How We Can Help Each Other Series

For a CD of over 100 of sermons by Darrell Stetler II (most complete with handouts), please e-mail darrellstetler2@sbcglobal.net.

How can we help each other? A couple weeks ago, I talked about why you need a church family. Today, I want to talk to you about why your church family needs you.

My basic premise here is that we can help each other the most by following the “one anothers” of the Bible.

Over 81 times, the phrase “one another” or “each other” is used in the New Testament. If you want to know how you can help your church family, follow the “one anothers” of the Bible. . .

1. Someone needs your love.

“Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us.” (Romans 15:7, NAS)

Isn’t this a beautiful verse? I tell you why I think it’s so beautiful. . . because I need it. I’m an imperfect person, and if you are looking for a perfect pastor, I’ll let you down! If you’re looking for a perfect church, you’re never going to find it.

Instead of trying to find a church that’s perfect, why don’t we just obey this command? Why don’t we accept one another, and begin to love each other, and watch the improvement that happens when we truly love each other?

Too many people never get the acceptance they need. Recently an All-Star baseball player was interviewed. He’s won a world series, a golden glove, been on the all-star team, and has a lifetime .300 batting average. But he shared in the interview that he had been talking to his dad, who criticized his career. He said, “Dad, I’ve got a lifetime .300 batting average. What more do you want?” His dad answered, “But someday you’ll look back and say, ‘I could have done more.’”

Guess what? We’re all imperfect people. We need to learn to accept that. We will always have our differences. Someone will always rub you the wrong way. There’s always something that you will not care for.

But I tell you the truth. Someone here needs your love. They don’t need your condemnation – they need you to do what Jesus does. Love us like we are, and help us walk the road toward being what we need to be.

2. Someone needs your help.

“For you have been called to live in freedom – not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13, NLT)

When we serve one another, we put their interests before our own. Jesus showed us how when he washed the feet of the disciples.

Here’s the church/steeple. . . boy with no left hand. Another boy reached over and helped him, and they did it together.

THAT’S the way the church is made – by no one standing alone. Reaching out to each other in ways that serve them.

Alone, there are many things we cannot do. Together, there is nothing we cannot make it through.

3. Someone needs your advice.

“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another.” Colossians 3:16, NAS)

We’ve all heard that two heads are better than one. We know that

Did you know that some people here have the gift of wisdom? God has given them special ability to give wise, sound, Bible-based advice. So work on that gift, and use it here in the church.

Notice that the Bible told us how to develop our ability to give good advice: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you”. . . you need to know the Word before you can share it in advice.

4. Someone needs your encouragement.

“So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” (Romans 14:19, NAS)

“Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25, NLT)

Greg Slayton is the CEO of ClickAction.com. He says, in the busy dot.com world in which he now succeeds, he is exhausted by the frantic pace. This is how he describes where it has left him in relationship with others: "The sense of isolation is a curse. It is the curse of 10,000 acquaintances. You find no one to talk to when things go really bad."

Life gets busy. Life is hard. But if you have a church family, they can help. When the church is functioning like it should, there is someone to talk to when it all goes south!

It’s entirely possible that someone needs to hear you remind them that we are on our way to heaven, and we can’t stop now. There probably is someone being tempted that you need to encourage to keep on. There is most likely someone that is discouraged that you need to lift up.