Encouraging One Another
The Somerset church of Christ believes that there is no greater need in the world today than to have communities encourage one another. Sadly, we do not often see it, in any nation. That is one of the joys in learning about God. God intended that His kingdom would be one of unity and peace (2 Corinthians chapters 1-4).
Yes, we all need encouragement. This is also true of Christians; how we need to encourage one another in service to God! God teaches, "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do." (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
We live in a world that is often a very discouraging place to live.
Is there any hope? The Somerset church of Christ believes that there is a haven of rest that we all can turn to, a place where we can rejoice. One of God's greatest instruments of encouragement in the world is the fellowship of His children in Christ's church.
Courage
The word "encourage" literally means to give another "courage." A similar word in the Bible is often translated, "exhortation." It is the idea of "calling one to his side." What a difference it makes when we have someone help us with the difficulties in life. Life is challenging for us all and there are times we all need that extra help.
Satan
Satan is no joke; he is our adversary. Yes, he promises pleasure, but the deceiver does nothing but offer us pain. He takes us further than we want to go, he keeps us longer than we want to stay, and he doesn't deliver on the promise he made. Worse, is that Satan actively seeks to discourage all. He will do all he can to get us to have "strife" over "peace." Give me any group of people who are busy fighting with one another, and I will show you a group of people that doesn't know the power of encouragement. These will also be a people that have little time to be busy helping others to find the Gospel of peace between God and man.
Power
It is only through God's providential care and His message that we get the essential encouragement to help us reach the pinnacles of hope that we need to live in an oft discouraging world. This truth is essential in God's gospel and through it, we have the spiritual courage to overcome Satan's wiles. God works through us (Eph. 3:20)! Christians with one another are also God's providential supply to help us in our own spiritual bravery.
How?
Our primary way of encouraging one another is the word of God. However, we also encourage one another through shared experiences in life. This is one of the points of the entire eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews. No matter what giant experience of discouragement has come to us, someone else has also had to deal with it too. That encouragement that comes from each other is wonderful and staggering! It is our responsibility and our joy to lift one another up!