THE G3 MAP:

Discover Gods Map For Your Church

ROB WEGNER + JACK MAGRUDER

MISSIONAL

MOVES // Supplemental Ebook #1

THE G3 MAP:
Discover Gods Map For Your Church

ROB WEGNER + JACK MAGRUDER

The G3 Map: Discover Gods Map Map For Your Church Copyright 2012 by Rob Wegner and Jack Magruder Distributed via Exponential Resources Exponential is a growing movement of leaders committed to the spread of healthy new churches. Exponential Resources spotlights and spreads actionable principles, ideas and solutions for the accelerated multiplication of healthy, reproducing faith communities. For more information, visit exponential.org All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher, except where noted in the text and in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book is manufactured in the United States. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the authors. Credits Cover Design & Layout: Brittany Riblet Editor: The Incredible Michelle Wegner (You saved the day!) Graphics: Jack Magruder

This ebook is brought to you for free by the generosity of the following partners, who are radically committed to equipping and encouraging church leaders like you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: The Longest Journey Part One: The G3 Introduction (Genesis 1-11) Part Two: The G3 Story (Genesis 12-Revelation 20) Part Three: The G3 Conclusion (Revelation 21-22) CONCLUSION: GET OUT OF YOUR SEAT AND INTO THE STORY

INTRODUCTION: THE LONGEST JOURNEY

Whats the longest journey youve ever been on? Mine (Rob) started in Granger, a little town outside of South Bend, Indiana and ended in a remote mountaintop village in the Manure district of Tamil Nadu, India. When I say remote, I mean off the map. According to our Indian traveling companions, to the best of their knowledge, no foreigners had visited this village in decades. When we arrived, the children began crying and took off running in fear. One of the children, trembling in the arms of their parents, eyes wide with fear, kept repeating the same phrase over and over again. I inquired, What is he saying? Translation, The yellow man is here! The yellow man is here! My Indian friend Raj further clarified, You have the boogey man in America? The boogey man in India is a hairless yellow ape. At this point, Raj busts out laughing and exclaims, They think you are the boogey man! A yellow hairless ape? Yup, that pretty much describes me. So, I used a tried and tested method of international negotiations. I bought the kids off with some candy. I like to think future generation of children in that region will report, Dont let your parents scare you. We met the boogey man. Hes a nice guy actually. He gave us candy! Heres what it took to get there: Two hours by car to the airport in Chicago. If youve driven to OHare, you know driving though Chicago is an offensive sport. 9 hours from Chicago to London through the middle of the night. I had the joy of sitting behind a rambunctious toddler whose parents outsourced all parenting responsibilities to the flight staff. In other words, no sleep thanks to the little booger-head. 13 hours from London to Chennai. Along the way, we crossed the international dateline and lost 13 hours. Get ready for massive body clock confusion. My body is telling me its nighttime, but the clock is telling me its daytime. Off the plane, into the 100 degree heat and 80% humidity, cram luggage into a taxi, and rush to the train station. Onto the train for a six hour ride in the sleeper car to Trichy. Sleeping on that shaking train is like trying to sleep inside of a huge shaking maraca. Hijole! Off the train, a few hours in a hotel to once again rest, and then we load up in the Land Rover to drive another six hours outside Salem. We start in city traffic, where vehicles collide and deflect like blood cells streaming along vessel walls. Then out onto the new superhighway where you have to swerve to avoid ox carts, herds of goats, lazily wandering cows, and constant on-coming traffic--which just happens to be in the wrong lane. We drive until the paved roads stop. Then, we off road through jungles brush and running rivers. Finally, we load up our gear and hiked seven kilometers up a steep mountain. This little winding path would be marked strenuous by any seasoned hiker. One of our guys pulled his groin muscle on the way up.

For me and my friends, it was a truly epic journey via planes, trains, automobiles, and hiking boots. Our experience there was life-changing. Needless to say, the price of travel was worth the prize of our destination. In this eBook we will expand on chapter three of Missional Moves, My Tribe to Every Tribe. Within the book we describe 15 tectonic shifts that unleash missional energy and have the power within them to transform churches, communities and the world. This eBook can stand alone, but it is most meaningful when read as expansion of the material covered in Missional Moves. With that said, the heart of the specific Missional Move this ebook expands on My Tribe to Every Tribe can be best summarized with these words from Missional Moves. In Gods Kingdom, my tribe can only find its meaning within the context of every tribe. If a local church wants to be on mission with God, it must expand beyond its natural tendency to fixate on reaching its own tribe to the God-birthed and Spirit-fueled desires to see every tribe included in the Kingdom. We want to take you on an epic journey through the ENTIRE story of the Bible through this lens of this Missional Move. This quest promises to be just as exhilarating and challenging like our journey to the remote mountaintop village. Youll need to strap on your seatbelt, safety helmet, and hiking boots. How easy is it for me to become fixated with my little life and my little tribe, our problems and our agenda? If youre ready to march off your little map into the unexplored territory of Gods Global Glory (something we like to call G3), then pack up your gear and lets go. G3 is Gods map to the New World. Without a clear view of this macro-map that includes all peoples and every tribe, we end up fixated with the micro-map of my people and my tribe, not truly understanding where our location fits within the larger picture. When we arrive at the final destination, we wont be greeted as strange foreigners. Instead, well discover were members of a global family with brothers and sisters from every tribe of the world, in every nation of the world. In order to make it to this final destination, well need to first and foremost, examine our view of the Bible. Rather than simply viewing the Bible as Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth or a series of stories with a moral attached, we invite you into the sweeping meta-narrative of the Scripture as the ultimate way of understanding and living the Bible. In other words, we should be careful about stating imperatives until we first begin to immerse ourselves in the entire narrative of the Scripture. In essence, the Bible at its core isnt 66 books with hundreds of mini-stories, but one book with

one Story. We have to first make sense of the whole Story and not just the ministories. The story of Gods Global Glory, the Story of Stories, helps us frame the individual stories within the larger map. More than that, it helps us frame the very story of our lives. We find that we are being invited out of our seats and into the Story. That is the most exciting invitation well ever receive. In The Bible as Improv, Ron Martoia proclaims, In the text of the Bible we have not only the drama of Gods interaction with the world in and through Jesus (in the past) but also Gods address to future actors as they seek to play a role in the unfolding drama in the world.1 The ultimate meaning of our lives and our churches our stories can only be discovered and activated when we first see the G3 Story. That begins when we view the Bible as one book with an introduction, story, and conclusion, looking through this comprehensive G3 theme, starting in Genesis and running all the way to Revelation. Bob Sjogren first exposed us to the concept of reading the entire story of the Bible through the G3 lens. Bob, the cofounder of Frontiers, an agency that establishes churches throughout the Muslim world, opened our eyes to read the Bible like never before. He has multiple books on the topic, consider them required reading.2 We hope to be faithful stewards of what Bob has invested in us, and by Gods grace, add our own learnings to it. Heres where were headed: Part One: The G3 Introduction - Genesis 1-11 Part Two: The G3 Story - Genesis 12-Revelation 20 Part Three: The G3 Conclusion - Revelation 21-22

1 2

The Bible As Improv, Ron Martoia Bobs books Run With The Vision (Bethany House, 1995), Unveiled at Last (YWAM, 1996), and Dog and Cat Theology (IVP, 2003) are a great place to start!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Our introduction begins as a journey through the mists of primeval history. Genesis 1-2: Adam and Eve Genesis 3: The Tree, The Temptation, & The Turning Genesis 4-5: Cain & Abel Genesis 6: The Flood Genesis 11: The Tower of Babel Further Out and Further Down In each of these introduction stories, you have a pattern that is repeated. What we are given here in the introduction is a pattern that will set the latitude and longitude lines on the G3 map. First of all, God creates everything, draws a straight line, and says it is good. The pronouncement, It is good, is repeated over and over again. Everything in Gods creation is good, symmetrical, and harmonious shalom realized. But a counter narrative enters the story, interjecting a line that dissects shalom. Further Out 3 Further Down

PART ONE: THE G3 INTRODUCTION: Genesis 1-11

Humanity, rather than choosing Gods good, creates their own version of good, which is actually evil. Each time we choose our own version of good, two things happen. First, mankind devolves further down into brokenness and then the shockwave that shatters shalom spreads further out. Instead of accepting our Fathers invitation to go further up and further in to glory, we choose to go further out and further down. At the tree (Genesis 3), shame, fear, and alienation are introduced for the first time into the human condition. A rupture has opened up at the core of every individual shalom is shattered within us. We no longer live at peace with ourselves. Even worse, we no longer live at peace with God. Next, dipping even deeper into depravity and spreading the shockwave even farther, this rupture rips into our personal relationships shalom is shattered between us. As the story unravels, the first murder (Cain and Abel) tears into shreds the precious gift of
3 Brian McLaren, in his book, A New Kind of Christianity, further explores the decent of humanity in Genesis in Chapter 5. Although, we dont agree with all of Brians conclusions, his insights on into the introduction of the biblical narrative were formative for us.

community. Sinking ever lower, by the time of Noah, the mean streets of society are filled with violence and corruption. And when we finally reach the Tower of Babel, we have an Evil Empire and the trajectory of this civilization is genocide.

