Series: Shaping Church Culture
Theme: Vision & Strategy
Sermon date: September 29th  

Icebreaker

Q1 - Have you ever been part of a project that you were very enthused to be a part of? What was it that got you excited about being part of that team?

Study

Q2 - How would you describe the “Pathways strategy”? Do you remember the four words that we are using and what do they stand for?
(Hint: Connecting, Gathering, Growing, Serving)

Q3 - How could we connect with the people you know in Ashtead better? Which are the groups we find difficult to connect with and how could we reach out to them?

Please read Jeremiah 29:11-14 together

God declares to His people that He has “plans to prosper you and not to harm you” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Q4 - Do you believe God has good plans for our parish?

Q5 - What is your dream for our Church? (One Church in two locations, St Giles & St Georges) What would you like to see more of?

Q6 - If you could ask God anything for our parish, what would that be? How would you like it to be in 5 years’ time?

Q7 – Are you enthused with our vision and strategy? Are you enthused with what God will do amongst us during the next few years? What are you worried about? What are you excited about?
We’re all part of the Church and responsible for its future and growth. It’s up to us to shape its culture, to build it up and enable it to grow.

Please spend a few minutes filling in the Spiritual Health questionnaire. This questionnaire is anonymous and there is no need to look at the results together, but it will be very useful for us a leadership team to know and share where we’re at and what we need to develop together.   

Q8 – How can we help the Church fulfil the good plans God has for it? What part can we play?

Please read Jeremiah 29:12-13 once again

Q9 – The passage talks about “call on me… pray… seek me… when you seek me with all you heart”. Does this describe us? Why? Does this describe you?

The passage also says “I will listen to you… you will find me… I will be found”. God is faithful, he has plans to give us a “hope and a future”, there is a strong call to go deeper with him in prayer. There is a link between fulfilling God’s plans and prayer, there is a link between living out the fruit of the Spirit (basically what we are talking about in a culture change) and prayer. Prayer is central to living out God’s plans, to joining in with what God is doing.

Action

Q10 - How can we spend more time collectively in prayer? What effect do you think that would have in our Church’s vision, strategy, plans and life?

Q11 - How could you personally find time to “call on me… pray… seek me…”? How do you do this?

Prayer
Please end the session with a time of prayer. Pray that God will guide our plans so that they align with His plans. Pray that we will have a hunger to call on Him and seek Him. Pray that He will produce the fruit of His Spirit in us and that He will enthuse us with the “future” and “hope” He has planned for the parish of Ashtead.