What's the Point of Church (Part 2): Care

TO START: Over the next five weeks in our What's the Point of Church? series, we're exploring this question: What is the purpose of God's family in the life of a believer? Jesus promised that He would build His church, and the book of Acts gives us a picture of five things the Spirit of Jesus builds his church for the sake of revealing & releasing the Kingdom of God. 

In our second week, we looked at the second essential practice we see in the early church: devoting themselves to fellowship and caring for one another. The church Jesus is building is a church devoted to caring for the stranger, those who are suffering, and their brothers and sisters in the family of God.

ICEBREAKER: How’d the week of using the Daily Scripture Reading Guide go?

TO READ: Acts 2:38-47 & Romans 12:9-16

TO DISCUSS:

(1.) Can you think of a time when someone cared for you in a way that really meant something to you?

(2.) As you reread Acts 2:42–47, what different descriptions do you see of the ways the early church cared for one another and for those in need?

(3.) When you think about the family of God, who is someone you’ve experienced fellowship with whom you likely never would have encountered or become friends with apart from your shared relationship with the Lord?

(4.) Thinking about how Jesus broke down walls of division between different groups of people to bring them together as His family, where do you see our church living out this kind of fellowship? How could we continue expanding our circle of concern?

TO PRAY:

To close this week, consider this question together as you pause before God in prayer together, “

“What is one way you currently care for others in the church, and one way you would like to stretch yourself in caring for the family of God?”...Give a minute or so to reflect silently in prayer as a group and then invite folks to share with the group, then pray for one another to find the courage, desire and clarity to stretch ourselves in caring for the family of God.