Fully Alive: "More Like a Mission Trip Than a Bible Study"
Bible studies are meaningful, but Mission trips are life changing.
Bible studies engage the mind, helping you understand the bible. Mission trips engage the whole self... head, hands, and heart. Mission trips help you see the bible, and life, in a life-altering way.
Fully Alive is more like a mission trip than a Bible study because it is an invitation to engage in the biblical story... not just study it.
Jesus left His disciples with a mission and a promise. The mission was to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20 / Acts 1:8) . The promise was to come back to earth someday to complete the work (John 14:1-3 / Acts 1:11 / Revelation 19:11-16).
Jesus has not yet returned.
We have not yet made disciples of all nations.
Jesus’ mission, and therefore the biblical story, is still on.
You, as a follower of Jesus, are part of that mission. This Fully Alive Community was built to prepare you to engage it. The Fully Alive diamond, which is the focus of this article, will help you understand the centrality of this mission in the biblical story.
The Fully Alive Diamond reveals four Big Ideas to guide as you engage this mission.
Big Idea 1: The Bible is A Story
The Bible is much more than 66 books filled with hundreds of mini-stories. The bible is one book, with one ultimate author, who told one story.
Big Idea 2: The Story Has Four Chapters
Creation. God created a sinless world.
Fall. We corrupted God’s world with our disobedience.
Redemption. Jesus redeemed the world through His obedience.
Restoration. The Holy Spirit restores the world through partnership with us.
The restoration will be made complete when Jesus returns and establishes the new heaven and new earth.
Big Idea 3: Jesus is the Center of the Story
The Old Testament points to Jesus. The gospels tell the story of Jesus. The majority of the New Testament unpacks the mission and message of Jesus. Revelation points to the return of Jesus. The bible is all about Jesus!
There is a cross in the middle of the Fully Alive Diamond. Jesus’ death on the cross is the turning point in the biblical story. It was at the cross that Jesus defeated sin and death, opening up the resurrection life for those who would follow Him.
The cross is also the turning point for you. The cross is a crucible for life change. It is by “taking up your cross” daily that you can turn away from the life you think you want to the Fully Alive life Jesus offers.
Big Idea 4: Jesus’ Fully Alive Life is Central to the Story
“I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus in John 10:10
The Fully Alive Diamond shows us how living Jesus’ Fully Alive life is central to the biblical story. Pursuing Jesus’ Fully Alive life is how we experience redemption in the story. Sharing the Fully Alive life with others is how we participate in the story.
Let’s look at the four chapters again through this lens:
Creation. We were created Fully Alive, but had the potential to lose it.
Fall. We lost the Fully Alive life, but our longings for it didn’t go away.
Redemption. Jesus lived Fully Alive, making it possible for us live Fully Alive again.
Restoration. The Holy Spirit helps us live Fully Alive as we help others do the same.
Live Fully Alive!
The Fully Alive Diamond demonstrates that a pursuit of Jesus’ Fully Alive life is much more than a study. It is a call to action! Don’t settle for studying the Fully Alive life… LIVE IT! Begin partnering with Jesus to restore Intimacy & Influence in your life as you develop Character & Calling. The best first step is the Live Fully Alive Course.
