The Outpost
What is the church, and why do some insist on it? Is the church a social event, an affinity group, a cult? Is the church responsible for self-help techniques or ever-increasing cultural relevance? In this year’s vision series, we slow down to have a very old conversation about the rhythms of family
Community Practices
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Preparation
Take turns having one person in the community commit to bringing bread and grape juice to share for communion on a given week. If you’re going for authenticity, use matzo (unleavened) bread. But really, any bread that everyone enjoys will do. Your first couple of times taking communion together in community, watch this video together before you take the bread and the cup.
Gather together as a community for dinner as usual, with the bread and the cup on the table alongside the evening meal. Have someone from your community volunteer to lead.
CommunionTo begin the evening meal, the leader will invite everyone to take a piece of bread and a glass of grape juice and will choose one of the following Scriptures to read:
Matthew 26:26–28
Mark 14:22–24
Luke 22:19–20
1 Corinthians 11:23–26
After reading one of the Scriptures, the leader will pray, giving thanks for the body and blood of Jesus. The leader might have everyone take each element individually, reciting the sacramental phrases, “ this is the body of Christ broken for you," and, "this is the blood of Christ shed for you,” before each element. Or, the leader might simply give thanks, then invite the group to eat and drink. With the sacrifice of Jesus in mind, everyone takes the bread and the cup, and then the community meal begins!
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Pray
Gather together as a community in a comfortable setting. Have one person read Hebrews 10:23-25 over the group and then pray to ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide your time together.
Recap
The story of the church is beautiful and complex, and has been unfolding across the globe for some 2,000 years. What started on the other side of the world with a ragtag group of imperfect disciples dedicated to the ways of Jesus, has grown into a vast family that we get to participate in today. We are invited into the same rhythms of community, worship, accountability, and learning that followers of Jesus have been practicing for millennia.
But the church now is no less imperfect than it was 2,000 years ago. If you’ve been around the church for more than a minute, you know that it’s made up of people, and that people are broken. People can be hurtful, judgmental, and wildly inconsistent in their convictions and actions - no one is excluded from this. But because of Jesus, there is also grace, hope, and life, all flowing through the disparate members of the church.
Each follower of Jesus, imperfect though they are, has something unique and important to bring to the community of believers. The Apostle Paul made the claim that each of us is like a part of the body, all with different functions but equal value. None of us can say to another, “I don’t need you.” Instead, we are called to be unified, and to care for each member of the body as we would want to be cared for. The community that is the church is a space where we can learn to care for one another, spurring each other on as we seek to follow Jesus together.
Discuss
What stood out to you from this past Sunday’s teaching?
What role has the church body played in your discipleship to Jesus?
How does it make you feel to think of yourself as an important member of the body of Christ with something of value to offer to your community?
What do you hope for this next season of church, both for the whole body and for yourself?
Practice
This week, take 2-3 times in your normal rhythm of meeting with Jesus to practice Lectio Divina. This is a form of contemplative prayer that uses the slow, meditative reading of Scripture to hear from God. For this practice, read Romans 12:3-21, where Paul talks about humbly serving and loving the body of Christ.
Follow these steps of Lectio Divina as you read:
Read: Slowly and carefully read the text to yourself. Take your time. As you move through the text, pay close attention to what words and ideas draw your attention in unique ways. When your focus is drawn to a particular word or thought, pause momentarily to reflect on it.
Reflect: Upon completing the passage, return to the beginning and read again. On your second time through the text, allow it to connect with you personally. Which words or phrases assume a particular significance in your heart, your season of life, or your relationships? Write these down.
Respond: Talk to God about your experience. If you’re confused, say that. Moved? Express gratitude to God. Upset? Tell him about it. If the text has brought something else to mind, talk to God about that.
Rest: Finish your time by sitting quietly in God’s presence. You might express wonder, awe, gratitude, or praise through words, or you might allow yourself to feel and experience these things in silence before God.
