Advancing the Common Good

Restoring Our Role in Culture

Injustices take place everyday that need the voice of the Church. How can the Church engage these issues and work to promote the most good for all people? In this study, your group will be challenged to investigate the Christian mission through opposing injustice and restoring the most broken places in society.

Featuring:

Jo Saxton: Being Provoked to Engage (Q Talk)
David Gushee: The Sanctity of Human Life (Q Essay)
Eboo Patel: An Interfaith Dialogue (Q Talk)
Shannon Sedgwick Davis: Not On Our Watch (Q Talk)

The Kingdom Way of Life

Restoring What It Means to Follow Jesus

The word "kingdom" is casually used by many people today but it’s hard to decipher what it really means. How can Christians uncover what the Kingdom is, and how can we live in pursuit of it here on earth? In this study, your group will scour the Scripture’s teaching on this subject to uncover what Jesus actually meant when he preached the Kingdom of God and determine how those teachings should shape our lives in the here and now.

Featuring:

Scot McKnight: Did Jesus Preach the Gospel? (Q Talk)
Michael Metzger: Living the Kingdom In Culture (Q Short)
Tim Keller: The Both/And of the Gospel (Q Talk)
Jon Tyson: The Transformative Kingdom (Q Talk)

Staying Grounded in a Shifting World

Restoring the Ancient Practices

In a world where newer is better and the headlines of yesterday are old news, it’s tempting to throw out anything that smacks of tradition. But is there something in the rhythm of ancient Christian practices that would benefit 21st century believers? In this study, your group will discover habits with the potential to lead us into deeper communion with God and ignite our collective passion for the mission of Jesus.

Featuring:

Phyllis Tickle: Recovering the Ancient Practices (Q Talk)
Andy Crouch: From Purchases to Practices (Q Short)
Shane Hipps: The Spirituality of the Cell Phone (Q Talk)
Matthew Sleeth: Observing the Sabbath (Q Talk)

Being Countercultural

Restoring Our Identity in a Changing Society

Everyone seems to be talking about how we can make the church "relevant." But should cultural relevance really comprise the center point of our collective identity? In a fallen world, it seems the people of God are most effective when we they can live counterculturally by practicing discernment, showing grace, valuing responsibility and promoting the restoration of all things. In this study, your group will explore how Christians can fully participate in culture while living lives that sharply contrast our world’s fallen nature.

Featuring:

Gabe Lyons: Being Countercultural (Q Talk)
Jason Locy & Tim Willard: Stripping Away the Veneer (Q Essay)
Andy Crouch: Power, Privilege and Risk (Q Talk)
Jon Tyson: The Transformative Kingdom (Q Talk)

Engaging Post-Christian Culture

Our Mission in a New Context

In Engaging Post-Christian Culture: Our Mission in a New Context, groups will explore the postmodern, post-Christian and post-American world, where the church no longer exists at the center of society.

There was a time when most people grew up attending church, Christians held influence in the public square and America was still thought of as a "Christian nation." This is not so anymore. We live in a post-Christian context. And while Christians could bemoan this reality, it’s not all bad news. The end of the Christian America dream is the beginning of a new opportunity.

In this Q Society Room experience, groups will be challenged to explore the dynamics of a post-Christian society and re-imagine the opportunities that exist for our mission in a new context.

Featuring:

Os Guinness: Third Mission to the West (Q Talk)
Jon Tyson: Renewing Cities Through Missional Tribes (Q Short)
Alan Hirsch: Post-Christendom Mission (Q Talk)
Andy Crouch: Why We Can’t Change the World (Q Talk)

Where You Live Matters

Developing a Vision for Your City

In Where You Live Matters: Developing a Vision for Your City, groups will be challenged by a fundamental lifestyle question: Should where you live dramatically shape the way you practice your faith?

It’s not just about what you can afford, the square footage you need or the size of the garage. Maybe it goes much deeper than that. Is it possible that God has a bigger vision for our apartments, houses and neighborhoods than we do? What about the places we shop, the neighbors we encounter, the cities we call home?

In this Q Society Room study, groups will discuss God’s heart for the world He created and how local places—the cities and neighborhoods in which we live—are central to that. Participants will be exposed to what the Bible has to say about cities; they’ll be encouraged to embrace a theology of place and discuss recent trends regarding urban and suburban development— making sense of their connection to the Christian faith. Get ready to think differently about where you live. God has a vision for your city.

Featuring:

Timothy Keller: Grace of the City (Q Talk)
Mel McGowan: From the Garden to the City (Q Short)
Joel Kotkin: The Future of the Suburbs (Q Talk)
Timothy Keller: Grace in and For the City (Q Talk)

The Whole Gospel

Revisiting our Grand Message to the World

In The Whole Gospel: Revisiting Our Message to the World, groups will be challenged to gain a more holistic understanding of the gospel that reshapes our lives and our message to a broken world.

The Bible is a story. Not like a children’s fairytale or a sci-fi fantasy. But a grand story that tells us about God and his work in the world. So the Bible is also our story. But the way we share our story with others reveals the kind of gospel message we believe in. Many Christians have come to believe in a gospel that is only concerned with getting individuals to heaven, but could there be more?

In this Q Society Room experience, your group will be challenged to revisit the story of the Bible. You’ll explore the richness of its themes and see how it shapes every aspect of our lives—from what we believe to how we live, how we interact with culture and how we share this essential "good news" with others.

Featuring:

Tim Keel: The Gospel Revisited (Q Talk)
Ron Martoia: Spiritual Conversations (Q Short)
Charles Colson: Cultural Commission (Q Talk)
Jamie Tworkowski: To Write Love on Her Arms (Q Talk)

The Spirituality of Science

How Science Strengthens Faith in God

In The Spirituality of Science: How Science Strengthens Faith in God, groups will explore the beleaguered relationship between science and faith. They’ll learn how all Christians should be mindful and informed, rather than skeptical or even fearful, of science.

If you believe the "new atheists"—Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and the like—science has proven that the idea of God is simply a delusion. Many Christians have responded to this movement by suggesting that science itself is somehow anti-faith and the century-old creation debate only underscores the divide. If what we believe about the world is reduced to the idea of "observable data," doesn’t that threaten the foundation of Christianity?

In this Q Society Room study groups are challenged to think differently. Through exposure to several scientists, who also happen to be Christians, they will gain a new perspective on how science and faith can and should inform one another.

Featuring:

Francis Collins: The Language of God (Q Talk)
Alister McGrath: Science and Faith at Odds (Q Short)
Catherine Crouch: What Every Christian Could Learn from a Scientist (Q Talk)
Louie Giglio: Indescribable Wonder (Q Talk)

Unchristian

Change the Perception

Ground-breaking research presented in the best-selling book, UnChristian, reveals that 16-29 year olds perceive Christianity to be anti-homosexual, judgmental, hypocritical, too political, sheltered and proselytizing.

This study summarizes their perceptions and moves the conversation forward by providing key insight into how Christians can change these perceptions when we become more like Jesus.

Perceptions are reality and this study will move participants to not only be more aware, but to actively engage with their community.

Featuring:

David Kinnaman: The Outside View (Q Talk)
Gabe Lyons: UnChristian: Change the Perception (Q Short)
Rick McKinley & Shane Claiborne: Change the Perception (Q Talk)