FIRST WEEK BACK 2022
Hey Leaders! Welcome back to another year of leading.
The aims for the first week back are to:
1) Connect with & get to know one another.
2) Celebrate communion over a meal. (Have wine/juice available, Ideally some bread also (or tortilla, Naan etc depending on your cuisine)
3) Set the tone and expectations for the year, and go over any Admin needed.
BEFORE THE MEAL:
Thank everyone for coming.
Explain that we will be celebrating communion.
Feel free to follow this script
”Over this meal we will be celebrating the lords supper or communion. Since the days of the early church, when Christians have gathered around a meal, they have used it as an oppurtunity to reflect on the gospel that has brought them together. We are not just a random collection of people, we are brothers and sisters united by the body of Jesus broken for us, and the blood of Jesus poured out for us.
So as we eat, and get to know each other, and enjoy this food together, we want to also be remember that we are co-recipients of an amazing grace.
We’re encouraged to do this in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."
So before we eat and drink let’s pray together.
Heavenly Father, thank you for for this food that we are about to Enjoy, and how it symbolises the nourishment, and life that we have received through you.
Thankyou for this cup of [Wine, Juice, Water] that we will drink, thankyou that it reminds us of the blood of your son poured out for us on the cross, that our sins, though many may be washed away. We thankyou for the new covenant of your grace that it signifies.
Thankyou for this bread [or whatever else you are eating] and how it reminds us that Jesus’ body was physically broken in place, that we might be made whole.
We ask that we would be a community centred on he reality of the cross. That it would bind us together, and that we would be grateful for it.
Amen
You may now choose to take a minute to pause, have a single sip of drink and a bite of bread, or just begin eating.
DURING THE MEAL
GET TO KNOW YOU.
Over your meal you might want to go around, have everyone share their name and ask one ‘Light’ and one ‘deeper’ question of each member. (feel free to make your own)
Light Questions:
1. If you could share a meal with any person from history, living or dead who would it be and why?
2. If you could time travel to any moment in history what would it be and why?
Deeper questions:
1. What are you hoping that will take place in this community this year?
2. What’s something you are thankful to God for as we begin this year?
WHEN EVERYONE HAS HAD ENOUGH TO EAT:
Have someone else, another leader, or a group member pray, Thanking God again for the cross, and for all of these people that he has brought together by his blood.
READ:
The purpose of City Light Communities is “To see every member growing to maturity as a disciple of Jesus.” As we think about what that might look like for us this year, lets look at Hebrews chapter 10, In which we see the connection between this gospel reality and our life as community
HEBREWS 10: 19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
1. What stands out to you from this passage?
2. In pairs (then share with group): What would it look like for us to live out theses verses as a community?
3. In groups you have been in in the past, what have been the features or characteristics of the group that have created an environment in which you have been helped to press on as a disciple of Jesus?
4. What things might get in the way of us becoming a community that encourages each other to mature as a disciple of Jesus?
PRAY
Spend some time in open prayer that you would be a group of people who genuinely encourage one another to hold onto the hope that you profess.
PRACTICAL THINGS:
Ensure you’ve spoken about any of these that are applicable to your group.
You may want to come back to some of these in the following weeks or delegate someone to being responsible for managing these.
You might also want to use this time to lay out any expectations you have as a leader
What is our meeting rhythm? Ie, all in every week, guy/ girl splits, DNAS?
How will we communicate midweek? (facebook/ whatsapp/ imessage?)
What should people do if they know they can’t come to a particular week (comment in group whatsapp in advance)
How will the meal roster work?