Shepherding Groups meet this Sunday night. I encourage you to participate.
If you have never been to one – call our office or ask at the information desk on Sunday and we will give you an invitation and directions. One probably meets pretty close to your home.
If you have been once or twice some time ago, but then quit — start back up. Good things are happening as people get together for prayer and the Word.
The topic this Sunday nights is healthy relationships.
Here is a small portion from the leader’s notes I sent out this week.
“Scripture contains a number of exhortations and examples on this subject. For example, Solomon says in Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” It is in the exchange with each other of that which God is teaching us that our minds and hearts are whetted and stimulated. We learn from one another as together we learn from God.Solomon, writing in Ecclesiates, said, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecclesiates 4:9-10).Solomon intended more than simply a literal application of these truths to physical situations. In his rather picturesque way, he was emphasizing the importance of fellowship. Two are better than one, first, because of the synergistic effect: Two together can produce more than each of them working alone. Two Christians sharing the Word together can learn more than the two of them studying individually. They stimulate one another. Second, two people together can help each other up when they fall or even when they are in danger of falling. One of the many advantages of fellowship is the mutual admonishing or encouraging of one another in the face of a temptation or an attack of Satan.The writer of Hebrews was rather emphatic about the importance of this aspect of fellowship. In Hebrews 10:24-25 he said, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Note the emphasis on encouraging one another in the face of temptation and spurring one another on toward love and good deeds. We need to be kept from temptation and we need to be stimulated when our zeal for Christian duty if flagging.The admonition of Hebrews 10:24-25 – “Let us not give up meeting together”- is not fulfilled merely by attending church on Sunday morning, as is so often supposed. Rather, it is fulfilled only when we follow through with the instruction to encourage, spur on, or stimulate one another. This cannot be done sitting in pews, row upon row, listening to the pastor teach. It can only be done through the mutual interchange of admonishment and encouragement.” — Jerry Bridges