Bella Vista Church of Christ

09/08/2019 A.M.

Caring For One Another

Becoming A Brother’s Keeper

1 Timothy 3.15 Galatians 6.1-5 9 & 10 1 Thessalonians 5.12-22

This morning… We’re gonna do things a little differently…

• My remarks will focus on our responsibility to one another… Caring… Loving… Watching OUT for one another… Becoming A Brother’s Keeper.

•Then Jerry Orr will present a new ministry of Caring For One Another… An updated and rearranged Care Group & Fun Food Fellowship Ministry that he’s been working on for months.

We start with the thought that… The church of God is…

• A family..

• God’s Family…

• His household.

• We are about being a community…

• A Fellowship…

• Togetherness…

• One anotherness.

Remember the animated movie… ICE AGE… There were three unlikely companions that united for a common mission to save a baby boy… The three included…

• A Mammoth named Manfred…

• A Sloth named Sid…

• And a Saber-Tooth Tiger named Diego.

In their effort to save the child… The three ended up expressing their love and genuine concern… for one another.

When Manfred the Mammoth saved Diego the Tiger… Diego ask…

• Why did you do that?…

• Why did you risk your life for me?…

Humbly the Mammoth responded… That’s what you do when you’re a part of a herd… You look after one another.

Then Sid the Sloth mused aloud… I don’t know about you guys… But we are one strange herd!

One strange herd… That’s us!… We’re a mixture of people…

• With different personalities…

• Different backgrounds…

• From different parts of the country…

• With different ideas…

• Different convictions…

• Different faults…

• Different needs…

• Sometimes we have a need for correction.

Truth is… We might never have hung-out together… Except for the fact that we have something in common… A faith in God…And a love for Jesus.

A love that transforms us into being like Him… Loving and caring for One-Another… Or others!

Here is something else we have in common… We all fail!!

Indeed…At-One-Time-Or-Another… All of us find ourselves in need of someone who will become our… Helper… Healer... Our Restorer...A Brother’s Keeper!

Someone who will…

• Come along side us…

• Pick us up…

• Dust us off…

• Mend our wounds…

• Carry our burdens…

• Nurse us back to spiritual health.

When we have a collision with Sin and Satan…

When life tumbles in due to the situations and circumstances we are called to face.

Do we have someone to come to our rescue?

That’s what this lesson is about… Becoming A Brother’s Keeper…. This is what our Care Groups are about.

Let’s read some Scripture together…

You see…

• Loving…Caring… Enough…

• To look out for the wellbeing of one another…

• Becoming a Brother’s Keeper…

• Carrying One Another’s Burdens…

Is as old as time itself… It was Cain who asked in Genesis chapter four… Am I my brother’s keeper?… The answer was evident before God… Yes!... Yes!!

Nothing…Nothing… Becomes any plainer than the fact that… As God’s children… We are to look out for one another.

Proverbs 17.17 reads… A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Matthew 22.37 & 38 has Jesus saying… We are to love God with all our… Heart… Mind… Body… Soul… And to love our neighbor as ourselves…

Matthew 7.12 says… We are to do unto others as we would have them do to and for us.

Philippians 2.4… Has Paul insisting that we place the interest of others before that of our own…

Then there are the verses that make up our Text…

Read them with me from our Worship Bulletin…

Paul tells Timothy and us in the church today… There is a way we are to behave in the family of God…In His household… The church.

Then in Galatians he writes… Brothers, if someone is caughtin a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load… Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

OK… Let’s see what we can learn about

Becoming A Brother’s Keeper

From these verses from Paul…

First...We learn there are times when we... Slip... Struggle... Fall… Fail… Spiritually.

Paul says... When a man is trapped in a sin... Our KJ says... Overtaken in a fault.

The Greek word translates fault or sin here is par-ap’-toma.

It is a banana peel slip... The Greek carries the connotation of a surprise.

Paul is describing one who… Suddenly... Surprisingly... Finds his walk with God has been Interrupted.

Sometimes sin is not done purposely as much as we... Like sheep… Don’t pay attention… Nibble here… Nibble there… Miss this Bible Class… An Evening Worship… A Fellowship event… WE Just wander off…

All of a sudden we look up and...

• The flock is gone...

• God is gone...

• God is no longer close and intimate.

It’s not His fault... He didn’t move... The church didn’t move... we did.

We need someone to come along side us... Someone to lift us up... Set us straight... Restore us... And nurse us back to health.

Remember me telling you about an Elder at Center Street… Ralph Terry… Georgia &I had quit going to Bible class... Began missing some Sunday and Wednesday evening services. Ralph came one Sunday afternoon. I knew why he was there. He didn’t have to say anything…

• He just loved us…

• Encouraged us...

