1 Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)

In John 17, Jesus spends some of his final moments before his arrest and crucifixion in prayer. After praying for himself and his disciples, Jesus finishes by praying for us-for you and me and all future believers. And what does Jesus pray for? For all of our problems to go away? For us to be kept from trouble? No. Jesus prays that his followers would be one: that we would be brought to complete unity with one another and with him. Jesus knew that his followers were going to face challenges that would be too big for them to handle on their own. Jesus knew they would need to make some serious changes in their lives, and he knew that his followers would be able to do more and be more together than they could ever do or be alone. So when Jesus prays on behalf of all of his followers-including you and me-Jesus prays for one thing-unity. Jesus prays that we would have the same love and a shared life. It’s no wonder then that when the Holy Spirit bursts on the scene in the book of Acts, the first thing that happened was a diverse group of people from all over the world coming together in a beautiful, powerful demonstration of community. The question is, how do we experience the shared life that Jesus wants for us? This kind of community doesn’t just happen; it is intentionally built. One is an eight-week journey that will empower you to do just that, joining with a small group of other Christians to form a close-knit community in which you will grow in faith together. Over your time together, you will discover the gift that you have in one another; you will begin to move past skin-deep relationships and into intentional Christ centered community; and you will start to grow together spiritually. The eighth week is not an end; it is a beginning. When you finish this study, you will be prepared to continue meeting as a small group, growing in Christ together. You will be empowered to take the next steps of meeting regularly, determining your purpose and direction, deepening your faith, and serving in the community. You will be inspired and led to lift each other up, push each other forward, and send each other out. During the first four weeks, participants will watch video segments in which Nick outlines the biblical vision for Christ-centered community and how that can take shape among small groups in the twenty-first century. Substantial group interaction and individual reflection will accompany the video segments, building the expectation that this will be an