Big Idea

Every Neighborhood a Thriving Church…Catalyzing a global movement of small groups and MicroChurches as we transform our world one person and one neighborhood at a time. We can’t catalyze this movement until we become a thriving church ourselves.

Scripture Reference: Acts 2:42-47

Opening Question

If you had to use one word to describe your small group, what word would you choose?

Bible Discussion

1. Read Acts 2:42-47.
2. Acts 2:42-47 gives us the earliest and best description of the church. It paints a picture of what the church looks like when it is thriving. Verses 42-45 describe six practices the early church was devoted to. See if you can identify all six.
3. Which of these practices is easiest for you to devote yourself to personally? Which is the most challenging?
4. In what ways is our small group like this description of the early church? In what ways could we grow?
5. Who is someone you know who would benefit by having a group like ours in their life?

Every Neighborhood a Thriving Church Vision Prayer

One of the components of COMMUNITY’s New Vision is “Every Neighborhood a Thriving Church.” We are asking God to catalyze a movement of small groups and MicroChurches as we transform our world one person and one neighborhood at a time.

Take a few minutes and slowly read through this Every Neighborhood a Thriving Church Vision Prayer aloud together. Pay attention to any words or phrases in the prayer that resonate with you and any words or phrases that seem unfamiliar or confusing.

Father, we believe you are doing a new thing. You are making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:19), and we believe you want Every Neighborhood a Thriving Church.

We pray we’ll become a living example of the Kingdom of God on earth – a network of communities passionately following you, Jesus, as we love our neighbors and transform our world one person and neighborhood at a time. May our church be a movement, a living organism that’s continuously growing and influencing the world for you and your Kingdom.

We pray for the transformation of our neighborhoods through thriving small groups and MicroChurches. May every neighborhood in which we live echo with the life of a vibrant, active church community. May our homes, community centers, and local businesses become centers for the mission. Transform our concept of “church” beyond our traditional boundaries so that we will see communities of people on mission where Jesus is King active and alive in every corner of Chicagoland. Unify us by our shared mission and vision and use us to revitalize our neighborhoods. May we bring hope and true community to the people around us while directly addressing and meeting their needs.

We pray for the growth of our global network of MicroChurches, creating a mosaic of faith communities that are deeply connected and supportive of each other. May our COMMUNITY locations in the Chicago area become gathering, training, and resource centers for this movement of MicroChurches. We pray for a significant reduction in our debt as a church so that we can free up more resources to move the mission forward and take new ground for the Kingdom.

We pray that our strategic partnerships through NewThing would lead to a multiplication of new churches locally and globally. We pray that you’d use each of our Chicagoland locations to start networks of local churches to support an increase in church plants and church revitalizations in the city of Chicago and beyond, each one a thriving community making a tangible difference in our city.

We pray that the impact of this movement would be profound, that stories of transformation would be common as individuals find their way back to God, families are restored, and communities unite under the banner of Christ’s love. God, we ask not for mere numbers, but for a quality of discipleship and community life.

We pray that the spiritual temperature of our people and our church would rise dramatically and that your presence, God, would be palpable whenever we are together. May you grow in us a sense of unity in diversity, as people from all walks of life come together, bonded by our shared passion and mission.

Father, we pray our church will become a more full and beautiful mosaic of cultures, ages, and backgrounds, yet remain harmoniously united. May our commitment to multi-ethnic, multi-generational communities represent our world and Chicagoland in its diversity of culture, ability, ethnicity, and language, giving us a beautiful foretaste of our eternal destiny when every tongue, tribe, and nation will worship together at your throne. 

Discussion Questions

1. What words, phrases, or ideas from the Vision Prayer resonated with you?
2. What words, phrases, or ideas from the Vision Prayer seem unfamiliar or confusing?
3. What would be different in your life if God answered this prayer?
4. If we become a church where every neighborhood had a thriving church, what impact do you think we’d have in our community and the world?

Now, go back and pray the prayer aloud together. Have each person in your group take a paragraph to pray and offer this prayer up to God for your group and our church.

Challenge

1. Pray for your small group this week. Pray that you would grow to be more and more like the early church described in Acts 2:42-47.
2. Consider whether God is calling you to become an apprentice to start a new small group or MicroChurch. Talk to your small group leader if this is something God is calling you to do.