INTRODUCTION
Over the last three weeks, our devotionals have been based on our vision at CCP. If you are not a part of our church, I trust that you are still finding these reflections helpful.
Our vision is to be a church community that is,
“Bringing people to Jesus - myself, one another and my community”
This week we are focussing on what it means to bring ‘Our Community’ to Jesus.
Recently, we’ve seen queues at petrol stations because we have had a fuel shortage. People will act when they have a genuine need for power. I saw a Porsche driver blocking the road because he knew that his amazing car was useless without fuel. Jesus wants us to understand that there is no power shortage with Him, but we must thirst and go to Him for the ‘living water’ of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised,
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Jesus’ mission is made possible by the Spirit of God! This overview of the progress of the gospel is seen through the book of Acts with Paul finally taking the gospel to Rome.
This rippling out of the gospel is to continue from every local church. Mission - personally and for the church - starts in ‘Jerusalem’ - that’s where you are right now. We must start where we are! Many people speak of changing the world but are not prepared to get practical changing where they are! Jesus promises that anyone or church that truly encounters Him will be empowered by the Spirit to be a witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus.
This Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth method is speaking to us of taking the gospel and establishing discipling communities in new locations; but it also speak of new and more varied people groups: Jerusalem and Judea was principally Jewish and the first church was comprised of Jews; It’s God’s will to take the gospel to all localities and people-groups.
PRAY AND WORSHIP OUT OF THE BIBLE
In keeping with this aim of developing a personal relationship with God through prayer and worship out of the Bible, we’ll be developing our skill in meditation and prayer using the structure that we are taught in The Lord’s Prayer.
If you look at The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), you’ll see that it can be broken into 4 major themes of Praise (6:9), Petitions (6:10-11), Peace-making (Matthew 6:12) and Protection (Matthew 6:13).
Using the Lord’s prayer structure (below) to help you to pray through Acts 1:8.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
1. Praise - What does this text teach me about God? What can I praise Him for?
2. Petitions - What does this teach me about His will for me and others? What could I pray for from this text? This is a good time to pray for our non-believing. friends. It’s good to ask, Is the Holy Spirit leading me in any specific response?
3. Peace-making - Is the Holy Spirit convicting me of sin for which I need forgiveness? Do I need to forgive others?
4. Protection - Ask for God’s protection generally and for any specific areas of vulnerability. Am I believing lies regarding the truths in this text?
COMMUNITY GROUP NOTES AND STUDY
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
Let's be praying and actively preparing to invite friends to our carol service on 5th December. Please make sure this is in your diary
2. Icebreaker
How has God spoken to you from the Bible this week?
3. Recap of Sunday's message - please share in your group
Running up to our carol service on the 5th December we would like you to spend more time on the SIV (Serving, Invest and Invite) aspect of our time together. Therefore, there will only be fewer questions each week on the Sunday message so as to give plenty of time for praying and sharing about our mission.
On Sunday, we completed the third part of our vision series. Our vision of ‘Bringing people to Jesus - Myself, One-Anther and My Community. This comes out of what we read in John 7:37-38.
‘On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”’ (John 7:37-38)
During this brief series, we’ve been weaving in the words that are spoken of Peter and John,
‘When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.’ (Acts 4:13)
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