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ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER
Looking for a new New Year's resolution? I don't mean the kind you make and then throw away by January 3rd. This suggestion is challenging and beneficial to see through for the long run. Set a goal to actively and aggressively look for ways to encourage one another.
One of the long-term goals I have always worked for in ministry is to see the lives of congregation members become intertwined to form stronger bonds of Christian love and fellowship. I would say this goal, over the years, has only been only moderately successful.
On any given Sunday morning you can walk into the public worship service and observe a lot of "Sunday morning friendliness." People are talking and laughing and lingering to visit, but there's not a high level of interaction outside of this setting. You can dismiss this as my opinion if you wish. Of course there are exceptions, but generally speaking if you made up a list of your closest friends, is the list loaded with brothers and sisters in Christ from church?
Over the years I have been a keen observer at times of celebration and need. When families from church have a wedding or a funeral, it is interesting to note how many or how few people from church are invited or go out of their way to attend (the ladies serving at the funeral don't count).
The point of this article is not to dictate who your friends should be. What I am promoting is for us to be close enough to one another to be able to read the faces of our fellow Christians and get beyond the superficial "how are you doing?" "I'm just fine" stage. Know one another well enough to be able to tell when they are hurting or bothered. Step out of your comfort zone and offer a word of encouragement or hope. Ask if there is anything you can do to help. Be quick to put your arm around them and offer a prayer then and there for their guidance, peace, or comfort.
Does this sound scary? Get over it. Put yourself in their place. When you are hurting do you want people to leave you alone or do you inwardly long for care and attention that brings the love of Christ into your situation? If it's you, let people help. If it's them, be the helper, the encourager, the servant guided by the Holy Spirit who is THE Helper, Encourager, Comforter, and Counselor. It is far better to offer help than to wish you had. It is far more beneficial to ask for help than to wait for someone to read your mind.
We are starting to see these interactions between caring Christian people growing and flourishing in the small groups meeting which have sprung up these past months. They are literally circles of encouragement and caring centered around the guidance of God's Word. We would love to see this grow to include every member of our Christian community at Our Redeemer. That is up to two conditions: people not involved to actively seek out such a group and people already involved to draw in others by direct invitation.
We are all busy people. If we are so busy that growing in grace doesn't fit our schedules we are too busy. We encourage you to make this a year of encouragement. Let's move way beyond being friendly Sunday church strangers.
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