Bear With One Another Series

Introduction:

A. As you know, we are preaching through the “one another” commands of the New Testament as we try to grow in our ability to have relationships God’s way and be the church as it ought to be.

1. Today we are going to talk about “bearing with one another.”

2. Lord willing, in a later sermon we will talk about “bearing one another’s burdens.”

3. Even though those two commands sound similar, their meaning is really quite different.

4. To help someone “bear their burden” is to help them carry a burden and to help them manage their struggle – which certainly is an important thing for us to be doing.

5. Today, however, we want to talk about bearing with one another.

6. In this case, the word “bear” means to tolerate one another, to patiently endure each other’s idiosyncrasies and weaknesses.

7. Does bearing with each other sound like an easy thing to do? Well, that depends on who we talking about – can I get an amen on that?

B. Well, let me begin by saying that I have some good news for us this morning, and I have some bad news for us. Let’s start with the good news.

1. The good news is that everyone who puts their faith in Jesus is going to heaven. Praise God!

2. The bad news is that all of us have to travel to heaven together!

3. I like the old saying that goes like this: “To live above, with saints we love, that will be glory. To live below, with the saints we know, that’s quite a different story!”

C. Let’s be honest: Sometimes we find it hard to get along with each other.

1. Like the story told of the little boy who was sitting on the front steps looking very upset when his father came home.

a. His father asked him what was wrong, and the boy said, “Well, just between us, Dad, I’m having trouble getting along with that wife of yours.”

2. I heard another story about a little girl who was being forced to eat alone at a small table in the kitchen as part of her discipline for disobedience.

a. As the rest of the family sat at the other table trying to ignore the young girl, they heard her pray, “I thank you, Lord, for preparing a table for me in the presence of my enemies.”

D. Truth be told: Satan doesn’t want us to get along with each other.

1. He wants us to become annoyed, upset and out of sync with each other.

2. Healthy relationships require hard work and a lot of grace.

3. Relationships are very vulnerable and can rupture quite easily.

4. Our idiosyncrasies can easily become irritants and our unity can unravel.

5. If you Google “annoying people,” like I did, then you will find a website dedicated to listing the things that people do that are annoying.

a. Even though the website is called “101 Kinds of Annoying People,” the list now contains 129 things that people do that are annoying. I’m sure we could add to the list!

b. Thankfully, when I Googled” annoying people, my picture didn’t show up!

6. Here’s a few samples from the list of 101 Kinds of Annoying People: Annoying people are…

a. The people who got picked first for sports teams in elementary school.

b. People who wear so much perfume that there is a visible cloud of it around them.

c. People who have taken it upon themselves to cheer up the world, whether the world wants to be cheered up or not.

E. How many of you have seen the movie called “The Fellowship of the Ring?”

1. Ben Farleman loves that movie and would be thrilled that I’m mentioning the movie.

2. When he was a teenager, he would often encourage me to do a sermon series about the trilogy.

3. The movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, is based on the first book in J.R.R. Tolkien’s three volume epic novel The Lord of the Rings.

4. The story takes place in the fictional universe called Middle-earth.

5. The story is about a young Hobbit named Frodo has been entrusted with an ancient ring that is an instrument of absolute power and corrupts whoever possesses it.

6. Frodo must embark on an Epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy the ring.

7. Frodo gathers together a fellowship of friends to help him with this quest.

8. The motley crew is made up of hobbits, humans, a wizard, and an elf.

9. The group must not only fight external enemies, but must also deal with internal dissension caused by the corruption of the ring.

10. Along the way the fellowship is fractured by selfishness and abrasiveness, and the mission’s success is compromised.