The Case for seeJesus A GLOBAL DISCIPLING MISSION
Our passion is to equip the church to see and reflect the beauty of Jesus.
“Do you love me?” My wife asked me this question three times one evening many years ago. God used her question to draw me into a study of the person of Jesus. I was stunned by what I discovered, and it slowly began to change how I related to Jill and everyone else.
Many good missions are the hands and feet of Jesus, doing important mercy work all over the world. seeJesus works on the imagination and heart—helping the church rediscover the beauty of Jesus and catch a vision to live as he lived. Our post-Christian world poses many challenges, but a new vision of a Jesus-shaped life offers hope for the church to not only survive but also thrive.
Since 1999
500,000 books
and studies sold
1,092 seminars 47 countries
My hope behind everything we do at seeJesus is to share the most beautiful thing I have ever seen—the person of Jesus. May we see and reflect him before the watching world!
Bob Loker, Ministries Director, teaching Guatemalan children a lesson from our Bethesda series on Jesus.
Why Do We Struggle to See Jesus? PROBLEM
ra cia l ju st ice
care for the poor
2
HUMANITY DENIED
wo m en ’s rig ht s
Christianity feels narrow, harsh, negative, restrictive, old-fashioned, unscientific, reactionary, syrupy.
DIVINITY REJECTED
s ht ig yr lit bi sa di
Secular-liberalism feels inclusive, positive, global, accepting, innovative, beautiful, youthful, free.
1
peace initiatives
Secular-liberalism embraces many of Jesus’ values in the public sphere. People are drawn to the faint reflection of Jesus—the “virtual Jesus”—seen there. It is merely a shadow of the vibrant, rich life of discipleship to which Jesus calls us, but to the watching world:
compassion n sio clu in
The World Sees a Virtual Jesus.
immigrant rights 3
Secular-liberalism dominates our collective understanding of what it means to be human.
VALUES ENSHRINED
3 STEPS TO A VIRTUAL JESUS 1
Jesus’ Divinity Rejected: The 18th century Enlightenment rejected Jesus’ divinity — he was no longer seen as God incarnate, but as a wise and good man.
2
J esus’ Humanity Denied: In the 1960’s, Secular-liberalism denied Jesus’ humanity — he was no longer seen as God nor a real man.
3
Jesus’ Values Enshrined: Today, select values of Jesus are enshrined and absolutized by our culture — they shape our vision for what it is to be human.
The Church Sees a Depersonalized Jesus. The Reformation’s rediscovery that we are saved by Jesus’ work on the cross and not by our works has given the church a rich understanding of the work of Jesus, but our vision of the person of Jesus is weak. We’ve not studied his sadness, his anger, or his compassion. We’ve lost a sense of his dependence on his Father, how he stays in step with the Spirit. In short, we don’t know what it is to be human.
PERSON OF JESUS WORK OF JESUS PATH OF JESUS
Without a robust vision of Jesus, the church is struggling. The church’s depersonalized Jesus is no match for the world’s virtual Jesus. THE RESULT? We are losing a generation to this shadow Jesus. Secular-liberalism is offering a better vision of what it is to be human.
“From where I stand, in a thriving church at the cultural center of the US, I feel the like the bride of Christ is in trouble. We’re missing out on the beauty and love of Jesus, and we’re not reflecting it to others. I want my fellow Christians to know and see Jesus in a richer way, so that our lives and the lives of those around us may be changed.” KATIE SULLIVAN Attorney, New York City, NY
A Jesus-Shaped Vision
The Person of Jesus
SOLUTION
“We don’t have a good handle on who our Lord is. Paul Miller’s study sits at the feet of Jesus and looks at how he lives and speaks.” DAVID POWLISON Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation
The best answer to the virtual Jesus is the real Jesus. We want to expand the church’s understanding of Jesus to include: THE PERSON OF JESUS—The person of Jesus is the single most understudied theme in the Bible. When people begin to watch Jesus, they find their eyes opened to a rich encounter with God’s love and their hearts empowered to love others. THE PATH OF JESUS—The path of Jesus, the J-Curve, is the forgotten truth that the normal Christian life follows the dying and rising pattern of Jesus’ life. Continually reenacting Jesus’ life resets our expectations for life and replaces cynicism with hope. THE SPIRIT OF JESUS—Deep dependence on the Holy Spirit came naturally to Jesus. In A Praying Life, badly praying Christians (all of us!) learn how to bring our helplessness to God in prayer, ask the Father for good gifts, and trace his hand at work through prayer stories. Studying these aspects of Jesus will help the church look more like him.
