This was a talk I gave on July 14, 2018 at the CrossDriven Young Adults Fellowship held in GCF South Metro. Rated R wrestles with the crucial need of building relationships in the context of a life-giving spiritual community.

1. RATED R:
RELATIONSHIPS
BUILDING A CONNECTED COMMUNITY

3. Our Framework
Revisit God’s
Design
Recognise our
Current Reality
Rethink our Ways
Renew our
Commitment

4. The Imago Dei and Missio Dei
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth
and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and
multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over
the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over
every living thing that moves on the earth.”
(Gen 1:26-29)

5. Our Relationship-Keeping God
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed,
“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who
will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers on the children and the children’s
children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
(Exod 34:6-7)

6. God’s Redemptive Agenda
ACT 1: Building a Nation as Channel for the Messiah
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country
and your kindred and your father’s house to the land
that I will show you. And I will make of you a great
nation, and I will bless you and make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who
bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and
in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
(Gen 12:1-3)

7. God’s Redemptive Agenda
ACT 2: Building the Church as Channel for the Gospel
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon
Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon
Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to
you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you
are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
(Mt 16:15-19)

8. The Desired End
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that
no one could number, from every nation, from all
tribes and peoples and languages, standing before
the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white
robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying
out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God
who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
(Rev 7:9-10)

9. BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS FROM A MISSIONAL PERSPECTIVE

10. RECOGNIZE OUR CURRENT REALITY
SOURCE: JOSHUA PROJECT

11. Complicating Factors in the
Ministry Horizon:
Leadership Challenges
Dysfunctional Families
Social Media Revolution
Rise of Modern Overload
Postmodern Movement
Failure to Look into the Culture Map
Non-discipleship and Pseudo-discipleship

12. We got heart issues!
The APATHETIC
The BUSINESS-MINDED
The HARD-TO-PLEASE
The WOUNDED LOVER

13. We struggle with…
disappointment
rejection
trust issues
feelings of
inadequacy
lack of depth
lack of time
inconvenient
expensive
fear of
responsibility
… et cetera!

14. WE NEED TO GO BACK TO GOD’S WORD!

15. Rethink Our Ways
I-O-U Framework:
Inward
Outward
Upward

16. Deuteronomy 6:4-9
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might. And
these words that I command you today shall be on
your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your
children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your
house, and when you walk by the way, and when
you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind
them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as
frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on
the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

17. Psalm 78 (selected verses)
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.

18. Matthew 22:37-40
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind. This is the great
and first commandment. And a second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On
these two commandments depend all the Law
and the Prophets.”

19. Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.”

20. 2 Timothy 2:1-7
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace
that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard
from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust
to faithful men, who will be able to teach others
also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ
Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian
pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who
enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he
competes according to the rules. It is the hard-
working farmer who ought to have the first share of
the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will
give you understanding in everything.

21. Where do we begin?
Be teachable. It takes much humility to be taught and to teach.
Be intentional. Since building a connected community does not
happen automatically, prayerfully make a plan.
Don’t neglect discipleship.
Don’t make discipleship about you or about your church.
Don’t be a burden; instead, choose to BLESS people!
Practice the one-another commands.
Think long-term.
Regularly visit mission fields.

22. TESTIMONY

23. Our Framework
Revisit God’s
Design
Recognise our
Current Reality
Rethink our Ways
Renew our
Commitment

36. RATED R:
RELATIONSHIPS
BUILDING A CONNECTED COMMUNITY

37. Reflection + Crosslink Guide
Why is it so important to regularly remember God’s
redemptive story/agenda as we strive to build a
meaningful community here in the church and in our
own spheres of influence? (Feel free to share your
personal reflection.)
What are the common challenges that we are
currently facing that hinder us from building
meaningful relationships with other people?
As you continue to process this huge and important
topic, what is one attitude that you want to change
and one action point can you start applying this
coming week?