Encouragement

July 13, 2015

Tonight at our men's Bible study group, a dozen of us discussed Acts 2:46-47, 5:42, and Hebrews 10:25, texts that touch on why Christians get together regularly. The latter text reminds us of our need for encouragement, which as we talked, we recognized as foundational for life. The world we inhabit is not always kind to us and unfortunately, most of us have found that it often isn't much better in the church. But the Scripture is clear: we need encouragement, and we need to be encouragers. I've found that in this group of men.

In the Acts texts, the disciples gathered to eat, fellowship, share resources, worship and pray, study the Scriptures, and hold one another accountable, all of which we do each week. But it is the encouragement that keeps us coming back. Often when Monday night rolls around and I'm in the middle of a project, the introvert in me secretly and silently says in my heart, "I'd rather stay home." But there have been precious few times when I have come home at the end of the evening sorry I made the choice to go.

At one point, the discussion turned on the Acts statement about the apostles' signs and wonders and the awe they inspired. We noted that the Scripture doesn't give us any details about what these signs and wonders were. We tend to think of miraculous healings and such, but then Harry mentioned the work accomplished by our work team in West Virginia just a week ago. This crew of 28 men, women, and teenagers leveled a barn floor, poured 42 1/2 yards of concrete, leveled and screed it in under a week's time. The mix and measurement came out to the shovelful. Ken related how this past week he deliberately sought out men experienced in concrete work, telling them the story. They were to a  man, amazed that inexperienced people could do that job in that amount of time and come out to the shovel with the mix. Maybe the awe of Acts 2 is similar--they shared what they had, and were amazed at what God did with it.

We took prayer requests for men dealing with some serious life issues, and for those we know who need God's intervention in their lives. And I came home encouraged, and grateful for this group of men who are there for me week after week, not just when we get together to study and pray, but also one-on-one when I need a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on. Zephaniah 3:9 reads, "Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder." That's what these guys do; stand shoulder to shoulder beside each other, looking out for each other, helping each other stand strong in this fight we call life. I couldn't ask for a finer group of men, and am grateful and humbled to stand with them.