Citizens and Exiles - Withdrawal and Return [Ryan Ashley]

Jeremiah 29:4-14,John 15:1-8, Daniel 9:1-4; 20-23

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3 cultural shifts have changed the topography in the West. 

From a Majority to a Minority

From the Center to the Fringe

From Well Respected to Disrespected

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How not to live: 2 Postures to Avoid

1. Separation

2. Syncretism

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“A Christian community in a web of stubbornly loyal relationships knotted together in a living network of persons in a complex and challenging cultural setting who are committed to practicing the way of Jesus together for the renewal of the world.”

Jon Tyson

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Withdrawal: A retreat. A distancing from what is known and comfortable. An exile, A wilderness. A breach with the surrounding culture.

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1.   Break from Cultural Narratives

2.   Self Reflection Into Our Flaws

3.   Conversion into Abiding 

4.   Preparation for Mission

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Return:

To equip, participate, influence, resist, witness to and love the people with which God desperately wants to have a relationship.

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“Our controlled frenzy creates the illusion of a well-ordered existence. We move from crisis to crisis, responding to the urgent and neglecting the essential. We still walk around. We still perform all the gestures and actions identified as human, but we resemble people carried along on the mechanical sidewalk at an airport. The fire in the belly dies. We no longer hear the inward music of our belovedness.”

Brennan Manning