Mankind is devolving further down into deeper and deeper evil. The shockwave spreads further and further out. The Story of Adam At each stage of the introduction, the same pattern that started with Adam and Eve at the Tree is repeated. Every time humanity makes the same move Adam made, it leads from life to death relational, emotional, spiritual and physical death. The story of Adam (A) is the life referenced around self. As we attempt to grab the good life, we attempt to climb up over others and even over God only to fall into death.4 Each time, God meets us in this place intersecting the cycle of entropy and devolution with judgment. His judgment is comprised of two necessary life-giving gifts: Truth and Grace. Judgment is where God calls a spade a spade the gift of Truth. This good that we have created, God judges by calling it by its proper name - evil. Without Gods judgment, the entropy would continue ever downward, literally turning his good creation into hellish reality a place of alienation from God, others, ourselves, and creation. When we think of Gods judgment, we tend to think of it as primarily punitive. But within this new perspective, we see that the ultimate goal of Gods judgment in each of these situations was not ultimately retribution, but redemption and restoration. Then our good God adds the gift of Grace to the gift of Truth. In each one of these situations, God responds with restorative Grace, providing not only mercy, but provision. If we look closely, well discover a four-fold provision. What is a four-fold provision? CARC, MARK, ARK, and EMBARK.
4 Graphic, Modified version of picture featured in the Asbury Lenten Reader 2010, where the story of Adam and the Story of Christ are compared.

Carc (a carcass): After the tree, God makes a sacrifice of two animals and provides carcasses to cover Adam and Eves sin and shame. Simultaneously, a prophecy is given about a coming Savior who will crush the head of the Evil One who seeks to devour humanity. Mark: After Abels murder, God places a mark on Cain to protect him from the very evil he visited upon his brother. This gift of grace will save his very life. Ark: Through the storm, God provides an ark of safety and deliverance. Noah and his family arrive safely in a new world. Embark: A people gathered for the purpose of self-aggrandizement at Babel are scattered for the purpose of Gods Global Glory. The Story of Jesus Each of these gifts of Grace pointed to Gods future work at the Cross of Calvary. At the cross, in Jesus, Truth and Grace intersected, turning the cycle on its head. Now, death can lead to life in us, in our relationships, in society, and in the entire creation restoring shalom in every place it has been shattered. The carcass of the very Son of God was given so that our sins might be covered by His righteousness. Jesus body was brutally marked, first by scourging, and then by the nails in his hands and the spear in his side. Now we are marked not only with the blood of the lamb, but with a new name and new identity in Christ.5 As surely as the ark took in Noah and delivered him to a new beginning, so we have been taken in and delivered. The story of Jesus (V) is the story of a life referenced around God, a willful descent into death to self, and a surprising resurrection into an abundant life. The gift of the carc, mark, and the ark are not static. Within each gift there is a forward momentum. That momentum is expressed in the commission to EMBARK! EMBARK THE SEED OF THE GREAT COMMISSION IN GENESIS That momentum moved Jesus to command his disciples, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. He was bringing into focus the map of Gods Global Glory, which is written through every sector of Gods story, and making it accessible to everyone. We have long called this passage the Great Commission. But, its actually the Great Review of the Great Commission whose
5 A. Farrer, A Rebirth of Images: The Making of St. Johns Apocalypse. Farrers thesis is that to receive a mark means to pledge allegiance. So with the words, Jesus is Lord, the followers of Jesus would pledge allegiance to Christ and receive His Mark. The mark or seal is a dominant theme in the book of Revelation. The mark of the Beast (Revelation 7:1-4) is contrasted with the mark of the Lamb (Revelation 14:9-10). The prophet Ezekiel called for a marking of Gods people (Ezekiel 9:4-6). Of course, the lambs blood on the doorframes was the mark of the Passover (Exodus 12:3-13).

roots are grounded in Genesis 12. In fact, well find that the seed is actually buried even deeper in soil of Genesis. We have tagged the Tower of Babel with this key word--Embark. Even before this, this commission first appears as a gift of mercy and grace given to Noah after the flood. Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. Genesis 9:1 (NIV) The Good God intends for humanity to embark be fruitful, increase, and fill the earth. A commission designed to not only intercept the downward cycle of sin that led to the judgment in the first place, but to launch humanity full swing into G3. What is the relationship between Gods Global Glory and this great commission to EMBARK? To find that answer, we must dig even deeper into the soil of Genesis. Does this command to embark sound familiar? Who else received this good gift? God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Genesis 1:28 (NIV) Noah is given the same commission as Adam and Eve. Here we have reached ground zero for the Great Commission. We find the Great Commission begins not in Matthew 28, but in Genesis 1. The original seed for the Great Commission is planted in the first command given to humanity, Embark. Be fruitful andfill the earth. In Genesis 1 the Great Commission and Gods Global glory explode out of three words, Fill the earth. How so? Why Fill the earth? Something happens linguistically when you fill the earth. What happens to a language over centuries of time when you fill the earth? First, accents develop, then, dialects emerge. Consider the word Coke. If you grew up in the north, A Coke is a Coke. But if you grew up in the south, a Coke could be a Pepsi! Coke down south is the generic name slapped on any soft drink. In the Midwest where I live, we are much more precise, preferring the word pop. The Northeasterners prefer the term soda. Believe or not, for decades linguists have studied regional differences in the terms people use for soft drinks. What they found might surprise you. Contrary to the popular opinion that regional diversity (in language) is disappearing, its being maintained and strengthened, said Bert Vaux, who is a linguistics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.6
6 In The South, a coke could be a Pepsi, Atlanta Journal Constitution, January 27, 2005, Scott Leith

These regional differences in language diversity create dialects. Eventually, you have whole new words, whole new phrases, and then, a whole new language, which creates cultural diversity. Language is a core value of culture. Intended diversity in culture is embedded within Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 9:1. Intended diversity is Gods good idea. At first blush, this might not seem like a big deal, but it is. From the very beginning, God intended for there to be cultural and ethnic diversity. The question is why? Why would God want cultural and ethnic diversity? How is this a fundamental source of Gods global glory? To answer those questions, we must return to the Tower of Babel. Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. Genesis 11:1 (NIV) See the problem? Did they embrace Gods good idea of intended diversity? No. We like us, and we dont want any of them. And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. Genesis 11:3-4 (NRSV)

Come let us make a name for ourselves! Pride was welling up inside their hearts. Now were back to the story of Adam being played out all over again. Their pride led to another problem. All the focus on us, leads them to this conclusion, If we dont do this, we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. The very thing God intended from the beginning they refused to embrace. Humanity had dug its collective heels into the earth and said, Were not moving. This was counter to the flow of God, which is fill the earth. They didnt want to create diversity. They did not want to fill the earth. So what does God do? With the ultimate motive of love, like a mother bird shoving her baby out of the nest, God pushes humanity out of its cultural isolation and says, Embark! So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babelbecause there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. Genesis 11:8-9

This passage leaves us with so many questions. Why would God insist on intended diversity? Why is it so fundamental to humanitys role and purpose?

