Bible Reading

Daily readings from the last week:
John 19 - Acts 4

Reflect

• What stood out to you from your daily readings over the last week? Any questions?

• How did you go with what you said you’d do last week?

Discuss

Mark 11:12-25

Have someone read the passage and use the SOAP method to explore the text.

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Prayer

The religious leaders had turned the temple - intended to be a house of prayer for all nations - into a marketplace of commerce and greed. Jesus’ righteous indignation causes him to turn over tables and return the temple courts into what it was designed for: prayer. Such is Jesus’ zeal for the purity of worship and prayer that he comes into conflict again with the religious elite. Jesus is concerned for both Jew and Gentiles to have access to God in prayer - so much so that he will soon give his life to make such access available to anyone, anywhere who would believe. If Jesus was this concerned about prayer - how much should we make it a priority in our lives?

Learn

A helpful spiritual practice that often accompanies prayer is fasting. If this is a new practice for you, you might want to watch this message before leading someone in this section. Fasting is about aligning our physical bodies with our spiritual desire - hungering for the presence of God, both in our lives now, and the desire to be fully united with him in the future. Fasting from food helps reveal the idols we rely on and often brings sinful habits to the surface and allows us to address them. Fasting focuses us in prayer as we get many reminders (tummy rumbles!) throughout the day. Discuss what a rhythm of fasting could look like for you, and if there’s a way you could do it together. What would a next step look like for you here?

Pray

• Spend time praying about what you’re learning.

Next Steps

• What is a key takeaway from today?

• Who are you going to tell about what you’ve been learning?

• Read Acts 5-11 before you come back next time

Bible Reading

Daily readings from the last week:
Acts 5-11

Reflect

• What stood out to you from your daily readings over the last week? Any questions?

• How did you go with what you said you’d do last week?

Discuss

Mark 12:28-32

Have someone read the passage and use the SOAP method to explore the text.

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The Greatest Commandment

One of the ways we describe a total follower of Jesus is someone who is growing ‘upwards’ in their love for the Lord. This is about as core to following Jesus as his call to deny ourselves and take up our cross (from Week 18). Everything we do in life flows from our love, or lack of it, for the Lord. If we love the Lord with a genuine, deep, passionate love, then our love for others will naturally flow as a result. One of the early church fathers, St Augustine, said we could ‘love God and then do as we please’, not as a license to sin, but that if we did the first part right, we couldn’t get the second part wrong! What does growing in your love for the Lord look like for you?

Learn

Just like any earthly relationship, it can hardly be called a relationship if you don’t communicate and don’t spend any time with each other! So it is with the Lord. Our love for him will show itself in our prayer habits and how we prioritise time with him. This will look different for you depending on your context, home demands, work schedule etc. One helpful practice is to arrange focused time for prayer. Let’s discuss some ways of doing this together:

• Book an hour in The Street Church’s prayer room. A different space can be really helpful and there are plenty of guides/prompts in there to help you spend the hour well.

• Go for a walk around the streets where you live. Ask God to help you pray effectively and pay attention to verses or ideas that come to mind. These can be helpful prompts to pray for specific homes, streets, churches, public spaces or businesses.

Pray

• Spend time praying about what you’re learning.

Next Steps

• What is a key takeaway from today?

• Who are you going to tell about what you’ve been learning?

• Read Acts 12-18 before you come back next time

Bible Reading

Daily readings from the last week:
Acts 12-18

Reflect

• What stood out to you from your daily readings over the last week? Any questions?

• How did you go with what you said you’d do last week?

Discuss

Mark 12:41-44

Have someone read the passage and use the SOAP method to explore the text.

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Generosity

Here’s Jesus with the upside-down kingdom again: two copper coins are worth more in God’s eyes than riches poured into the treasury. How can this be? It seems our Lord is more concerned with our heart posture toward giving than the actual amount we give. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 says ‘God loves a cheerful giver’. We see something of the widow’s heart here. Those two small coins were everything she had to live on, and yet she gladly, willingly and lovingly gave it back to God in worship - and trusted him to meet her needs! We will only be generous to the extent that we grasp the infinite generosity we have received in Christ. What does generosity look like in your life? With your time? Skills? Finances? Spiritual gifts?

