Strengthen your brothers

Nine young Believers from The Church at Chapel Hill in Georgia traveled to NJ to be at our church this past weekend. Pastor Jeremiah and members of Fulfill The Call sang, danced, spoke, and injected our church with a dose of healthy enthusiasm. Their visit reinforced a truth I already knew but had forgotten - living in isolation is unhealthy. Groups and people tend to get ingrown. We can become paralyzed by our own sins and failings. We begin to think that our way of living the Christian life is 'the' way. The cross pollination of ideas can make us strong, will force us to stop and think, to ponder life from a new perspective. Hearing what God is doing in the lives of others renews our hope in Him for our own lives. That's what FTC did for us. They didn't invent some new truth - thank God! They told us the Gospel story as seen through the lens of their experience. They came and brought us strength!


Luke records a poignant moment at the table where Jesus celebrated the Passover and told his friends to celebrate it in His memory in the future. After that important moment, the disciple fell to squabbling among themselves about who was most important! Amazing, isn't it? They got so caught up in making sure that their place in the pecking order was protected, they lost sight of the One who gave them true Life. Jesus reminds them that true greatness is found in serving each other, that the way up is down. Then I can almost hear Him sigh and He says these words directly to Peter - "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22:31-32, NLT) His is a bitter-sweet charge. "Simon Peter, you're going to be a failure, shaken like wheat in a sifter by the work of Satan, but you will come through it and repent. Use your experience to restore your friends who will fail even worse than you will."

Peter did emerge weeks later a new man, infused with the authority and power of the Holy Spirit. He was the leader of the first generation Church, not in title, nor even in intellectual abilities, but by his testimony. James held the title of Pastor of the Church at Jerusalem. Paul came to be the thinker who distilled Christian theology, but Peter was the one with the story to which people could relate. "I was the one who fell on his face when the Lord needed me. I was the one who missed the point of the lessons - but He loved me still and restored me. Now, He'll do the same for you!" The broken, the failing, the hopeless heard a word of hope in his testimony and turned to follow the Lord. He embraced the Lord's command - "Peter, strengthen your brothers!"

Do you think you're too _____________________ (what's your excuse?) to be useful to the Lord?
Do you let the mistakes and failures of another day disqualify you from serving the Lord today?
Are you trying hard to pretend that your sins never really happened, burying them?

Take Peter's example for yourself. Get right with God. Confess the sin, find forgiveness, let the Spirit do His restoration work, then strengthen your brothers!
Are you telling the Story to others who need to hear it anew? Are you strengthening others by sharing your experience?

Here's a word from the Word. Put it into practice."Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)
_________________________
I don't care
What label you may wear.
If you believe in Jesus
You belong with me.
The bond we share
Is all I care to see;
And we will change the world forever
If you will join with me,
Join and sing.

You're my brother,
you're my sister,
So take me by the hand.
Together we will work until He comes.
There's no foe that can defeat us
When we're walking side by side.
As long as there is love,
We will stand.

We Will Stand
Author: Taff, Russ / Taff, Tori / Hollihan, James
Copyright: 1983 Word Music, Inc. (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.)