DAY 1
BIGGER

There have been two primary ways that have been key to KingsGate growing bigger, and yet still staying healthy. It’s been through a combination of small groups and larger gatherings. So, if we are to continue to grow bigger…

Let's Multiply our Spirit-Filled GROUPS

Acts 19 starts with one group. ‘Paul…arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”’ Acts 19: 1-2 They replied that they were disciples of John the Baptist and hadn’t heard of the Holy Spirit. Paul then gets them baptised in the name of Jesus and lays hands on them, ‘When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.’ Acts 19: 6-7 This reference to ‘about twelve’ is most likely a deliberate reference back to Jesus’ own ministry. How did Jesus start to change the world? By calling a small group of disciples and then ensuring that they, along with a wider group, received the power of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Years later, how does Paul start to reach the city and region? He starts with a group of ‘about twelve’ disciples, ensures that they are true followers of Jesus, and then prays for them to be filled with the Spirit. As we continue to see our small groups multiply…

Let's Grow our gatherings

We also see in Acts 19 that an absolute key to the whole awakening in Ephesus and Asia (Minor), was what took place in ‘Come and See Gatherings’. We read how Paul‘…took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.’ Acts 19: 9-10 It seems that he was engaged in a particular form of ‘dialogue evangelism’ whereby multitudes came to see and were converted.  

So, for us, though we’re not gathering daily, we do have weekly Sunday gatherings, plus other ‘Come and See’ opportunities including Alpha, ALIVE, Next Steps, as well as events for students, youth, and young adults where disciples are present, but so too are seekers, where those who are not yet Christians can be impacted by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, let’s keep ‘Thinking Bigger’ and pray for a multiplication of our Spirit-Filled Groups, and an enlargement of our Come and See Gatherings, where people are encountering the beautiful presence of Jesus, finding peace, love, acceptance, freedom and healing, so that they may go and tell their story to others, just like the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well, ‘Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.’ John 4:28-30

DEVOTIONAL

by Josh Gardiner

Prayer points

• Thank God for the growing number of small groups that meet across the region, providing pastoral care and community. Pray for all the pastoral leaders who sacrificially give of their time to support those in LifeGroups and other small group expressions.
• Pray that there would be a fresh openness to the work of the Holy Spirit as groups meet.
• Pray that those attending Alpha in all our campuses will find a safe place for them to explore faith, find friends, and make a decision to follow Jesus.
• Pray for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit in all our gatherings, small or large; that the manifest presence of the Lord would come among us. Pray for a fresh expectancy for Him to move among us in signs and wonders.  
• Pray that as seekers come to our larger gatherings, they would sense the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit; that they would be irresistibly drawn to Him and inexplicably open to Him, leading to the question, “What must I do to be saved?”