LAUSANNE MOVEMENT - The Cape Town Commitment: A Call to Action: A Study for Small Groups

Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. (Revelation 2:11)

Through the Holy Spirit, God speaks with a voice we can understand. Let us be willing to listen to that voice, so our Church can better serve the world God loves, and for which Jesus died.

The Church is called to be the face of Christ to the world; yet we, Christs followers, may obscure his beautiful face if we are not confident that he is unique above all others. We may be certain of this because the Bible, which bears testimony to Christ throughout its pages, gives us authoritative truth. Too often Christians turn from the Bible and surrender to a privately held faith based on personal behavior and beliefs. This inward focus betrays the true gospel, and diminishes Christ. Further, it results in a Church that ignores the larger issues ravaging our world.

Gods love remains unknown and Gods Word is still unheard by billions in this world. Friends, it need not be this way. There are strategic opportunities for Christians to bring the presence of Christ into the workplace, and into the public arenas. Let us be open to finding them, and using them to the full.

Gods Holy Spirit was at work in the Third Lausanne Congress held in Cape Town, South Africa, in October 2010. It was the widest gathering of the Church ever, with 4,200 participants from 198 countries. One of the key documents to come out of that event was The Cape Town Commitment. Through The Cape Town Commitment, we worked to capture the voice of the Holy Spirit as the gathering worked to discern Gods priorities for his Church.

The first half of this book presents a twelve-session curriculum based on The Cape Town Commitment (The CTC). The text of this two-part documentits Confession of Faith and its Call to Actioncomprises the second half of this book. We recommend that you read The Cape Town Commitment (beginning on page 91 of this volume) prior to meeting for the first session. This will provide a solid foundation for study sessions that follow.

As you study The CTC together, we trust you will hear the Holy Spirit speaking with words of conviction and clarity that lead you and your church to the source of love himself. Through this, we believe you will see more of Gods plan and purpose for the world, and be equipped to share and live out the gospel in society. In this way, you will find yourselves engaged in Gods mission and empowered as a Christian community that is spiritually alive.

You are invited to engage in a twelve-week curriculum with your Sunday school, campus fellowship, or Bible study group. Each one-hour session begins with a video clip from the Cape Town Congress. This clip reveals a disturbing world reality or a distressing dissonance between Gods call and the actual practices of the Christian believer. This may give rise to concern, evoke sadness, or simply raise awareness of the disconnect between what the Church believes and professes and what it proclaims and embodies. Resolution will come through reorientation in Gods Word. In each session, you will hear a call to action and be offered resources to respond. Each session provides a form of prayer that allows you to grow into a holistic life that is shared with God.

The goal is to bear more effective witness to Christ and all his teaching through our love for the whole gospel, our love for the whole Church, and our love for the whole world.

Matt Ristuccia and Sara Singleton