The Real Hope of the Resurrection

This past Sunday was Easter, the most important day of the year for Christians. It marks the day that Jesus rose from the dead, forever defeating death. While it doesn't get the press that Christmas does, it is certainly more important. For some perspective, if you take away the accounts of Jesus' birth, you lose about 4 chapters in the bible. But if you take away the death and resurrection of Jesus, you lose the entire meaning of the New Testament, in addition to the last 2000 years of history! Here are some things that we know about Jesus' resurrection, according to 1 Corinthians 15:1-11:

It is the most fundamental truth of the Christian faith (v. 1-3a). Paul is reminding them of the gospel - the good news that God has graciously saved sinners. The resurrection is of "first importance."

It is upholds the truth of the bible (v. 3b-4). Everything about the Jesus' death, burial, & resurrection is supported by scripture. Isaiah 52:13-53:12 speak most directly to Jesus as the "suffering servant." Psalm 16:9-10 echoes the resurrection. But a deeper echo of the resurrection I believe is found in Genesis 1-2 where we see God as Creator. For what does God create? He creates life, not death, which led Jesus to teach himself on the resurrection in light of God being "The God of the living" (Mark 12:26-27). Interestingly, the Jews didn't expect the Messiah to resurrect. They only believed in a corporate resurrection, not an individual one. So when Jesus resurrected, that actually cemented his claim as the True Messiah in a day when there were many so-called "messiahs' who would get caught & killed...and stay dead.

It is an historical fact (v. 5-8). There were hundreds of witnesses that Paul mentions here that he is begging the Corinthians to talk to in order to check out his story about Jesus. 1 Corinthians (along with Philippians and Colossians which contain some early creedal hymns about Jesus' deity) predates the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, & Luke by a decade and John by two decades. 1 Corinthians was a public document meant to be distributed and read. By going so public with Jesus' resurrection, it underlines the truth of the event. And, there is simply no other way to explain the transformation of people's lives, the explosive growth of the church, and the impact on the history of mankind if the resurrection never happened.

The core of the resurrection is grace (v. 9-11). At the heart of the resurrection is a loving God who did what we were unable to: rescue us from our sin. Sin leaves us powerless. We can't work hard enough, do enough good things, serve or give enough, be kind enough, etc to be connected to God and have the promise of heaven. So God decided out of love to show his lost children grace - giving them a blessing they did nothing to deserve. Jesus took all of our punishment and penalty for sin on the cross and then defeated death by his resurrection. That grace is what then motivates us to work, give, serve, and do good. All we're asked to do is believe it (v. 11).

I pray that you believe the truth of Jesus' resurrection. Because if (or should I say since) the resurrection is true, then everything changes. You can have real hope. You can have real healing. You can experience true transformation. If you do not have this faith in Jesus, or if your faith is struggling, all you need to do is ask God to give you faith to trust in His grace that He gave us in Jesus through his death, burial, & resurrection - the fundamental truth of the Christian faith.

Practicing Gospel Relationships

In taking a close look at 1 Corinthians 16:5-8, we get a picture of how Paul practiced having gospel relationships.

The first thing we see is that Paul was intentional. He knew that having gospel relationships didn't just happen anymore than getting a spouse just happens, picking up a paycheck from a job just happens, or getting a college degree just happens. It all demands effort and intentionality. Paul planned to see the people in Corinth...he made an intentional effort to be with them. And not just to be with them, but to invite them on mission with him... "so that you may help me on my journey" (v. 6). Gospel relationships always include being on mission together for the gospel.

The second thing we see is that Paul created time margin. He had no desire to go through Corinth "in passing" but rather wanted to "spend some time" (v. 7). This really rubs our American culture! We're a drive-by, drive-through, microwave, Starbucks Via kind of culture. We value burning the candle on both ends and in the middle. But that does not allow gospel relationships to foster. You have to aggressively create margin in your life for relationships to flourish.

The third thing we see is that Paul lived in rhythm. He talks a lot about seasons and holidays (Pentecost - v. 8) to order his life. Rhythms are important to us. God gave us the gift of time and the Sabbath to help us order our finite lives around for our benefit. Having daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly rhythms allow people to be healthy physically, spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. Saying you're a "spontaneous" person is just a nice way of saying that you're chaotic, lack self-control, and are ineffective. Developing and living in rhythms don't enslave you at all; rather, they free you!

