And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.—Acts 2:42-47

Introduction

We are in the midst of a ten-week series on Bethlehem’s DNA. It is organized around three key concepts: Up-Reach, In-Reach, and Outreach. Remember the catch phrase: start (up-reach) it, stoke (in-reach) it, spread (outreach) it. Let’s go back to the first three sermons on up-reach where God starts the fire in our hearts. The vision we have seen of God in Christ was explosively energizing to me. In Revelation 4 and 5, we went up to heaven’s very throne room to see the surpassing worth of God the Creator and Christ the Redeemer. What was in the throne room that testified to God’s surpassing worth?

We saw the supreme worth of God through symbols like the throne (God alone is sovereign and in control) and the sea of glass (which separates the Creator from the creation). We saw God’s supreme worth when we climbed up the ladder of creation to the highest created beings and saw them looking up higher still and heard them celebrate this separation saying, “holy, holy, holy “ (you are in a class by yourself, a class by yourself, a class by yourself). We savored this song:

Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

       for you created all things,

and by your will they existed and were created.—Revelation 4:11

God the Creator has surpassing worth over everything that exists because it would not exist without him. In Revelation 5, the search for someone worthy to open the scroll is the center of the narrative. Only Christ was found worthy to accomplish the Father’s plan of judgment and redemption. We heard the sound of countless angels singing about his surpassing worth, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” (Revelation 5:12).

The final song builds to a climactic crescendo as the totality of creation celebrates the surpassing worth of the Father and the Son together:

To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever.—Revelation 5:13

The third sermon took us back down to earth to see the creation of a worshiper by the Spirit through conversion. Paul gave arguments for rejoicing in the Lord, but he also demonstrated that he is an argument. The new birth completely changed Paul’s heart and caused him to “consider everything as loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8). We keep our worship pure by keeping the plus side of the ledger singular: Christ alone is our commendation and confidence. We must decrease until we don’t show up in that column. He must increase until he is the only one in that column. Christ is all. All our hope. All our confidence before the throne.

So to sum up, here is our definition of worship thus far: seeing and savoring the surpassing worth of God in Christ. Now let me ask a crucial question. If up-reach is where the fire starts, then how does it start?The fire starts with a changed heart. We become a new creation through conversion. Conversion is the creation of a Christian hedonist. This new birth happens by the Spirit, which is why Paul says, “We are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God” (Philippians 3:3).

So let’s factor in the Spirit into our definition. Worship is seeing and savoring the surpassing worth of God in Christ by the Spirit. We are a Trinitarian church. We believe in Trinitarian worship. The Holy Spirit, the perfect, seven-fold Spirit has been in every picture we have looked at: Revelation 4, Revelation 5, and Philippians 3. What does the Spirit do? The Spirit enables us to see and savor the surpassing worth of God in Christ. It is supernatural seeing and supernatural savoring—not physical sight or physical taste. We see the surpassing beauty of Christ with the eyes of our hearts. We savor the surpassing sweetness of Christ with the taste buds of our souls. The seeing and the savoring are supernaturalm, and the One we see and savor is also supernatural. We see and savor the supernatural by the supernatural. What I am trying to get you to see is that worship is a miracle because conversion is a miracle. 

How is it sustained?

What do I do when I don’t desire God? What do I do when I don’t have joy? How do I seek the Spirit’s power when I feel weak? Look directly to Christ, and you will have the Spirit’s power. The Spirit does not reveal himself (he is the shy member of the Trinity), he reveals Christ. I love how John Piper makes the same point:

In seeking to be filled and empowered by the Spirit we must pursue him indirectly—we must look to the wonder of Christ. If we look away from Jesus and seek the Spirit and his power directly, we will end up in the mire of our own subjective emotions. The Spirit does not reveal himself. The Spirit reveals Christ. The fullness of the Spirit is the fullness that he gives as we gaze on Christ. The power of the Spirit is the power we feel in the presence of Christ. The joy of the Spirit is the joy we feel from the promises of Christ. Many of us know what it is to crouch on the floor and cry out to the Holy Spirit for joy and power, and experience nothing; but the next day devote ourselves to earnest meditation on the glory of Jesus Christ and be filled with the Spirit.

Look at the unified work of the Trinity. The Spirit shows us Christ, and Christ takes us to the Father. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Spirit’s work in Christian hedonism is essential. Joy is not a work of the flesh. We do not drum it up or grunt it up. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Scripture is clear on the connection: Joy and the Holy Spirit go together. “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52). 