F JESUS RIT O SPI PERSON OF JESUS WORK OF JESUS
“The J-Curve will revolutionize the way you look at your sufferings and your relationship to Christ.”
The Path of Jesus
JONI EARECKSON TADA Joni and Friends
PATH OF JESUS
The Spirit of Jesus “The most practical training in prayer possible... I highly recommend it.” REV. TIM KELLER Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York, NY
Pathways for churches to become discipling communities.
We equip the church with in-depth, Jesus-centered discipleship. Because the gospel is embodied, we immerse ourselves in the lives of a few passionate men and women. Each Trainer goes through a year-long apprenticeship that cultivates Spirit of Jesus a heart for Jesus and equips them to independently train Apprentices and lead workshops and cohorts. RIGHT: We offer tools and training at four levels: (1) Books and studies are tools, and (2) Seminars provide hands-on discipleship training. Through (3) Cohorts we develop (4) Trainers who enable churches to be self-sustaining.
Person of Jesus
Path of Jesus
BOOKS & STUDIES SEMINARS COHORTS TRAINERS
Our interactive approach to Bible study fits a post-Christian world that learns better through discovery and relationships — and reflects Jesus’ own approach to discipleship. Photo of small group leader training in Central Asia
“I first connected to the ministry in 2001, while a grad student. I was part of a church plant that was reading Love Walked Among Us. I was absolutely captured by Jesus. Looking back I can see that it was slowing down and seeing the cadences of Jesus that really captured me. I love seeJesus’ threedimensional vision for discipleship.” TYLER JOHNSON Lead Pastor Redemption Church, Arizona
An Indigenous Global Discipling Mission Our trainers have found that Jesus’ beauty enchants across all cultures and socioeconomic divides. The heart of our international work is creating and nurturing an indigenous network of trainers who lead seminars and apprentice others. At multiple levels, this is more effective than a large, paid American staff. To date, we’ve led 1,092 seminars in 47 countries and translated our materials into a dozen languages.
India
– From a missionary
– From a pastor
“Roya is from Iran and searching for ‘who the real God is.’ She is struggling with trying to make sense of the Bible. I was able to walk her through our The Person of Jesus study and she really liked it. This study is a very non-threatening tool. I can’t wait to see how God uses it in the lives of people searching for the truth.”
Peru
LEFT: Miguel Rivera, our Spanish World Trainer, with his Colombian cohort.
Sweden
“We were completely engrossed in learning about Jesus as a ‘real person’— someone who shares our feelings and emotions, and is aware of every detail of each of our lives.”
“The teaching that Jesus ‘looked,’ as simple as it sounds, is a profound one… These materials have an innate sensitivity to different cultures, making them easily assimilated. I want to be involved in a global discipleship effort and, as a non-Westerner, these non-westernized resources are a rare treasure.”
– From a small group coordinator
Egypt
“The material and content are wonderful, and it has motivation and excitement. The study time is full of pros and benefits for learners. I liked very much the historical background and maps. The study is rich and fulfilling.” – From an Arabic-speaking participant ABOVE: Guatemalan children act out a Jesus story using puppets.
Since 1999
1,092 seminars in 47 countries
500 Jon Hori, West Coast and East Asia Director, leads a training event in Singapore.
Trainers and Apprentices by
2028!
Chile
“Last week we were studying the first lesson from the manual. Everyone is very happy with the lessons!!! Our goal is to reach new persons, so this material is excellent for us. We can help so many get to know Jesus through these studies.” – From a pastor
“
We were completely engrossed in learning about Jesus as a “real person.” – SMALL GROUP COORDINATOR, Peru
LEFT: Robert Row (left) with students at a Ugandan school after a training event for youth pastors.