So in an effort to live out gospel relationships, take some cues from Paul and be intentional, create some margin in your life, and develop some rhythms.

Next up: The Benefits of Gospel Relationships

What are Gospel Relationships?

Have you ever wrestled with the question (as Christians), why are we here? Not individually, but corporately. What is the purpose of this community called the church?

Many times, the answer comes from bible verses like Genesis 2:18 (it's not good for man to be alone), or Psalm 133:1 (good for brothers to dwell in unity), or Proverbs 27:17 (iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another). While all these things are fully true, to simply define the purpose of community as a cure to my loneliness, my need for camaraderie, or my personal growth is just shallow and selfish (notice all the "my's"). Don't you think God wants something deeper and bigger for his church?

Of course he does. One passage we can look to is 1 Peter 2:9. We see that God has indeed made for himself a people, and that his people are to proclaim the excellencies of God. So what we see right away is that community is first and foremost God's (not ours) and that the purpose of community is to share the gospel. I think this is the point to where the best descriptor of community is "gospel relationships." Looking at community through a gospel lens points us vertically toward God and horizontally out to people, not for the purpose of getting our needs met, but giving the gospel to those who need it.

But what about the real needs that you and I have? This is where it gets beautiful. When we fully live for God's glory and live on mission for the gospel, along the way our needs get met. Our loneliness is cured as we are on mission with other. Our camaraderie is met as we have a deep common goal. Our personal growth happens as others sharpen and encourage us along the journey. It truly is the best of both worlds!

Community - gospel relationships - are interconnected to mission. You can't fully have community without mission, and you can't fully have mission without community. This is what we see littered all throughout scripture, in particular the new testament. People on mission together in community enjoying God Himself and the benefits of each other.

Next up: Practicing Gospel Relationships

Greed, Generosity, & the Gospel

I know very few people who aren't greedy. Greed is a such a widespread epidemic it's hard to see sometimes. Also, because only the grossly greedy get the attention, it's easy to think of yourself as not greedy; or least, not as greedy as "that guy." But when it comes to money, possessions, and lifestyle, do you find yourself seeking to acquire more, being stingy with what you do have, being overly anxious, being fixated on the bottom line, or living as a workaholic to achieve or maintain a perceived "successful" lifestyle? If so, greed has got you.

The problem with greed boils down to trust. There is a misplaced trust in money, stuff, and a way of living that is supposed to provide a sense of comfort and security. And even deeper still, it's a very selfish problem as the only comfort and security you're worried about is your own, not really anybody else's. A life marked by greed will end up being destroyed. A constant personal dissatisfaction and discontentment will make you miserable, and if anything bad happens to your bank account, your whole sense of self is lost. Relationally you'll end up alone. People at best will use you (if your greed has equated in some type of prosperity) and at worst people will hate you and avoid you (because you only care about yourself and no one else).

How can you get rid of greed? You have to root it out and replace it. You must replace it with generosity. A generous person genuinely seeks the welfare of others first, gives as much as they can, and most importantly, has their trust rightly placed. This rightly placed trust is actually the way you root out greed, and the way you do that is by believing the gospel of Jesus.

Jesus, who is God, was ultimately generous. He left his throne in heaven, totally humbled himself out of love, and gave up everything so we could have everything. Tim Keller writes that "if he stayed rich, we would die poor; but if he died poor, we could become rich." Paul writes of Jesus' generosity and ties it directly to financial giving (being generous) in 2 Corinthians 8:1-9 and 2 Corinthians 9:12-15. As we live worshipful, generous lives, that must express itself in how we use the money that God has blessed us with (since all the money in the world is his anyway - Haggai 2:8).

So they key to getting over your greed is not just to try harder to be more giving, but instead to place your trust in Jesus, who gave up everything and gives everything to those who love him back.