Now we are about to make a key transition as we have a five-week focus on in-reach. I want to you to feel the transition. These up-reach sermons have been vertical. The pictures we have seen are vertical, and they have been stressing separation because these texts have featured comparisons. Next to the Creator, creation does not compare. In light of the surpassing worth of God in Christ, there is no comparison. If we picture scales with God weighed on one side and all of creation on the other, creation is dust on the scales (Isaiah 40:15). But now the angle changes and becomes horizontal.

The horizontal angle says, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” The call here is to see the integration, not the separation. God is the source of all joy. Look along the line and trace the stream of joy back to the source. Delighting in God’s blessings would be delighting in God. Paul looks at things in Philippians more from this angle than any other in the joy language of Philippians. Joy in Philippians is most often horizontal as Paul talks about his joy in Christ in the Philippians! They are his love and longing, his joy and crown (Philippians 4:1).

What does this have to do with our passage? Everything. What are the marks of a Spirit-filled community for in-reach? Our passage is the answer. We have evidence here that the early church did not have to choose whether they would be theological, relational, or missional. They were all of those and then some. The early church here in Acts 2 was four things: 1) an apostolic church (vv. 42–43); 2) a loving church (v. 42, vv. 44–46); 3) a worshipping church (vv. 42–43, 47); and 4) a missional church (v. 47). Learning, loving, praising, reaching—what a picture!

1. An Apostolic Church: Learning (Acts 2:42–43)

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

Notice that the apostles show up twice in these two verses. Verse 42 mentions their teaching, and verse 43 refers to their miracles. They must be read together. Just like what one sees in the Gospel of Luke, the miracles performed verify the message preached: The kingdom of God has come. Dark spirits flee, and the sick are healed. See on a small scale what we will one day see on a large scale when Christ returns, and all demons are cast into the lake of fire, and we are all healed completely.

We do not have apostles today in the same sense as here, so how can we be a church like this today? We believe that God still works wonders. We are not a cessationist church. We believe the miraculous gifts of the Spirit continue. Furthermore, we do have the apostles’ teaching in the New Testament, and we have the book on which they based it all—the Old Testament. Devotion to the apostles’ teaching is submission to the authority of the Scriptures.

I love what John Stott says:

We note that those new converts were not enjoying a mystical experience which led them to despise their mind or disdain theology. Anti-intellectualism and the fullness of the Spirit are mutually incompatible, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. (Stott, The Message of Acts.Downers Grove: IVP, 1994, p. 82)

But biblical instruction—teaching and learning—was not the only focus of this church. They were also a loving church. 

2. A Loving Church: In-Reach (Acts 2:42, 44–46)

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. . . . And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.

They devoted themselves to the fellowship. Fellowship starts with what we share in common. The word koinōnia is from koinos, which means common. What does the church share in common? We share in the fellowship of the Trinity. The apostle John later stressed this same fellowship:

That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.—1 John 1:3–4

Sharing in the Trinity (up-reach) must lead to sharing together (in-reach). What did they share in common? Everything. Their unity and sense of common purpose and life together is staggering.

Let us be sure that we see what is not here. This passage is not advocating any kind of socialism or communism. They had everything in common in a non-communist way. Karl Marx, the main thinker behind communism, believed that everything went wrong when society moved away from primitive communism to the rise of private property. So what was needed was a communist revolution. Become communal again. The government makes sure nobody owns anything, which means the government owns everything. But sin and corruption mean that centralized power often leads to oppression.

But look at the text. Did private property cease? No. They still had homes. Verse 46 says as much: “they broke bread in their homes.” The tense of the verbs seems to matter here in that Luke presents these actions as being ongoing. Not everyone sold all their homes all at once. They did it as needs arose. This was not a one-time thing. It appears again in Acts 4:

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.—Acts 4:34–37

This is the fulfillment of the expectation of what the people of God were called to be in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 15:4 says, “But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess.”

The Bible is clear. If we have material possessions and see a brother or sister in need, but we do not share what we have with him or her, how can we claim that God’s love dwells in us? We can’t claim to love God if we do not love our brothers and sisters. Not everyone had sold their homes. The voluntary nature of these decisions is stressed in Acts 5:4 with Ananias and Sapphira: “Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?” (5:4). The early church caught a vision for stewarding their homes. Sometimes that meant selling them. Sometimes that meant meeting and eating in them. But it all came from the central conviction that God owned them and thus everything they had.

