LIFE TOGETHER
Gather & Eat
Eat, talk, hangout, have fun.
Pray
Gather together in a comfortable setting (around a table, on the couch, the floor of a living room, etc.). Have somebody lead a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to lead and guide your time together. Don’t be afraid to leave some space in the quiet to just listen and rest.
Discuss
Everybody hopefully had a chance to listen to the message for this week. The message was from John Mark Comer on what it means to be with Jesus as part of apprenticeship to him.
Use these questions to help guide your discussion as a large group:
What did you think of the teaching this week?
What was the most challenging part of the message?
Learn
Read Acts 2:42-47 out loud together
The Fellowship of the Believers
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
This is the description of the early church. Living out what it means to be a follower of Jesus in a counter-cultural, life changing way. The final verse is worth paying attention to - “and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved”. Apparently there was something so radically different and loving about this community that others were drawn to it and wanted to be part of it to the point where it disrupted the entire Roman Empire. In modern life this often gets diluted down to something like going to church on Sunday and attending a midweek Bible study (both good things, but maybe not the whole picture). There is an invitation from Jesus for us to live in such a compelling version of Sunday church, and midweek gatherings, that it is capable of disrupting the culture of the world we live in by showing people a vision of something more beautiful than anything else that exists.
This compelling vision is of a found-family, living in a Jesus centered, and Kingdom minded way.
In the teaching from this week this week, a healthy family (healthy, not perfect) was defined as a group that does the following:
A healthy family eats together.
A healthy family spends time together.
A healthy family displays love and affection to each other.
A healthy family holds each other accountable.
A healthy family bears one another's burdens.
A healthy family makes decisions together.
A healthy family releases each other into their destiny.
A healthy family is faithful to each other until death.
This kind of thing doesn’t happen without the revolutionary love of the Holy Spirit working in us as we intentionally work toward having a family like this.
Share
Split into triads (groups of three, ideally of the same gender) to share at a deeper level. The goal of sharing in triads is to keep those groups consistent so that you can build trust and a deeper connection with whom you can be more vulnerable and share at a deeper level that you might not do with the whole group.
Then work through these questions, engaging your heart as much as your mind.
Does this community resemble the one described in Acts 2?
Of the things on the list above (Things a Healthy Family Does), which does this community do best?
Which does this community do worst or least?
Which is the most challenging to do?
As a group, pick two of these that you want to do more intentionally, how can you do that?
Pray
Staying in your triads, pray for each other. There may be practical needs or prayer requests, or there may be things to pray for regarding the topic of submitting our lives to the way of Jesus. When praying for someone you can ask them if you can appropriately place a hand on their shoulder, and it’s ok to keep your eyes open when you pray so that you stay aware of what is happening to them as you pray. Make sure to invite the Holy Spirit and leave space for Him to speak.
Before you disperse, please read the practice as next week looks a little different!
Practice (90 mins)
IMPORTANT: This coming week requires some prep-work. Please read ahead.
Listen
Read
This coming week, the next time you gather together, the goal is to have a full sit-down meal together. Your entire content is to eat a big all-in dinner, to feast together, have a ton of fun, and experience the joy of an almost thanksgiving-style dinner with people who you only know because you all love Jesus.
To do that you need to plan the following things:
Who is bringing what food?
If everyone brings something, can we make a beautiful and complete meal together?
Are we going to cook and prep the food together? (there’s power in peeling potatoes together!)
Remember, it’s much better to bring something you made rather than something you bought.
Who can be in charge of hospitality?
How will the table be set? How can we make this a beautiful and memorable night from top to bottom? How do we make this an extravagant feast not just another meal?
Bible Project : Fellowship of the Church
This article goes deeper into Acts chapter 2 and what it means to have fellowship with other believers. Read this article and pray, asking God how you can live into this vision of community more.
Stretch Goal
If you want to go deep on this topic try reading “Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.