How is cultural diversity connected to G3? What is the ultimate outcome of the commission to Embark? The answer to these questions if found in something called greatest glory. GREATEST GLORY: THE OUTCOME OF EMBARK How is it that God receives greatest glory? Not a little glory, not a lot of glory, but greatest glory?7 If you are reading this eBook, youre the kind of person who actually may have considered that question. Not many do. Were betting youre the kind of person who is repulsed by the idea of your life or your church only offering God a smattering of glory. Youre fed up with the Christianized self-improvement program that is the mainstay of American Christianity, where God exists simply to play a supporting role in the epic saga of your life. There is only one who is worthy to be thought of above all. His name is Jesus. He is Lord of all. He is worthy first and foremost because of who He is, not just because of what He has done for us. When your eyes have been opened to see who Jesus is, then you know that He is worthy of greatest glory. The more you see and know and experience who He is, the deeper your conviction becomes, He is worthy! Whatever glory there is to give, it all belongs to Him. He is the one who is worthy of all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise. Whatever price we pay to give Him glory, He is worth it. You know instantly when you are with people who place this ultimate value on Jesus. They radiate both a divine heat and light. I (Rob) could feel the heat coming off such a gathering of Kingdom revolutionaries in Sudan. It made my soul sweat. I had the privilege of training a batch of radiant church planters trust me I learned more from them than they learned from me. The external heat peaked at 120 degrees during the day and dropped to a chilly 90 degrees at night. The arid desert environment was swept with brutal windstorms, carrying dust and garbage in little twisters, roaring like some unearthly creature. The brutal external conditions are a reflection of the internal tensions that are ripping apart this nation, a place plagued by poverty, disease, and war. As I write this, the world has just celebrated the peaceful voting process of the historic referendum on Southern Sudans secession from the North. Within a few weeks, the final results will be certified. Yet, this does not erase the fact that a brutal civil war has been raging since
7 We first exposed to the concept of what we call Greatest Glory through the Unveiling Glory Training led by Bob Sjogren. http://www.unveilinglory.com/

1955, having reached new heights of violence in the last two decades. Since 1983, some 2 million people have been killed and millions more displaced from their home due to the governments scorched earth policy. As with any civil war, its complicated. Start with a government in the North, who wants to pillage oil revenues from the South. Mix in long-brewing tension between different warring tribes. Add to that a movement of fundamental Islam that wants to claim Southern Sudan as a gateway to all of Africa. What you do you get? Hell on earth. Many in the Islamic movement see the church of Jesus Christ as the primary obstacle standing in the way. As the Sudanese government has wavered between fundamental Islam and militant fundamental Islam, the Church has faced fierce and consistent oppression and persecution. Verified reports exist of helicopter gunships attacking churches, mass executions, forced displacement of Christian villages, rape, and abduction for the purpose of enslavement. There are even reports of men, women, and children being nailed to trees with iron spikes. The followers of Jesus in Sudan have literally faced the very real possibility of crucifixion as the outcome of their faith. While the followers of Jesus have been undergoing vicious anti-Christian persecution, the church is exploding. Twenty years ago, Christians made up 5% of the total population today the figure is around 20%.8 Of the 100 or so church planters I was training, most were headed back into southern Sudan, one of the hottest furnaces of persecution in the world. I think of Lagu Simon, whose church in Darfur in a matter of months had grown to 100 and was already sending out an additional 10 church planters. Or John, whose new church has grown to over 400 in less than six years, with more than 300 having gone public with their faith through baptism. As we began the training, one of the leaders leaned over and said, Its going to be awhile before you can start training. We have a problem. We cannot get them to stop worshipping so we can begin the training. I wish we had that problem in our churches here in America. Can you imagine that problem in your life? Can you imagine that problem in your church? Imagine being so consumed with desire for greatest glory for Jesus that worship was no longer a few carefully planned and practiced songs before the sermon, but an unrestrained passion that explodes through the entirety of your life. As they continued in worship, I was overcome by the power of their worship. I was swallowed up by their all-consuming desire to give Jesus maximum glory. Maybe youve seen Old Faithful in person or on film. That was what their worship was like, an upward explosion. I am convinced it is their gaze upon their God in worship that sustains them and strengthens them even in the face of death.
8 More reports from the front line here: Hope Amid Ruins: Anglican bishop in Sudan sees massive church growth, Stan Guthrie, Christianity Today, January 01, 2004, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/january/16.31.html; Grace Magazine, Persecution in Sudan, http://www.gracemagazine.org.uk/articles/mission/sudan.htm

Who these Sudanese church planters see on that throne is so much bigger than the problems they face. They have some big problems, but they have an even bigger God to worship. Worshipping with those church planters was exhilarating, humbling, and convicting. They face constant persecution, but there was no scent of fear on them. They overflowed with joy. They live for one purpose to give greatest glory to our God. What do you think happened to my vision of God and His worthiness of greatest glory while worshipping with them? It got bigger! Jesus didnt actually get bigger, just my perception of His worthiness did. In that, God gets more glory. Theres the key word that we are learning that all of history is all aboutGods Global Glory. So, how does God receive greatest glory? As you read these stories from Sudan, of our faithful God working through another culture, did your perception of His worthiness expand? I bet it did God grew bigger in your heart and mind as you saw Him at work in another culture. Of course we know He didnt actually get bigger. The image of God in our mind is getting bigger, further increasing both the potential of greater glory in our lives and the realization of Gods Global Glory in the world. Every culture and every unique people group is like a different prism through which we see the glory of God in a new way. Glory increases when diversity is unified without each expression of diversity losing its uniqueness. Thats what the G3 map is all about. Were still in the introduction but we need to jump to the conclusion in the book of Revelation. How is the climax of human history described? After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. Revelation 7:9-10 (NIV) The climax of human history will be God receiving maximum glory from unified human diversity. When you and I are there with people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, Jesus will finally receive the greatest glory from mankind. One tribe short and Jesus will not have greatest glory. Now, we can see fully the G3 map, its less about geography and more about anthropology. The G3 map includes a rainbow of people from every tribe and nation, the full spectrum of cultural diversity. Once again, here is the whole point of historyGod is building a family, a global family who will join him in the healing of this world.

We serve a global God and that makes us a global people. If you get close enough to Jesus, youll find that you cease thinking of yourself merely in terms of race or nationality, Caucasian American, African American, Hispanic American, or whatever. As his heart begins to beat in you, you will realize first and foremost, I am a citizen of the international Kingdom of God. You start caring the way God cares. You start taking steps. You start realizing in a globalized world, your neighbor is not just around the corner any more, but around the world. THE END OF THE INTRODUCTION: BACK TO BABEL Now we understand why the Tower of Babel is the climactic end to the introduction of the Story. They didnt know it, but they were hindering G3! What an amazing plan! When God scattered them and in essence said, Embark It wasnt just a smack down, but a strategic act to move the people of the world toward G3, the revelation of Gods Global GloryHis greatest glory. A good introduction introduces the theme of the entire story. The Bible is the greatest story every told. The theme of the introduction is clear: G3. Now, lets look at how that theme weaves it way through the entire story of the Bible.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Now, lets look at the story of G3 from Genesis 12 to Revelation 19 through the following waypoints: Abraham and Israel, Jesus, and the Church. G3, ABRAHAM, AND ISRAEL The LORD had said to Abram, Leave your country, your people and your fathers household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV) The story begins and God says to Abram, Im going to make you a father of a great nation. Later, God confirms a covenant with Abraham. The sign of the covenant was an ancient practice of the day, circumcision. Remember after the flood, the sign of the Noahic covenant was the rainbow. Noah got a rainbow. Abraham got circumcision. Can you say, Raw deal? Most of us would take the rainbow any day (in a world without anesthesia for sure). What was the symbol of circumcision to remind Abraham of? The missional blessing described in Genesis 12 that will become the method for Gods Global Glory to go worldwide. Abram found himself at the center of civilization, a tumultuous place between Mesopotamia to the north and east and Egypt to the south and west. This framing wasnt just geographic, but spiritual--a polytheistic world where people feared gods and desperately sought their favor. Gods didnt simply just bless you. Life was a complicated series of rituals to appease the gods so they wouldnt smite you. Abram had to be in shock. How amazing is it that for no other reason than innate goodness, the first words of the one true living God is this, I will bless you? No one had ever heard a god talk like this before. The blessing wasnt just for Abram, it was for other peoples. This strange word peoples is not a mistake. Gods not just talking about lots of people, hes talking about people groups. Peoples refer to groups of people bound together by culture, tradition, and language. God invites Abram to see all the peoples groups of his world. I wonder if a panorama of faces what we now know is the G3 map appeared in his minds eye. Every city in Abrams world had a god all of these coalescing into regionally accepted pantheons. Although there was no competition between the gods,