But they did not stop with being theological (teaching and learning) and relational (loving and giving). They were also a worshiping church (preaching, partaking of the Lord’s supper, praying, praising, and so on).

3 A Worshiping Church: Up-Reach (Acts 2:42, 43, 46, 47)

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. . . .  And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God.

You may be surprised by the commonality here between the church in Jerusalem and the modern day church in terms of the elements of corporate worship: teaching and preaching, communion, and prayers (and probably singing).

First, Christians gathered together in a large space for teaching and preaching. You may ask, “Where do you see gathering in a large place for preaching and teaching? What is this attending the temple business?” You will have to change your perception a bit if you imagine these disciples just attending the temple like we attend church. The temple was more likely a gathering place, not to hear Jewish unbelievers teach, but to hear the apostles’ teaching. I think the gathering was in the temple courts—probably Solomon’s colonnade, which was at the eastern end of the court of the Gentiles.

We see this pattern elsewhere in Acts:

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.—Acts 5:12–14

“Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.—Acts 5:20–21

And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.—Acts 5:42

Where did they learn to do this? Like so many other times, the answer is that they learned it from Jesus. This is exactly what Jesus did as well (Luke 20:1; 21:37).

Second, the breaking of bread refers to more than communion, but not less than communion. This was the early church’s famous love feast. Christians would break bread together in homes. They would share a meal together that started with the bread of the Lord’s Supper and end it with the cup of the Lord’s Supper. I feel a little out of step with this at Bethlehem in celebrating communion only once a month. While I know other churches celebrate it weekly, the early church sounds like they celebrated it every day. What does communion say about what we share in common? It raises the flag high for all to see that Christ’s death, resurrection, and return are at the center of our common life together (see N. T. Wright, Acts for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1–12.Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2008, pp. 44–45).

Third, we have “the prayers.” The fact that “the prayers” are mentioned is likely a reference to gathering in the temple to pray as part of corporate worship. Other commentators make the same point (see John Polhill, Acts, pp. 121–122; William Larkin, Acts, InterVarsity Press, 1995). When it comes to being the church, we are kingdom people who pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth (inreach) as it is in heaven (upreach).” We want the vision we see in heaven to be realized here on earth. We want to pray down here more of what we see up there.

Fourth, Luke’s reference to them “praising God” probably also includes singing. I would like to say more about that, but I must hasten on to the last piece of the puzzle. They were a missional church.

4. A Missional Church: Outreach (Acts 2:47)

. . .praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

I love the fact that this verse comes last. The flow of this passage matters. Church growth comes after church health. A church must be healthy to have growth, or the growth may be unhealthy growth. What is healthy growth? When unbelievers come to Christ because of the way a church bears witness to three things: the teaching of Christ (apostles’ teaching), the worship of Christ, and the love of Christ made visible in the body of Christ. The body of Christ grows like a physical body. A healthy body grows, and a healthy church will grow.

Notice three points about the church’s outreach: 1) the Lord added (the church joined Jesus’s mission, and he did the work), 2) he added to their number, and 3) it was daily (it was the norm, not the exception). We have here a number (membership), and the counting came through baptism. 3,000 people were added because 3,000 people believed and were baptized. 

Conversions and baptisms were the norm and not the exception, and so they should be an expectation. John Stott said it well, “He did not add them to the church without saving them (no nominal Christianity at the beginning), nor did he save them without adding them to the church (no solitary Christianity either). Salvation and church membership belonged together; they still do” (Stott, The Message of Acts.InterVarsity: 1994, pp. 86–87).

Stott also made the point that the church got relationships right. They had a right relationship to the apostles (submission). They got relationships to one another right (love, relief of the poor, sharing meals, and so on). They were in a right relationship to God (worship in the temple at home, in the Lord’s supper, in prayer, with joy and reverence). Fourth, they had a right relationship to the world (outreach). They were not self-focused and self-absorbed (Stott, The Message of Acts.InterVarsity: 1994, p. 87).

Bethlehem aims to be a church like the church in Acts. Look at the biblical essentials here in this passage: 1) biblical doctrine and teaching, 2) biblical leaders, 3) worship, 4) prayer, 5) congregational care, 6) edifying and equipping, 7) church membership, 8) administration of the ordinances, 9) stewardship of resources, and 10) Great Commission commitment. When we are a biblically healthy church, we can grow without gimmicks. Let me target one area of growth we especially need.