Learn

As we’ve discussed, generosity isn’t simply limited to how we use money, but giving to the Lord financially is an important aspect of our worship in following Jesus. The best way to start is simply to start. Even if it’s $1 a week, begin the discipline of giving to your church and/or a Christian-based non-profit organisation. Talk about how each of you will set this up, then follow up on how it’s going in the coming weeks/months.

If you’d like to understand more about how we see money as a church, you can check out the Cash series. In particular, you may find the Hands message useful because it’s focused on giving.

Pray

• Spend time praying about what you’re learning.

Next Steps

• What is a key takeaway from today?

• Who are you going to tell about what you’ve been learning?

• Read Acts 19-25 before you come back next time.

Bible Reading

Daily readings from the last week:
Acts 19-25

Reflect

• What stood out to you from your daily readings over the last week? Any questions?

• How did you go with what you said you’d do last week?

Discuss

Mark 14:1-11

Have someone read the passage and use the SOAP method to explore the text.

Don’t miss
Worship

We worship what we love. Mary poured the equivalent of $100,000 worth of perfume all over Jesus’ feet. There was no cost too high, she didn’t consider the financial implications - she just had to show Jesus how much he meant to her, and she did so in a lavish, unforgettable way - in a way that Jesus said would be remembered through the ages.  Mary didn’t consider what other people would think, her act of worship was done for Jesus’ sake alone - she was focused on her audience of One, of pouring out what she had in adoration of who he is.

Learn

Worship isn’t simply limited to song, though this is an important and large part of many Christians’ experience of worship. Worship can also be through prayer, through service, through silence, through enjoying a sunrise, catching a wave, enjoying a delicious meal and saying ‘Hallelujah!’. It isn’t so much how we worship but that we are able to lead ourselves in worship. What does worshiping Jesus - like Mary did - look like for you? Consider spending time worshiping together with a song from Spotify or Youtube, or go for a walk and marvel at God’s creation. Whatever you do, seek to engage your hearts and minds in the wonder of God - and share it aloud!

Pray

• Spend time praying about what you’re learning.

Next Steps

• What is a key takeaway from today?

• Who are you going to tell about what you’ve been learning?

• Read Acts 26-28 before you come back next time

Bible Reading

Daily readings from the last week:
Acts 26-28

Reflect

• What stood out to you from your daily readings over the last week? Any questions?

• How did you go with what you said you’d do last week?

Discuss

Mark 14:12-26

Have someone read the passage and use the SOAP method to explore the text.

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Communion

Communion is known by a number of names: the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, breaking bread. But they all refer to the same thing: a memorial in which the gathered church remembers Jesus together through the eating and drinking of bread and wine, which symbolise the body and blood of Jesus (1 Cor 11:24-25). We remember that he has established the new covenant—a new relationship between us and God—through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Before leading this session with someone, it’s recommended you read about how we practice communion as a church to give you more context that will be helpful in this discussion.

Learn

Take communion together. Make sure you come to this session prepared with either wine or juice (depending on what you and the others feel comfortable with) and bread or crackers. You may wish to read Jesus’ words aloud from Mark 14 and then sit in reflective silence for a few moments as you bring any unconfessed sin to mind and repent of it, and as you meditate on the wonder of what Jesus did for you at the cross. Then eat and drink together and pray.

Pray

• Spend time praying about what you’re learning.

Next Steps

• What is a key takeaway from today?

• Who are you going to tell about what you’ve been learning?

• Read Romans 1-7 before you come back next time

Bible Reading

Daily readings from the last week:
Romans 1-7

Reflect

• What stood out to you from your daily readings over the last week? Any questions?

• How did you go with what you said you’d do last week?

Discuss

Mark 15:1-15

Have someone read the passage and use the SOAP method to explore the text.

Don’t miss
The Great Exchange

This is one of the richest and most profound aspects of what happened at the cross, known as the Great Exchange. Jesus swapped places with us. This is shown in the character of Barabbas - a man who had committed terrible crimes and deserved the death penalty, and yet God allowed him to walk free and Jesus to take his place on death row. God treated Jesus like Barabbas, so he could treat Barabbas like Jesus. We are Barabbas. Romans 3:23 says we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all deserved the cross, to pay for our sins - but God wasn’t willing to let that happen, so he came in the person of Jesus and took our place on the cross. How does this make you feel? Imagine standing in the dock, the judge pronounces you guilty and sentences you to be executed - and then Jesus walks into the courtroom and says he will take you place, and you are free to go. How would you respond? How would you want to live in light of this great exchange?

