• In what ways have you experienced a disconnection between God’s purposes in the world and discipleship in the everyday?
   
• There are lots of examples of sin’s effects in the world. In light of this what does it mean for God’s people to be a blessing? (Read Gen 11:1-9; 12:1-3)
   
• Abraham does something unexpected in this section; he obeys God’s word (Gen 12:4). In what ways are you seeking to live in obedience to God’s word so that the families of the earth know God’s blessing?

• How might you answer the question “why do God’s people exist?” (Read Ex 19:4-6; Deut 4:5-8)
   
• In what ways does God’s law reveal his care and concern for every aspect of life? (Read Lev 18; 25:8-22; Deut 16:18-20; 20: 19-20; 24:5; 17-18)
   
• Think of the different spheres of life God has placed you in. How might you change the way you live to put God on display so that the nations meet with God?(Family,  Work,  Studies, Online, Leisure)

• What aspects of life cause unnecessary distractions in your life from focusing on God's character and purposes?
   
• The purpose for our existence is to glorify God; take some time to consider this purpose in light of these passages (1 Chron 29:10-13; Isa 42:1-8; Ezek 36:16-32; Rom 1:18-23; 3:21-26; Rev 5:9-14; 21:22-23)
   
• Can you think of contemporary examples of the radical reconciliation which Isaiah pictures between Egypt, Assyria and Israel? (Isa 19:23-25)
   
• What might this picture mean about our role as God's people in God's mission?

• Can you think of other Psalms which also have an international outlook?
   
• In Ps. 96:1 what is new about the “new song”?
   
• Through this song what do we learn about God’s character and purposes in the world?
   
• In Ps. 96: 7-8 there is a wonderful invitation. What is problematic about this invite? Where do we fit in this situation?
   
• This song ends on a note of judgement (Ps. 96:10-11). In what ways is the coming judgment of God a helpful point of connection in sharing the gospel of Jesus? (see Rom 3:9-20; Amos 5:18-24)

• Picture a couple of landmarks in your culture. In what ways do they compete with the message of the cross?
• Read Col 1:15-20. What does Paul mean in saying "to reconcile to himself all things"?
   
• To what extent do Paul's words in Col 1:15-20 shape your understanding of the cross and the mission of God?
   
• Humans have a leaning towards self-centeredness which can lead us to desire comfort. How does the cross challenge our understanding of what it means to participate in God's mission? To what extent do you prioritise comfort over God's mission?
   
• Take some time to think about this quote from Chris Wright about the cross and God's mission...
  "All Christian mission flows from the cross -- as its source, its power and as that which defines its scope."[1]

Discussion Questions

• What are some of the social, cultural or geographical lines you have drawn which you are unwilling to cross?  
• Take a moment to read one of the early church fathers, Athanasius. Why does it matter that our humanity is redeemed by the son of God? (John 1:14)  

“What, then, was God to do? What else could He possibly do, being God, but renew His Image in mankind, so that through it men might once more come to know Him? And how could this be done save by the coming of the very Image Himself, our Saviour Jesus Christ? Men could not have done it, for they are only made after the Image; nor could angels have done it, for they are not the images of God. The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was He alone, the Image of the Father Who could recreate man made after the Image.”

Athanasius. “On the Incarnation”. 13.

• If Jesus “did not live a life of detachment but a life of involvement”, what are the implications of this on us as his people? (John 20:21; Acts 1:8; Gal 2:19-21; 4:4-7)  
   
• In what ways does incarnational mission challenge the norms of contemporary culture? (Gal 2:19-21; Phil 2:1-11; 2 Tim 1:8-14)