Apostolic Rhythms

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Five Apostolic rhythms.

Rhythms of attention for apostolic Leader Teams. (A track to run on)

Second draft 2/20/16

Blue = commentary

This document provides a script (a track to run on) for Leader Teams when they meet. The script is made up of five rounds each of which highlights one of our LK10 values and a way to pay attention to it.

  1. We value paying attention to God’s goodness in our lives. This is The Appreciation Round.
  2. We value paying attention to our hearts and connecting with each other on this level. This is The Attunement Round where we share an emotion.
  3. We value paying attention to how Jesus is multiplying vibrant families of Jesus and how we are to join Him in the process. This is The 10:2b Round.
  4. We value learning from Jesus as the Chief Apostle. This is The Equipping Round.
  5. We value becoming radical attention payers. This is The Closing Round.

Purpose of these rhythms/rounds: To create a growing number of “communities of practice” for apostolic church planters who are part of the larger LK10 Community. We call these “Leader Teams” which are part of our Leader 101 Course. In this context, our objective is both support and equipping. To accomplish this we use rhythms of attention to help us pay close attention to our own hearts, to the hearts of each individual in the group, to how the group is functioning as a group and, most importantly, what the Lord is doing in our midst.

A track to run on: These rhythms allow for two things to occur… the multiplication of apostolic Leader Teams while maintaining the foundational LK10 DNA. This is in keeping with LK10 as a starfish-type organization. (Ask for our summary a book called The Starfish and the Spider.)

Rounds: The practice of going around the group is a way of making sure that everyone in the group has a voice. Every member is valuable and has valuable contributions to make for the strengthening of the group. The ultimate purpose is to help the group connect with Jesus as our Apostolic Coach.

Dynamic tension. On the one hand, every round is important and we intend to use all of them in each meeting. On the other hand, Jesus always has the freedom to modify anything about our meeting. At any time, any member can let the Team know that they have a pressing need for prayer or counsel.

Beyond the meeting. Our commitment to support and strengthen each other goes beyond the meeting. Between meetings, we continue to listen to Jesus for any direction for helping the others on our Team.

Facilitating: We encourage Teams to have different people facilitate the meetings. The facilitator introduces the Rounds, watches how the group is functioning, gives decisions to the group as necessary and reminds the group about the time. (See Lesson Nine in Leader 101 on “Cultivating the habit of facilitating a group”.)

 

Welcome: Greet the members and chose a facilitator.

If there is a new member on the Team, take time for everyone to introduce themselves. Suggested questions: 1. Briefly, tell us a bit about yourself. Where do you live? Family? Nature of your ministry? 2. How and when did you get connected to LK10?

  1. Appreciation Round: What is one thing that the Lord is bringing to mind that you are thankful for today?

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” Ps. 100:4.

  1. Attunement Round: What’s one emotional word that Jesus wants you to share with us? SASHET

For lack of time in our hangouts, we don’t do a full sharing of our emotions here. Our assumption is that everyone is sharing a broader range of their emotions with their CO2 partner on a regular basis. In the Attunement Round, consider an emotion (positive or negative) that seems especially significant in the present.

  1. 10:2b Round: Three questions.  1.  What region or people group has the Lord called you to?  2.  What prayer goals has the Lord given you for your region? (This includes your large, long term “crazy goal” as well as short range goals.  3.  Have you seen a 10:2b answer since we last met? This could be someone the Lord of the harvest has sent you who is going through (or is interested in going through) Church 101 (or the equivalent) or who is ready to sign up for Leader 101. So, 10:2b answers or potential answers.

A note on “crazy goals”. There were lots of times in Scripture when the Lord told people to do things that must have seemed crazy to them from a human perspective. For instance, when Jesus told his disciples to feed the five thousand with only five loaves and two fish. In our case, we are asking the Lord for the number of churches necessary to fulfill the LK10 Vision in your region or people group. This goal may seem humanly impossible to us but, of course, all things are possible with God. Sharing these goals regularly in our Leader Teams keeps them in the forefront of our minds and our prayers. It reminds us that we play an important role in an epic story.

  1. Equipping Round: Take time (five minutes?) for everyone to listen to Jesus for what He wants to say to the Team that would equip and strengthen them for their work as apostolic church planters.

This might include teaching from the Leader 101 Lessons, a place where you need help in your ministry, a testimony of how God is working, a prophetic word of encouragement, etc. No doubt Jesus had many conversations like this with the 12 and then with the 84.

  1. Closing Round: Where did you see Jesus at work in our meeting?

Things to pay attention to… What went well? What could be improved? How did the facilitator do? What did you learn? What is your most important take away? What were the group dynamics? How was the group strengthened and built up and edified? “Let all these things be done for the edification of the church”. 1 Cor 14:26

1 Tim 3:1 refers to a leader as an “overseer”. This is from a compound Greek word episkopos. Skopos = to see or observe. Epi = over, above. So, one of the first skills of a leader is the ability to look over a group and see what God is doing both in the group as a whole and in the individual members of the group. This is a skill that can be developed. Leader Teams give us a practice this skill. We learn to see better as we hear what other members of the group see.

We encourage the use of the Closing Round in all of our meetings including house church. Groups grow healthier as every member grows in their ability to see what God is doing in the group as a whole and in the individual members.

Key principle: We learn nothing from our experiences. What we learn is from our reflection on our experiences. (And, from the reflections of others.)

 

 

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