The BEATS acronym stands for Blessing, Eating, Abiding, Training and Sent. In order to establish a missional rhythm in our lives, (a habitual way of behaving that helps us to engage with the mission of God in our everyday lives), we are encouraged to regularly BLESS people inside and outside the church, EAT with people inside and outside the church, spend time ABIDING with Holy Spirit, spend time Training in Christlikeness by studying the life of Jesus and following His commands, and living as SENT ones in the world, fulfilling the great commission and the Lord’s prayer of making disciples and seeing God’s Kingdom come.
We can all become busy with life and also with Christian activities, that although good and productive, don’t necessarily move us towards fulfilling God’s desires and plans for us. The BEATS framework helps to keep us focussed on what is important to God and helps to develop habits that will eventually becoming organic ways of thinking and behaving.
The BEATS Reflection Questions are designed to help us to review how we have gone in the previous week or fortnight in forming these new missional rhythms. The questions are purposefully designed to not be a simple pass/fail answer. We are not wanting you to try and achieve a goal or tick a box of religious activity. Not reaching a goal that you have set for yourself doesn’t mean you have failed, but in reflecting on why your goals weren’t achieved you can begin to identify barriers to your growth as a follower of Jesus. You can reflect just by reading the questions and responding in prayer with Jesus or you might enjoy writing down your responses in a journal. These questions also help to shape the conversation with your DNA group when you meet together.
DNA Groups are groups of 3-5 people that meet together regularly for the purpose of Discipleship, Nurture and Accountability. We all need support on our journey of following Jesus. DNA Groups are a great way of providing support in our growth as a disciple, nurture when times are tough and accountability to help us to grow into new ways of thinking, believing and behaving. Because of the depth of sharing that can be developed in a DNA Group, our recommendation is that it would only be made up of people of the same gender. The best way to form a DNA Group is to ask those in your church community that you have developed some level of relationship with. You can also use this framework for a new Christian that you are discipling.
If you would like to join a DNA Group or form one yourself with people you know, please fill out the form below.