Gospel Communities

What is a Gospel Community?

A Gospel community is a resourced, intentionally mix-gender, intergenerational small group, lead by a spiritually mature member/couple of Sojourn, who meet together consistently in order to share food, pray, and apply the gospel to one another’s lives and circumstances, as the primary vehicle for discipleship at Sojourn.

A Resourced

We supply a passage discussion document accessible both to those who heard Sunday’s message and those who did not. It includes a passage to read, and a handful of basic Bible-study questions that will move discussion from hearing of the passage, through to Jesus, on to gospel application.

Intentionally mix-gender, intergenerational

Our culture breaks us up into identity groups or affinity groups naturally. The gospel enters our situation and brings us into a family supernaturally. While challenging, living in community with individuals from diverse backgrounds, with diverse perspectives, and with diverse experiences is important for healthy discipleship.

Small Group

We call our small group ministry “Gospel Communities” intentionally.

Gospel: We describe the gospel like this:

God the Father by the Spirit saves sinners and restores his creation through the perfect life, sacrificial death, and bodily resurrection of Jesus.

Because we are a community shaped by this good news, we recognize that what unites Christians is not something superficial (politics, socioeconomics, skin color), but something unfathomably deep. The gospel defines who we are (sons and daughters of God, adopted into God’s family) and what we do (proclaim and display the gospel).

Community: The gospel calls us to live life together in community, the Church. And since the Church is the herald and guardian of the good news, we focus on giving one another this good news, rather than merely good advice. Good advice is cheap and easy to come by. The good news is exclusive to the gospel. We strive in community to uncover the lies we are believing about God, ourselves, and others; the false gods or hopes we are trusting in to deliver us; and how the Triune God meets us by his grace with hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Mission: Gospel Communities are intentionally open. So if you are just exploring Christianity, you are invited to join a group and walk alongside followers of Christ as you explore the invitations of Jesus.

Lead by a spiritually mature member or couple of Sojourn

Since we desire that our Gospel Communities will be lead by spiritually mature members who are aligned with this vision for Gospel Communities, we have a healthy process to identify leaders and a plan to support leaders with ongoing twice-annual development.

Who meet together consistently

Whether weekly or every-other week, meeting consistently is key.

In order to share food

It’s cliche for a reason: “Love people; feed them tasty food.” Even with diverse diets and food restrictions, in sharing food together, we learn to love one another in practical ways. Inviting people to share food at a table is humbling, unifying, and says “welcome!” in any culture.

Pray together

Gospel Communities are the primary venue where our church prays, and prays intentionally. Gospel Communities pray with a focus on mission (who are you burdened for to begin following Jesus?), gospel (where do we want to see Christ take us or other Gospel Community members deeper into the gospel?), and community (what specific requests for this group of people can we lift before the Lord?).

And apply the gospel to one another’s lives and circumstances

As we share life together—joys, sorrows, struggles, sin issues, weaknesses—we focus on giving one another the good news, not good advice. And while the good news is simple in one sense, it is also deeply profound. In the midst of job loss, house-hunting, employer-issues, marital stress, same-sex attraction, pornography usage, and illness the gospel has a good word to speak to us—and so we speak it to one another.

But a healthy Gospel Community recognizes that life is hard, pain is real, suffering is intense, sin is messy. A Gospel Community leader or a Gospel Community cannot solve one another’s problems or put a bow on everything at the end of a meeting. We have the freedom to rest on the ongoing work of the Spirit by leaning into prayer while grieving and rejoicing together.

As the primary vehicle for discipleship at Sojourn

Vehicle v. Engine: Our Sunday morning worship gathering is the engine of discipleship at Sojourn. If the engine isn’t working, running, or has been removed, a vehicle isn’t going anywhere. In the same way, our Sunday morning worship is crucial for discipleship. Without the regular means of grace at work in a person’s life through the Sunday morning worship (reading, singing, praying, hearing, and seeing the word), then a believer’s discipleship will, at best, be stunted.

Our primary vehicle for discipleship is our Gospel Communities. Typically using the Sunday morning text as a starting place (e.g. the engine), the vehicle of a Gospel Community takes those truths shaped by the gospel and drives them deeper into particular needs, circumstances, settings, pain, problems, and sin.

So participating in both the Sunday morning gathering and in Sojourn’s Gospel Communities are vital for us as we fulfill our mission to love Jesus, cultivate community, and live on mission.