Big Question 2: COMMUNION

Guided Inquiry:

"Am I remaining in Jesus Christ and cultivating a growing relationship with Him?"

NOTE:

30 Seconds = Scan to get an overall perspective

3 minutes = Survey more closely to discover where you get thought-provoked

30 minutes = Study (solo or with others) as the Spirit leads into and from various segments

>>>Faciltation Guide

Big Question 1 asks: Who is at the center?

Big Question 2 asks: Am I actually living in relationship with the One I say is at the center?

Christ is not merely the center around which life is organized. He is the Vine from whom life flows.

The Place of This Question

Communion is the first question within the Christ Forms Me movement. Before we examine character, change, conviction, culture, or ministry, we begin with the relationship from which Christian formation flows.

In this Guided Inquiry, communion means an ongoing shared life with the living Christ through the Holy Spirit: staying joined to Him, receiving life from Him, listening to His words, living in His love, depending on His presence, and bearing fruit through His power.

The Lord’s Supper is a vital, communal expression of communion with Christ and His body. This inquiry, however, focuses more broadly on our continuing shared life with the Lord Himself.

Why This Question

WELCOME Ponder/Probe the question personally before applying it to anyone else

It is possible to believe in Jesus, learn about Jesus, speak about Jesus, and serve Jesus while giving little attention to living with Jesus.

Activity can drift from intimacy. Knowledge can expand while attentiveness weakens. Ministry can become productive while dependence on Christ quietly disappears. A devotional routine can remain in place even when the relationship has become hurried, mechanical, or distant.

Jesus does not call His disciples merely to admire the Vine, explain the Vine, or work for the Vine. He calls us to remain joined to Him. Communion is not an optional spiritual enhancement. It is the source of life, fruit, love, obedience, and joy.

The Central Tension

We may be surrounded by Christian language and activity while living primarily from memory, momentum, habit, pressure, or self-reliance. John 15 confronts that possibility with a simple image: a branch cannot produce life by trying harder. It bears fruit only by remaining joined to the vine.

Am I drawing life from Christ, or merely using Christian resources to sustain a life I am directing myself?

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Prepare Your Heart

PREPARE Become available to the Holy Spirit before searching for conclusions. Ask to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

Do not begin by evaluating your devotional habits or measuring your spiritual performance. Begin by becoming present to Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to uncover both the places where communion is growing and the places where distance, distraction, or self-reliance have taken root.

Pray Now

Lord Jesus, I do not want merely to know about You or accomplish things for You. Teach me to remain in You. Expose whatever competes with attentiveness to Your presence. Let Your words live in me, Your love form me, and Your life bear fruit through me. Amen.

Ask: Lord Jesus, where have I mistaken activity for communion?
Seek: Holy Spirit, reveal what helps me remain attentive and what repeatedly pulls me away.
Knock: Father, open my life more fully to the shared life You offer through Your Son.

Explore Scripture

READ Read slowly enough to notice what Jesus emphasizes; then read again.

Read John 15:1–17 several times. On the first reading, notice repeated words. On the second, notice what Jesus promises. On the third, notice what He commands or invites. On the fourth, ask what the passage reveals about the relationship between communion and fruitfulness.

The Anchor Passage

“Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you.”
John 15:4 CEV

Movements to Notice in John 15

Identity — Jesus is the Vine; we are the branches. Communion begins with receiving our place, not inventing our role.

Dependence — A branch has no independent source of life. Spiritual fruit cannot be manufactured apart from Christ.

Remaining — Communion is continuing, not occasional. Jesus describes an enduring relationship rather than a passing spiritual experience.

Pruning — Jesus presents the Father as the gardener who deals with fruitlessness and prunes fruitful branches so they may bear more fruit.

Words — Remaining in Christ includes allowing His words to remain within us and shape our desires, prayers, and obedience.

Love — Jesus invites His followers to remain in His love, not merely work under His authority.

Obedience — Communion is not private sentiment. Love takes form in responsive obedience.

Joy — Jesus connects abiding, love, and obedience with His joy becoming complete in us.

Fruit — Fruit is the visible result of an unseen relationship. It reveals the life from which we are living.

Friendship and mission — Jesus calls His disciples friends and appoints them to bear lasting fruit. Communion moves outward in love and mission.

What Do You Notice?

Which word, image, promise, warning, or invitation holds your attention?
What does Jesus say He will do, and what does He ask His followers to do?
Where does this passage challenge your usual understanding of spiritual growth?
What kind of fruit might reveal that a person, leader, or community is remaining in Christ?

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Plead Your Need for Communion

PLEAD Turn what you have read into prayer before turning it into a plan

Prayer keeps this inquiry from becoming self-analysis alone. Do not merely identify what is weak. Ask Christ to renew the relationship from which life and obedience flow.

