Trios

Vision:

Trios are groups of 3-4 people committed to the spiritual practice of regular, personal Scripture reading. This practice will give groups a shared point of reference when they meet, provide motivation and support for the habit of Bible reading, and enrich and unify our church life.

Growth in maturity means that we learn to feed ourselves from God’s Word and put it into practice in our lives—no one can do it for us.

Growth in maturity doesn’t happen in isolation—we give and receive in community. Imagine your group as running buddies who will challenge, encourage, and grow with you.

As we implement structures and routines into our lives, let’s not confuse the means and the end. Spiritual disciplines like Bible reading, prayer, and fellowship with other believers are the means to help us reach our desired end: being in God’s presence and becoming like Jesus.

Bible Reading Plan: 

• Trio members will read about two chapters a day, with a couple of free days per week in case you need to catch up. This equates to about 10-15 minutes of reading, or 5-10 minutes of listening on audiobook, per weekday.

• Runs from January 8-June 7.

• OT readings: Genesis, the Return from Exile (Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi), Proverbs.

• NT readings: the writings of John (John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation), Mark, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.

• Daily reading schedule on the website (www.citychurchboston.org/trio) and on a handy bookmark!

• Extra resources: Bibleproject.com/explore/book-overviews has video introductions for each book

Trio Session Template:

• Aim to meet bi-weekly– ideally one Zoom meeting a month and one in-person meet-up a month. Find a rhythm that works for your group. Things get busy in November and December, so five meet-ups over these four months is a good goal.

• Start and end on time! Better to end the session wanting more, than to find yourself looking at the clock and thinking about your to-do list. Aim to keep Zoom meetings under 60 minutes. In-person meet-ups could of course be longer and involve a meal, a walk, a fun activity…

• To keep the burden of leading from falling on one person, have a different person lead each session– which simply involves asking the questions on your bookmark and keeping track of time so that you have enough time to pray at the end!

• Respect the confidentiality of those in the group.

Support and Oversight: If you need support for any theological, relational, or personal issues that arise in your groups, please reach out to Abigail, Paul, Betsy, or David.      

Lead me in the path of your commandments,

for I delight in it.

Incline my heart to your testimonies,

and not to selfish gain!

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things,

and give me life in your ways.

Psalm 119:35-37

Discussion Questions:

1.      What stood out to you from the Bible readings over the past two weeks? (15 min)

2.      How has God been speaking to you in your life, and what are you going to do about it? (15 min)

3.      How can we pray for you? (15 min for sharing, 10-15 min for praying)

Prayer Guidelines:

Keep it simple – Keep it real – Keep it going!

“Prayer ministry” means serving others through prayer. In the trio we are “meeting the needs of others on the basis of God’s resources.” (John Wimber)

Pray in line with the Bible, building on God’s promises. (John 15:7)

Pray in tune with the Holy Spirit; ask God how he wants to bless the person you are praying for. (Romans 8:26)

Keep your prayers shorter rather than longer. (Matthew 6:7)

Respect others’ confidentiality.