You Y’all will be my witnesses.

It’s a story too big to tell alone.

Our witness for Jesus is often stronger when it’s spoken and lived out as a family— the body of Christ.

This series highlights 4 key practices.

Each practice is deeply rooted in the life and ministry of Jesus.

These practices move the gospel deeper into our communal life. They also provide a magnetic, life-changing witness to the world around us.

We will help you share your faith— together as a community.

This is our theme today

OVERVIEW

Watch - Madison and Chandler (Welcome) 4 min
Discuss - Sawubona 5-7min
Look - The Bible’s Welcome and Invitation Stories 2 min
Pray and Connect - Imaginative Prayer Experience, John 1: 35-50 20min
Watch - Tyler’s Story, 5min
Workshop - Sharpening your welcoming skills, 7-10min

body life practice

WELCOME

Watch together

Madison and Chandler

Madison and Chandler are college students in Boston with roots in Texas, Arkansas, and Germany. They will get us started at the beginning of each practice we are learning together.

Sawubona!

— Zulu Greeting

“I see you!”

More than words of politeness, sawubona carries the importance of recognizing the worth and dignity of each person. It says, “I see the whole of you—your experiences, your passions, your pain, your strengths and weaknesses, and your future. You are valuable to me.”

Take 5-7min and discuss as a group

Think about your own life. Share an experience where you felt seen and welcomed by another person or group of people. How did that feel?

Read this section aloud.

The Bible is full of welcome and invitation stories.

There once was a father who ran towards his son, the one who squandered the family inheritance. . .

High up in the sycamore tree sat a short and greedy man. He had no idea who would come into his home that day. . .

There once was a water well. In the heat of the day, a woman came to draw water. And then came a man who knew everything about her. . .

There once was a dinner party. In came a sinful woman who cried on the feet of Jesus. She used her hair to wipe up the tears. She could not stop kissing his feet.

Stop here and read.

Let’s do a deeper dive into one of these stories of invitation.

INVITATION

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

“Come and see.”

Read.

An Imaginative Prayer Experience

Instead of trying to dissect and take apart the word of God, we are going to simply read it slowly and ask God to take us apart.

Use the menu, starting with IMAGINATIVE PRAYER, to guide your experience as a small group.

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Choose a character from the Scripture passage. Imagine everything that happens through their perspective.
2. Tap into all of your senses and take in the sights, sounds, and your emotions.
3. Designate a person to slowly read the passage aloud three separate times with a pause between each reading.
4. Be open to how God might meet you through His Word.
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe[b] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.”
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Simply listen to and familiarize yourself with the story.
2. Get an initial sense of what is happening and of the person you are going to be in the story.
Locate yourself in the story.
1. As you listen, choose a character in the story. Maybe you are the one inviting, or possibly you are an invitee. You could be an onlooker watching all of this happen.
2. As you hear the passage read, imagine your surroundings.
WHAT
What do you notice? What is the landscape, the weather? What smells, sounds, sights do you perceive?
WHO
Who are the people around you?
JESUS
What do you notice about Jesus?
NOTICE YOUR FEELINGS
What does it feel like to be invited, or to invite another, to encounter Jesus?
What does it feel like to be “seen” or to “see” another?
Are you sensing an invitation from God in some way?

After the Imaginative Prayer experience, discuss below.

Discuss in your small groups

What person in the story did you choose?

Describe your experience with locating yourself in this story?

What takeaways do you have from this experience?

Share what, if anything, God is impressing on you from this passage or an invitation you are sensing from Him.

STOP. Come back together as a large group to finish the time.

Meet Tyler

Faith in God was all but lost after 20 surgeries. But then Tyler got an invitation from his friend Chris.

Watch Together as a large group.

Workshop