PART TWO: THE G3 STORY: Genesis 12 Revelation 19

as there was no limit on the number of gods, everywhere the divine will was the formal justification for war.9 Dominance of any city-state was established the good old fashion way, by slaughtering people in the name of your god. War was part and parcel to life. Like children fighting in the schoolyard yelling, My god can beat up your god. My god is bigger than your god. My god helped me rape, pillage, plunder, and force tribute from you too bad your god wasnt any stronger. Now, I have the blessing! Abraham sees the faces of all these peoples many of whom would have been enemies who had oppressed him and says, Im going to bless you, not so you can sit and soak in your blessing, but for this purpose, to become a channel of blessing to all those other peoples. Here God is breaking Abram and us free from our own-tribe-centricity. His plan was to design a nation, a whole new people group, which would rise up to this new G3 perspective. Abram is invited to see a new world, a place where people from every tribe and tongue come together in the blessing of God. God intends to make a people who become a mighty rushing river of blessing to all the peoples of this world. Abram saw something so much bigger than bless me God. He saw something he had never even thought of before the Global Glory of God realized in the unification of human diversity under the one True God. Once Abram had the G3 map burned into his mind, he knew he was going to Canaan. Once you have the G3 map in your mind, youll go places you never thought youd be able to go, doing things you never thought you would be able to do. In our book Missional Moves, we go into much greater detail on the Abrahamic Covenant as the predominant theme for the entire story of Scripture. We describe it this way, this theme of God blessing his people to be a blessing to the world for the sake of his global glory runs through hundreds of passages and scores of stories you likely learned in Sunday School. But, in our rush to get to a principle we can plug into our life the payoff for me -- we hurried right past the bigger picture of G3. In our pursuit of the micro for me, we lost the macro that matters so much to our God. We encourage you to read Missional Moves, consider this challenging concept, and decide for yourself. Better yet, we encourage you to start highlighting every passage where you see the radiance of G3. You know what? If you stay at it, youll discover page after page after page of your Bible filled with highlighting. Why? The Bible is one book with one Story with a predominant theme G3. All nations fills the Hebrew Scriptures. Heres a list of just some of the passages10. There are hundreds more!
9 Pg 185, Civilization Before Greece and Rome. By: H.W.F. Saggs. Yale University Press / 1989

10 List sourced from http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/missionstexts.html

 Genesis 12:1-3 (repeated in Gen. 18:18, 22:17-18, 26:24 and 28:12-14) Exodus 9:14-16 -- purpose of the plagues Exodus 19:6 -- Israel was to be a kingdom of priests Numbers 14:21 -- glory of Lord fills the whole earth Deuteronomy 4:6-8 -- show your understanding to the nations Deuteronomy 10:19 -- You are to love those who are aliens Deuteronomy 28:10 -- all the peoples on the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord Deuteronomy 32:1 - Hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Joshua 4:24 -- so that all the peoples of the earth might know 1 Samuel 2:10 -- The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. 1 Samuel 17:46 -- the whole world will know there is a God in Israel 1 Kings 8:41-43, 59-60 (also in 2 Chronicles 6:32-33) -- so that all peoples of the earth may know your name (Solomons prayer at dedication of Temple) 2 Kings 19:15 -- Hezekiah prayed . . . : O LORD, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. 1 Chronicles 16:31 Let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, The Lord reigns! 1 Chronicles 16:24 -- Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples 2 Chronicles 6:33 -- so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you Psalm 2:7-10 -- You are my Son . . . I will make the nations your inheritance Psalm 7:7-8 -- Let the Lord judge the peoples Psalm 8:9 -- How majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 18:49 -- I will praise you among the nations Psalm 22:26-28 -- all the families of the nations will bow down Psalm 19:1-4 -- their words to the ends of the world Psalm 22:27 -- All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord Psalm 24 -- The earth is the Lords Psalm 33 -- Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord Psalm 45:17 -- The nations will praise you for ever and ever Psalm 46:10 -- I will be exalted among the nations Psalm 47 -- God reigns over the nations Psalm 48:10 -- Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth Psalm 49:1 -- Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world Psalm 50 -- From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets Psalm 57 -- I will sing of you among the peoples Psalm 59:13 -- It will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob. Psalm 65:5-8 -- the hope of all the ends of the earth . . . where morning dawns and evening fades you call forthsongsof joy Psalm 66 -- All the earth bows down to you . . . Praise our God, O peoples Psalm 67 -- your salvation among all peoples Psalm 68:32 -- Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth Psalm 72 -- all nations will serve him Psalm 72:9 -- the desert tribes will bow before him Psalm 72:17, 19 -- All nations will be blessed through him . . . May the whole earth be filled with his glory Psalm 77:14 -- you display your power among the peoples Psalm 82 -- all the nations are your inheritance Psalm 83:18 -- You alone are the Most High over all the earth. Psalm 86:8-13 -- all nations will come and worship Psalm 87 -- the register of the peoples Psalm 96 -- sing to the Lord, all the earth . . . Declare his glory among the

nations Psalm 97 -- The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice Psalm 98:3 -- All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Psalm 98:9 -- He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. Psalm 99:1-3 -- He is exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome name Psalm 102:15 -- The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory. Psalm 102:22 -- when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the Lord Psalm 105:1 -- make known among the nations what He has done Psalm 106:8 -- reason for dividing the Red Sea Psalm 108:3 -- I will sing of you among the peoples Psalm 108:5 -- Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth. Psalm 110:6 -- He will judge the nations, Psalm 113:3 -- From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised Psalm 117 -- Praise the Lord, all you nations Psalm 126 -- it was said among the nations Psalm 135 -- our Lord is greater than all gods Psalm 138:4 -- may all the kings of the earth praise you, O Lord Isaiah 2:3 -- Many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. Isaiah 6:3 -- They were calling to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah 11:9 -- fill the earth with the knowledge of the Lord Isaiah 11:10 -- in that day a Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples, the nations . . . Isaiah 12:4 -- Make known among the nations what He has done Isaiah 24:16 -- From the ends of the earth we hear singing: Glory to the Righteous One. Isaiah 25:6 -- the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples Isaiah 42:4 -- in His law the islands will put their hope Isaiah 42:6 -- I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles. Isaiah 34:1 -- Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Isaiah 37:16 -- O Lord Almighty . . . , you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. Isaiah 42:4 -- He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope. Isaiah 43:6 -- I will say to the north, Give them up! and to the south, Do not hold them back. Isaiah 45:6 -- from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. Isaiah 45:22 -- Turn to me . . . all you ends of the earth Isaiah 49:1-6 -- I will make you a light for the Gentiles Isaiah 49:22 -- The Sovereign Lord says: See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner to the peoples. Isaiah 52:10 -- The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. Isaiah 56:7 -- my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations Isaiah 59:19 -- From the west, men will fear the name of the Lord, and from

the rising of the sun, they will revere His glory. Isaiah 60:3 -- Nations will come to your light Isaiah 62:11 -- The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth Isaiah 66:19 -- They will proclaim my glory among the nations Jeremiah 3:17 -- All nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord Jeremiah 16:19 To you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good. Ezekiel 36:22-23 -- The nations will know I am the Lord Daniel 2:47; 4:1-2; 6:25 -- Surely your God is the God of gods Daniel 7:13, 14 -- all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him Jonahs story -- the missionary book of the Old Testament [e-book on Jonah] Micah 1:2 -- Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it. Micah 4:2 -- Many nations will come Micah 5:4 -- His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. Habbakuk 2:14 -- The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the water cover the sea Zephaniah 2:11 -- Nations on every shore will worship him Zephaniah 3:9 -- Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord. Haggai 2:7 -- Desire of all nations Zechariah 2:11 -- Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people Zechariah 8:20-23 -- Many peoples and inhabitants of many cities will come Zechariah 9:10 -- He will proclaim peace to the nations Zechariah 14:9 -- The Lord will be king over the whole earth. Malachi 1:10-11 -- My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun

