Chapter 05: Circles

[00:00:02] Chapter 5 circles questions how easy is it for you to ask other people for help? Why do you think that is? [00:00:12] Who are the people in your life that you can turn to when things get hard? [00:00:17] Have you had any relationships in your life that you had to work on? What was that like? [00:00:24] Is there anyone in your life that knows everything about you? [00:00:28] Why or why not? [00:00:31] Following Jesus is a group activity. It cannot be done well alone. [00:00:37] Author and professor Robert Coleman said it like this. Having called his men, Jesus made a practice of being with them. [00:00:45] Following Jesus doesn't work if we are not with each other. It was his basic strategy for teaching. [00:00:52] If life on mission contains the basic skills we practice as disciples, our relational circles are where we practice and who we practice with. Jesus had at least three relational circles. He had a large group of followers around 120. He had a small group of 12 people he was directly training and sharing life with. [00:01:14] Lastly, he had three that he gave significant time and attention at New Life we, like many other churches and Christians, believe we need to have similar circles in our lives. [00:01:26] We think of them as the concentric circles that we live within and invite others into as disciples of Jesus. To lean again on the analogy from our discipleship section. If you become a musician, you will need people to play with. You'll learn from someone, teach someone else, jam with some friends and play for another group. Being a musician doesn't hold value if it doesn't happen in relationship Church. [00:01:52] Our first and largest circle is our church. We have a community of people that we gather with. These are the people with whom we share the identity of Christian, the mission to make disciples of all nations, and the practices of life on mission. We learn in conjunction with these people. We worship and pray together. To use an analogy, this would be like our city. We share location, culture, common experiences and usually loyalty to these people. [00:02:21] We are a committed part of this circle and we take responsibility for its well being just like a good citizen of any city would do. A biblical example of this is found in Matthew 5 when Jesus teaches all of his disciples together, or in Acts chapter two, when the church is devoted to one another, to teaching, to sharing meals, and to prayer. [00:02:42] Life Groups the second and middle circle is our life group. This is a close community. [00:02:48] These are relationships where we know the people and they know us. They can pray for our specific needs. They can help when we need it, and we can help them. Think of this like a neighborhood. It's a smaller place with higher loyalty and responsibility within the larger community. [00:03:05] It's not an addition to our church. It's part of our church like a neighborhood is part of a city. [00:03:12] This is where we really find community. [00:03:14] We need a place where we can be ourselves, admit our struggles and find encouragement and acceptance. [00:03:21] This is the lifeblood of our discipleship. These are the people we learn with and grow with. We can ask hard questions and wrestle with the complicated and often painful seasons of life. These are the people that have our backs when life falls apart. We need to have this and we need to give this to others. We need to be part of this middle group where we can share our lives and grow together. [00:03:43] Imagine Jesus at the Last Supper eating a meal with his disciples. They are talking, reclining and sharing life. But this is also the place where Jesus washes his disciples feet. His sacrificial service and love is shown as he takes the role of servant for this small group of people at New Life. We believe that a life group is the next step for every follower of Jesus. [00:04:09] If you are not in a life group, this is the most important step you can take. It is in this community that you will learn to practice the skills of life on mission. It is here that you can learn, grow, fail, confess, try again and so on. It is here that you can live life as a disciple. [00:04:28] Bands the smallest circle is seen in the way Jesus interacts with Peter, James and John. [00:04:34] These three men see Jesus at his most vulnerable. They experience a side of Jesus that even the other nine did not. They go with him to the mountain of transfiguration in Mark 9. They are invited into the rooms of death to see Jesus heal. They see him at his weakest in the garden before the cross. Within our life group community, we should seek out a few people, two to five, ideally that we can be completely vulnerable with. [00:05:01] Later when we talk about sin and struggles, we will go into detail about accountability. [00:05:05] These are the people we should be completely accountable to. They see us at our best and at our worst. They hear about our successes and our failures. If Jesus needed three friends that could see him sweat blood in the garden, then you better believe that we need a few that can be there for us in our weakest moments too. We recommend that you be intentional with this group. [00:05:28] Practice the skill of connection and actually ask to have this level of relationship. The early Methodists, under the instruction of the theologian John Wesley, practiced this under the name of Bands. [00:05:41] That is the name we have adopted as well. These groups would meet weekly to confess their sin and pray for one another. They ask deep and personal questions, pressing one another for honesty. And vulnerability. [00:05:54] This is what we all need. You might not meet every week in person. You might zoom, text or have a group phone call. You might meet monthly for an afternoon instead of weekly for an hour. But you need this level of accountability and community. We all do. [00:06:10] This might seem like a lot to add to your life. 5 foundational skills of life on mission to practice within 3 circles of community yes, it requires a commitment. But becoming something always requires a commitment. It requires discipline to become a musician, horseman, soccer player or swing dancer. The process of becoming who God created you to be means becoming a disciple. Saying yes to one thing means saying no to another thing. This is life. If you want to thrive in your job, you're going to have to say no to late night movies. If you want to get married, you'll have to say no to the freedom of being single. If you want to become an athlete, you'll have to say no to lazy weekends and junk food. Becoming is hard, but it is worth it. A disciple is who you were created to be. [00:07:03] Our prayer for this chapter comes from Saint Cyril in the 4th century. The language has been updated. [00:07:11] O God of love, who has given a new commandment through your only begotten Son that we should love one another even as you did love us, the unworthy and the wondering, and gave your beloved Son for our life and salvation. [00:07:26] We pray you Lord, give to us your servants in all time of our life on earth, a mind forgetful of past ill will, a pure conscience and sincere thoughts, and a heart to love our family in Christ for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord and only Savior. Amen.