• Lifted us up...

• Set us back on the road.

Ralph didn’t see us as a heavy burden… But as a brother.

Thank God for such men and women in our lives... Amen?

Reminds us of the song…He Ain’t Heavy… He’s My Brother… Recorded in 1960 by the Hollies… And in 1970 by Neil Diamond…

The road is long

With many a winding turn

That leads us to who knows where

Who knows when

But I'm strong

Strong enough to carry him

He Ain't Heavy… He's My Brother.

Church… We’ll never become A Brother’s Keeper… Never care enough for others unless and until we see one another as brothers… Amen

This brings us to the second major point in our lesson.

What kind of men and women make good restorers?

What attributes are necessarty

for us to become a Brother’s Keeper?…

First Paul says… A restorer must be spiritual.

You who are spiritual should restore him.

Notice that Paul doesn’t say!... We who are perfect.

Spirituality must NOT be equated with perfection.

What spirituality is Paul speaking of?... I believe…The fruit of the Spirit is… Love... Joy... Peace... Patience... Kindness...Goodness... Faithfulness... Gentleness... And Self-Control.. Those who belong to Christ have crucified their sinful flesh nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the spirit, let us keep step with the spirit.

NO!...We may not possess all the Fruit of the Spirit all of the time.

None of us have been completely transformed into the image of His Son.

But we are working at it.

This is spirituality… Our being formed into the image of Jesus... It is A Present and an Ongoing... Event.

Secondly... A restorer must be humble.

Paul says each of us... as restorers...Must watch ourselves... Lest we also be tempted.

Look at verse three... We must not think ourselves to be something special...Above sin... Perfect.

As a… restorer... Helper... Healer...Brother… We must not be prideful.

• In First Corinthians... Paul admonishes us with these words... So, if you think you are standing, be firm, lest you fall.

The King James reads... Let him that thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall.

A restorer has this sense of humility and respect for Sin & Satan and what they can do to one’s life.

Because he or she has been... trapped...Overcome... Overtaken... In the past and knows it can happen again.

What a restorer can’t be is Self-righteousness...

Care Group Leaders must be people of Humility… Never self-righteous.

When a brother senses our self-righteous attitude... They just naturally shrink back... And will not likely accept our… Help…encouragement… Or direction..

A restorer must be gentle.

You who are spiritual should restore him gently.

There’s no place for a mean spirit in restoration work.

• If we have an ugly mean spirit.

• If we are always finding fault with others.

• If we are critical and judgmental of others.

• If we listen to and pass on gossip.

• If we have a loose tongue... Can’t keep a secret...

We have no place as a restorer.

Restorers practice confidentiality at all times… And at all cost.

Well... There’s one more in our text... A restorer is persistent.

Look at verse nine and ten... Let us not become weary in doing good...

Let us not become weary in this work of bringing souls back into an intimate relationship with God and His people… For we will reap if we faint not. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people… Especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

I know there are some of you Care Group Leaders and others who are trying to help restore someone right now.

And I know you are tired.

• Tired of being used.

• Tired of the excuses.

• Tired of the manipulation.

• Tired of trying and trying and trying.

But we must be like God... never...Never... Never... Give up.

So on we go

His welfare is of my concern

No burden is he to bear

We'll get there

For I know

He would not encumber me

He Ain't Heavy... He's My Brother.

Church… Listen to what Paul says will happen in First Thessalonians when each of us act as a Brother’s Keeper…

We’ll live in peace with each other.

• We’ll lift up those who are idle…

• Encourage the timid…

• Help the weak…

• We’ll be patient with everyone.

Allow me to end with a neat story about how we should behave toward one another:

A Marine walked into the ICU Unit… A nurse met him at the door saying… Your father has had a serious Heart Event… And could die at any moment.

The Marine stood in the room for a moment… Surveyed the situation… Sat Down… Took the dying man’s hand… There were mutual squeezes in affirmation of love and his presence.

Through the night… The nurse encouraged the soldier to leave his post and get something to eat or drink… He never moved… Just continued to hold the man’s hand.

At morning’s first light… The nurse hurries into the room saying…. Your father has passed.

Releasing the man’s hand… The Marine said… Who is this man?

The nurse was startled… Why He’s your Father!!…

Not my father… I’ve never seen this man before.

The nurse said… Why didn’t you tell me?

The Marine said… As I entered the room…

• I assessed the situation…

• Saw the need… That this man needed a son…

• And was much too sick to know who I was.

Knowing how much he needed me… I stayed.

Wow…. I gotta tell you… This is what… Care Groups… Being a Brother’s Keeper… Is all about.

As oft as you do it to the least of these… You did it to me…