity and Adventism, to talk about what his journey into faith looked like. They discuss how Greg is an example of what Camille and Shawn talked about in Episode 57 - where leaning into faith will often come primarily through attractive relationships and not necessarily because a person has an unsatiable appetite for "truth." 

We knew this day would come: we've been having conversations lately with people who are interested in officially joining our church. But their interest doesn't necessarily follow traditional Adventist evangelistic lines. So we discuss questions about baptism, membership, and discipleship - noting how historically Adventists have opted for membership over discipleship. 

Shawn goes solo and preaches a "sermon," examining scripture to determine if church buildings contain "sacred space." He then applies the implications to mission, discipleship, and ecclessiology, and addresses common objections to his conclusions. 

What would it look like for teens - middle and high schoolers - to be on mission. We tackle this question, as posed to us by a friend, sharing some practical tips for teens as they think about being on mission and making disciples. This is an episode you can share with your teens as we disciple them to join up with God in His mission.

Shawn goes solo in this episode to talk about something that - in his opinion - a church should never, ever do. 

We have noticed that one of the more common discipleship issues, from a philosophical perspective, is the question of faith and science. Whether it's with already-believers, or with those who are exploring faith, the question of evolutionary theory is one that comes up frequently. Shawn interviews Dr. Anthony Bosman, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Andrews University, to talk about the interaction of faith and science broadly speaking, and creation and evolution specifically - and what to do when these issues surface in mission.