Called to Gather

๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ๐—  ๐—จ๐—ฃ

โ€ข What are some of your favorite group activities?ย 

โ€ข Do you consider yourself introverted or extroverted? How do you respond when you are put in an uncomfortable situation?ย 

โ€ข Tell us about your go-to groupโ€”those you usually communicate with and are quick to update. How did you become friends?ย 


๐—ช๐—ข๐—ฅ๐——

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ดโ€™ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด.ย ๐—”๐—–๐—ง๐—ฆ ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฎย 


(Read also ๐—”๐—–๐—ง๐—ฆ ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฏ-๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿณ)


Imagine being one of Jesusโ€™ first disciples and part of the early church. That unlikely bunch went through so much togetherโ€”from being called to follow Jesus to His death, resurrection, and ascension, to being filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, their groupโ€”the church, the called-out onesโ€”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 Godโ€™s design for the churchโ€”an assembling or gathering of people. In this lesson, we will look at their shared experiences as a community and their results.ย 


๐Ÿญ. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.ย 

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ดโ€™ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด.ย ๐—”๐—–๐—ง๐—ฆ ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฎย 


The disciplesโ€”old and newโ€”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?ย 


๐Ÿฎ. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.ย 

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ, ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ, ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜จ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ด . . . ๐—”๐—–๐—ง๐—ฆ ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฏ-๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฒ


As they devoted themselves to God, they experienced Godโ€™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 anotherโ€™s needs. How do you think our church can learn from the experience of the early church?


๐Ÿฏ. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ.ย 

. . . ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ.ย ๐—”๐—–๐—ง๐—ฆ ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿณ


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 Churchโ€™s role among the watching world today?ย 


๐—”๐—ฃ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—–๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก

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

โ€ข 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?

โ€ข What is your prayer for your local church and for the universal Church?ย 


๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—˜๐—ฅ

โ€ข Thank God for the community He has placed you in. Speak a blessing over them.ย 

โ€ข Pray that you would remain and continue to experience God in community.ย 

โ€ข 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.