It can be discouraging living with Christian values in a non-Christian world.
- The world says: If you want to be great in my eyes, get others to serve you. Jesus says: If you want to be great in my eyes, serve others.
- The world says: Get rich or die trying. Jesus says: Store up your treasures in heaven, not on earth.
- The world says: Retaliation. Jesus says: Turn the other cheek.
For a Christian, life in this world can sometimes feel like an uphill battle, like swimming upstream, like going across the grain – and this can lead to discouragement. Well God knew that discouragement was going to come – which is why he gave us groups. Groups help guard against discouragement. Take a look…
- The apostle Paul instructed the believers at the church in Thessalonica to “…encourage one another and build each other up…” (1 Thessalonians 5:11) cf 1 Thessalonians 4:18, 2 Corinthians 13:11, Hebrews 3:13) Our spiritual balloons get deflated all week and group is the place where we blow them back up! You may feel like an outsider living as a Christian in a non-Christian culture, but at group you’re encouraged to spend some time with people of like precious faith.
- The author of Hebrews writes “…let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25). A spur is used to kick a horse in the side which urges it to move forward or keep going. That’s what we do with each other when we gather – we encourage each other to keep going – to keep living our lives for Christ in the midst of a pagan culture. Many have given up and abandoned their faith because they had no one to spur them on – to encourage them to keep going.
- We read in James 5:16 “…pray for each other…” Not only do we get a spiritual boost from being together, we also get a spiritual boost from praying together. At some point in each group we take time to pray for each other. We lift up each others needs before God in prayer. Someone from my group emailed me the day before I wrote this message. He said his brother in law was in the emergency room and asked us to pray. Well, he had a small army of people lifting up his brother in law in prayer. This is what happens in group and throughout the week.
Discouragement can capsize your faith! But groups guard this from happening.
To sign up for a growth group visit www.newdaychurch.cc/groups