Battle Strategy

At Mars Hill Church in Seattle, they use a lot of war rhetoric and metaphor to describe the mission of the church and the way they organize community. Some Christians cringe at the use of war rhetoric because of the way that God’s word has been used to justify great evil throughout history. But the Bible uses all kinds of war metaphor and imagery to describe the spiritual battle that we find ourselves in as believers on a mission (e.g Ephesians 6), and so we must redeem these words by using them rightly, as we battle against our sin and against the enemy, for the hearts of people that God is calling to himself.

Mars Hill sees the preaching and teaching functions of the church as “Air War”, where the message and mission of Christ is communicated and people are called to repentance and faith. The community, discipleship, and missional functions of the church are seen as “Ground War”, were people are nurtured and encouraged, and believers are placed in relationships of fellowship and accountability so that their lives can be transformed by Jesus. Ground War is also where people get to participate in the mission of Christ, scattering to serve their city and share the love of Christ with the lost. Over the past few years, Mars Hill has been focused on connecting the Air War and Ground War aspects of the church, linking every expression of the church community to the pulpit, so that the different fronts of the battle can advance together.

Their latest sermon series, Trial: 8 Witnesses from 1&2 Peter, is a great example of that effort to connect the Air War and Ground War of the church. Besides the weekly preaching and worship, Mars Hill is handing out a 200+page study guide in book form free-of-charge to every attendee of the church. I have obtained a copy and it is impressive. Here is the link to download:

Trial: Study Guide – This study guide outlines all details for this series of sermons, including Group Resources, Group Discussion Questions, Family Resources, Pastoral Parenting, Family Dinner Bible Study and more.

In the wake of this new series, many pastoral teams from other churches have been asking how to plan and strategize such an endeavor. Thankfully, Mars Hill is continuing to give away helpful information on how it structures its leadership, manages its programs, and generally leads the people God has called to participate in the church. To see how Mars Hill works from Bible book selection to fully themed sermon series, check out the 1&2 Peter Battle Plan.

“How does Mars Hill’s Preaching & Theology department get from Pastor Mark deciding on a book of the Bible to preach through all the way to the stage design, visuals, and theme that we see in TRIAL: 8 Witnesses from 1&2 Peter?”

“In this 200+ page document you will see the advance work done by Pastor Mark Driscoll, Pastor Brad House over Community Groups, and the Preaching & Theology Branch. This plan was sent to every major organizational area of Mars Hill for review and feedback. This collaborative effort resulted in a smooth launch on January 11th, with support from all campus pastors and departments and a unified Gospel message from pulpit to counseling office to home community groups.”

- AJ Hamilton, Driscoll’s former pastoral assistant and current overseer of the Preaching & Theology Branch. This branch is made up of a talented group of:

- web designers

- graphic designers

- administrators

- video directors and producers

- animators

- editors

- content managers

- manuscript copy-editors

- support staff for Pastor Mark Driscoll