NOTE: If you missed this week’s message, click here to listen or watch.
Talk about your experience on Sunday morning.
- How did God speak to you during worship and/or teaching this week?
- What have you been reflecting on and/or praying about in response to this week’s service?
- Spend a few minutes checking in about people’s experience through the Bible Reading Plan through the Gospel of Matthew. What has God been teaching people?
Jeff talked about having people AROUND your life vs IN your life.
- What is the difference between the two? Why do we so often settle for only having people AROUND our lives instead of IN our lives?
- Do you feel like you actually have people IN your life? (i.e. people who know the good, bad & ugly about you and continue to love you anyway. People who continually point us back to Christ). What do those relationships look like?
- What are some barriers (cultural and/or personal) that sometimes prevent us from experiencing this kind of community? Explain.
Read Romans 12:4-5 together.
- What do you think the Apostle Paul meant when he said, “we all belong to each other“?
- How should these verses (and other verses like these) shape the way we think about Christian Community and the importance of having people IN our lives?
Ultimately, the Gospel is what makes this kind of community possible. Read Ephesians 2:11-22 together.
- According to this passage, what do our relationships look like apart from Christ?
- How did Jesus reconcile us to one another? Practically speaking, what does that look like?
- Look again at verses 19-22 and notice the language Paul uses to describe our relationships because of Jesus. What does this show us about the kind of relationships we can now have because of the Gospel?
Jeff talked about four different expressions of a Gospel Community:
- “An Open Community” – A community that is inclusive and welcoming of all people. (Eph 2:11-22)
- “An Honest Community” – A community that is transparent and honest with one another (James 5:16)
- “A Burden-Bearing Community” – A community that walks together and bears one-another’s burdens (Gal 6:2)
- “A Loving Community” – A community that loves one another like Jesus loves us (John 13:34-35)
Spend some time discussing each expression of Gospel Community.
- How open & inclusive are you towards others who are different than you (like Jesus is towards us)?
- How honest and transparent are you with others (safe people) about your struggles in life?
- Who in your life helps you carry your burdens (like Jesus does for us)? How do you help carry other people’s burdens?
- How loving (selfless) are you towards others (like Jesus is towards us)?
- How is our Home Church doing at living out these expressions? How can we get better at these?
Spend some time in prayer as a group. Ask God to continue to shape us into a Deeply Rooted, Gospel Shaped Community!
