LEAD THE WAY
Extra Sessions
MATURE COMMUNITY

CONNECT

• Connect through care, prayer and loving accountability for previous “I will …” statements

DISCOVER

Mature Community

• What does a mature Christian community look like?

Ephesians 4:11-16 (NLT)

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

• Once again, what does a mature Christian community look like?

• Why is a MicroChurch an ideal setting in which to pursue mature Christian community?

• Which one of these marks of maturity would be important for you to focus your prayer and leadership on right now?

• What is the role of leadership in fostering a mature Christian community?

Maturing Community

Here are the Seasons of Community and the Lifecycle of MicroChurches:

1. Dating

People will come and check you out. They may be new to MicroChurch and want to check out the model. They may be checking out your leadership or the people in your MicroChurch family. They may be checking out Jesus and His church. We want to be open and welcoming to these people.

2. Commitment

Keep reminding your people that your MicroChurch is so much more than a meeting. It’s a family of brothers and sisters in Christ. And God’s calls us to grow in the marks of mature Christian community that we just discussed. Or to put it another way, we are to practice the One Another’s of the New Testament, like love another, forgive one another, encourage one another, admonish one another, etc. This maturity, however, doesn’t just happen. It takes commitment.

So ask for a commitment to the family. Urge your people to prioritize the gathering and ministry of the MicroChurch. In other words, challenge them to make your MicroChurch their church family and to invest their time, gifts and money into it. You can ask for this commitment during your gatherings with the whole group or one-on-one with each individual. A good question may be, “What’s your next step of commitment to this family?”

3. Honeymoon

Enjoy. It’s amazing. The family is forming as you pursue:

• WORSHIP - Our Relationship with Jesus

  • Devote yourselves to connecting with and following after Jesus

• DISCOVERY - Our Relationship with the Bible

  • Devote yourselves to taking in and living out God’s Word

• COMMUNITY - Our Relationship with Each Other

  • Devote yourselves to loving one another as a family of brothers and sisters in Christ

• MISSION - Our Relationship with Others

  • Devote yourselves to joining Jesus in making disciples by living a Prayer > Care > Share > Dare lifestyle

4. Conflict

Leaders must recognize when conflict arises and facilitate the group and individuals through it. The conflict may be between family members or over a ministry priority or even your leadership. This conflict will call for an intervention. This intervention may happen at a gathering or separately with the individuals involved.

This is one of the most difficult challenges of leading a group and many leaders back down from the challenge. But if you prayerfully depend on the Lord, compassionately deal with the people and wisely intervene in the conflict, you can step into this conflict with confidence. As always, it’s good to start with a question. “How is this (label the conflict) promoting healthy and mature Christian community?” Let people then engage in a conversation. They may solve the conflict on their own. If you don’t feel comfortable with the direction, you could say, “I need to say something” or "I need to push back on something” AND “I want you to hear my heart on this” and then share your heart. If you prayerfully, compassionately and wisely deal with conflict in your family, you will lead your family to …

5. Maturity

Now the MicroChurch is experiencing mature Christian community. You thought the honeymoon was good. This is so much richer. Together, you’re learning to live Colossians 3:12-14:

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

6. Kids

Yup! That comes with healthy families. These could be biological kids or spiritual kids. Welcome the kids and welcome the mess. For biological kids, incorporate them into your gatherings and disciple them as they grow. As your MicroChurch lives a Prayer > Care > Share > Dare missional lifestyle, people will come to Christ. Make sure these spiritual newborns are being discipled in a Follow the Way Discover Discipleship Group. Get the young involved in the ministry of the Body as soon as possible.

7. Launching

At some point, your children (both biological and spiritual) will be ready to move out and start a MicroChurch family of their own. This isn’t always easy, but it’s what healthy families do. Your family is maturing. Your ministry is multiplying. Your mission is replicating.

Failure to launch happens because 1) we don’t have a vision for procreation (see Replicate), 2) we don’t share leadership responsibilities early enough and 3) we don’t train leaders intentionally enough. That’s where Lead The Way comes in.

Only those who are given leadership responsibility can become responsible leaders.

And once the kids have grown up and left home, your parenting is far from over. Stay in touch and support them. Regularly, get the families together in a Collective Gathering for a family reunion. Don’t you want to enjoy your grandchildren?

8. Closure

Not everyone will stay forever and not every MicroChurch will last forever. Death is part of life. Saying goodbye and bringing closure is an important function of leadership and an important gift you can give to your family.

• How have you seen these season of community in your MicroChurch?

• What season are you in?

• How can you lead your MicroChurch to the next season with health and maturity?

You Can Do It / We Can Help

Leading a MicroChurch family can be challenging. But you’re not alone. Ultimately, it’s Jesus’ family and He will lead you by His Spirit. And we’re here for you. Stay in touch with your Collective Elder or Karl is always a call or text away - (813) 719-5397.

LIVE / LEAD

• What did you discover in this training session?

• What is your “I will …” statement flowing from this training?

PRINTABLE PDF

• Mature Community