Non-Anxious Church: The Myth of Comfort

Begin with Communion.

In keeping with the tradition and practice of the early church, we’re going to repurpose our Together Group meals as a time of communion. Use these steps as a template to help structure your time:

1. Pass out the elements. Make sure everyone has a cup of juice and bread. Consider just having one piece of bread that everyone can take a small piece from. If you don’t have bread and juice this week, that’s okay. Just make sure everyone has something to eat.
2. Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. Once everyone has the elements, have someone read this passage out loud.
3. Pray over the bread and juice. After the reading, have the Leader or Host bless the food and pray over your time together.
4. Share a meal. Share the rest of the meal like you normally would beginning with the communion elements.
5. Practice Dayenu. As you eat together, invite everyone to share their gratitudes. Dayenu (Hebrew meaning “it would have been enough”) was a way for people to intentionally express thanks for all the things God has blessed them with.

Overview of Teaching

Many of us fall into the trap of believing the myth of comfort: if something goes wrong, we must be doing something wrong. We falsely assume that if we’re doing the right things, we won’t face suffering, opposition, or conflict of any kind. But in Acts 6, we see why this is a myth. As it grows, the early church faces conflict. There’s complaining within the church and persecution outside the church. But rather than giving up on those around them or giving in to those around them, the church endures internal resistance and external persecution. By learning to abandon the myth of comfort, we too can become non-anxious in the face of resistance.

Discuss

1. What stood out to you from the teaching on Sunday?

Have someone or a few people read Acts 6:1-15. Then discuss the following questions together:

1. What stands out from this passage?
2. What type of conflict(s) do you notice in this chapter of Acts?
3. In what ways have you believed the myth that something is wrong if things aren’t going well or if you face resistance?
4. How might your experience of pain, suffering, and conflict change if you learn to expect these things as a part of growth?

Practice

This week, mark out some time to pray for a way for our church to better serve the youth in our community. Here are some specific things to pray for:
Pray for God to continue raising up leaders, specifically leaders for a youth
group.

• Pray for a space that can host a youth Together Group.
• Pray and ask for wisdom for your involvement.
• Pray and ask God to save teenagers across our valley.
• Pray we don’t just make attenders out of youth, but make them into disciples of Jesus’ way.

Pray

As you end your night, spend some time praying for and encouraging one another.