Serve One Another

“Serve one another”, “Pray for one another”, “Love one another”… These are just a few of the “one another” commands that we see throughout the New Testament that inform what our relationships within the church should look like.  

In our Emmaus membership covenant one of the affirmations that we agree to states- “We will examine the Scriptures corporately and privately, that we might grow in faith and speak God’s truth to one another in love as we seek to encourage and build one another up”. Church how well are you doing in this area?  Are you endeavoring through your personal time in the word to grow your faith, so that one of the outcomes is you are then better equipped to encourage and build up your brothers and sisters in Christ? We need one another, and in His grace, God has provided us a spiritual family to love and care for each other.  

So, embrace your family role. Seek opportunities to serve the body. Find ways to utilize your spiritual gifts to build one another up and highlight the gospel.  In his letter to the church in Colossae, Paul instructs the church to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom”. A good reminder that we don’t accomplish any of these things in our own strength, it is an outflow of a gospel centered life, anchored in the atoning work of Christ, and empowered by the work of the Spirit and the Word of God in our lives. Church let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.   Be Word saturated people who speak truth instead of platitudes when counseling in difficult circumstances. Who encourage and disciple based on gospel truths and not worldly wisdom. Who teach and admonish out of genuine care for the souls of others, and not out of pride.  Admonish is a great word. One definition I found said it means “to express warning or correction, especially in a gentle but earnest manner”. It is the same instruction that parents are given with regards to raising their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We have been blessed here at Emmaus with so many young families, kids, and babies on the way. What an opportunity to live out the one another commands as we encourage and serve one another as a church body through cross-generational discipleship on marriage and parenting, by praying consistently through the member directory for each other and our families, or by serving in kids ministry and planting gospel seeds. I can tell you personally what a blessing and an encouragement it is to me when I see my kids being cared for and engaged with the gospel by other adults in the church whom they love and respect. We have a special call and responsibility to care well for one another where God has gathered us, and so much the more as we see the day approaching.