Heart Habits: Godly Fellowship and Community
Speaker: Pastor Doug Garasic
Scripture Reference: Mark 2:3-5
Many Western Christians have convinced themselves that all they need is Jesus. But the truth is we also need one another and sometimes greater than other times. It was said that we cannot be our best selves by ourselves. According to Wilder and Henderson in the book, The Other Half of Church, when we engage in godly fellowship and community “our brains draw life from our strongest relational attachment to form our character and develop our identity. Who we love shapes who we are.” It is important that we have godly fellowships and recognize that the people with whom we surround ourselves really matter.
The Gospel of Mark illustrates the importance of having people around us especially when we are in need or even when at our worse. Like the paralytic man, there are times when we need to be carried, and there are times we may need to carry others. But there is a cost to carrying another. In fact, any time we choose to be aligned in an assignment with God, there will be a cost. We must understand that being in godly fellowships and community is not perfect or always clean or easy. In fact it can be messy. But we must choose to embrace it. In so doing, the results can activate healing: our faith can bring healing to others and their faith can bring us healing. That is because in healthy relationships three postures are happening at the same time: we and our community are learning from one another, we are walking with one another and we are pouring into one another. So let’s pray that we will see others through God’s lens and choose to develop godly fellowships and community with others.
Discussion Questions:
1. What resonated with you as you listened to this sermon and reviewed it?
2. Why do you think some Christians are hesitant to engage in fellowship with others?
3. What are some possible consequences of not engaging in fellowship with other Christians?
4. Read Mark 2:3-5. What costs did the four men carrying the paralytic possibly experience? What are some costs that we might experience in developing and having godly fellowship and community with others?
5. What does it mean to you that godly fellowship and community are said to be messy?
6. It was said that the people we love shape who we are. Do you agree? If so, give an example of someone you love and share how she or he has shaped who you are.
7. It was said that hurt people hurt people, and healed people heal people. What does this mean to you?