Presence — Lord Jesus, awaken me to Your presence in ordinary moments, not only designated spiritual times.

Dependence — Lord Jesus, reveal where I rely on competence, experience, personality, position, or momentum more than on You.

Listening — Lord Jesus, quiet the noise within and around me so that Your words may remain in me.

Pruning — Father, give me courage to release what You are removing and humility to receive what You are refining.

Questing — Wise God, reveal the questions I have not yet asked but need to ask. Give me the courage to seek Your wisdom in faith, and renew my mind as I listen and respond.

Love — Lord Jesus, teach me to live within Your love rather than labor for approval.

Fruit — Holy Spirit, grow in me what cannot be produced by effort alone.

Joy — Lord Jesus, restore the joy that comes from shared life with You.

Write Your Prayer

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Uncommon Questions

ASK Let honest questions examine the relationship beneath the activity

Am I merely believing in Jesus, learning about Jesus, speaking about Jesus, and serving Jesus—or am I cultivating an ongoing communion with Jesus?
When during an ordinary day am I most aware of Christ's presence? When do I function as though I were alone?
Do I approach Jesus mainly for help, direction, comfort, or results—or because I desire to know and enjoy Him?
What is the practical difference between doing something for Christ and doing it with Christ?
Where has familiarity with Christian truth reduced my attentiveness to the living Christ?
What do my pace, schedule, reactions, and decisions reveal about the source from which I am living?
What fruit is growing naturally from communion with Christ? What am I trying to produce through pressure or performance?
What might the Father be pruning—not as punishment, but to deepen communion and increase fruitfulness?
If Christ's words truly remained in me, what desire, assumption, habit, or decision might begin to change?
Is my relationship with Christ becoming more honest, receptive, dependent, obedient, and joyful? What evidence supports my answer?

The Question Beneath the Questions

What would change if communion with Christ became

the source of my life rather than one activity within my life?

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Personal Inventory

LISTEN Notice your actual patterns without condemning or flattering yourself

Use these seven lenses as a prayerful inventory. Describe what is presently true, not what you think should be true. The purpose is discernment, not scoring.

Presence

Communion includes becoming attentive to the Lord who is already and always present. Christ’s presence does not depend upon my awareness, but I can grow in attentiveness and responsiveness to Him throughout the events and explorations of my life.

Where and when am I most aware of Christ with me? What regularly dulls that awareness?

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Dependence

A branch receives life; it does not generate life independently.

Where am I relying on Christ in practice? Where am I operating mainly from competence, control, or urgency?

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Listening

Jesus connects remaining in Him with His words remaining in us.

What voices most influence my imagination, reactions, priorities, and decisions? How am I making room to hear and obey Christ?

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Abiding

Remaining is an ongoing posture, not an occasional spiritual visit.

Is communion with Christ woven through my day, or mostly confined to a devotional period or crisis?

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Personal Inventory Continued

Fruit

Fruit is not the reward for frantic effort. It is the result of Christ's life working through a receptive branch.

What Christlike fruit is becoming visible? Where am I attempting to manufacture outcomes?

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Pruning

The Father may remove what is unfruitful and refine what is already fruitful.

What loss, limit, correction, or interruption may be inviting deeper dependence rather than resistance?

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Joy

Jesus speaks of His joy becoming complete in those who remain in His love.

Does my life with Christ increasingly produce joy, freedom, gratitude, and love—or strain, fear, and performance?

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Listen for a Pattern

Which of the seven lenses most needs attention now?
Which lens shows evidence of grace and growth that I should recognize with gratitude?
What invitation from Christ seems to be emerging through this inventory?

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Examine Your Assumptions

LISTEN Allow Scripture to question the ideas that silently shape your practice

Communion is the same as having a devotional time

A daily practice can help cultivate communion, but communion is shared life with Christ throughout the day. The practice serves the relationship; it is not the relationship itself.

Serving Christ proves that I am remaining in Christ

Service may flow from communion, but activity can also flow from duty, identity, pressure, ambition, fear, or habit. Fruitfulness and busyness are not identical.

Knowing more about Christ means I know Christ more deeply

Knowledge matters, but information can accumulate without affection, attentiveness, trust, or obedience. Scripture invites knowledge that becomes relationship and response.

Dependence is mainly for moments of weakness

Jesus does not say that branches need the vine only when they are struggling. Dependence is the normal condition of every branch in every season.

Pruning means that I have failed

John 15 also speaks of fruitful branches being pruned. The Father's refining work may be evidence of His care and intention, not His rejection.

Fruit is something I must force

Effort has a place in obedience, but fruit grows from union with Christ. The question is not only how hard I am working, but from whom I am receiving life.

Communion is private and inward

Communion forms love, obedience, friendship, community, and mission. A relationship with Christ that never reshapes relationships with people is incomplete.

