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Introduction
About Table Communities
Table Communities are community gatherings for the purpose of:
- Building meaningful relationships through intentional time together
- Engaging in mutual discipleship through directing one another towards Christ with truth shared in love
- Multiplying grace through love, prayer and gifts of the spirit
The notes will guide you through praying together, reading scripture and engaging in intentional relational time together. There are also notes and practices for this month's habit of grace. We know that most groups will not have time to discuss the habit of grace during their time together, but they are available if time allows and are available for those seeking to intentionally engage with God's grace during the week. If that desire is within you, please read the notes on your own time or go through the habit of grace practices with a spiritual friend or your spouse, so as to build one another up in truth and love. Finally, this gathering is not about getting through all the note content, but rather this gathering is about building meaningful relationships, engaging in mutual discipleship and multiplying grace. Let those values shape the direction and pace of your time together.
Remember: What we all have in common
Saint : Beloved, forgiven, being renewed, filled with the Holy Spirit
Sufferer : Carrying real pain and struggle
Sinner: Still in need of ongoing grace
Kick off with prayer
Some one pray for your time together.
Example prayer, if needed. Ideally pray freely as you feel called:
Father we praise you for gathering us together. Despite whatever weighed on our hearts as we entered this house, we pray that your Spirit guides our time together and free us from anything that is not of you. We pray that by the strength of your might we may speak truth in love to one another. We pray that we are led by the gifts of your spirit, so that we may build up one another and your church as a whole. As we read your word, we pray that we may be filled with the knowledge of your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner pleasing to you.
Passage: Servant King | Mark
We will read the text together seeking for God to give life to the text through his Spirit. "Lord please help us to hear your word and receive what you have for each of us"
Read Mark 3:7-21
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, 10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known. 13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
Passage Summary
Crowds are gathering around Jesus from everywhere. They have heard what He can do and come seeking healing, freedom, and help. Yet in the middle of all this activity, Jesus goes up the mountain and calls twelve people personally to Himself. Before they are sent to preach or given authority to minister, Mark tells us Jesus appoints them “so that they might be with him.” There is a difference between being part of the crowd around Jesus and being a disciple who is with Jesus. At the heart of discipleship is Jesus Himself: knowing Him, being near Him, and allowing life with Him to shape everything else.
Discussion
Discussion Questions
- I first came to Jesus because I needed help.
- Someone else's faith made me curious about Him.
- I grew up around Christianity, so I cannot remember a clear beginning.
- I have experienced Jesus personally, and I want to know Him more.
- Honestly, I am still figuring out what draws me to Jesus, but I am here
- Curiosity alone
- I wanted and still want things in my life to be different, and I know I cannot do it on my own.
- I can participate in Christian things without feeling particularly close to Jesus.
- Being with Jesus feels more personal than simply knowing about Him.
- I think it involves allowing Jesus into the ordinary parts of life.
- Sometimes church and Christian activity can actually distract me from knowing Jesus.
- I am not sure I have experienced much difference between the two.
- Doing things feels easier because I can measure whether I am accomplishing something.
- Slowing down to simply be with Jesus can feel uncomfortable.
- I sometimes use serving God as a substitute for actually spending time with Him.
- Being with Jesus is what gives me strength to serve.
- I find both difficult when life becomes busy
- Work and responsibilities consume most of my attention.
- My phone and constant distraction make stillness difficult.
- My own thoughts and anxiety can make it difficult to be present with God.
- Sometimes I simply don't desire time with Jesus as much as I desire other things.
- I need to create more intentional space rather than waiting until life becomes less busy.
- I want greater closeness with Jesus.
- I need help slowing down and making space for Him.
- I want my desire for Jesus to grow.
- I need freedom from distractions that constantly consume me.
- I need Jesus to meet me in a difficult circumstance.