Helping all kinds of people see Jesus!
ASIA: Work in Asia has grown through partnership with City-to-City Asia Pacific and translation of all our materials into Chinese.
A PRAYING LIFE: Bob Allums, our A Praying Life Ministry Director, leads a seminar in Alaska.
EURASIA: Russian translation fuels training at a seminary in Moldova, equipping leaders for the church in Central Asia.
MIDDLE EAST: Mafdi, our Arab World Trainer, trains leaders in Egypt and across the Arabic-speaking world.
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA: Our work in the Spanish-speaking world is led by coordinator Débora Ramirez and Trainer Miguel Rivera.
TRAINER TEAM: Trainer team at a See Jesus Workshop at Atlanta Westside Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA.
YOUTH: Robert Row, our Student Ministries Coordinator, has created a student version of our The Person of Jesus study and equips ministry leaders who want to help the next generation see Jesus.
BETHESDA: Our Bethesda team creates materials that help people affected by disability to see Jesus.
ANNUAL FUND SeeJesus by the Numbers (Fy2021)
$517,314
861
86
Annual Fund
Total Donors
Online/In-Person Events
2,356
26
22
Total Attendees
13
New Trainers
New Cohorts Started
4
International Seminars
New Apprentice Trainers
4
New Employees
$14,000
$22,000
$13,600
Additional staff hours for online work, podcasts and communication
Director of Operations for FY 2022
Staff retreat costs including apprentices, trainers, volunteers and guests
$22,000
$8,000
$12,600
Additional development costs associated with Prayer Story Project
Additional software needs because of growth: ZOOM, JazzHR, TalentLMS and Slack
Video production and website development
Total
$97,200
seeJesus Income Summary Fiscal Years 2015 - 2020
1,800,000
Total Income
Annual Fund Income 1,594,279
1,600,000
1,568,846
1,400,000 1,245,122 1,127,897
1,200,000 972,165
971,020
$
1,000,000 800,000 600,000 391,256
400,000
358,088
362,992
457,777
402,339
357,961
200,000 0 2015
2016
2017
2018
FISCAL YEAR
2019
2020
seeJesus’ Bethesda Ministry One of the weakest areas of the church has been welcoming people affected by intellectual disabilities as brothers and sisters in Christ. The absence of a person of Jesus DNA in the church has prevented the church from taking seriously Jesus’ command to go out in the highways and welcome the blind and the lame to our tables (Luke 14).
Will You Join Us?
seeJesus’ Bethesda Ministry not only teaches the church to welcome people affected by disability but has created an entire curriculum of Bible studies patterned after seeJesus’ Bible studies. These lessons are adapted to those with intellectual disabilities. See this video of what a lesson looks like. And this video of the impact of a lesson on one student’s life. One of the weakest areas of the church has been welcoming people affected by intellectual disabilities as brothers and sisters in Christ. The absence of a person of Jesus DNA in the church has prevented the church from taking seriously Jesus’ command to go out in the highways and welcome the blind and the lame to our tables (Luke 14). seeJesus’ Bethesda Ministry not only teaches the church to welcome people affected by disability but has created an entire curriculum of Bible studies patterned after seeJesus’ Bible studies. These lessons are adapted to those with intellectual disabilities. See this video of what a lesson looks like. And this video of the impact of a lesson on one student’s life. One of the weakest areas of the church has been welcoming people affected by intellectual disabilities as brothers and sisters in Christ. The absence of a person of Jesus DNA in the church has prevented the church from taking seriously Jesus’ command to go out in the highways and welcome the blind and the lame to our tables (Luke 14).
Get a taste of our vision Go deeper with a study, book, or seminar Get equipped to share with others Become a supporter
seeJesus’ Bethesda Ministry not only teaches the church to welcome people affected by disability but has created an entire curriculum of Bible studies patterned after seeJesus’ Bible studies. These lessons are adapted to those with intellectual disabilities. See this video of what a lesson looks like. And this video of the impact of a lesson on one student’s life.
seejesus.net 215.721.3113 | P.O. Box 197, Telford, PA 18969