GRASSROOTS
INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES
What is Church?
A 5-Week Course
The course is a one-hour interactive class geared towards gaining skills in discipleship-making, running a small group, or even planting a house/micro church. Even if you’re just curious and exploring possibilities, come and listen in! This explores the simple early church model in its entirety.It's not an us and them discussion— it's exploring the Acts expression of Church.
This is a free course and we’ve had a lot of interest. If you would like to jump in and join us for a 5-week (one evening a week) look at the early church through the lens of Acts 2:42-46 contact us below to hop in the next class. We offer zoom classes for both US and International. Fill out the contact form below and we will send you details on when the next class is scheduled.
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Week One: Discipleship
Discipleship is central to the Great Commission. Discipleship is one-on-one mentorship where, through an honest and vulnerable relationship, impartation of knowledge and experience gets passed down in order for an individual to go even further than the mentor. This can also happen in small group settings. In Week One, we lay a Biblical foundation of discipleship as the heartbeat of the church, and end with three levels of discipleship that should be active in all believers' lives.
Week Two: Gathering
Acts 2:42 reveals four pillars in the life of the early church: the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers. In Week Two, we break these down individually, providing a basis for understanding what life in the early church looked like and how we can apply those principles in the life of our churches today. You will also discover what the "Acts 2:42 Sandwich" is!
Week Three: Supernatural, Communion, Generosity
Week Three opens with the question: What excites you about the early church model? We then dive into three attributes of the early church, based on Acts 2:43-45: The supernatural as normal Christian Living; Communion as a sacrament that brings healing and unity within the Body of Christ; and Generosity as a lifestyle of kingdom expansion and sowing with one's heart.
Week Four: The Temple, House to House, Simplicity of Heart
In Week Four, we tackle the issue of the gathering. We look at the early church within the context of its activity in the temple, in the synagogue, and house to house. We finish up with developing how Acts 2:46 exhorts us to live in "Simplicity of Heart," and how that is an important aspect of how we do church and how we live our daily lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Week Five: Starting A House Church & Church Planting Movements
Week Five is about making application of all we studied about the early church to our own personal lives and ministries. Whether it be inviting someone out for coffee for one-on-one conversation, hosting an intentional meal with friends or neighbors where we ask deep questions and share our own personal story (see Common Table for ideas), or launching a house or micro church, God had you do this course for a reason! We take an in-depth look at: Five Common Denominators of Church Planting Movements, Being a Spiritual Father or Mother, and How to Start a House or Micro Church. The course ends with us hearing from each other the impact of the course, what "next steps" may look like, and each person is given an invitation to be part of the Pastoral Fellowship.