Application

Upreach has a hub (corporate worship), and in-reach has a hub (small groups). That is why we say the two highest priorities we have are 1) attend corporate worship and 2) join a small group. The third thing we would like everyone to do is find a place of passion where you can serve. I will focus my application on the second of those three: join a small group.

We Commend Sermon-Based Small Groups

Sermon-based small groups try to take the sermon and make it apply more thoroughly and personally to your life. These groups try to reflect more deeply, to apply more personally, and tp integrate more thoroughly. This happens through discussing, reflecting, applying, integrating, and praying through the points of the sermon and the application questions that come with the sermon.

Not every small group functions that way at this point, but we are commending that approach. Commending, not commanding. Fellowship, the biblical “one another” commands, is essential (biblical essential). Small group ministry is the primary way we try to carry that out (Bethlehem priority). We are commending a sermon-based approach to small groups (commending, but not commanding). We are putting it in the “optional” category. Small group leaders can decide. Here are the reasons why we are commending sermon-based small groups to you:

1. Seamless: A natural way to bridge the gap between up-reach, in-reach, and outreach.

One of my favorite places on the planet is natural bridge state park in Kentucky. Imagine two separate hills connected by a bridge of rock in the middle. It looks like someone designed it that way. Picture one very large and wide rock hill, not quite tall enough to be a mountain. Now imagine cutting a large chunk out of the center, which results in two separate hills joined together by a long, broad rock bridge. That is why they call it natural bridge state park. The bridge looks engineered, but it is just part of nature’s beauty. It is not manmade. 

I believe that sermon-based small groups form a natural bridge between up-reach and in-reach. It seems like a natural way to bridge the gap between large group gatherings in the sanctuary and small group gatherings in homes. Or to use the terms of our catch phrase, it seems like a simple way to steward the fire God started in up-reach by stoking it in in-reach. 

Here is another way to say it. What we see in the sanctuary is usually seen from a distance. We can draw closer to it by walking towards it together. You will see more together than you see separately. No one sees everything, but everyone sees something. Together you can take what is general and make it more specific. Struggles can be shared, sorrows can be lifted, prayers can be offered, questions can be answered, and resolves can be strengthened.

The aim is the same in both gatherings: to see and savor the surpassing worth of God in Christ by the Spirit. Whatever fire has started in the sanctuary of upreach we want to see stoked in the living room of inreach.

2. Strategic Stewardship

Here are some of the benefits of sermon-based small groups:

• Everyone in the group is automatically prepared. If there is ever homework for a small group, we would often do it in the car ride to the small group leader’s house).
   
• The discussion questions further steward the investment of time and attention that went into engaging with the sermon. The next step with the sermon is both identifiable and manageable. We played a game recently at a Valentine’s party at church. The kids held two pieces of paper (of course they were cut out in the shape of a heart). They had to put one down, step on it, and then put the other down and step to it. The goal was to get to the other side of the room. Some of the kids decided to throw the piece of paper forward like a Frisbee. Impressive distance, but it halted all forward progress because they couldn’t reach it. It is easy to label two things as step one and step two. They both must have identifiable steps and manageable steps. They have to be close enough to actually reach.
   
•  It is strategic because we are all part of the same race of faith. We are all trying to take steps forward together. We can increase the likelihood that the church can stay on the same page by having a similar focus and some common conversations. No one group will be identical to another even if the questions are identical, but the commonalities will provide a strong sense of continuity between the groups.

We have seen how sermon-based small groups can help provide a bridge between up-reach and in-reach. That raises an important question I want to tackle next. What about the role of small group in bridging in-reach and outreach? It is a debate in the small group world that even impacts what we call small groups. Are they shepherd groups (inward focused) or are they missional groups (outward focused)? Yes, they are both—but both in the right order. They will be in-reach focused in order to be outreach focused. In other words, there is a flow to the fire: start it (up-reach), stoke it (in-reach) and then spread it (outreach). They are in-reach focused without being self-absorbed. If real deep discipleship and application is taking place, we are going to be discipling people towards the Great Commission, not away from it.

Small Groups are In-Reach: Christ-Centered Connections

People have a limited capacity for deep connections. One author compared this to the connectors on a Lego (Larry Osborne, Sticky Church, p. 80). Once the connectors are full, you can’t attach another piece. Starting a new small group can be a great way to plug into a church because new people are typically going to have more open connectors than an already-established group. I am okay with closed groups as a way for people to go deep together as long as they have a vision and some intentionality for trying to raise up leaders to start a new group. Opportunities for Christ-centered connections can be found here—small groups, Wednesday nights, Sunday school classes, Bible studies, etc.

