2020 Vision Series: Make a Plan, Let it Go
James 4v13-16
2020 Vision Series, Part 1: Make a Plan, Let it Go
Where We’re at and Where We Want to Be (45 minutes)
Begin with prayer
Gather together as a Community in a comfortable setting. Have somebody lead a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to lead and guide your time together.
Read this overview
Have one person read these instructions out loud to the group.
Van City Church is embarking on another year together, and so are our communities. Whether you’ve been together for years or your group is brand new, whether you’ve had a rough go of it or things are going wonderfully, the road ahead for all of us is clouded with uncertainty.
Will the pandemic world of 2020 ease restrictions or head further into lockdown? Will chaos erupt during election season? Will the church resume normal gatherings in the months ahead, or will we be masked and socially distanced? We just don’t know.
And that’s okay.
Discipleship to Jesus is not contingent on circumstances. It doesn’t “work” when things go according to plan and it isn’t applicable only when we know where we’re headed. All of discipleship is a giving over of our entire lives—our chaotic present and our hopes and plans for the future—to our good and gracious master, Jesus.
We make plans, and we hold them in our open hands, prepared to relinquish them to God, or to make new ones when life breaks them down.
Tonight, spend time with the people in your community being honest about where you’re at in your discipleship to Jesus, and where you’d like to be.
Talk through the following discussion questions:
Invite one person to begin, then one at a time move through the circle or room inviting everyone to answer the following two questions. Don’t just sit quietly waiting for someone to speak up, establish the rotation, and keep going until everyone has answered.
- How would you describe your discipleship to Jesus right now?
- How do you want your discipleship to Jesus to grow in the coming weeks and months?
Spend some time praying over one another.
Having heard from everyone, spend some time in prayer.
Have one person invite the Holy Spirit to speak, then listen silently for a minute or two. While you wait in the silence, consider that what comes to mind during that time could be God’s Spirit speaking to you. After a couple of silent minutes have passed, pray out loud for one another.
If something came to mind from God’s Spirit, humbly communicate it to the person or people for whom the message is appropriate (remember, don’t say “God says,” say, “I get a sense that…”).
Whether you have a specific impression from God’s Spirit or not, you can always pray over the men and women and kids in your community based on what everyone has shared and what you know about their lives. So whether you have a prophetic word or not, pray for each other.
After there’s been sufficient time for several people to pray, and a quiet has settled over the group once again, invite one person to close with gratitude and thanksgiving.