Gordy DeMarais, founder and President of Saint Paul’s Outreach in Minnesota joined us to talk about community, belonging, and the fundamental question that society is asking itself right now. We cover our role in the New Evangelization and the criticalness of discipleship, evangelism, and community in today’s society. *The Important Things: * 2:37 - As the Church, we have the duty of scrutinizing the times of the signs so she might effectively proclaim and live the gospel in the circumstances that we find ourselves in. There are things that remain like the revelation of God, human questions and need, but then there are things that we need to discern with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 6:12 - The church has identified the New Evangelization and part of that is seeing the new mission field: our backyard. The solution to our times is not a book or program. It’s about creating a place of belonging. 9:15 - We are moving from a guilt culture to a shame culture. People no longer feel guilty for sin so when they do sin, it actually creates a pain associated with their identity rather than their behaviour. 12:35 - The fundamental question people are asking is: Who am I? This question comes when we don’t know God and in turn, we’re left with this fundamental radicalism and selfishness of seeking our own happiness, purpose, and identity. 21:00 - This question isn’t being answered because how we form community has changed. The Church hasn’t needed to respond to people’s need for belonging in the past because it was built into family and culture. That’s not the case anymore. 24:45 - People are trying to find some place to belong which means one of the powerful evangelistic doorways that is emerging is the witness and experience of Christian community. 28:13 - Definition of way of life in Christian context: General principle of orienting our day around slowing down in order to catch up with God and have Jesus at the center. Finding a rhythm with God. 32:30 - What defines this kind of community is the encounter with Jesus and commitment to one another. This becomes a foundation of learning to love. 49:20 - It comes down to embracing the truth of who God is and His love for me. 57:30 - If people are unsure of where to start with seeking community, it begins with radical honesty with God. From there, it’s about finding people, meeting in small groups, finding mentors, being in regular prayer, etc. List & Resources From Christendom to Apostolic Mission - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53637909-from-christendom-to-apostolic-mission SPO - https://www.spo.org/ Anxiety and loneliness up in our culture - https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/alarming-covid-19-study-shows-80-of-respondents-report-significant-symptoms-of-depression#Study-findings Called to Christian Joy and Maturity: Forming Missionary Disciples by Gordy DeMarais - https://www.amazon.ca/Called-Christian-Joy-Maturity-Missionary/dp/1593253877 SHOW NOTES In this episode we talk about the New Evangelization and the question society is asking themselves: Who am I? We talk about how a relationship with God and one another helps us understand this question and then become a primary agent of evangelization in today’s world. The Church hasn’t needed to form people in belonging before because culture and family did that for them. The Church now has to fill this role. We need to create intentional communities defined by encounter and commitment. QUOTES “One of the powerful evangelistic doorways that is emerging is the witness and experience of Christian community. The new way of life. People actually living together in Christ characterized by a certain kind of joy. A certain kind of respect for one another. That’s what people are looking for.” - Gordy DeMarais “With the New Evangelization, the Church has recognized in part that there’s a new mission field. And that new mission field is our backyard.” - Gordy DeMarais “There’s something about God’s very nature that informs this fundamental question about, who am I? And at its core is, I am not alone and I’ve never been alone. And not only am I not alone in my call to be in communion with God but by His very nature, it points to my living in relationship with other people.” - Gordy DeMarais “I think sometimes we think that just what we need to do is a better job at living church life. Our solutions need to be comprehensive. They need to be fundamental. There is no silver bullet; there is no quick fix. It’s not going to be the latest book or bringing in some speakers or adopting this new program. In a lot of ways, those are not diagnosing the problem correctly. They really are band-aid solutions and they aren’t going to be the seedbed that ultimately, the Church has in renewing the whole culture.” - Gordy DeMarais “You don’t even start with the basic Gospel message of what God has done for us in Jesus. What you start with is the witness of a healthy, lived...
