“Circles And Rows”
Acts 2:46-48, 5:42, Acts 20:20
Sermon Series: “Step Up”
Introduction: Our mission at True Life is “to meet people where they are and help them become fully devoted followers of Christ.” According to Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20), that is the mission of every church, and it is to be the focus of every Christian. One of the essential marks of being a disciple of Jesus is the making of other disciples. Mature Christians are obsessed with seeing others become disciples of Christ while immature Christians are focused on their personal preferences.
At True Life, we believe, based on Scripture and practical experience, that relationships are crucial in making disciples. As Rick Warren says, “Every church should be growing larger and smaller at the same time.” He means that we should be growing larger through evangelism and smaller through helping people build relationships with each other in small groups. Small groups are a vehicle for people to obey the “one another” commands of Scripture. Our philosophy of ministry is that we are a church of small groups, which limits what we do in regard to programs because you cannot really be a small group and program church simultaneously.
Andy Stanley is an extremely gifted and well-known communicator. However, the church he founded, North Point Community Church, is really built on small group ministry. He uses the analogy of “rows” to represent a worship service and “circles” to represent small groups. I would like to use those analogies and add the picture of a “closet” to represent our personal time with God, and “streets” to represent our service and outreach. I would say that closets, rows, circles, and streets are necessary to develop growing disciples of Jesus. We have talked about closets the last two weeks. Today I want to focus on the difference between rows and circles. Rows are essential for us as individual Christians and for our mission as a church. However, they are not enough in and of themselves. Circles are a huge part of life change.
Main Idea: As important as rows are in spiritual growth, much of our life change takes place in circles because much of what takes place there cannot really take place in rows.
What takes place in circles that does not really take place in rows?
1. Biblical discipleship takes place in circles. Preaching is certainly a part of this. Preaching is powerful and foundational to a healthy church. However, we are not godly just because we hear a sermon. Godliness is expressed through obedience, and biblical discipleship helps people flesh out and obey the truth. Small groups are a perfect vehicle for this to take place. In a small group, there is accountability, Scripture is discussed, questions can be answered, and the practical questions of life can be worked through. There is a sense in which Jesus led a traveling small group with the 12 disciples for three years.
2. Ministry and outreach take place in circles.. We are not called to come and sit but to go and tell (see Acts 8:4-8). Sunday mornings are partially preparation for our mission. We (as in the people) are the evangelism strategy at True Life.
3. Personal care takes place in circles. Our first line of ministry and pastoral care at True Life are our small groups and small group leaders. We believe pastors are to equip the church to do the ministry instead of doing it all themselves (Ephesians 4:11-12). The members of the body are to minister to each other (1 Corinthians 12).
4. People genuinely live life together in circles. We make acquaintances in rows and friends in circles. All of us need good friends to help us through the challenges of life. This is true biblical fellowship, the sharing of our common life in Christ. There are multiple “one another” commands in the New Testament. Paul, despite his hectic life, was a relational magnet.
Conclusion: Who is in your circle?
