Reach Sunday – 11.23.25 – Study Questions

Moriah Cooper   -   November 20, 2025

Reach Sunday

Reach Sunday – 11.23.25

3 Jn. verses 5-8

INTRODUCTION:  Reach Sunday is a time for us to focus as a body on the outward call for us as a church and as individual Christians, that is, the call of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20). As a church, we believe in the importance of that call and the responsibility of believers to engage it as Jesus commanded. That means that we look for opportunities to share the gospel in the everyday places that we go and to join in gospel-advancing work to the ends of the earth. We join in that “ends of the earth” work by praying for, financially supporting, and going to serve alongside global partners for short periods of time. We also join God in his Great Commission calling on our lives when we love the sojourner in our own neighborhoods and communities.

The Great Commission commands believers to “go” and make disciples. Does that mean we need to travel to be obedient to Jesus’ words? Possibly, if God uniquely calls you to that. More specifically, the emphasis of “go” is better understood as “as you are going.” That is, as you go about your normal everyday life, be intentional in making disciples. So, where do you go on a regular basis, and whom do you meet there? Do you take time to be curious about the stories and lives of those you meet as you are going? This Reach Sunday, we will get to hear stories from some of our partners who are in difficult-to-reach parts of the world. Yet, the gospel was carried to those places, and people are responding, praise the Lord! The truth is that while all believers have the calling of the Great Commission, not all believers are called to go to places where the gospel is prohibited. So how can we work to fulfill the Great Commission in places that we aren’t called to physically go? We partner with those who are. This idea of partnering goes all the way back to the first century in the letter of 3rd John.

Kruse gives a helpful overview of John’s central message writing, “Following the exordium, the elder (the Apostle John) addresses himself to the first of his concerns in this letter: he praises Gaius for his faithfulness in showing hospitality to traveling preachers and underlines the importance of this ministry. It may be, as Brown suggests, that these travelers had turned to Gaius for hospitality because they had been refused it by Diotrephes (cf. vv. 9–10). Reading 3 John alongside 2 John, it becomes apparent that there were two groups of missionaries moving around among the churches. There were those who were spreading heretical teaching, about whom the elder warns his readers lest they aid and abet their “wicked work” by providing hospitality for them (2 John 7–11). There were also those who had gone out “for the sake of the Name” and who deserved to be given hospitality (3 John 5–8).”[1]

I love the way that John tells Gaius that his gift of hospitality and partnership is a faithful thing. Gaius not only hosts them, but he sends them out with what they need for the next leg of the journey in proclaiming the name. That is, the name of Jesus. John connects the importance of Gaius’ efforts both in earthly terms (they are resourced with physical provision) and in eternal terms (his work of hospitality is faithful for the kingdom). How often do we think of our connection with global partners in those terms? We likely understand the earthly terms, but we can quickly forget the eternal terms. When we partner with those going out, we not only get to encourage them, but we also share in their fruit. That is a joyful and beautiful thing. Hospitality and partnership are important gospel work.

 

 

GETTING STARTED – As you get started in your group time, share about a time that you were in an unfamiliar place to you, and someone befriended you. What did they do, and how did it impact you?

 

IN THE WORD –   Let’s dig back into the passage. It is important to strengthen our muscles in reading God’s Word. On Sunday, we walked through the passage in the sermon. Hopefully, that helped you to see the landmarks of the passage with fresh eyes. Now, with your group, go back through it and see what God is saying to you specifically.

First, before you read the passage, take a moment to ask God’s Spirit to quiet your mind and heart and to illuminate the text to you. Second, read the passage aloud to the group. Then, follow the simple method below. (O.P.A)

Observe: Make 8-10 observations from the passage. Pay close attention to observe and note repeated words and phrases, names, places, and themes.

 

 

Principles: From your list of observations, what patterns or big ideas do you see emerging? Can you distill it down into 2-4 big idea truths?

 

 

Apply: Moving from your list of principles, it is time to apply God’s Word. Remember, we believe that God’s Word is living and active and that it can change the way we live Monday- Friday. What is one tangible way to apply a truth from your list above?

 

Some questions to help with your discussion:

  1. What is something that stood out to you from the service on Sunday morning?
  2. How did the stories from our partners encourage and challenge you?
  3. When you read Jesus’ command in Matt. 28:18-20, what stands out to you about his words?
  4. Part of “going” in Matt. 28:19 is the going of our everyday lives. Do you see your regular encounters throughout the week as gospel opportunities? Why or why not?
    1. What is one intentional step you could take to see gospel encounters this week?
  5. How might you take an intentional step in partnering with one of our 26 global partners this week?
  6. When you read 3 John, what stands out to you? What is noble and aspirational about Gaius? What do you learn from his example?

 

 

[1] Colin G. Kruse, The Letters of John, ed. D. A. Carson, Second Edition, Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; London: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos, 2020), 246.