Which Assumption Needs Rethinking?

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“Communion with the Lord” Scripture Resource

READ Trace the invitation to shared life with God across Scripture

Communion is woven throughout the biblical story. God invites His people to walk with Him, seek Him, know Him, dwell in His presence, listen to Him, remain in Him, and share life with Him.

Walking With Seeking and Dwelling With God

Genesis 5:24 — Enoch walked with God. Relationship with God is pictured as walking with Him.

Genesis 17:1 — God calls Abraham to walk faithfully before Him. Faith is lived consciously in God's presence.

Exodus 25:8 — God desires to dwell among His people. He does not merely direct them from afar.

Exodus 33:11 — The Lord speaks with Moses as one speaks with a friend. Communion includes encounter and conversation.

Exodus 33:14–15 — God's presence will go with His people. Moses refuses to proceed without that presence.

Psalm 16:11 — Joy is found in God's presence. Communion is not merely duty but delight.

Psalm 27:4 — David's one desire is to dwell with the Lord and seek Him. He wants God, not merely something from God.

Psalm 42:1–2 — The soul thirsts for the living God. Communion is pictured as desire for God Himself.

Psalm 63:1, 8 — The psalmist thirsts for God and clings to Him. Seeking becomes personal attachment.

Psalm 73:23–26 — God is the strength of the heart and the lasting portion. God Himself is the treasure.

Psalm 84:1–2, 10 — The psalmist longs for God's dwelling place and presence. Nearness to God is valued above everything else.

Jeremiah 9:23–24 — Our highest boast is to understand and know the Lord. Knowing God is placed above wisdom, strength, and riches.

Jeremiah 31:33–34 — The new covenant promises God’s law written on the heart and a people who know Him.

Jesus Invites Us to Come Follow and Remain

Jesus does not merely invite people to accept His teaching. Again and again, He invites them to Himself.

Matthew 11:28–29 — Come to Me and learn from Me. Jesus invites weary people into relationship with Himself.

Matthew 16:24 — Those who would be disciples must follow Him. Discipleship is personal attachment to Jesus.

John 6:35 — Jesus is the bread of life. He presents Himself as the source of spiritual life.

John 6:56 — Jesus describes a mutual remaining: the disciple in Him and He in the disciple. Communion is pictured as profound indwelling.

John 10:27 — His sheep listen, are known, and follow. Communion includes listening, being known, and responding.

John 14:6 — Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is not merely the teacher of life but its source.

John 14:20 — Jesus tells His followers that they are in Him and He is in them. He describes extraordinary union.

John 14:23 — The Father and Son make their home with the one who loves and follows Jesus. Relationship becomes indwelling presence.

John 15:1–5 — The branch must remain in the vine. Continuing communion is essential to fruitfulness.

John 15:7 — Christ's words remain in those who remain in Him. Communion includes His Word taking residence within us.

John 15:9–10 — Remain in My love. Abiding means living within the love of Christ.

John 17:21 — Jesus prays that His followers may participate in the communion of Father and Son. Communion with Christ has a shared and unifying dimension.

John 17:23 — Jesus speaks of Himself in His followers and the Father in Him. Discipleship is described in terms of indwelling union.

Matthew 28:20 — Jesus promises to be with His disciples always. Mission is carried out in His continuing presence.

The Apostles Describe Life in Christ

The apostles describe the implications of the relationship Jesus proclaimed.

Romans 8:1 — Those who are in Christ Jesus are no longer condemned.

Romans 8:38–39 — Nothing can separate us from God's love in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 1:9 — God calls us into fellowship with His Son.

1 Corinthians 6:17 — The one united with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.

2 Corinthians 5:17 — Those in Christ participate in new creation.

Galatians 2:20 — Christ lives in the believer. Christian life is described as Christ's life expressed through us.

Ephesians 3:16–17 — Paul prays that Christ may dwell in believers' hearts through faith.

Philippians 3:8–10 — Paul's great desire is to know Christ.

Colossians 2:6–7 — Those who received Christ are to continue living in Him.

Colossians 3:1–4 — Our life is hidden with Christ in God.

Hebrews 10:19–22 — Because of Christ, we are invited to draw near to God with confidence.

James 4:8 — Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

1 John 1:3 — Christian fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

1 John 2:5–6 — Those who live in Christ should walk as Jesus walked.

1 John 4:13 — We live in God and He lives in us.

Revelation 3:20 — Jesus pictures shared table fellowship with the one who hears and opens. It is a vivid image of communion.

Communion Is More Than a Doctrine

Across Scripture, communion with the Lord is described as walking with God, dwelling in His presence, seeking His face, thirsting for Him, knowing Him, listening to His voice, coming to Christ, following Christ, remaining in Christ, living in His love, Christ dwelling in us, drawing near to God, and sharing fellowship with the Father and Son.

