Burden-Bearing Fellowship
Have you ever attempted something alone and then quickly realized that you desperately needed help? I was using a ladder once when a gust of wind blew it over, stranding me on the roof. I found myself desperately needing to “phone a friend” with no option other than to reach out for help. All too often we have a do-it-yourself (DIY) mindset when it comes to life. Unfortunately, DIY does not always work out very well. It has been well said that we forget that we need others until we need others!
The fact is, we cannot live successfully without having and nurturing real, meaningful relationships. In the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul commands the church to, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2 ESV) I believe this particular “one another” statement holds one of the most important keys to establishing and living in a real community.
In life, we have plenty of burdens. A burden can be physical, material, emotional, or spiritual. It can be a broken relationship, a physical need, anxiety related to an upcoming challenge, a tough health diagnosis, a sin struggle that you are in that you can’t seem to get out of, the loss of a loved one, or some other pain from living in our broken world. We are not intended to handle these alone. We are meant by God to handle them with His help and the help of others.
Since we can all agree that life has plenty of burdens, and there is no possible way that we can carry them all on our own, the first step for believers is to turn to the Lord in our struggles. We are commanded to cast “...all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7 ESV) God needs to be the first place we go in our struggles. That is how He intended it, and after we humbly cast our cares on Him, we need to include our Christian family in them as well. This is the type of “burden-bearing fellowship" that we are designed to thrive in.
I believe we all know that we cannot handle life’s challenges alone. We have experienced the truth that Solomon reminds us of in Ecclesiastes when he says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 ESV) Most know that this is important, but how to find it is an altogether different thing. The “one another” passages in scripture tell us that the best place to find that type of support is in Christian community with other believers.
To experience this type of community requires us to be willing to share our burdens with others. By including other believers in the things that weigh heavy on our hearts we humble ourselves and open ourselves up to being supported through our struggles. For this to be a “burden-bearing fellowship” we also need to be willing to help carry the burdens of others. We need to involve ourselves in their struggles, be a friend on their journey, show up, and be the type of support we long to have ourselves.
We believe that the church exists to care for one another and no one is left out. Thus, we have created “Community Groups” that exist to genuinely love and care for each other. The purpose of the groups is to experience genuine Christian fellowship. Our hope is that everyone can participate in a group and therefore no one feels isolated or uncared for. Please consider joining a group so you can grow in your relationship with Christ and experience genuine community. If you would like more information, please go to our website (click here) and complete the interest form and the church will be in contact with you.
We cannot “DIY” life; it does not end well if we try!
Expectantly,
Shawn
