Prepare your heart for our Sunday Morning Gathering by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together.

You will find tangible suggestions for putting scripture to action in your personal life and in our corporate body, links to the songs we will sing, and lyrics for you to prepare for our corporate singing.

We are eagerly anticipating hosting Wes Pastor, president of the New England Training and Sending Center for Church Planting and Revitalization (NETS) this Sunday. He will be preaching on Church planting and the great commission from Acts and other scriptures. The following study is on Acts 13:1-5, which is a key text in thinking about Church planting. Please take time to consider this text in preparing to recieve the word. 

Critically Think

• Read Acts 13:1-5.
• Look back at Acts 11:19-30 and summarize the events surrounding the founding of the church at Antioch.
• List the men who are referred to as prophets and teachers.
• What were these men engaged in when instructed by the Holy Spirit?
• What did the Holy Spirit instruct in verse 2?
• What kind of positions did Saul and Barnabas hold in the Church at Antioch?
• How did the church respond to the instruction of the Holy Spirit?
• After being sent out what activity did Saul and Barnabas begin to do?

Prayerfully Meditate

• What role does prayer and fasting play throughout this passage?
• What is the work that Saul and Barnabas are set apart for and how should this inform our view of the work of missions?
• Who all is stated to be involved in sending out Saul and Barnabas?

Intentionally Act

• What can we learn about who should be sent out as missionaries by who the Holy Spirit selected to be sent out from the Church at Antioch?
• What can we learn about the actions that should accompany sending out missionaries by how the Church at Antioch responded to the direction of the Holy Spirit?
• Pray that we as a church would be prepared to send out our best for the sake of the proclamation of the gospel.
• Consider for yourself – is the Lord calling you to go out for the sake of His name?
• Click the links below to find the lyrics and recordings of the songs planned for our gathering this Sunday; learn the songs, study the lyrics and sing them with others.
• Pray for those leading our corporate gathering this week and for the Holy Spirit’s work as the Word of God is further explained and applied: Dawson Bryant: music; Sam Karl: elder prayer & scripture reading; Wes Pastor: teaching.

Songs for Sunday

Morning Gathering

• O Church of Christ Invincible (sheetmusic)
• Sing (sheetmusic)
• There Is One Gospel (sheetmusic)
• Direct Our Hearts (sheetmusic)
• O Great God (sheetmusic)

Lyrics

Lyrics Morning Gathering - January 4, 2026 by Summit Woods Baptist Church