LEAD THE WAY
The Core
2. MICROCHURCH

CONNECT

• Connect through care, prayer and loving accountability for previous “I will …” statements.

DISCOVER

• Work through BE THE WAY - MicroChurch (now or previously).

Building a MicroChurch

1 Corinthians 3:10 (NIV)

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.

In this session, we’re going to consider how to wisely build a MicroChurch. Let’s start with WHAT we’re building.

WHAT We’re Building

OUR PRIORITIES

Here are The Way’s four key relationships and four crucial priorities:

• WORSHIP - Our Relationship with Jesus

  • Bow before and follow Jesus

• DISCOVERY - Our Relationship with the Bible

  • Hear and obey God’s Word

• COMMUNITY - Our Relationship with Each Other

  • Love one another as a family of brothers and sisters in Christ

• MISSION - Our Relationship with Others

  • Join Jesus in discipling others toward Him by living a Prayer > Care > Share > Dare lifestyle

• Which one has been the major focus of your church experience? Which one has been most neglected? Why are all four necessary building materials for a MicroChurch?

OUR PATHWAYS

WHY We’re Building

Here are six reasons why The Way is passionate about a smaller way of being church:

• Small Is Simple

By removing complexity, we can focus on priorities. Most churches carry the weight of buildings, budgets, and programs. A MicroChurch is lighter—it’s built on relationships. And that’s freeing—because when the Body is simple, it can give its energy to what matters most:

WORSHIP - Our Relationship with Jesus
DISCOVERY - Our Relationship with the Bible
COMMUNITY - Our Relationship with Each Other
MISSION - Our Relationship with Others

• Small Is Engaging

Everyone gets to play in a MicroChurch. You are prayed for. You contribute your voice to the Discovery Bible Study. You exercise your spiritual gifts—encouragement, discernment, or leadership. Small creates space for involvement, and engagement fuels discipleship.

• Small Is Transformational

MicroChurch isn’t just a way to gather—it’s a way to grow. In a smaller setting, we’re not just attending or even participating—we’re maturing. As we practice the New Testament “one anothers”—loving and encouraging, teaching and admonishing, confessing and forgiving, and praying for and caring for one another—our faith is formed. As we use our spiritual gifts to build up the Body, we ourselves are built up. What we practice together, we carry into everyday life.

• Small Is Missional

MicroChurch doesn’t just form our faith, it commissions it. As we mature as disciples of Jesus in community, we are mobilized to disciple others in our circles of influence. As we multiply disciples and leaders, we accelerate the spread of simple Christian communities anywhere and everywhere.

• Small Is Strategic

MicroChurches don’t cost a lot of money. They don’t take a lot of resources. They use the people, relationships, and spaces already available. They work in every culture and context. So MicroChurches are accessible, contextual, sustainable, reproducible—and therefore unstoppable.

• Small Is Biblical

The bottom line: the early church gathered in homes. Public spaces—like the Temple in Jerusalem and a lecture hall in Ephesus—were used for evangelism and public dialogue. But homes were where the church lived, grew, and multiplied.

• Which of the six reasons for MicroChurch do you find most compelling and why?

• How would your view of MicroChurch change if you saw it as your primary church family, rather than just a program of the church, like small groups?

• How would your experience of church change if you committed yourself to a MicroChurch family?

• What is your reaction to the We Are Church Documentary?

HOW We’re Building

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NIV)

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

• What building project is Paul referring to?

• Why is it important to build with care when building a MicroChurch?

• How easy is it to acquire and pay for wood, hay and straw as opposed to gold, silver, costly stones? What does this say about the quality of the materials that God wants us to build our MicroChurch with?

• What would be low quality building materials (wood, hay and straw) for building a MicroChurch?

• Why would the four key relationships and the four crucial priorities be high quality building materials (gold, silver and costly stones) for building a MicroChurch?

• What would it mean to use WORSHIP, DISCOVERY, COMMUNITY and MISSION to build a MicroChurch? BE THE WAY and LEAD THE WAY will help you this.

• Cast vision and prevent mission creep

Regularly remind your gathering of what you’re about. You can use the ABOUT page on the website or The Way Bookmark.

• Printable PDF of The Way Bookmark

Construction 101

1. Start from Scratch

• Maybe you are starting a mission to a People, Place or Pain or you are looking to reach your circle of influence.

• You will need to live a Prayer > Care > Share > Dare lifestyle.

• You will need to start Discovery Discipleship Groups using FOLLOW THE WAY.

• You will need to transition these Discovery Discipleship Groups into a MicroChurch using BE THE WAY.

• This is how Paul effectively started churches all around the ancient world. His motto could have been:

  • You don’t form a church to make disciples. You make disciples to form a church.

• Watch this 5 Parts / 4 Fields training from No Place Left.

• Rather than following the order of BE THE WAY, The Core follows the order of the 5 Parts / 4 Fields to help those who are starting their MicroChurch from scratch.

  • ENTRY - MISSION (Part 1)

  • GOSPEL - MISSION (Part 1)

  • DISCIPLESHIP - MISSION (Part 2)

  • CHURCH - WORSHIP, DISCOVERY, COMMUNITY

  • LEADERS - LEAD (Part 2)

2. Transition Your Group

• Maybe you have small group already.

• Transition you small group into a MicroChurch using BE THE WAY.

3. Take Over Your MicroChurch

• Maybe your MicroChurch leader is launching out from your MicroChurch to start a new one.

• What a gift to start with a healthy group and with people you already know.

4. Launch Out from Your MicroChurch

• Finally, maybe you have gained experienced in your current MicroChurch.

• You are now ready to launch out on your own with a few people from your current MicroChurch.

• As you invite new people to your MicroChurch use BE THE WAY to introduce them to MicroChurch and FOLLOW THE WAY to introduce them to discipleship.

WHEN and WHERE We’re Building

• Generally, the Christian church has met on Sundays to commemorate the Resurrection of Jesus. But we don’t have to limit ourselves to Sunday nor to Sunday morning. Find a day and time that works best for your MicroChurch. That’s what’s great about MicroChurches. They’re small and flexible enough to meet whenever. And if need be, they can also change the day and time when they meet. For example, during the summer or the holidays, you may want to be flexible to accommodate people’s weekend and vacation schedules.

• Another great thing about MicroChurches is that they can meet almost anywhere. One reason we didn’t name our movement The Way “House Churches” is because we didn’t want to limit them to just meeting in homes. MicroChurches are small enough to practically meet anywhere.

LIVE / LEAD

• What did you discover in this training session?

• What is your “I will …” statement flowing from this training?

• If you’re working through BE THE WAY as a group, who will facilitate the next session on Worship?

Continuing Ed Sessions on MicroChurch

• Disciple-Making Movements (MicroChurch)

• Financial Giving (MicroChurch)

PRINTABLE PDF

• LEAD THE WAY - MicroChurch