Come ready to share about your experience the next time your community meets.
Pray
End by having someone read Colossians 3:12-15 as a prayer over the group.
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Pray
Gather together as a community in a comfortable setting. Have one person read Philippians 2:1-4 over the group, and then pray, asking the Holy Spirit to help you see and love the church as family rather than as a product.
Recap
Our modern world is one where pretty much everything is marketed and consumed, whether it’s coffee shops, clothes, streaming services or even relationships. So it’s no wonder that our minds sometimes slip into viewing church the same way, as something to shop for, review, and rate like a restaurant. But Jesus likened the church to a family, not a product to be consumed.
For a lot of us, family has a very narrow definition, and we have specific ideas of what it means to participate in one. But Jesus radically redefined what it means to belong to his family. In Mark 3:34-35, when his own mother and brothers arrived asking for him, he looked around at his disciples and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” In that moment, Jesus elevated community with him above bloodlines, tribe, or ethnicity. He made a family out of strangers, united around his table, and now he calls us to do the same.
This vision is radical in a culture like ours that prizes individualism and consumption. To be the church means to resist the pull of “me first” and “what do I get?” Instead, we take up the ministry of presence. We show up, engage, and bring what we have for the good of others. Every follower of Jesus has something of value to contribute, even when we doubt it. We don’t come as customers. Instead, we come as family, as brothers and sisters in the household of God.
Discuss
First, share about your experience with last week’s practice of Lectio Divina. Then, discuss the following questions:
What stood out to you from this past Sunday’s teaching?
When have you been tempted to think of church as a product rather than a family?
Who in the church has shown you what it looks like to practice faithful presence?
What would change if you came to each gathering thinking, “The church needs me, too”?
Practice
This week, commit to practicing the ministry of presence in one intentional way at the Sunday gathering. Pick from the examples below, or come up with one on your own. Then, let your community know what you plan to do for this practice, so that you can all hold one another accountable.
Here are a few suggestions:
Show up: If you’re tired or distracted, come anyway. Offer what you can, even if it’s small.
Engage: Sing for the person next to you. Pray for someone. Encourage a friend. Remember that your presence matters.
Contribute: Volunteer to help, share your story, or offer your time to someone in our church community. However simple, your gift strengthens the family.
As you practice, reflect on these questions:
Where did you feel resistance to engaging?
Where did God meet you in giving your presence?
How might you carry this rhythm beyond Sunday into daily life?
Come ready to share about your experience the next time your community gathers.
Pray
End by having someone read John 13:34-35 as a prayer over the group.
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Pray
Gather together as a community in a comfortable setting, then have one person read the following prayer over the group:
Lord Jesus,
You called not one, but many.
You placed us in a family, a body, a community.
Teach us to love beyond what is comfortable.
Teach us to stay when it is messy.
Teach us to show up, day after day,
and in doing so, learn your heart.
Amen.
Recap
Ronald Rolheiser once painted a picture of two grown children, one who regularly visits their aging parent and the other who only comes when it’s convenient. Over time, the faithful visits of the first child, even when they seemed unremarkable, built a depth of intimacy with their parent, while the sporadic visits of the second child did not. Prayer, Rolheiser said, is like that. Much of it is simply showing up.
And the same is true of community. Jesus never called someone to follow him in by themselves, in isolation. Instead, he called people to join him in a community, even when those people were on opposite ends of the spectrum. He called Matthew the tax collector and Simon the zealot, two men who could not have been more different. He called Peter the brash, Thomas the doubter, and James and John, the Sons of Thunder, and placed them all in the same circle.
From the very beginning, following Jesus has meant following him together in a community. And while it’s not easy, it’s worth it. If we stay the course, community can move from the stages of idealization and disenchantment into commitment. But it’s easy to forget that community is not about being best friends and soul mates or having perfect chemistry. It’s about being joined together by the confession that “Jesus is Lord,” and a shared commitment to keep showing up. Because over the long haul, that commitment forms and refines us.
