What Does It Mean to Engage the World?

By Jay Fennell

In Matthew 28, Jesus gave his disciples and us a Commission…”Go and make disciples of all nations.” Those are our marching orders as disciples – to make more disciples and to introduce people to Jesus, the One who lived, died and rose to secure salvation for all those who put their faith in Him. LIFE Groups are perfectly positioned and equipped to engage in this work.
In fact, one of the four functions of a LIFE Group at Brentwood Baptist is to Engage the World. To Engage the World means the LIFE Group intentionally engages in mission opportunities to reach the lost and share the gospel, serving alongside each other to serve God and His Kingdom by making disciples. It also means that the LIFE Group will pray for church-wide mission efforts and stay abreast of the work Brentwood Baptist is doing across the street or around the world to reach a diversity of people with the gospel.
The point of this function is to develop an outward focus and mobilize for mission impact. It’s a function where the LIFE Group is “salt and light” to a world that does not know God. It’s a LIFE Group that acts as instruments of grace, proclaiming a gospel that has the power to save and free people from their sin.
What does an E Leader do?
The “E” leader is the point person for this work in the LIFE Group. He/She urges and encourages members to be on mission with Jesus and organizes ways for the group to engage the community together through service and evangelism. The E Leader is a missions advocate, someone who knows what’s happening church-wide in the area of missions and communicates those opportunities regularly to group members.
A good “E” leader is someone who has a general sense of the gifting and passion of those in the LIFE Group and can adequately lead the group to adopt or engage in a mission initiative that will allow the group to utilize those gifts and passions for the glory of God.