Its amazing how easy it is to read the Bible and miss the point. If we miss that, well never grow into the person God had in mind when He thought us up. If we miss the point, well never give God what we were designed to give Him greatest glory. ISRAEL: ADVENTURES IN MISSING THE POINT Sadly, as you read the Old Testament, youll discover that Gods people usually settle for less. Id like to tell you that Abrahams descendants understood Gods mandate that they would not only be blessed, but that through them the entire world might come to a beauty and unity that would give God the kind of Global Glory that we have come to understand as the very point of all of Scriptureand indeed, the entirety of Reality as we understand it. But thats not what happened. The same cycle the story of Adam that we saw in the introduction is repeated again and again over a period of more than 2,200 years. Israel repeats a cycle that carves an ever-deepening rut, one that the people of God dig for themselves. Again and again, they are presented with an opportunity to manifest and accomplish the Mission to not only be blessed, but be a blessing to the nations, but rarely do they seize it. From Genesis 12 to Matthew 1, we see the same depressing story where the

children of Abraham always end up forgetting their mission. In many ways, the message and job of the Prophets is to continually hit the reset button on the nation of Israel, setting them back to the place where they can fulfill their own mission to not only be blessed, but to be a blessing to the nations. In the book of Judges, we see a snapshot of Israels history between Abraham and Jesus. It is encapsulated in Judges 2:18-19, Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. What we see in this passage is a cycle that is repeated through Old Testament history. Whenever Israel had it good, they forgot their mission to be a blessing to the nations. This drift led ultimately away from Gods blessing into oppression, invasion from foreign nations and exile. They would cry out to God for deliverance. The deliverance of God yielded blessing and prosperity. Then, the cycle would start all over again. Believe it or not, it gets even worse. Heres the ultimate example of Israels adventure in missing the point. 1 Kings 9:15 (NIV) 15 Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the LORDs temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. We discover that Israel now has slaves. The people who use to be slaves are now building their empire on the backs ofslaves. In their darkest hours, Israel became the very oppressors that they had so ardently sought to escape. Rather than being a blessing to the nations, they became like any other nation abusers and oppressors. Starting with Egypt all the way through to the time of Rome, this cycle is repeated. Collectively, Israel had been spinning its wheels for over 2000 years. Gods people got stuck in a rut. No matter how hard they revved the engine, no matter how fast the rpms, they never got any real traction. It is why, as you can imagine, Israel began to groan for a Savior. On the surface, they wanted a Messiah who would deliver them from their present suffering (at the hands of the Romans). Beyond that, God knew that they needed a Savior

who would deliver them from the perpetuating downward cycle they had been stuck in for so long. Thank goodness God doesnt permit humanity to simply stall out in this cycle! So, into this cycle steps Jesus, the Son of God. Of course, the real test of this G3 is Jesus. Did Jesus and the early followers of Jesus understand the centrality of G3 and the Abrahamic Covenant? G3 AND JESUS In essence, Jesus comes to do what Israel never did. He comes to be the perfect Israelite and fulfill the Mission God gave His people from day one-- G3. In Jesus, the Mission of God and G3 gain traction and take off! Jesus embodies the mission given to Abraham. In essence, He says, I will become Israel. Im a Jew. Im born of the line of Judah, House of David. I meet all of the genealogical requirements. But you watch this--I will do what Israel never did. I will fulfill the mission. If you dont know what it looks like, let me show you through my life, ministry, and sacrifice. In fact, His entire ministry finds Him creating ever-widening circles of both personal presence and teaching concepts as He reminds Israel of their mission by embodying it Himself. Jesus first goes to whom He calls the lost sheep of Israel. The Lost Sheep of Israel These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. Matthew 10:5-8 Jesus didnt ditch the calling for Israel to be the people and the light of God. Jesus starts there. At the start of His ministry, where does He goes first? He goes to the synagogue. He doesnt go to Samaria. He doesnt go to Rome. He starts with the people of God. He offered again to them the calling to fulfill the Mission given to them 2,000 years before in their ancestor, Abraham. But, He doesnt stay there. Canaanite Woman and the Feeding of the Four Thousand Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession. Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us. He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. The woman came and knelt before him. Lord, help me! she said. He replied, It is not right to take the childrens bread and

toss it to their dogs. Yes, Lord, she said, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table. Then Jesus answered, Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted. And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Matthew 15:21-28 This is a difficult passage. It appears that Jesus at best is a snob, and, at worst, a racist. There are some interesting ideas about the interpretation of this passage. One is that He is enacting a game of wordplay. Dogs may sound like a very offensive term, but He actually just called His own people lost sheep. When you consider the stupidity of sheep, being called a dog isnt much better, or worse. Notice that Jesus changes His mind in this passage regarding the womans requested miracle. This wasnt the first woman who was able to talk Jesus into a miracle He first appeared opposed to. The first example was His mother Mary at the wedding. As you know, she got the chardonnay she requested. Now, this woman receives her daughters healing. This moment with the Canaanite woman marks a decisive moment in Jesus ministry that most people miss. Israel had a long history with Canaan. In Deuteronomy 7, the original encounter between Israel and Canaan, the Israelites showed no mercy to the Canaanites, who were mercilessly conquered. Now instead of a Jew conquering a Canaanite with no mercy, we have a Canaanite woman conquering a Jewish man, who surrenders an act of mercy.11 Grant LeMarguand sees this as a turning point in Jesus ministry. Just as Marys request became a trigger to go public with His miracles, this womans request triggers a go multicultural focus on Jesus ministry. In the following chapters, He begins to heal multitudes, which Matthew specifies are Gentiles who are now praising the God of Israel. In this chapter, Jesus feeds four thousand Gentiles, where as before, Jesus fed five thousands Jews. What was the number of baskets left over after the feeding of the five thousand? Twelve baskets. How many tribes where there in Israel? Twelve. But when He feeds the four thousand, how many baskets are left over? Seven baskets. Lets consider what that number might signify. We find a clue in Deuteronomy 7. When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nationsthe Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you- Deuteronomy 7:1 Seven nations are listed in the conquest target list. Jesus takes the old destroy the Canaanites story and turns it on its head. He takes the no mercy policy and
11 We were introduced to Grant LeMarquands reading of Matthew 15 in Brian McLarens Eveything Must Change, pg 154-159. LeMarquand work on this passage available at tesm.edu/articles/lemaruand-canaanite-woman.

instead shows mercy to a Canaanite woman. Seven nations are to be destroyed; Jesus leaves seven baskets to feed them. Instead of heading out with swords and spears, we are to head out with bread and fish to serve and heal. The Good Samaritan But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. Luke 10:33 Here Jesus isnt just teaching a lesson on mercy and kindness. He explicitly expands the definition of the word neighbor, providing a G3 perspective on the meaning. Just so no one is confused Jesus provides a definition of neighbor that includes another tribe beyond Israel. The Roman Centurion When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. Lord, he said, my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering. Jesus said to him, I will go and heal him. The centurion replied, Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, Go, and he goes; and that one, Come, and he comes. I say to my servant, Do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Matt 8:5-11 Really? Even the Romans? No way, Jesus! Surely not the Romans! This centurion is the embodiment of the boot that was on the neck of Gods people. They even have the audacity to claim that their Caesar is God in the flesh! The blasphemy! And yet, even the Romans. No one is exempt from the grace of God manifest through Jesus. And, His Mission over and over again demonstrates that when Kingdom comes, it comes to all. We are all familiar with the Great Commission. Now we know that Jesus words are actually the Great Re-Commissioning of Gods people, including not just the people of Israel, but any who would chose to follow Jesus. Notice this commissioning doesnt just occur once. Rather, it occurs five times in five different settings. Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV) Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Mark 16:15 (NIV) He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. John 20:21 (NIV) Again Jesus said, Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The commission in Luke 24 is especially instructive. After His resurrection, Jesus appears to his disciples. Luke 24:44-45 (NIV) He said to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. Jesus is going to open up the entire story of scripture to them, everything from the Law of Moses through the Prophets. Oh how I wish they had tape recorders back in those days. The living God of the universe explaining the Word of God. With a limited amount of time, what does a great teacher do, He breaks the content down into a big idea. What theme did Jesus use to describe the entire Story? G3 Luke 24:46-49 (NIV) He told them, This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. The message must be preached to where? All nations. It is the very heartbeat of Jesus. It is therefore, the very heartbeat of God. G3 AND THE CHURCH Lets go again to the verse we just looked at in Acts 1:8. What a tall order that passage is! With aircraft, the Internet, modern travel and communications, its much easier to go to the ends of the Earth now than it was in the first century. Lets ask: a) first of all, did His earliest disciples understand their mandate to fulfill the Mission originally given to Abraham and embodied in Jesus, and b) did they actually accomplish anything? Well, lets take a look. The book of Acts is actually structured around this central verse (v.8). You see,

it started with the Jerusalem church, and worked its way outward from there in concentric circles that radiated outward from the center like a tsunami resulting from the earthquake of Jesus life and mission! Concentric Circles outward Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth Acts 6:7 > Jerusalem: 7So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. Acts 9:31 > Judea/Samaria: 31Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord. Acts 19:17-21 > Ends of the Earth (Europe/Asia Minor): 17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.18Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds.19A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.[d]20In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.21After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. After I have been there, he said, I must visit Rome also.22He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer. Acts 28:28-31 > Rome: 28Therefore I want you to know that Gods salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen![b 30For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.31Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. The mission plan Jesus laid out in Acts 1 was realized by Acts 28. When we take teams to India from Granger, we almost always stop in the city of Chennai to see the place where Doubting Thomas was martyred. You see, most people dont know that Thomas understood to the call to go to the ends of the earth well, and even in the 1st century, travelled all the way to India to do so. The early church not only got the mission, they lived the mission. Finally, we must understand that most of what we consider to be the New Testament was the initial realization of Jesus dream to see All Nations come into the Kingdom of God with most of the epistles written to small, largely Gentilebased church plants that were coming to Christ at the far reaches of the known world. Before we get to the conclusion, lets look more closely at where we fit within this movement. Where exactly are we at in terms of the story? How close are we to the conclusion?

