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
Somone 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: Chosen. Held. Loved. | John 17
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"
John 17: 20-26
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Passage Summary
Jesus now prays for all future believers. He asks for unity, shared glory, and that His people would know they are loved with the very love the Father has for the Son. This eternal love becomes the foundation of Christian identity and community.
Discussion
Discussion Questions
- It feels natural to imagine Jesus loving His closest disciples more than someone like me.
- I can imagine Jesus caring about me generally, but not personally.
- Honestly, I do feel loved and known by Jesus.
- I want to believe Jesus feels that way toward me, but it is hard.
- I have never really thought about Jesus relating to me personally before.
- I often think my relationship with God matters more than my relationships with people.
- Sometimes loving people feels harder and messier than devotion to God.
- I think God cares deeply about both, but I tend to separate them.
- The way I treat people often reveals the true state of my relationship with God.
- Honestly, I have never thought much about the connection between the two.
- I know God loves Jesus perfectly, but I struggle to imagine He feels that way toward me.
- Part of me believes God tolerates me more than delights in me.
- I want to believe the Father loves me deeply, but it feels hard after failure.
- Sometimes I genuinely feel loved by God, and other times I feel distant from Him.
- I have never really considered that the Father could love me in a similar way to Jesus.
- Honestly, I often just want comfort, peace, or answers to my problems.
- Deep down, I think I want closeness with Jesus, even if I get distracted.
- Sometimes my desire for God feels strong, and other times it feels weak.
- A lot of the time I come to church or Scripture out of habit more than desire.
- I want to want Jesus more than I currently do.
- I need to receive God's love more deeply.
- I need healing from relational pain.
- I need hope for the future.
- I need greater love for others.