Where Faith and Culture Meet Participant's Guide

By Andy Crouch

Take Your Group to a Place …Where they can see people’s needs in a new wayWhere they can understand their callingWhere they will learn how their faith can shape cultureThis six-session DVD and corresponding curriculum helps your group experience and envision how followers of Christ can be a counterculture for the common good. Together you’ll experience stories of other believers who changed the culture around them, including Andy Crouch, Mako Fujimara, Rudy Carrasco, Mark Buchanan, Tal James, Frederica Mathewes-Green, and others. You’ll watch how their journeys unfolded, their challenges, and their breakthroughs. Also included on the DVD are insights from trusted pastors and Christian leaders such as Tim Keller, Lauren Winner, James Meeks, Brenda Salter McNeil, and Ken Fong.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Aug 30, 2009
• ISBN: 9780310864707

Andy Crouch

Andy Crouch (MDiv, Boston University School of Theology) is partner for theology and culture at Praxis, an organization that works as a creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship. His books include The Tech-Wise Family, Playing God, and Strong and Weak.

Book preview

0310280966_content_0001_00101

ZONDERVAN

WHERE FAITH AND CULTURE MEET

Copyright © 2007 by Christianity Today International

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

ePub Edition June 2009 ISBN: 0-310-86470-4

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

ISBN-13: 978-0-310-28096-5

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked TNIV is taken from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version™. TNIV®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this book are offered as a resource to you. These are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the copyright holder. For information, contact: Christian Vision Project Permissions, Christianity Today International, Resources Dept., 465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188; phone [phone]; email: [e-mail].

---

07 08 09 10 11 12 Bullet 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Session 1: Begin

God calls the church to be a counterculture for the common good.

Session 2: Dwell

When we live closely with others, we find new opportunities to minister

Session 3: Unite

We serve more effectively and joyfully when we serve together.

Session 4: Reconcile

God wants to heal our racial and ethnic divisions, especially in and through his church.

Session 5: Invest

Transforming entire communities begins when we give ourselves to people, one by one.

Session 6: Abide

Spiritual disciplines help us to abide in Christ so we can serve faithfully.

Appendix

A New Kind of Urban Christian, by Timothy J. Keller

How the Kingdom Comes, by Michael S. Horton

Our Transnational Anthem, by Orlando Crespo

Meeks Preaches Church Activism, by Mick Dumke

Habits of Highly Effective Justice Workers, by Rodolpho Carrasco

Loving the Storm-Drenched, by Frederica Mathewes-Green

About the Publisher

Share Your Thoughts

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Where Faith and Culture Meet! This resource was born out of the prayers and passions of people who love the body of Christ and want to see the church flourish in our culture. As your group watches the accompanying DVD, you will be inspired by five stories of people who have responded to God’s call to serve him in bold ways. As you engage in Bible study and discussion, you will discover God’s challenge to all of us — to minister to our culture — and what that means for you.

It is our prayer that Where Faith and Culture Meet will change your life and the lives of your group members, just as it has transformed the lives of those of us who have enjoyed working on the Christian Vision Project (for more information, see www.christianvisionproject.com). May the Holy Spirit work in and through your group as you challenge each other to see where faith and culture meet.

SESSION 1

BEGIN

1 Peter 2:9 – 17

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

1 Peter 2:9

KEY ISSUE

God calls the church to be a counterculture for the common good.

Culture is how we understand the world around us. It’s about language and values, the common understanding of beauty, the media we share, and it’s even about coffee. A coffee shop is a place where you meet your friends, where you bring your kids. It’s a place where people read and write, Andy Crouch says. Food, friend-ships, creativity, architecture, politics, commerce — it’s all here. In other words, it’s culture.

Culture is a creation of people made in God’s image. And, as Crouch explains, it’s also the scene of rebellion against God. These created people break God’s law in every way in every place. Yet God calls his people to live counter to the culture, to live in God’s counterculture. It’s called the church. And the most distinctively countercultural activity of that community is worship, where we honor not the false idols of this world (money, sex, and power mostly) but the