Transforming in 2010

It's been officially 2 months since I've posted anything here. *sigh*

I've been pondering how 2010 needs to be a year of transformation in many ways in my life, my family, and my church. The biggest points of transformation needed I feel are the following: our view of self, our view of others, and our view of situations & circumstances. Let me expound just a bit:

• View of Self. One of the biggest lies of our pop-psychology happy culture is the need for greater "self-esteem" or "self-worth." This is totally unbiblical and destructive. Left to myself, I'm sinful - totally and completely sinful. Why would I want that greater in my life? As a Christian, what I need is greater "Christ-esteem." Colossians 3:3-4 clearly state that as a Christian, my life is hidden in Jesus and that He is my life. I need "me" to continue to die and for Jesus to live more and more. Only by embracing this truth will my thoughts, actions, words, and attitudes by changed.

• View of Others. One thing I need to get clear as well (in light of the first point) is to view others properly, especially other Christians. Their lives are Christ as well, and so according to 2 Corinthians 5:16, I must not regard them according to their flesh. This allows me to be free to love, forgive, and pray for other Christians fully confident that the Holy Spirit within them will convict and lead them to truth, and I get to enjoy encouraging them. Now, conversely this also means to view non-Christians as non-Christians and not expect Christian attitudes, affections, or actions from them. I get to freely love them as well and extend to them the grace & mercy they need to experience.

• View of Circumstances. Colossians 3:2 says to set our minds on things above. I cannot allow my present situation, circumstances, or earthly heartaches to determine how I react. Tim Lane and Paul Tripp, in their book "How People Change" write, 'There is always something bigger than the heartache of the moment." They are talking about the eternal promises of God embodied and given to us in the gospel. This trumps everything and transforms my response to every circumstance in my life.

Now, to be able to be transformed, it takes a submission to the Holy Spirit and submission & transparency to the church community so they can confront & encourage as needed. I pray that 2010 finds much transformation in my life and yours.

May grace be with you.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

The family and I just got back from an 8-day excursion that took us from Springfield to Hot Springs, Arkansas to Lake of the Ozarks. Here's a few things I learned:

• U.S. 67 is a boring and slow way to travel through Missouri into Arkansas. I'll stick to I-55 next time.
• I'm pretty sure there's a Wal-Mart in every town in Arkansas.
• Of all the hub-bub influential cities get, the amount of rural America is immense.
• Speaking of rural America, you've got to love names like Knob Lick, MO and Toad Suck Park in Arkansas. I'm being very serious.
• Flying a plane is fun.
• The amount of food you're offered at Lambert's (where they throw the rolls at you) should be illegal.
• Watching a lightning/thunderstorm roll in at midnight over Lake of the Ozarks is a very spiritual experience.

One last thing: I've gained some deeper appreciation for gospel community and gospel hospitality. Here's what I mean: my family of SEVEN travelled about 1000 miles, stayed in two cities, and while I haven't added up all the receipts just yet, my estimations is that this trip only cost us about $400! How is this possible? It's possible only because of the gospel.

We visited and stayed with some dear friends in Hot Springs, which is a beautiful area of the country and boasts a very unique National Park. These are the type of friends where Dawn and I are "Aunt & Uncle" to their kids, and they are the same to our kids. The community we have because of the gospel is what really makes this friendship so deep and true community. When we're together, everything is shared and it really feels like family (in the best way!).

For our Lake of the Ozark leg of the trip, we were given an amazing condo to stay in. For free. By people we've never met. Talk about hospitality! The hearts of these dear people is for their condo (which is right on the Lake; which they've named "Still Waters") is for people to connect with Jesus and find some rest for their souls. Just take care of the place and clean up when you're done. They understand that it really isn't "their" condo, but it's God's, and it's to be used for His glory.

May we all truly live out Gospel Community and Gospel Hospitality.

Gospelizing Your Idols

We are an idolatrous people. Not that this is anything new, but it's more prevalent than you'd think. Culturally, it is quite easy to see our current "temples" of our "gods", namely: shopping malls, restaurants, sports stadiums, strip clubs, and even technology centers in California and the Pacific Northwest (had to include this since I really can't say that the Internet is a "place"). Everyone on the planet falls into either one of two categories: worshipper or idolater. A worshipper is a gospel-centered Christ-follower who understands and strives to live out Romans 11:36 "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever." An idolater is then anybody who is not a Christ-follower OR a Christ-follower who has gotten their eyes off of Jesus. This is what Paul has been confronting the Galatians on. The issues beneath their issue of legalism is that of idolatry. This is exactly what he confronts them on in Galatians 4:8-11. He makes a direct comparison of their legalism to their former life of pagan idolatry.

