An Encouraging Community
When Barnabas arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. Acts 11:23
Soon a group from two congregations will be going on a mission trip to Kentucky to do flood repair work for people in need. As I have been thinking and praying about their trip, I’m remembering my first mission trip to Mexico.
We did not all serve at the same worksites, so each evening we would meet with the whole group to share stories about the day. Some of those were about joyful times when we saw God at work in what had happened. Other stories were about struggles when we wondered if anything of true value had been accomplished. Whatever the story was, the result was always the same. Our group would share encouragement and build each other up, helping everyone to refocus their attention on God. Through praying, laughing, celebrating and even crying together we felt strengthened for the next day.
We all experience times of joy and times of struggle in our lives. Having a place to share about them is meaningful and can help us celebrate and support one another. An encouraging community is a place where all of our experiences can be shared and we can receive support and friendship no matter what is going on around us, or even within us.
In Acts 4:36 we meet Barnabas, whose name means “son of encouragement.” And throughout the book of Acts we see him doing what his name suggests. He is an encourager to the apostle Paul and many of the early churches.
We all need people in our lives who encourage us, and we need to be encouragers to others. That is what Christian community does.
Father, help us to find encouragement from others and to be encouragers to people who need to hear Your words and promises through us. Amen.