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Q Studies: Advancing the Common Good

Advancing the Common Good, the latest in the Q Studies series from Zondervan, wrestles with the big idea that the role of Jesus’ followers is not simply to announce his message of redemption and restoration to the world, but to live out that message for the world.

Advancing the Common Good is a five session study that leverages a combination of video, reading and discussion that will  introduce and deepen a counter-cultural worldview that reframes the Gospel and restores the Christ-followers role in culture.

The Q Group Study Series is unique in both format and content.  A DVD-driven study, the DVD sessions open with a kind of dialogue between host Gabe Lyons and Chris Heuertz, an activist and Executive Director of Word Made Flesh, a non-profit organization existing to serve among the most vulnerable of the world’s poor.  Fascinating on their own merit, these opening dialogues serve as introduction for a powerful selection of  talks and interviews from the annual Q event.

Advancing the Common Good includes DVD segments by three very diverse speakers as well as a reading and culture-shaping project:

  • Session One features a talk by Jo Saxton, a director of 3DM, a movement/organization  helping church leaders make discipleship and mission the heartbeat of the local church.  Saxton gives a talk entitled Being Provoked to Engage.
  • Session Two is driven by a Q Short (a 9 page reading) on the sanctity of human life.   Written by David P. Gushee, the Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, the reading is found in the Participant Guide and also on the DVD-rom.
  • Session Three features Eboo Patel, the founder and Executive Director of the Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based international nonprofit building the interfaith youth movement. He is the author of, Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim.  His talk is on An Interfaith Dialogue.
  • Session Four features an interview with Shannon Sedgwick Davis, a partner at Bridgeway Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Bridgeway Capital Management, Inc. The Houston-based investment firm commits one-half of its annual profits towards philanthropic endeavors that focus on eliminating genocide as well as the promotion of peace, reconciliation, and human rights around the world.   A passionate advocate for social justice and international human rights her entire professional career, her interview is entitled Not on Our Watch.

Whether you are providing curriculum guidance for small group leaders longing to engage their culture or you’re working to reshape understanding of mission, Advancing the Common Good is a study you’ll want to add to your recommended list.