Sinking deeper roots into the community will keep people from being like tumbleweed in the dry times. You will have a better set up for being a desert flower connected to a root system in times of suffering. You won’t feel all alone. Crowded loneliness sucks the life out of you. Connecting with others is life-giving so that you have something to give to others.

Small Groups are In-Reach for Outreach

The church has two primary gathering points: large group corporate worship and small group fellowship. The church has large gatherings, and then it begins to scatter more and more. We first gather in large groups, then scatter a little more as we gather in smaller groups, then we scatter further as families and individuals. Do you see how the scattering is strategic for spreading? We first gather in three locations along I-35W (North, Downtown, and South), then small groups scatter further throughout the Twin Cities. Then we scatter further to where we live, work, and shop. We want you aflame so that your scattering can be spreading. Parents aflame evangelize their children. Aflame nuclear families evangelize extended families. Aflame employees evangelize coworkers. Aflame consumers evangelize other shoppers (like at coffee shops).

Now here is the question that provides a bridge between up-reach, in-reach, and outreach. What have you seen and savored in the sanctuary and in small groups together that you are now going to share with others? Don’t do it without prayer, care, and support. Wouldn’t it be great to have a place to gather for prayer? A place to pour out our evangelistic burdens for others in prayer? A place to have natural accountability—where it is simply an expectation that people in the group are going to be sharing the gospel throughout the week, so we can ask for updates and prayer requests? In other words, the fire that is stoked in small groups should not stay in small groups—it should spread further. Small groups are not a holy huddle where we just try to warm ourselves by the fire without any concern for others around us who are cold and dead. The apostles’ teaching cannot be confined to a Christian sub-culture. The fire should be felt by the neighborhoods. It certainly was in Acts.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.—Acts 2:42

We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.—Acts 5:28

Conclusion

How can the link between up-reach and in-reach help us get closer to the picture of Acts 2 at Bethlehem? I think the answer is found in Colossians 3:11, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.”

That text makes my heart soar. Up-reach sees that Christ is all. He is over all and above all. In-reach sees that Christ is in all. Outreach sees that Christ is Lord of all. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess. We want others to do it voluntarily now before they are forced to do it, and it is too late for them.

Let’s say one striking thing about the link between up-reach and in-reach here. Sinclair Ferguson said something about this text at the Pastor’s Conference that just about made my heart stop for a moment in my chest:

And what he is saying here is how you mortify sin in your relationship to other members of the fellowship. You look to Christ who is in all and then when you have seen this Christ you think, “This and no other Christ is the one who dwells in the poorest and meanest of my brothers and sisters in the fellowship into which God has introduced me and if Christ is not ashamed to indwell them, I will not be slow to embrace them.” (Union with Christ: Life-Transforming Implications)

I love the root of the word “fellowship.” It is a word that means “common.” Our fellowship will be defined by what we share or hold in common. It sometimes cuts against the grain of what is natural for us. It is natural to see our differences. They are obvious to us, especially when it comes to other ethnicities. We don’t deny the differences. We just refuse to make them decisive so that they become divisive. We can only have unity when we make the thing we have in common decisive. Christ is decisive. Love them for the sake of Christ. Inreach celebrates and enjoys the One great surpassing thing we have in common: Christ is all and in all.

That is what we saw in up-reach—Christ is all—and now we add something to that for in-reach—Christ is in all. Wow. Christ, by the Spirit, is in all Christians. Do you see the implications? How I treat the Christian I click with least will reflect upon how I treat Christ, my treasure. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus taught in Matthew 25:40? “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” Devaluing those for whom he died and in whom he dwells would seriously dishonor Christ. I can’t do that. That is exactly what we are going to sing.

Closing Song:“Beneath the Cross of Jesus”

Discussion Questions 

• The church in Acts chapter two had four defining qualities: They were an (1) apostolic (biblical) church, (2) a loving church, (3) a worshipping church, and (4) a missional church. How does Bethlehem Baptist Church compare? Are we strong in some areas and weak in others? What can you as an individual do to address that weakness? What can we as a whole do to address that weakness?
• How does what we see in up-reach impact how we interact with one another in in-reach?
• Those in a small group: What are some reasons that convinced you to join a small group? What part of the small group experience do you appreciate most?
• For those not in a small group: What is keeping you from joining one?