A Vision for Small Groups

January 27, 2009

Joe,

The other day I preached on Acts 2:37-47, which shows the response to Peter’s Pentecost sermon.  Especially verses 42-47 reveal the kind of loving community that was formed in response to the Gospel.  I think it’s evident that the only way to live the kind of community life modeled in these verses is through the formation of small groups.

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This is an area where I have been doing a lot of study in recent weeks, and I have been especially helped by a manual put out by Redeemer Presbyterian Church (which can be purchased here).  In it, a beautiful vision for a healthy small group is cast:

1. We are to be a worshipping community. The message of the gospel is that Christ

died for us while we were yet sinners– when we were separated from him and wanted

nothing to do with him. We are not defined by what we did or have done to become

God’s people, but by what God has done in Christ to make us his . We are therefore,

a people who are grateful to God and who stand amazed at the wonders of his love.

As a result, we worship God with our praises and by celebrating the Lord’s supper.

2. We are to be an accepting community. The message of the gospel is that we have

been accepted at our worst. We are to extend a similar acceptance to one another

without demanding that they change before we before we offer it to them. We need

neither frown upon nor be shocked by other people’s sin and weaknesses. We are to

extend grace rather than judgment.

3. We are to be a holy community. Though we are to accept people as they are, we are

not to be content with leaving others where they are. The gospel tells us that we are

destined to become like Jesus and that God has already begun the process of

changing us from glory unto glory. We are to urge one another to throw off what is

not in keeping with what God has made us to be and to put on all that is in

accordance with the new reality of our status as sons and daughters of God.

4. We are to be a truth-telling community. “There is no kindness more cruel than the

kindness which consigns another person to their sin.” The gospel gives us the motivation

to truly care about people. We are to be marked by gentle but honest truth telling which will

lead others to want to change. We won’t be harsh because we know our own weaknesses and

flaws. But neither will we shrink back out of a fear that we will be rejected for we have the

only acceptance which ultimately matters. We can also hear the truth from others. Because we

are accepted in Christ, we are free to admit our flaws.

5. We are to be an upbuilding and encouraging community. The work of Christ in the

church is “building up”. “God is the one who can build you up” (Acts 20:32) and “In him

the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord”

(Eph. 2:21). The church grows not by joining physical stones but by joining and uniting

human lives filled with the Spirit of God. So, too, the main work of the living stones

themselves is building up: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up”

(I Thess. 5:11) and “Speaking the truth in love…the whole body, joined and held together

by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

(Eph. 4:15-16). Because of the acceptance which comes to us in the gospel, we do not have

to resort to tearing others down in order to feel good about ourselves. Petty rivalries and

competitiveness vanquish. Confident that we are loved by God, we are free to encourage

others and desire the best for them. We are enabled to work for the prosperity and success of others.

6. We are to be a sacrficially generous and giving community. Paul writes, “For you

know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes

he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9) We

are to follow suit: spending and being spent on behalf of others. The early Christians

were known for their radical generosity: “All the believers were together and had

everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as

he had need” (Acts 2:44,45) and “No one claimed that any of his possessions was his

own, but they shared everything they had…There were no needy persons among

them. From time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the

money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone

as he had need (Acts 4:32-35). We also ought to be known for being promiscuous

with our money and possessions.

7. We are to be a suffering community. Jesus loved us while we were yet enemies. He

didn’t retaliate against us. He suffered our slighting of him and the wrath of God on

the cross in order that we might be turned into his friends. We also are to avoid

retaliation. We are love to the point of suffering whether that suffering love is

directed toward those inside the community or outside the community. We are to

offer forgiveness to those who harm or persecute us.

JCF brothers and sisters: are we experiencing this kind of comunity life?  If not, what is standing in our way?

In pursuit of genuine, Gospel-centered community,

Larry

Posted by Larry | Filed Under Links, Random Musings, Seeking Him 

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