Travis here. I’ve been asking the question lately, “how does a movement spark?”
On Sunday morning I shared about how the Holy Spirit sparked an unstoppable movement in the midst of severe persecution against the 1st century church. “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” Acts 8:4
The Apostles stayed in Jerusalem, but the ordinary people of the church had to run for their lives and they were scattered. It might have looked like a setback, or even a defeat. But God’s plan was for those who were scattered to advance his kingdom and be his witnesses, to the ends of the earth.
One of those scattered was Philip. After this scattering, on his own initiative, he went to Samaria and preached the gospel. He was just an ordinary guy but he did an extraordinary thing. What was his secret? He took seriously Jesus’ prophecy in Acts 1:8 that the Holy Spirit was leading and would empower him to be a witness, and so he went.
Where is God calling you to take that kind of personal initiative this fall? Have you taken ownership of your particular piece of God’s mission?
You may be considering that question right now. And you might be feeling overwhelmed because you’re not sure where to start.
May I suggest an easy starting point? On Friday evening September 18th, and all day Saturday, September 19th we’re hosting a free small group leadership retreat. We’d love for all of you to join.
Register for the retreat here >>
The retreat will be facilitated by a pastor friend of ours, Pastor Dave Megill. Dave has been a pastor and church planter for 31 years. His most recent church plant in New Mexico is called Focus and is modeled around small groups as the primary mode of church. Prior to the pandemic they had five times as many people in small groups as came to their Sunday service. And during the pandemic each small group has grown in size, and they’ve added two new groups – all while having to pivot to Zoom meetings!
This retreat will be held on Zoom, and some of you may feel a resistance to joining yet another Zoom session, but please don’t let that deter you. The content and camaraderie will be worth the effort. There will be opportunities to hear Dave teach as well as plenty of time allocated for breakout sessions for you and a few others throughout the time.
We’re going to focus on the why, the what, the how, and the next steps of making disciples in the small group context. Remember, you don’t have to be a “qualified leader” to join this training retreat. And the discipleship lessons will apply to any area you are serving and loving like Jesus, not just small group leadership. So, this is a retreat for anyone who is currently being led by God to do the work of ministry in their corner of the larger church.