Learn

While technology has enabled us to carry an entire Bible in our pockets (with every translation available too), it can’t compare with treasuring and storing the word of God in our hearts and minds. Memorising scripture isn’t for Bible scholars, it’s for everyone. Psalm 119:11 talks of ‘hiding’ scripture in our hearts to keep us from wilful sin, Colossians 3:16 encourages to let God’s word take up residence in our lives ‘richly’. It can be so helpful to have verses tucked away and to be able to meditate on them as you drive, before you sleep - anywhere and everywhere! So choose a verse today that you can both commit to memory and come back next week to recite it. Discuss how you can both commit to memorising more scripture as a spiritual practice. There is a verse at the top of every week of the Foundations content that would be great to memorise. You could go back to week one and start your scripture memorisation journey there.

Pray

• Spend time praying about what you’re learning.

Next Steps

• What is a key takeaway from today?

• Who are you going to tell about what you’ve been learning?

• Read Romans 8-14 before you come back next time

Bible Reading

Daily readings from the last week:
Romans 8-14

Reflect

• What stood out to you from your daily readings over the last week? Any questions?

• How did you go with what you said you’d do last week?

Discuss

Mark 15:21-41

Have someone read the passage and use the SOAP method to explore the text.

Don’t miss
The Cross

This is why Jesus came. His whole life was pointing towards this moment where he was nailed to a Roman cross. This wasn’t an accident. It didn’t take Jesus or God by surprise. This moment was part of God’s plan from the very beginning. In John 19:30, before he dies, Jesus declares, ‘It is finished.’ His mission is complete. God’s righteous wrath toward sin has been satisfied. Jesus took our place and paid for the sins of the world. Jesus was forsaken so we don’t have to be. The temple curtain was torn in two, signifying that people have free access to God’s throne of grace, and that no-one needed to run to the Jerusalem temple to draw near to him anymore - the cross had made a way for people to be reconciled to God!

Learn

The cross of Christ is the most central part of sharing the gospel. In weeks 12 and 17 we learned the Three Circles gospel presentation, so let’s revisit it and see how embedded it is in our minds! Try sharing the gospel with each other using the Three Circles method without referring to the video, then see how you went!

Pray

• Spend time praying about what you’re learning.

Next Steps

• What is a key takeaway from today?

• Who are you going to tell about what you’ve been learning?

• Read Romans 15-16 before you come back next time

Bible Reading

Daily readings from the last week:
Romans 15-16

Reflect

• What stood out to you from your daily readings over the last week? Any questions?

• How did you go with what you said you’d do last week?

Discuss

Mark 16:1-8

Have someone read the passage and use the SOAP method to explore the text.

Don’t miss
The Resurrection

The cross was the reason Jesus came, and his resurrection is the means by which Jesus can promise us eternal life. The resurrection is essential to saving faith. 1 Corinthians 15 is an astounding description of what the resurrection accomplished - and what it would mean if Christ wasn’t raised from the dead: our faith would be futile and we would still be lost in our sins, because if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, it shows he deserved to die. If he didn’t rise, then death has authority over him, and Jesus wouldn’t have authority to forgive our sins! This is why the resurrection is crucial to salvation, this is why we celebrate Easter - because he lives, we too will live beyond the grave!

Learn

As we come to the end of Foundations, we’re going to look at the Oikos Map. This is a simple diagram that helps us see the people around us who are far from Christ that we’d love to see saved, but also the people they in turn will be able to reach. It’s a visual representation of multiplication.

You start with your name in the middle circle, then draw lines to other circles with other names, then lines from them to the people in their world to be reached. Take time to pray for each of them and that God would use you and give you opportunities to BLESS (remember that?) them and share the gospel with them.

Pray

• Spend time praying about what you’re learning.

Next Steps

• What is a key takeaway from today?

• Who are you going to tell about what you’ve been learning?