Discuss
First, debrief how it went intentionally practicing the ministry of presence this past week. Then, discuss the following prompts:
What stood out to you from this past Sunday’s teaching?
Think about the three stages of community: idealization, disenchantment, and commitment. How would you describe where you’re at right now?
What does it stir in you to remember that Jesus deliberately placed very different people together in his first community?
What practices or postures have helped you stay when community has gotten messy or hard?
Practice
This week, continue to think about church and community in an intentional way, and set aside time to practice the following items:
Show up intentionally: Choose one concrete way to lean into your community this week, whether that’s going to your group even when you feel tired, sending a note of encouragement to someone, or offering to serve someone practically.
Name and pray: Identify one area where you feel disenchanted with community. Instead of withdrawing, bring it to God in prayer. Ask Him to give you strength to stay present and hopeful.
Reflect on commitment: Journal or share with someone in your group about the ways long-term commitment in community has shaped you. Or, if you’ve struggled to stay, what you hope to experience by remaining rooted in your community during this next season.
As you practice, take note of anything significant, whether challenging or encouraging, and come ready to share about your experience the next time your community gathers.
Pray
End by having someone read this simple prayer over the group:
Father,
Thank you for placing us in a family.
When we are tempted to walk away,
remind us that love is patient,
love bears burdens,
love endures.
Give us grace to stay,
to forgive, to encourage,
to keep showing up.
Make us a community that reflects
the love of your Son.
Amen.
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Pray
Gather together as a community in a comfortable setting, then have one person read the following prayer over the group:
Jesus,
You are the shepherd and overseer of our souls.
Teach us what it means to lead like you,
with hands that serve, words that heal, and hearts that are humble.
Where we’ve been discouraged by leadership in the church, bring healing.
Where we’ve carried cynicism and bitterness, bring repentance and renewal.
Form in us the humility to follow well and the courage to serve faithfully.
Amen.
Recap
When Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, he wasn’t just giving rules, he was describing how God’s family works. He said, “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other” (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).
Leadership in the church isn’t about power or platform. It’s about presence, and about serving, protecting, and guiding with humility. Leaders are called to work hard among the people, not above them, to care with love, and to correct with gentleness. And the church’s part is to see them, honor them, and love them. This is not done blindly, but with trust that Jesus himself is leading through imperfect people.
When leaders serve like Christ and people respond with love, the church becomes what it was meant to be, a family learning to care for one another, to forgive, to grow, and to follow Jesus together.
Discuss
First, debrief how last week’s practice went. Then, discuss the following prompts:
When you think about leadership in the church, what emotions or memories come up for you, whether good or bad?
What do you think it looks like for leaders to “work hard among” the people instead of “over” them?
How can you personally practice “holding in high regard” those who serve and lead in your church?
What’s one way you can serve your church family this week, not out of obligation, but as shared participation in the family of God?
Practice
This week, find at least one simple way to honor and support those who lead the church by serving among you. It doesn’t need to be grand, just intentional, personal, and done in love. Some ideas might include:
Write a short note or text of encouragement to someone who leads, thanking them for how they serve.
Offer practical help to the church and its leadership, like showing up early, cleaning up, or filling a need quietly.
Ask a leader how you can pray for them this week, then actually do it, and follow up.
Give generously and practically toward a need that will help lighten the load of leadership in the church.
Speak words of affirmation publicly, mentioning how someone’s faithfulness and leadership has impacted you.
As you practice this, reflect on how Jesus himself leads you, not through dominance, but through service.
Any time during this practice that you struggle to honor your leaders, take a moment to pause and pray this: “Jesus, make me someone who serves and honors others in love, who helps carry the weight of our shared life together, and who remembers that you are the true shepherd of us all. Amen.”
Next week, be ready to share with your community how this practice went.
Pray
End by having someone read Hebrews 13:17 as a prayer over the group.
