Going Local: Chapter 4 Book Summary

Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World

By Alan Roxburgh

Chapter 4 Summary – God at the Center (or Who is Really in Control?)

• We are detached from our community and Jesus is calling us to reenter our neighborhoods and be with the people.
• Spirit is forming something quite different from the radi tional church ministry we have been used to. God is the primary actor who is out ahead of us in the neighborhood.
• A commitment to God’s agency requires us to lay down our need to know ahead of time. What this will mean for church forms and structure.
• God is in control.
• The spirit has been propelling us into places we cannot manage or control.
• Our unraveled state is not a punishment, it is a gift that forces us to learn to ask God -centered questions.
• We have to frame our lives around questions about God’s actions in our neighborhoods and how to join with God in these places.
• Most important thing we can do together is return to the basic practices that helped to animate the early Christian movement. Rather than an anxious focus on how to preserve our institution, a joyful focus on the basic practices of the movement will hold the real key for moving us into God’s future.