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LC1-Session-Guide-Making-meaningful-connections

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Apostolic

Overview: This conversation guide is inspired by the sermon ‘Apostolic‘ by Guy Miller and aims to foster mutual spiritual growth, accountability, and life application within your small group.

1. Opening Prayer 

Let’s begin by inviting the Spirit to search our hearts and guide our words, asking God to open our minds and hearts to what He wants to teach us through this conversation.

2. Scripture Reflection 

The sermon drew heavily from Acts 11:19-26 and Ephesians 4:11-12. Let’s re-read these passages now.

• What does the story of the Antioch church in Acts 11 reveal to you about God’s power to transform wicked places and use “nobodies” to start something significant?
• Considering Ephesians 4:11-12, “He himself gave some to be apostles… to equip the saints for their work of service,” what does this reveal about God’s intention for every believer and for the church as a whole?

3. Life Reflection 

The sermon explored the idea of an “apostolic people” as “sent ones” and used four metaphors – fishermen, builders, farmers, and family.

• Which of the four “F” metaphors – fishermen (catching many together), builders (shaping one another’s lives with long-lasting materials), farmers (sowing a lot of gospel seed for a great harvest), or family (growing up, out, and old together) – resonates most strongly with your current understanding of your role in God’s mission?
• Where do you see yourself as ‘sent’ in London at the moment? Where do you feel challenged to understand yourself as more ‘sent’ than you currently do?

4. Application & Obedience 

The sermon concluded with a powerful call to say “yes” to God’s mission and heartbeat: to build the church and reach the lost.

• In light of Sunday’s sermon, what specific next step is God calling you to take this week in your personal life or within our community to live as a ‘sent one’? This could relate to sharing your story (farmer), building up another believer (builder/family), or intentionally engaging with those who don’t know Jesus (fisherman).
• How might we practically “network our lives together” to collectively pursue God’s mission, rather than attempting it alone?

5. Encouragement & Prayer

• As you reflect on each other’s sharing, where have you seen God at work in one another’s lives that you can affirm or give thanks for?

Let’s conclude by praying for each other, commissioning one another as “apostolic people” sent out to build His church and reach London with the gospel.

1. Opening Prayer

Prompt: Let’s begin by inviting the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and guide our words, asking God to illuminate His Word and give us direction for our lives this week.

2. Scripture Reflection: The Word and the Spirit

Mike Tan, in his sermon ‘Bible & Spirit‘, emphasised that to grow in maturity, we need both the Word and the Spirit. The Word provides grounding, teaching us about life, while the Spirit directs us, illuminates the Word, and acts as our navigator.

Mike quoted 1 Corinthians 2:14-15: “But the person without the spirit the non-Christian does not receive what comes from God’s spirit because it’s foolishness to him he’s not able to understand it since it’s evaluated spiritually the spiritual person however can evaluate everything…”

1. What does the distinction between the “person without the spirit” and the “spiritual person” (1 Cor 2:14) reveal to you about the necessity of dependence on the Holy Spirit in gaining true wisdom or understanding of God’s thoughts?
2. Mike shared his testimony, noting that before finding direction and purpose, he felt weak and like a failure. When have you most deeply experienced God’s strength being made perfect in your weakness, because you relied on the power of the Spirit rather than human wisdom or intellect?

3. Life Reflection: Growing Up and Maturing

Mike taught that God desires us to move past being “babies of the faith” who only drink milk, into maturity, where we can handle solid food. He also pointed back to Guy Miller’s teaching on the church being a family that needs to grow up, grow out, and grow old.

1. Paul criticised the Corinthians, saying they were “still worldly” and distracted by “worldly things,” which prevented their maturity (1 Cor 3:1-3). What specific “worldly things” might currently be distracting you or preoccupying your time, hindering your ability to receive the “solid food” of deeper spiritual growth?
2. Mike used the analogy of eating a complex dish (like chicken rice) that looks simple but requires a trained palate to appreciate the complex flavour. Where in your faith journey are you feeling called to stop staying on the “surface level” and go deeper in God?

4. Application & Obedience

1. Mike testified that being connected with his church family was “vital” for his growth, as he was “strengthened and shaped” by others modeling faithfulness. What specific step can you take this week to invest in your church family—perhaps by serving in a ministry or spending time with brothers and sisters—in order to learn and be shaped by others?
2. Mike encouraged us to desire the spiritual gifts so that we may “prophesy and discern by [God’s] spirit where [He] is calling us”. How is God specifically calling you to seek or utilise the spiritual gifts for the benefit of the church body and the larger apostolic mission this week?

5. Encouragement & Prayer

1. Paul urged believers to “imitate me”. Mike also thanked God for the many great examples he had to follow. Who in our church family has modelled the combination of being grounded in the Bible and empowered by the Spirit that you are currently seeking to imitate?

Closing Prayer:

(Spend time praying for each other regarding the application steps and for the church vision.)

Community

Vision Theme: Meaningfully connecting, because of Jesus, a wonderful diversity of people throughout London (based on a sermon called ‘Community‘ by Andy Mehigan).

1. Opening Prayer

Let’s begin by inviting the Spirit to search our hearts and guide our words, thanking Jesus for making us a family committed to building one another up.

2. Sinners in church!

The community Jesus creates is described by the principle:

“It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17 CSB)

• What does this reveal about God or yourself? Considering that everyone in the community is here by grace, how does this verse change your perception of who the church is supposed to include?
• The sermon noted that Jesus’ community initially included “tax collectors and sinners,” which would have created a community with “bad language, unsavoury ideas, dodgy opinions, [and] extreme views”. Do you think it is ok for all of that to be seen and heard in a church environment?
• Do you tend to be more likely to approach the church with a “rose-tinted” view or, conversely, quickly falling into “finger-pointing” and condemning it?
• What is God calling you to do this week to intentionally receive the community God has given you as a gift, especially those who are “very different from you”?

3. Self vs Serving

This story tells you about the behaviour of two of the church’s earliest leaders and Jesus’ response to them:

Mark 10:35-45

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.”

36 “What do you want me to do for you? ” he asked them.

37 They answered him, “Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory.”

38 Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?”

39 “We are able,” they told him.

Jesus said to them,“You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with. 40 But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

41 When the ten disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them over and said to them,“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:35-45

• Shock! The other disciples were ‘indignant with James and John’. How do you imagine you would have reacted to this? Why is it so upsetting to hear of Christian leaders with selfish agendas?
• Selfishness: James and John, despite being in Jesus’ inner circle, still had their own hidden agendas. But Jesus warns all of his listeners to be aware of this tendency in their own hearts. How can we become more aware of our selfish motives, without becoming too paranoid to serve others?
• Service: The people that Jesus tells us to ‘look up to’ are those who have their heads down, serving others. Who are the people that have inspired you the most, with this kind of attitude?

4. Application

Is there a way that you’d like to serve in the life of the church at the moment? Do you have the time to do it and what next step can you take?

5. Encouragement & Prayer

The overall vision of the church is “to fill London with followers of Jesus”. This requires us to be a people who are Apostolic, Bible & Spirit, and Community.

• Where do you see God at work in each other’s lives, especially as you seek to grow more gracious and move away from your own personal agendas?
• Let’s pray for our commitment to Jesus to remain at the centre of our community.