What is a gospel movement?

A church planting movement (CPM) or disciple making movement (DMM) can be defined as “the multiplication of disciples making disciples and leaders developing leaders, resulting in indigenous churches planting churches which begin to spread rapidly through a people group or population segment.” Click here to read more about gospel movements.

Declare a Promise

Psalm 67:2 “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.”

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O Father, Holy One, Your heart overflows with adopting love!

Make the light of your face shine upon all peoples living in this region: to the Sunni Lebanese, be gracious; to the Tunisians, be kind; to the Jordanians, show mercy; to the Shiite Bahrainis, give blessings. Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy.

Today’s Movement Theme: PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS

In gospel movements, all believers make disciples; all believers build the church; all believers share their faith; all believers meet felt needs in the community; and anyone can learn to facilitate the discovery group gatherings. In movements, followers of Christ really are a priesthood, and because of the small-group structure of movements, everyone participates in the life of the church.

Movements are not like trees with trunks that have centers of power, centers of gravity. They are rather more like grass, where masses of roots connect to other roots, but there’s no ‘center’ to kill, no ‘trunk’ to chop down. You can pluck up a patch of grass, but the rest of the grass goes on spreading and thriving. The only way this grass-like structure works is if movements teach and model the priesthood of all believers, equipping each and every person in the movement to be disciples not converts, participants not consumers, doers of the word not mere hearers.

As we pray today, we will intercede for new seekers and followers of Jesus to join in their vocation as image-bearers of God, co-laboring with Him to usher in New Heavens and New Earth.

Pray the Scriptures

Exodus 19:3-9 “Then Moses climbed the mountain to appear before God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and said, ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians...Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ …

So Moses returned from the mountain and called together the elders of the people and told them everything the Lord had commanded him. And all the people responded together, ‘We will do everything the Lord has commanded.‘ So Moses brought the people’s answer back to the Lord. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will come to you in a thick cloud, Moses, so the people themselves can hear me when I speak…’

1. Ask: for the grace of obedience to be poured out over new and emerging believers
2. Ask: that each and every person would know s/he plays a vital role as God’s priest
3. Ask: for believers to listen and learn from God directly as He speaks through the Scriptures

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1 Peter 2: 4,5, 9 “You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. … And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. … Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. … [Dear brothers and sisters, you are not like those who refuse to obey God’s word; instead,]

You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

1. Pray: that each believer would feel herself a living stone in the temple God is building
2. Pray: that every seeker would understand his role in the formation of church and the execution of God’s mission
3. Pray: that all disciples would be responsible for showing others the goodness of God

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James 1:22, 25; 2:17 “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. If you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. For faith by itself is not enough. Unless it produces good deeds, faith is dead and useless.”

1. Petition God for the grace of implementation
2. Petition God for new seekers and believers–as well as established leaders–to be liberated from a spirit of consumerism that would have us merely hear God’s word but not put it into practice

No Place Left

Each day, we pray for one of the countries the Grove represents, believing in faith that a disciple making movement will touch each and every community throughout these nations.

Today, we pray for Lebanon and for its ethnic and religious groups:

Shiite Arab Lebanese, Sunni Arab Lebanese, Christian background, Druze, Palestinians, Syrians

Prayer

Lord Jesus, obedience is life; your words are life. May we say ‘yes’ to life-giving connection to God which comes as we obey, as we practice, as we put into action our faith. Lord, allow believers in Lebanon to reject passive, consumerist tendencies in their faith; empower them, instead, to be a priesthood of believers, a holy nation, called for a purpose, commissioned by God to render into the world the rule and reign of Christ, and to shine the goodness of Christ’s light into the shadow and chaos of this present darkness.

Amen.

More Information About the Grove and Ongoing Prayer Needs

What is the Grove?

The Grove is a learning and implementation community of 23 intentional kingdom workers from 7 different nationalities serving in 8 strategic nations within the Middle East and North Africa. We have intentionally banded together for 2023-2024 to learn, grow, experiment, pray, and serve together.

What does a learning and implementation community do?

• Learning:
  • 3 face to face trainings over the 2 years
  • 1-2 ongoing learning meetings monthly
• Implementation:
  • We put into practice our learning right away in our individual contexts
  • We band together in cohorts to support each other in implementation
  • We are intentionally experimenting together and sharing our experiences and learning

How can I be praying for the Grove aside from the daily Prayer Fuel?

• For the participants to grow together in unity and fruitfulness
• That participants would continue to develop their authentic personal witness
• For new and creative ideas to share within natural social groupings rather than just individuals