Speaker: Dave Nelson

Theme: Transformers

Weekend Music links on iTunes: All Over the World - Matt Redman, Let the Praises Ring - Lincoln Brewster, Happy Day - Tim Hughes

Read: Acts 4:32-37, John 13:34-35, Genesis 2:18 

Think: This Sunday, we continued the series “Insomnia….what’s keeping you awake” looking at Transformation with Dave Nelson. Transformation not only requires community but is about progression not perfection. 

In our time we are often reluctant to share our difficulties with each other but I imagine in the time of the early church living together they were well aware of each other’s struggles. Living so close together they would have known each other so well that if one struggled with an issue the others would be there to give support. Now we live apart from each other and often do not feel it is ‘our place’ to either burden someone with our struggles or offer support unless asked for it. What a blessing it must have been to be with people who love and accept you and want to support you in your transformation, doing so with love and compassion. This is why we need community, to be accountable to each other and to support each other. Even back in Genesis 2:18 we see God acknowledging that humans do not do well alone but work better in community. 

So how do we gain that when our lives are so different from that of the early church? We need to spend time with other Believers, join a church and be active in it, get connected with people there and join a small group. The growth groups are an excellent way to develop deeper relationships where you can then share issues and receive prayer and support. They also allow you to do the same for others showing them the love God has for them, a blessing for both yourself and the recipient.

By spending time with each other we are able to help focus on God’s will and at times remind each other that we do not need to be perfect but moving in the right direction. 

Do: Take some time to consider both who you help in their struggles and who helps you. As we are coming up to the start of new growth groups consider what time of the week would be best for you and your family. If this is the first time you are thinking about a growth group perhaps ask someone who is in one already about them (they are not that scary)

Pray: Father, Thank You that You have given us a people to walk beside us in our journey, people who encourage us and whom we can encourage.  Thank you that you have known from the beginning we do not work so well on our own and that you have made provision for us in those who enter our lives. Lord we ask that you would help us to be supportive and encouraging to others and not to judge their failings but always remember we are all human which means no one is perfect. Amen

The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.

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