A NEW PATTERN: MAN > MOVEMENT > MARRIAGE Now we see a new pattern developing one that is the very opposite of what we saw in the introduction. Instead of a continuing decline downward into depravity, we are now invited by Jesus and empowered by the Spirit to join Gods plan to redeem all things, moving upward toward Gods masterpiece, the New Heaven and New Earth. Gods good creation and the peoples of the world will not be abandoned or destroyed, but affirmed and restored. What started with the Man Jesus became a movement called the Church. This movement is alive and well today, spreading like wildfire. In fact, it is now elevating the whole planet. He told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches. Matthew 13:31-32 (NIV) In rabbinical teaching, the mustard seed was a symbol of smallness. Gods solution was a small intervention to say the least! God sent one Man, who spent most of His time with a group of twelve nobodies. Then the man started a movement, which by the time of His ascension consisted of a few hundred ragamuffins with virtually no ability to formally influence the most powerful systems of their day. Some movement! He told them still another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough. Matthew 13:33 (NIV) New Testament scholar D.A. Carson, referring to this parable, proclaims, The general thrust of this parable is the same as that of the mustard seed. The kingdom produces ultimate consequences out of all proportion to its insignificant beginnings,12 Despite all the odds, like the smallest seed, the Jesus movement has sprouted into something all out of proportion to its insignificant beginnings. Like yeast in the dough, this movement is spreading throughout the world, lifting this planet toward Gods ultimate conclusion--the New Heaven and the New Earth. According to Ralph Winter, arguably the leading missiologist of our times, who recently went on to his coronation ceremony in the presence of our King, Gods
12 D.A. Carson, The Expositors Bible Commentary, vol 8, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984, pg 317-319

promise to bless all the families of the earth, first given to Abraham 4,000 years ago, is becoming a reality at a pace you would not believe.13 It took 18 centuries for practicing Christians to grow from 0% of the worlds population to just 2.5% by 1900. Consider that in the next 70 years, from 1900 to 1970, that number doubled to 5%. What took 1800 years to accomplish was reproduced within 70 years. Amazing! Get ready to be shocked. That number was more than doubled again in that last 40 years, growing from 5% to 12%.
14

You wont hear about this on the nightly news, but we are in the greatest hour in the history of the Church, in terms of viral growth. Today, there is one practicing Christian for every seven people worldwide who are either nominal or non-Christian. If we included nominal Christians, the numbers swell to over 2 billion people. If that isnt a movement, I dont know what is. The earth has never seen anything like it! Jesus said, This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come (Matthew 24:14). Our mission is clear. Our first priority is to see every tribe included in the Kingdom. This brings us back to that strange word from Genesis 12, peoples, or what is known as people groups. Missiologists have been refining the definition of people groups for decades. Arguably it is the best, albeit rough, measure of our progress in the pursuit of Gods Global Glory. For the past 40 years, a worldwide movement has ignited around this essential mission task a kingdom breakthrough among every people group, among every tribe. This is not only our essential task, but one that can be accomplished. Of the 24,000 people groups in the world, already approximately 16,000 of them are reached, which means they have a viable Christian witness. You can do the math. That means 8,000 people groups are unreached. Unreached means that its quite possible they have never heard the name of Jesus. Unreached means they havent heard of Gods stunning offer of amazing grace. Not ever. That means the kingdom ball is 2/3rds of the way down the field.
13 Finishing the Task, Bruce A Koch, Ralph Winter 14 Ibid, pg 531

For the first time in the worlds history, the Church stands within reaching distance of seeing this verse realized. Throughout the ages, the Gospel has been passed from generation to generation, and the end zone is finally coming into view. Only one generation in all the ages will have the privilege of finishing the Great Commission. Two thousand years of saints and martyrs will lift that generation up on their shoulders as Heavens dream is completed. That moment is upon us! Unfortunately, most of the Church in America and around the world remains acutely unaware that this generation is running the final lap in Heavens race. The realization of Jesus dream, the Gospel reaching every tribe, tongue, and nation has finally become an actual possibility. From the book of Revelation, we know that Gods global mission will be accomplished. This is not Mission Impossible. This is Mission Inevitable. It is going to happen. And it has been Gods plan all along. What God promised to Abraham in Genesis 12 will be fulfilled. All of history hinges on G3. Where are we now? We are in the in-between time. Think of it as a marriage. The betrothal has happened. The engagement set was at the Cross and the Resurrection. The invitations started going out at Pentecost the reverse of the Tower of Babel and continuing through the Book of Acts and hastening forward through nearly two millennia as more and more of all nations have received their invitation to being part of the Bride. The day we ache for will not come until the Bride is finally made ready and is complete and perfect for her Groom. At that time, the Groom will come for His bride. You see, as we fulfill the Mission, we are both behaving like the Bride, as well as becoming the Bride. The Bride will only be complete when she reflects every tribe, every tongue, and every nation. That takes us to the conclusion.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In Revelation, this incredible apocalyptic vision that has spawned so many interpretations, we see hints of what is to come. The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He will reign for ever and ever. Revelation 11:16 (NIV) The ultimate vision of the Kingdom is not that we fly away to the sky in the sweet by and by. Quite the opposite, the ultimate vision is that the kingdoms of the world become the Kingdom of our Lord. In other words, God comes here. We dont go to Him. God makes the kingdom of this earth completely His kingdom. Jesus ultimate vision is not about getting you and me to Heaven, but getting Heaven down here through us. The kingdom of God will eventually and completely infiltrate and transform this world. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new! Revelation 21:1-5 (NIV) Bringing back the marriage metaphor, John says that the future of this earth is going to be like a lover and his beloved being united. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. Revelation 19:7 (NIV) And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:2 (NIV) When we look at this world, its very difficult for us to imagine how it will someday be a masterpiece. Thats why many think quite un-biblically, that well spend forever in other-worldly spiritual dimensions, floating on clouds, wearing togas, playing harps and standing by plump little cherubs wearing diapers.

