New Community: An Advance Copy of the Kingdom
1. Welcome and opening question
When you hear the words “a new kind of community,” what comes to mind?
Twenty-four years ago, our church chose the name New Community. It wasn't simply a clever name. It expressed an ambition: what would it look like for a community to live now as though God's future kingdom were already breaking into the present? We aren't waiting for God to start doing something.
Jesus arrives announcing:
“The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:15
Discuss:
2. The world is not winding down; God is up to something
Read: Mark 1:14–15
Jesus doesn't begin his ministry by saying, “The world is going to hell, so hang on until heaven.” He announces that God's reign is arriving.
Read: Habakkuk 2:14
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
Read: Psalm 24:1
“The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it.”
Discuss:
Key thought
We began with the end in mind. If God is going to be King in the fullness of time, then we can ask: What would life look like if God's future were already becoming visible among us? That is one way of understanding New Community.
3. Jesus creates a different kind of community
Read Matthew 5:1–12
Discuss:
Break into pairs and read some of these:
Mark 12:41–44 The widow's offering.
Luke 9:51–56 James and John want to call down fire on the Samaritans.
Mark 10:35–45 James and John want positions of power.
Discuss:
Key thought
Jesus doesn't simply gather a group of people who believe the same things. He forms a new kind of people who relate to one another differently.
4. The tree that becomes a home
Read Matthew 13:31–32
Who is welcome to nest in the branches? That's a beautiful question for New Community. Not: Who is like us? But: Who might God want to find a home among us?
Discuss:
5. An advance copy of the kingdom
Read Matthew 6:9–13
Discuss:
OPTIONAL EXTRA- Read this quote from Donald Soper (1937)
Before the Church challenges anybody else to accept its faith in God it must... declare what is the Christian form of social life and must refuse to support any other.
I want men (and women) to know that by giving their allegiance to Christianity they will be embarking upon a great campaign to banish war and poverty and injustice, to overthrow the false and corrosive doctrines of State, Empire, and race purity, and to set up a communal life where love and service have taken the place of selfishness and armed might.
But just as important, I want the Church which sends out this manifesto to be the "advance copy" of that new world it preaches.
The kingdom of God is ultimately coming in fullness. But Jesus teaches his people to pray: “Let your kingdom come… on earth.” So the church gets to become something like an advance copy. Not the finished product. Not heaven. But a little glimpse of what God's future looks like.
A community where:
Ask:
If someone encountered New Community without being told anything about Christianity, what might they see that gives them a glimpse of God's kingdom? “What would someone see if God's kingdom was genuinely taking shape among us?”
6. Personal response
1. See
Where do I already see God's kingdom breaking into our community?
2. Become
What kind of person is Jesus inviting me to become if I am going to be part of this new community?
3. Do
What is one practical thing I could do this week that would make God's kingdom a little more visible to someone else?
“New Community” is not primarily a name for the church we attend. It's a description of the people Jesus is forming us to become. We are called to be a little glimpse, an advance copy, of the world God is making.
When you hear the words “a new kind of community,” what comes to mind?
Twenty-four years ago, our church chose the name New Community. It wasn't simply a clever name. It expressed an ambition: what would it look like for a community to live now as though God's future kingdom were already breaking into the present? We aren't waiting for God to start doing something.
Jesus arrives announcing:
“The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:15
Discuss:
- What do you hear Jesus announcing?
- What does it mean that “the kingdom of God has come near”?
- If God's kingdom is coming, what difference should that make to ordinary life now?
2. The world is not winding down; God is up to something
Read: Mark 1:14–15
Jesus doesn't begin his ministry by saying, “The world is going to hell, so hang on until heaven.” He announces that God's reign is arriving.
Read: Habakkuk 2:14
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
Read: Psalm 24:1
“The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it.”
Discuss:
- What picture of God's future do these passages give us?
- How is that different from thinking of Christianity primarily as “escaping this world”?
- If the earth belongs to God, what does that say about the things we do with our ordinary lives—work, money, relationships, neighbourhoods, politics, creation, hospitality, justice?
Key thought
We began with the end in mind. If God is going to be King in the fullness of time, then we can ask: What would life look like if God's future were already becoming visible among us? That is one way of understanding New Community.
3. Jesus creates a different kind of community
Read Matthew 5:1–12
Discuss:
- Who does Jesus put at the centre of his picture of God's kingdom?
- How does this compare with the way our world normally identifies the people who matter?
- The world tends to put the powerful, wealthy, influential and successful at the centre. Jesus repeatedly does something different.
Break into pairs and read some of these:
Mark 12:41–44 The widow's offering.
Luke 9:51–56 James and John want to call down fire on the Samaritans.
Mark 10:35–45 James and John want positions of power.
Discuss:
- Why do you think the disciples keep reverting to the world's understanding of power?
- What are some ways churches can accidentally reproduce the world's power structures?
- What would it look like for New Community to be genuinely different?
Key thought
Jesus doesn't simply gather a group of people who believe the same things. He forms a new kind of people who relate to one another differently.
4. The tree that becomes a home
Read Matthew 13:31–32
Who is welcome to nest in the branches? That's a beautiful question for New Community. Not: Who is like us? But: Who might God want to find a home among us?
Discuss:
- Who naturally feels at home in church?
- Who might feel like they don't quite belong?
- What would it mean for our community to become a place where “birds of every kind” can nest?
- What might we need to change—not just in our programs, but in our culture?
5. An advance copy of the kingdom
Read Matthew 6:9–13
Discuss:
- What are we actually praying when we pray those words?
- An advance copy
- An advance copy of a book lets you read something before everyone else gets it.
OPTIONAL EXTRA- Read this quote from Donald Soper (1937)
Before the Church challenges anybody else to accept its faith in God it must... declare what is the Christian form of social life and must refuse to support any other.
I want men (and women) to know that by giving their allegiance to Christianity they will be embarking upon a great campaign to banish war and poverty and injustice, to overthrow the false and corrosive doctrines of State, Empire, and race purity, and to set up a communal life where love and service have taken the place of selfishness and armed might.
But just as important, I want the Church which sends out this manifesto to be the "advance copy" of that new world it preaches.
The kingdom of God is ultimately coming in fullness. But Jesus teaches his people to pray: “Let your kingdom come… on earth.” So the church gets to become something like an advance copy. Not the finished product. Not heaven. But a little glimpse of what God's future looks like.
A community where:
- enemies become friends
- the powerful serve
- the vulnerable are protected
- outsiders are welcomed
- generosity replaces accumulation
- forgiveness interrupts revenge
- people are known and loved
- children have a place
- the poor aren't invisible
- people from different backgrounds become family
- Jesus—not status, wealth or influence—is at the centre
Ask:
If someone encountered New Community without being told anything about Christianity, what might they see that gives them a glimpse of God's kingdom? “What would someone see if God's kingdom was genuinely taking shape among us?”
6. Personal response
1. See
Where do I already see God's kingdom breaking into our community?
2. Become
What kind of person is Jesus inviting me to become if I am going to be part of this new community?
3. Do
What is one practical thing I could do this week that would make God's kingdom a little more visible to someone else?
“New Community” is not primarily a name for the church we attend. It's a description of the people Jesus is forming us to become. We are called to be a little glimpse, an advance copy, of the world God is making.