So how do we figure out what our personal "idols of the heart" are? What do we do with them? Tim Keller gives us some great counsel regarding this.

1) Diagnose yourself to begin to identify the areas of idolatry in your life. Ask yourself these telling questions:

• Am I anxious? Am I prone to be fearful and worried?
• Am I angry? Am I prone toward bitterness and guilt?
• Am I empty? Am I prone to boredom, feeling despondent, or having a negative view of myself?
• Has my thinking been clouded, distorted, full of assumptions, and not rooted in reality?
• Do I struggle with intense over-desires or inordinate longings?

2) Identify what your primary idol may be.

• Comfort. A comfort idol has "dialects" of seeking salvation in things that bring you pleasure, always seeking new experiences (or the flip side, never taking risks), a high need for independence, or materialism.
• Approval. An approval idol has the dialects of a high need of being loved or respected by other people, overly-conscious of your image, having others dependent upon you, and an unhealthy perspective on being in relationships (finding Mr. or Mrs. "Right", being included in a certain "inner ring" of people, putting all of your hopes in one friend/family member).
• Power. A power idol has the dialects of needing to be influential, always achieving more, having your particular ideology in the majority (ie, Republican or Democrat), or positioning yourself so people always need you to accomplish whatever they're needing to do.
• Control. A control idol has the dialects of a meticulously maintained schedule, a predictable work environment, or a rule/tradition-laden religious expression.

3) Heal from your idols.

• Reject moralizing. Don't simply think all you need to do is repent and practice behavior modification. It just doesn't go deep enough.
• Reject psychologizing. Don't simply think you need to embrace and rejoice in that God loves you as you are. This goes a little deeper in addressing feelings, but it's still not deep enough.
• Embrace "gospelizing". You need to realize that you are looking to something or someone apart from Jesus for happiness and meaning (this is called a "functional savior"). And you need to : Remember Jesus' work on the cross and your identity in Him; Repent of your idolatrous attitudes, thoughts, & behaviors; and Rejoice that God does indeed love you as you are, but loves you enough to continue to pursue you so you don't stay that way!

The only way to truly find healing and victory over sin in your life is to identify the idol underneath it and root it out! This begins with being "known by God" (Galatians 4:9)...that it's His work in you and that according to 2 Peter 1:3-4, we have everything we need for life in the gospel. It then continues by living in community where you have gospel-leadership to submit to and have gospel-friendships where you can be transparent and have others love you and encourage you. This is called "discipleship"...but maybe more more appropriate to refer to it as "gospelizing" one another.

How to Gospelize

I'm a pastor, in particular a church planter.  And given the three perspectives of pastoring (as seen in Jesus - prophet, priest, and king), I'm foremost a prophet - but not in a Nostradamus-end-of-the-world type of way.  It's more like a "I love you, so I'm going to yell at you from the bible for 45 minutes every week."  Things like truth, confronting sin, and right doctrine are important to me.  But, if that's all I did all the time, I would be a terrible pastor, because people also need priests (who love and care for people) and kings (who organize, administrate, and strategize for ministry).  This is why it's so important to have a plurality of eldership in the local church to the lead the church, and why the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is important as well.  The bottom line is that although God does specifically call some into vocational ministry (or lay ministry, like elders who don't get paid), the truth is that we all are called to minister to each other, which is what Ephesians 4:11-16 is all about.

But back the pastoring thing.  You just can't yell at people all the time.  Yes, truth must be stood up for and sin confronted (in a spirit of sincere love), but you have to put your arm around somebody's shoulders and gently communicate your heart for them.  This is what Paul does in Galatians 4:8-20.  He's been hammering them for three chapters, calling them "foolish" and "bewitched."  But now in this section his tone is completely different and uses terms like "brothers and sisters" and "little children."  Paul really loved them like family and that's why he had been so firm with them up to this point.  He now talks to them like a priestly-pastor.