PART THREE: THE G3 CONCLUSION: Revelation 21-22

We need a bigger vision. We need to start dreaming about the marriage of Heaven and Earth. I (Rob) have three young girls. My middle daughter Whitney is in that stage where she never wants to leave home, living with Mom and Dad is the greatest thing that could ever be! Whitney tells me, Dad, I just want to live with you and mom forever. At this point, its no use telling Whitney that the day will come when she will want to leave. Not that our home isnt great, but something will grow inside her. Someday, she will fall in love with some jerk. Theyll even want to begin their own home and family. Right now, it is no use trying to convince Whitney about it. She just wont believe that there will ever be a man as big, strong, smart, and handsome as her Daddy. Frankly, I find it hard to believe myself. J But I know its coming. Someday, Whitney will see him. She will understand what she cannot understand right now. My baby girl will come to me, Daddy, hes the one! Then, if that man is good enough, kind enough, smart enough, rich enough, and devoted enough, and if my daughter is old enough, say 40 or 50, then there will come the marriage and the union. The two will become one. Thats what is happening in Revelation 21. In this passage, the people of God are not being carted away to another nonmaterial, spiritual dimension called Heaven. Instead, the New Jerusalem, the Church itself, is coming down to earth. The goal here is not separation from the world, but integration. Theologian, NT Wright says it this way, Heaven and earth, it seems, are not after all poles apart, needing to be separated forever when all the children of heaven have been rescued from this wicked earth. Nor are they simple, different ways of looking at the same thing, as would be implied by some kinds of pantheism. NO, they are different, radically different, but they are made for each other in the same way as male and female. And when they finally come together, that will cause rejoicing in the same way that a wedding is: a creational sign that Gods project is going forward; that opposite poles within creation are made for union, not competition; that love and not hate have the last word in the universe15 God isnt going to throw this earth on the cosmic ash pile. He is going to resurrect this world. When Jesus was resurrected, His earthly body wasnt torched or destroyed. He had a new body a resurrected body a glorified body. At the core, His resurrection wasnt about the destruction of His old body. It was a new birth. Paul further clarifies in 1 Corinthians 15 that the process of resurrection is like a seed
15 Surprised by Hope, NT Wright, pg 105

erupting into a harvest. So on one hand there is discontinuity, the seed has to fall in the ground and die. But there is also continuity, because the plant came from the seed. In verse 51, Paul says that our bodies will be changed, not destroyed. In Romans 8, Paul uses the imagery of the Exodus, (the same imagery he uses in 1 Corinthians 15), to describe the bodily resurrection of the believer and what will happen to creation. Gods plan is that creation will experience the same glorious freedom that his children will. Both our bodies and this creation will pass through the waters of death, coming out in resurrection victory on the other side. Paul then mixes the metaphors by combining the exodus imagery with birth pangs. I remember so vividly the birth pangs my wife, Michelle, endured when our first child, Maddie, was born. Even I was utterly exhausted after watching her go through all that labor. However, any mention of my exhaustion gets me a much deserved clubbing from my wife. Birth pangs were a recognized Jewish metaphor that Jesus used. Heres the kicker, Paul uses it not just to describe the resurrection of the Church or the work of the Spirit. In verse 22, he uses it to describe what will happen to Creation. Thats absolutely HUGE in our estimation. When you go through birth pangs, you have a new baby at the end. The process of birth is traumatic, but not destructive. He says this earth will experience a new birth that will certainly be traumatic, but not destruction. Ultimately, redemption and resurrection are about transformation, not destruction. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:3-5 (NIV) We will be living, loving, working, relating and reigning with Jesus over a resurrected version of this world. A place where Shalom is finally realized and everything will be as it ought to be. What God intended from the beginning will be fully revealed. People from every tribe will join him in co-creation, new work in every field of human endeavor. People from every tribe will join him in managing and stewarding this world, but without the hindrance of war, violence, and scarcity; A world without tsunamis and famines, and without the hindrance of our own internal brokenness and selfishness. For as John the beloved said, what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him. Right now, as followers of Jesus, we have this constant internal tug of war between our new nature in Christ and our brokenness in sin nature. In that day, we will be totally

free because our nature will be completely redeemed and healed. We will freely choose what is good and wise and right and holy and beneficial, all the time. What we see in Jesus now, we will see in ourselves without hindrance. We, every tribe, and all of creation with us, will fully become Gods masterpiece. Now we can see the entire G3 story. This view of Gods story is not merely a linear pattern, the dominant view of the Western world. This view of Gods story is not merely a circular pattern, the dominant view of the Eastern world. Rather, its a combination of both that is in harmony with the biblical view.

In the first two chapters of Genesis, back in the G3 introduction, we begin in the Garden, Gods good expression of shalom. In the third chapter, shalom is shattered at the tree and sin enters the world. Now, jump to the G3 conclusion. In the last two chapters of Revelation, the G3 story ends with a return to shalom. In the third chapter from the end, sin is removed from the world. This coupling is no accident; we see it often in ancient forms of literature. The end of all things is, in essence, a return to the first things with a major exception. Unlike the Eastern view, where it would simply be a cycle returning to the beginning, it is more than that. The conclusion is actually a spiral ascending up to an even higher level of existence. We tend to think of creation in Genesis 1 as a static state of perfection. Theres no place to go from there but down. This is a Greek view we have superimposed on the text. The actual word God uses to describe creation is good. From the Hebraic perspective this is a dynamic state with potential for movement in either direction, better or worse. Where we end up in Gods G3 Conclusion will actually be higher than where we started in the G3 Introduction.

Spiral Down: Tree > Garden > City > Empire In the introduction, the shockwave spread from the tree to the farm to the city to empire, heading further out and further down. Heres whats fascinating, you may have noticed this already, in terms of technology and civilization, humanity is actually taking steps up. Adam and Eve are in the garden, living off what the land naturally produces. By the time, we get to Cain and Abel, they are now working and cultivating the land on a farm. By the time of Noah, weve moved from the farm to cities. Finally, at Babel humanity is forming its first empire. So while technology is increasing and civilization is advancing in complexity, because of our state of brokenness, these advances only amplify the evil. So, from the perspective of technology and civilization things are moving up, but from Gods perspective things are actually devolving. At each stage, God intervenes and intercepts the entropy with Grace and Truth through his Judgment: Carc > Mark > Ark > Embark. As we said earlier, all of these were foreshadowing of Gods ultimate solution in Jesus. Now, in Christ, we see the G3 Story culminate from a Man > Movement > Marriage > Masterpiece. At each stage, the civilization of God, what Jesus called the Kingdom of God, is advancing upwards. Spiral Up: Tree > Garden > City > Empire Jesus death on Calvarys tree is the beginning of this new civilization. Without His saving work, there could be no entrance into the Kingdom. Without His saving work, the spiral down inside of us would never stop, eventually pulling us down to Hell. But, now everyone who enters the Kingdom through Christ, receives the Spirit of God inside of them. At that moment, the process of sanctification begins a spiraling up into the likeness of Christ. Then, we move from the tree to the garden. The Old World began in a Garden, so did the New World. In Genesis, the First Adam came up from the ground to walk in the Garden. In the Gospels, the New Adam came up from the ground to walk in the Garden. In a clever twist, Mary even thinks Jesus is the Gardner. No doubt, He is! His life was the very seed that is now bursting forth into a harvest. When you plant enough seeds, its bigger than what you can call a Garden. That Gardner, Jesus, created a farm that we call the Church. That first little farm in Jerusalem produced a harvest and started shipping seeds out all over the Roman Empire.

We then move from the Farm to City. The gospel spread from city to city, Ephesus to Corinth. The gospel spreads from city to city today, from Granger Indiana to Chennai India. In Revelation, John calls the Church, the New Jerusalem, the city of God. Where is this city headed? The kingdoms of this earth will become the Kingdom of our God. Gods rule and reign will be fully manifested in His Empire. Unlike the corrupted, oppressive, dehumanizing, and enslaving empires of our world, the Empire of Christ will be benevolent, good, humanizing and liberating. At each stage, redemption is spreading further out and further up. To be clear, we are not lobbying for some kind of Christian version of evolutionary optimism, Things will just keep getting better and better. Well just evolve into the New Heaven and New Earth. That view is nave, not taking into account the deep and persuasive brokenness of humanity and this world. We are in a world at war with itself, with evil, and with Hell and all its demons. All wars consist of many battles and multiple fronts. On some fronts, we are winning. On other fronts, we are losing. This will always be true, until the final battle. Gods Masterpiece will not be realized until the return of Jesus and the Final Judgment. Just like God intervened in history with the first coming of the Christ, God will once again decidedly intervene in history again at the second coming of Christ. Much has been made of the Second Coming, especially as we have read a combination of dispensationalism merged with Hollywood disaster film imagery into the words of Jesus and the prophets. At a minimum, we all can agree on the non-negotiable doctrine that the New Testament builds on ancient Old Testament prophecies proclaiming that God will remake Heaven and Earth, affirming the goodness and overcoming the corruption (e.g. Romans 8:18-27, Revelation 21:1, Isaiah 65:17, 66:33). At that moment, Jesus will appear, personally and bodily. At this coming of Jesus, all evil will be judged and soundly defeated. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come outthose who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. John 5:25-29 (NIV) Judgment is when God grants us an extended capacity to have what we already have declared that we want. Judgment is where your deepest yearnings and desires that you have on earth are fulfilled in an expanded way in eternity. Every person will spend eternity in an existence where that can be played out.