Discuss Together

SEED Plant what God is showing you in honest and grace-filled conversation

Use these questions with a trusted friend, small group, ministry team, class, retreat, or Leader Lab. Do not rush to advice. Listen for what the Holy Spirit may be revealing through Scripture and one another.

What is the difference between Christian activity and communion with Christ?
Which part of John 15 most challenges the way we usually talk about spiritual growth?
How can a person recognize the difference between fruit and forced results?
What makes ongoing attentiveness to Christ difficult in our present culture and pace of life?
How should we understand pruning without treating every hardship as a simple explanation from God?
What practices help us remain receptive to Christ without turning communion into another performance system?
How might our relationships, decisions, and ministries change if we learned to work with Christ rather than merely for Christ?

Conversation Agreements

Speak from your own experience rather than diagnosing someone else.
Let Scripture question your assumptions before using it to defend them.
Make room for silence, uncertainty, and unfinished reflection.
Listen for invitation and conviction without turning either into condemnation.
End by naming one way you sense Christ inviting you to remain in Him.

What We Heard

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From Me to Ministry

The Big Questions examine the explorer before the explorer examines ministry. Communion must first become personal. Yet what forms a leader eventually shapes a ministry culture.

A ministry can speak often about Christ while functioning mainly through urgency, expertise, habit, personality, or institutional momentum. A community rooted in communion learns to listen before acting, pray before planning, discern before deciding, and obey before measuring success.

Questions for Leaders and Teams

Where is communion with Christ visible in the actual rhythms of our ministry—not only in our stated values?
Do our meetings create space to listen to Christ, or do we mainly ask Him to bless decisions already taking shape?
What evidence suggests that our work is bearing the fruit of Christ's life rather than merely producing activity?
Where has competence reduced dependence?
What might Christ be pruning from our pace, programs, assumptions, or measurements?
How do we help people remain in Christ without reducing communion to attendance, information, or a devotional formula?
What would it look like to lead, decide, serve, and go on mission with Christ rather than merely for Christ?

A Ministry Experiment

For the next four meetings—or for one month—begin each regular gathering differently. Read a short portion of John 15. Sit in silence. Ask one question: Lord Jesus, what do You want us to notice before we proceed? Record what changes in the quality of listening, discernment, conversation, and decision making.

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From Insight to Action

What

What did I notice in Scripture, prayer, questions, inventory, or conversation? What truth, tension, invitation, or pattern became clearer?

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So What

Why does this matter for my relationship with Christ, my formation, my relationships, or my ministry? What may continue unchanged if I ignore it?

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Now What

What response of trust, repentance, surrender, obedience, practice, or conversation is Christ inviting me to make?

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Heed {Receive what requires a response before deciding what to do}

Name the truth, correction, promise, or invitation you need to receive and obey.

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Seed

Name the person or community with whom you should share what you are learning. Communion deepens when truth is planted in conversation and shared practice.

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Proceed {Take one faithful step without converting relationship into a technique}

Choose one small, concrete response for the next seven days. The purpose is not to prove devotion but to make room for attentiveness and obedience.

Pause at a regular point each day to acknowledge Christ's presence.
Read a short portion of John 15 slowly and carry one phrase into the day.
Before a decision or conversation, ask: Lord Jesus, how do You want me to follow You here?
Release one activity, distraction, or expectation that is crowding out communion.
Meet with one person to pray and reflect on remaining in Christ.
My next faithful step is:

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Continue Your Journey

Big Question 2 asks whether I am remaining in Christ. Big Question 3 will ask what kind of person is being formed through that communion.

Big Question 3 Christlike Character

Is the character of Jesus Christ being formed in me?

Communion is not the end of the journey. Remaining in Christ forms us into His likeness. The life of the Vine begins to appear in the character of the branches.

The Place of This Question

Why This Question

The Central Tension

Prepare Your Heart

Pray Now

Explore Scripture

The Anchor Passage

Movements to Notice in John 15

What Do You Notice?

Plead Your Need for Communion

Write Your Prayer

Uncommon Questions

The Question Beneath the Questions

Personal Inventory

Personal Inventory Continued

Listen for a Pattern

Examine Your Assumptions

Which Assumption Needs Rethinking?

“Communion with the Lord” Scripture Resource

Walking With Seeking and Dwelling With God

Jesus Invites Us to Come Follow and Remain

The Apostles Describe Life in Christ

Communion Is More Than a Doctrine

Discuss Together

Conversation Agreements

What We Heard

From Me to Ministry

Questions for Leaders and Teams

A Ministry Experiment

From Insight to Action

What

So What

Now What

Seed

Proceed {Take one faithful step without converting relationship into a technique}

Continue Your Journey

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