It's important to note that as you seek to minister to people (or as I'm beginning to like to say "gospelize" people), two elements are pretty important.  First, is having a sincere emotional investment with others.  We see this in 4:12-16.  Paul recalls their time together, how they cared for him, and experiences they shared.  Relationships take time to develop.  There has to be significant time invested in others so they deeply know you desire nothing but Jesus' best for them.  The second element is the goal of ministry, which is Christ.  This is what Paul brings out in 4:17-20.  He didn't want to reproduce clones of himself; he wanted the Galatians to be formed into the image of Jesus.  Because now, Jesus is the only one who really has disciples.  If any church or church leader calls you to anything or anyone other than Jesus as the goal for the Christian life, knock the dust off your boots and get out of there!

So what does "gospelizing" really involve?  On it's most basic level, it is helping people to move from being an idolater to a worshipper.  Every person on the planet will "proclaim worth" to something - a tree, the ocean, a relationship, a bank account, a pro sports team.  But if the object is anything other than Jesus, that is by definition idolatry.  And idolatry is something that Christ-followers can be guilty of as well.  Remember, in Galatians Paul has not questioned their salvation.  In 3:27, he affirmed them being baptized into and clothed with Christ; but they've gotten distracted.  They have begun to seek to "please man" rather than pleasing God (Galatians 1:10).  What Paul has really been doing the whole letter is not just confront their legalism, he has been confronting their idolatry (see how he tied idolatry to legalism in 4:8-10).

This post is getting a tad long, so I'm going to hit the "pause" button and finish it up tomorrow.  The next post will be on how to diagnose, identify, and heal from our idols.  Peace out.

Good Sex Wrap Up

Yesterday, I finished up a 4-part series at Delta called "Good Sex Revolution."  The main point of the series was to champion a biblical view of our sexuality...mainly, that sex is something holy.

'Sex Is Holy' was the theme for the first week of the series.  In a culture where sex is cheap and truthfully, animalistic, when we look at what God has to say about sex we see that when you combine the God-design of sex, the longing of connection that sex illustrates, the intense pleasure that sex brings, and the celebration and creation of life that sex produces, you get something...holy.

In week 2, the title of "Foxes Aren't Sexy."  In Song of Solomon chapter 2, Solomon's Love urges him to "catch the foxes" - those things that can enter our lives, relationships, and sexuality that brings ruin.  We identified 3 breeds of foxes: selfishness, fear, and immorality.  We also discovered how God's pure love shown to us through Jesus is the only thing that can really kill a fox.

The third week was specifically given our singles - "It's Sexy Being Single."  The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7 paints a big, beautiful picture for single people; communicating that a single person has the opportunity to have "undivided devotion to the Lord" that married people don't have.  Singleness, then, is actually a tremendous gift to take enjoyment in and advantage of.

In the final week, our playful title was "Married People Should Have Sex."  We spoke of what marriage is, and how sex is to be enjoyed in a marriage covenant.  Again, Solomon and his Love gave us a great example of an erotic, loving, marriage steeped in sexuality as they mutually and selflessly gave themselves to each other to fully enjoy - freely and frequently!

Needless to say, the Good Sex Revolution sparked some interest in people and thankfully, gave people a biblical vision for how great the gift of sex is.  Even though the series is now over, I believe that the Good Sex Revolution is actually just beginning!

Missed a week?  Want to listen to previous sermon?  Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes!

Living with True Joy

Yesterday at Delta we looked at John 16:16-33 and unpacked what Jesus taught about true, Gospel-centered joy.  Joy is intrinsicly different from happiness, as joy is not dependent on things that will ultimately fail or disappoint like people, things, or circumstances.  Too often people put too much stock into these things but just end up frustrated, easily agitated & angered, confused, depressed, and have no direction for their lives.  So the question is, how do you find true joy?  Here is the process I am working through:

-First, you have to jump deep into your sin.  You have to begin to see just how depraved and far from God you are.  This is not easy, and it's not fun by any means.  But it's a necessary first step.

-Second, as you jump deep into your sin, you must jump high into God's love and holiness that he has available to you through Jesus. The principle at work here is Luke 7:47 "...her sins, which are many, are forgiven - for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." Jumping deep into your sin and high into God's love allows the cross to be really big in your life, which serves as an anchor for your joy.

*Intermission note:The above "jumping" illustration is borrowed from my friend Darrin Patrick who will be soon releasing this material

-Also, you need to get away.  You need to remove yourself from your regular context in order to gain a more objective outlook on yourself and your life.  Practicing the spiritual disciplines of solitude and silence are key in the process.