For followers of Jesus, those who entered the kingdom of God, there is the New Heaven and the New Earth. For those who have chosen something other than Jesus, there is eternal separation from God. NT Wright describes it this way, My suggestion is that it is possible for human beings to continue down that road, so to refuse all whisperings of good news, all glimmers of the true light, all promptings to turn and go the other way, all signposts to the love of God, that after death they have become at last, by their own effective choice, beings that once were human but now are not, creatures that have ceased to bear the divine image at allI am well aware that I have wandered into territory that no one can claim to have mapped. 16 Only Jesus has been to Hell and back. He went so we dont have to. Ultimately, Jesus is not trying to send anyone to Hell. He has done everything He can to keep us out of it. But, the choice is ours. In essence, the G3 story is not about Heaven and Hell, but the new Heaven and the new Earth. Death and Hell are not the major, central point of the G3 story. As we have shown, from the very beginning to the very end, the major central framing theme is Gods Global Glory, Gods plan to redeem people from every tribe and the ultimate re-creation of this world. If we miss that point, the repercussions are huge. Not too long ago, I (Rob) taught a message on Gods view of work. Work, at its core, is a good and noble thing that God commissioned before the fall. Work is about joining God in adding value to creation. After the message, a group of college students addressed me and expressed their concern. They were trying to be gracious with me, but I could tell they were concerned for the whacked pastor who was teaching some crazy stuff. The group spokesman said to me, You are misleading these people. Nothing in this world is going to last. Its all going to burn. So really, adding value to the world is only a temporary deal. You should really be teaching how to preach the gospel in the workplace, so people can go to Heaven. At least that way you would be showing them something of eternal value. I understand that mindset. I grew up with it. Isnt anything beyond saving souls just rearranging deck chairs on the proverbial Titanic? Many of us have heard that one preached in churches. I used to think that. I used to wonder, Whats the point in doing all this good stuff if God is going to blow up this world anyway? I guess I get rewards in heaven for it. Imagine me asking my kids, Take these Legos and build a beautiful castle and kingdom. You are gifted. You are creative. You have my blessing and my resources. Imagine that people from every nation will gather in this great castle. Im going to provide a general framework for you to work with by leaving some
16 Surprised by Hope, N.T. Wright, pg 182-183

instruction, but I want you to go for it. So kids, spend your day building this kingdom of Legos! Then, at my return, when I get home at the end of the day, I come in, knock the whole thing over, and say, I have come again! Rejoice! That kind of behavior would come up in my kids therapy sessions twenty years from now. Yet, this is the Story that many Christians live their life within. I dont think thats the Story God has given us. If we embrace the G3 Story, we understand what Paul means when he says, Your labor is not in vain!17 Once again, Ive never heard anyone say it more eloquently than Dr. Wright. You are not oiling the wheels of a machine thats about to roll over a cliff. You are not restoring a great painting thats shortly going to be thrown on the fire. You are not planting roses in a garden thats about to be dug up for a building site. You are -- strange though it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself--accomplishing something that will become in due course part of Gods new world. Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of His creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for ones fellow human beings and for that matter ones fellow nonhuman creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world--all of this will find its way, through the resurrection power of God, into the New Creation that God will one day make. That is the logic of the mission of God. Gods recreation of His wonderful world, which began with the resurrection of Jesus and continues mysteriously as Gods people live in the risen Christ and in the power of His Spirit, means that what we do in Christ and by the Spirit in the present is not wasted. It will last all the way into Gods New World. In fact, it will be enhanced there...The Resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit mean that we are called to bring real and effective signs of Gods renewed creation to birth even in the midst of the present age. Applied to the mission of the church, this means we must work in the present for the advance signs of the eventual state of affairs when God is all in all, when His Kingdom had come and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Surprised by Hope, NT Wright The G3 story began with a tree in the Garden. The story hinged upon a tree at Calvary. The story ends with a tree in Gods Good Empire. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as
17 1 Corinthians 15:58

crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2 (NIV) At the end, this tree will blossom into a tree that will heal all the nations, Gods Global Glory fully realized. That will be Gods ultimate masterpiece. Nothing matters more than this--Its the reason why we exist. The Great Commission will become the Great Completion. This was, and has been, Gods idea from the very beginning. Through the lens of G3, we see the Bible as one story being told throughout history as a way for us, as the people of God, to now find our meaning and purpose in the fulfillment of the mission. The mission given to Abraham embodied in Jesus amplified in the Church fulfilled in Us and, finalized in bringing All Nations to the Kingdom. CONCLUSION: GET OUT OF YOUR SEAT AND GET INTO THE STORY Jesus is inviting you to get out of your seat and get into this Story. This is the greatest invitation you will ever receive. In closing, let me (Rob) tell you about a remarkable invitation I saw when I was 17 years old. The year was 1987 and U2 had just released the Joshua Tree album. They were the biggest rock band in the world. I started listening to U2 when I was 14. The next year I began playing guitar. Over the next two years, as I struggled to learn any U2 song, my respect for the Edge grew to incredible heights. In the eyes of this young guitar player, he was no longer a mere mortal but a guitar god. I would sit in my bedroom and play guitar until I had calluses on my calluses. You can imagine my excitement when an acquaintance of mine called and shouted, I just won two tickets to see U2 live in Chicago from the radio station! I cant believe it. Want to go? In the span of ten seconds, he was my new best friend! Seeing the Edge live was a moment of awe and wonder for me. We had these primo seats. Bono, one of the best front men in the history of rock n roll, had us all in the palm of his hand. U2 is known for bringing audience members up on the stage. The band invites these normal folks to join them by singing to the mic and sometimes even play instruments. That moment came, Bono was out on the extended stage and he had a guitar on. And he said, I wonder if theres anyone in this room who knows how to play guitar? It seemed like ocean of hands went up in the air. Bodies were pushing towards the stage. Bono grabbed this young guy and pulled him on stage. He was about the same age as me, maybe

17-years-old. Bono takes off his Fender Stratocaster and slings it over this kids shoulder. In an instant, this kid locked in on the right cord and starts playing in perfect syncopation with the band. Like me, hes spent hours in his bedroom practicing along with U2 albums. Now, its happening in real life. This kid was beaming. Bonos got his arm around this kid and theyre walking around the stage together. Then, came the time in the song for the guitar solo. The Edge goes up the neck and starts the solo. Simultaneously, this kid starts playing the solo note for note with the Edge. This went on for about 10 seconds. Then the Edge did the most gracious thing, he took off his black cowboy hat, bowed out, and let the kid play the solo. When he got done, 30,000 people erupted. It looked like that kid was about to pass out. I bet it was the greatest moment of his life. Can you imagine if that 17-year-old kid had looked at Bono, when he reached down, and said No thanks? That kid was more ready than he realized. He had been uniquely positioned at that unique moment in time to join U2 on the stage, one of the greatest rock bands in history, and make music. I was there as a highly engaged spectator, but he was actually in the band. Theres a world of difference. God has uniquely positioned you at this point in time in history. Jesus is singing a redemption song that will sweep in every tribe and remake the world. Right now, Hes asking you, Will you come up and join me? Most people will settle on being a highly engaged spectator in the G3 story. Dont let it happen to you. You are ready, whether you now it or not. You are able, whether you know it or not. The only question is this, Are you willing to take His hand and step out of your seat and into the Story? When Bono asks you to be in one of the greatest rock bands in history, thats pretty amazing. But its nothing compared to the invitation that comes to you in this moment. Jesus Christ, the unquestioned champion of ages, is asking you to join His redemption band. Maybe youre thinking, like most people do, this G3 pursuit is primarily something that happens with tribal groups in remote jungles in far off pagan lands. By all means, that is included. Youll end up places you never imagined. But the pursuit of G3 starts right where you are in your own heart, in your own home, in your own neighborhood, and in your own community. God will surely take you to unknown places; but the G3 adventure starts in these places you already know. In our Missional Moves, we get to the how of what that all looks like. If you could see the scope of what God is doing to heal this world, to redeem broken lives, and where this is all headed, Im convinced you would do what the early followers of Jesus did. You would say, All bets are off. If I dont do anything else in this life, at the end of my life, at the end of my days, I just want to know

that I lived and breathed and extended G3! Weve done our best to share it with you. But, we trust the Spirits work inside you right now. If you say yes to this invitation, you will find yourself in the slipstream of Gods Spirit at work in this world. Then, you will be a history maker in the Story of God. Are you in?