𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• What are some of your favorite group activities?

• Do you consider yourself introverted or extroverted? How do you respond when you are put in an uncomfortable situation?

• Tell us about your go-to group—those you usually communicate with and are quick to update. How did you become friends?

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴’ 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟮:𝟰𝟮

(Read also 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟮:𝟰𝟯-𝟰𝟳)

Imagine being one of Jesus’ first disciples and part of the early church. That unlikely bunch went through so much together—from being called to follow Jesus to His death, resurrection, and ascension, to being filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, their group—the church, the called-out ones—was growing by the day. This must have been both exciting and disconcerting. They just kept following Jesus, their lives were changed, and they were about to change the world. They were called and commissioned by God for a purpose that could only be accomplished together. This was always God’s design for the church—an assembling or gathering of people. In this lesson, we will look at their shared experiences as a community and their results.

𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴’ 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟮:𝟰𝟮

The disciples—old and new—devoted themselves to what mattered most: knowing God and being in community. They made an effort to gather and grow together. Why do you think this is important? What do you think will happen if we lose this?

𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 . . . 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟮:𝟰𝟯-𝟰𝟲

As they devoted themselves to God, they experienced God’s power and miracles. They were consistent in this, and God consistently met them (Matthew 18:20). As a community, they experienced God through each other by helping each other know God and His word, sharing lives with one another, and meeting one another’s needs. How do you think our church can learn from the experience of the early church?

𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.

. . . 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟮:𝟰𝟳

Our experiencing God as a community does not only grow us spiritually, but also results in others coming to know God as well. Because they reflected God, the early church had favor with their community. As a result, more people came to know God every day. As part of the Church today, how are we reaping the benefits of what the early church did? What is the Church’s role among the watching world today?

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• How much priority do you give to gathering together as a church? How can you express that through your words and actions every week?

• In which community or communities have you experienced God? How has this community helped you in your spiritual growth? How have you helped others in their walk with God?

• What is your prayer for your local church and for the universal Church?

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Thank God for the community He has placed you in. Speak a blessing over them.

• Pray that you would remain and continue to experience God in community.

• Pray for your church to find favor in your surrounding communities, for the gospel to be preached, and for more people to be added to the Church.