-Then, you need to get in God's Word.  I strongly suggest living in Romans chapters 5-8.  Read them.  Journal them.  Personalize them.  Journey with Paul as he dove deep into his sin through chapters 5-7 and then rose high into God's amazing love in Chapter 8.

-You also need to be honest with yourself and others.  Be specific when identifying areas of sin in your life and how you're feeling and living; you have to get it all out.  Part of this is also bring people who are mature and who love you on your journey with you.  These people will be those who are good spiritual peers (people in your community group, church, etc.) and people who are spiritual directors who can give you insight and direction (people who are in leadership or are mentors to you).

-Lastly, take advantage of godly, theologically sound, gospel-centered preachers, teachers, and authors. Soak up Gospel-centered resources.  I highly recommend the books "The Cross Centered Life" and then it's sequel "Living the Cross Centered Life" by CJ Mahaney.

Living a life of true, gospel-centered joy is a process that is difficult because our world doesn't have any idea of what true joy is.  Living in joy involves a transformation of your heart by first surrendering your life to Jesus as your Savior and Leader, and then changing the way that you think and view your life, because of the the great mercy that God has shown us.  

Blessings on your path to joy!

Transforming Your Life

A couple weeks ago we began a new series called "Transformissionary" (named after this blog) at Delta where we're looking at our mission statement of "Loving God...Transforming Lives...Changing the World."  Yesterday was on "Transforming Lives", and I realized that I had a lot of information, so I thought I'd post it here to save people from writing their hands off from taking notes.  Here's the highlights:

2 Corinthians 5:17 gives us the promise of our transformation through the Gospel.
Acts 3:1-10 gives us an example of this Gospel-transformation in action.  The man was:

• Regenerated: He became a new creature...his depression was turned to joy!
• Justified: He longer sits outside the Temple; he now IS a temple of God!
• Sanctified: His new ability to physically walk mirrors his new spiritual walk with Jesus, becoming more and more like Him.
• Glorified: His physical healing is a foreshadowing of his complete future restoration when he'll be in heaven with Jesus.

But when Delta talks about your transformation and my transformation, what exactly are we talking about?  We mean that we desire that you transform from:

• Unchristian to Christian - Ephesians 2:1,4,5.  You have no hope for anything else unless you are a Christ-follower.
• Self-centered to God-centered - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15. Jesus gave us everything, and our only appropriate response is to give everything back to Him.
• Consumer to Servant - 1 Corinthians 9:19. Being an inward-focused consumer will only lead to your isolation and ineffectiveness.  Being an outward-focused servant will bring you friendship and bring about Gospel-transformation in others.
• Member to Missionary - John 20:21. Church is not about belonging to an elite club that just sits and soaks.  Church is about being infused into the world, bringing the transforming power of the Gospel with you.
• Fence-sitter to Influencer - Matthew 9:9,10. We stop letting life pass us by and taking what we can get.  We begin influecing those in our lives toward Jesus.

We know that Jesus is the initiator and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6).  But what about the inbetween?  How do we best join Jesus in his transforming work in our lives?  The answer lies in community.  We need to fully engage in the community of Christ-followers in obedience to what the Bible says about community

• There's importance of being together - Hebrews 10:24-25.  Being together at church, in homes, in community group, or any other gathering is how we're loved and encouraged to live for Jesus.  And we are to "consider" this: planning it, prioritizing it, making the most of it.
• There's importance of those who have gone before us - Hebrews 12:1. We find encouragement and victory over sinful, destructive patterns in our lives by learning about saints that have gone before us.  God has always used common, fallen people to do great things for Him through their simple faith.
• There's importance of submitting to spiritual leadership - Hebrews 13:17.  God gives us Elders and Deacons to teach us, guide us, comfort us, and discipline us so we can love Jesus more.  We submit to their leadership willingly for our own good, and for their own good as they will stand before Jesus one day to give an account on how they led and cared for people.
• There's importance of the community's role in healing - James 5:16.  Confession to other people doesn't provide forgiveness of sin (only Jesus does that); but confessing our sin to others who love and care for us helps unload the burden of sin, finds that we're not alone in our struggles, and allows the Body of Christ to love like Jesus does.

Remember that we are all like the lame beggar.  We all need our lives radically transformed as only Jesus can do, but we also need someone to grab our hand and help us up.