Are You Living Out Your Mission?
Are You Living Out Your Mission?
The Mission-Centered Life explores how God’s grace
empowers his people to serve in places of
need
God calls us to live missionally, but what
exactly does that look like? Do we have to sell everything and head to a
foreign country? For Christians who long to serve God in broken places but
aren’t sure where to start, The
Mission-Centered Life: Following Jesus into the Broken Places (New Growth Press/July 22, 2019), speaks to the “whys” and “hows”
of missional living. In this new ten-week
group resource, author Bethany
Ferguson draws on her fifteen years
of missionary experience to examine the reasons believers should pursue lives
of service and evangelism.
The Mission-Centered Life is organized into ten
lessons designed for readers who want to explore their role in building the
kingdom of Christ. Readers will consider how the gospel propels them to go out
and love their neighbors, including people who might be far away or very
different from those they usually encounter in everyday life. This in-depth
study explores why holistic missions
is needed, how God’s grace empowers us to serve in places of need, what to do
when we fail as missionaries, and how to cultivate hope in the midst of a
broken world.
“The Mission-Centered Life emphasizes
acknowledging your own weakness, brokenness, and need as a vital component of
serving a broken and needy world. Many books emphasize the importance of living
sacrificially or adventurously (both of which can be important), but my book
focuses in on repentance and humility in missional living,” Ferguson shares.
“When you encounter the grace and love of Jesus for you, you then want for
others to also experience the powerful love of Jesus. When you see how Jesus
meets you in your brokenness, you are then able to care for the needs of the
world.”
Designed for personal reflection and small
group discussion, Ferguson provides Scripture study, profound application, and
questions, as well as essays and personal stories to illustrate the importance
of missions—both for the missionary and the community being served by the
missionary. Studying the book as a group allows participants to benefit from
what God is teaching the others in the group and provides encouragement to
apply what is learned. Ferguson hopes the group setting will be a safe place to
share not only successes but also worries and weaknesses.
This study will help readers find confidence
in God’s missional purposes in the world and a deeper understanding of life
with Jesus, who pursued the marginalized as shown throughout the New Testament.
Anchor your hope to Christ, who moves us out of our comfort zones to care for
the needs of the world.
“Mission begins when we encounter a God who
rescues us from our own brokenness and invites us to be instruments of healing
in a broken world,” Ferguson writes.
Of The Mission-Centered Life, Philip
G. Monroe, Director of Training and Materials, Mission Trauma Healing at the
American Bible Society wrote, “You’ve heard it said, ‘Find out what God is
doing in the world and join his mission.’ But if, like me, you are asking how
to do this, I recommend The Mission-Centered Life. Best of all, this is
a group study. Read, discuss, meditate, pray, and reflect together as God shows
you his heart for the world and your part in his mission.”
by Bethany Ferguson
July 22, 2019 / Retail Price: $15.99
Print ISBN 978-1-948130-67-7
Religion /
Christian Living / Spiritual Growth
Bethany Ferguson, MA, has
spent most of the last fifteen years serving with Serge in Uganda, South Sudan,
and Kenya. Originally from South
Carolina, Bethany studied elementary education at the College of Charleston and
went on to receive a master’s degree in counseling from Westminster Seminary.
After completing her master’s, she has continued her professional training
through Biblical Seminary’s professional counseling program.
Her cross-cultural work focuses on promoting education
and mental health care for children and adolescents in under-resourced areas. Ferguson
is passionate about supporting churches and schools. She has led discipleship
groups at Christ School in Bundibugyo, taught HIV/Aids prevention at
Bundimulinga primary school, trained primary school teachers in South Sudan,
and equipped lay counselors in the Sudanese church. She has also taught
missionary kids in Uganda and counseled “third-culture kids” and their families
in Kenya.
All of these experiences have deepened Ferguson’s
confidence in God’s redemptive work in the world, while also increasing her
desire to see the light of Jesus bring hope and healing into places of
brokenness. She is currently pursuing a
PhD in clinical psychology from Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California.
Serge is an international missions organization that sees God weaving together
the frayed edges of our tattered world with his goodness, creating something
beautiful. Learn more at Serge.org.
New Growth
Press publishes gospel-centered
Christian books, small group, and kids’ Bible resources for discipleship,
biblical counseling, and missional ministry. For more information about The
Mission-Centered Life: Following Jesus into the Broken Places and
other resources from New Growth Press, visit www.newgrowthpress.com.
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