Sermon Cloud

Building a BCI Church:

BEAR ONE ANOTHER'S BURDEN

Galatians 6:1-5

1) Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

2) Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

3) If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

4) Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else,

5) For each one should carry his own load.

Ephesians4:2

2) Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

            Mutual care or the "one another" mindset is necessary in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ because of the following reasons:

• Ø It stabilizes God's family - When God's people are intimately connected within the church, it would be more difficult for the devil to destroy it. Remember, great unity and harmony always brings greater stability for the church family. We must all work together in order for the church to thrive.
• Ø It strengthens the new believers - Every new born baby needs a healthy family environment. The same is true with the new born in Christ. Without sufficient love and care for the new believers, they won't grow to become productive members of the body of Christ.
• Ø It sharpens the Gospel of Jesus Christ - not that the Gospel of Jesus is blurry or vague, but so many times the lack of love in the church surely affects the effectivity of the church in reaching the lost. The church need to establish a good testimony in her community.

These reasons are enough to lead us to consistently evaluate how caring we are to one another especially at a time that we are celebrating 25 years of existing. With our theme, I hope everyone will recognize that relationship matters in the church. As we talk about intimate connectivity within our church, it forces us to ask:

• Ø How close are our members to one another? Are they close enough that when they are hurting, others will be there for them to minister?
• Ø Are people sensitive with what's going on not only with their own lives, but with other members as well? Are members conscious of praying for one another?
• Ø Do our people trust each other enough that they will be willing to be transparent and vulnerable with one another?

We need to exert all the efforts to build intimacy within our church. If you are asking how we can accomplish this? Well, we already have said, we need to be devoted to one another, pray for one another,  and this morning, we want to study bearing one another's burden.

Looking at our assigned text, it is obvious that the apostle Paul emphasized this teaching in the New Testament churches because of the simple fact that we all go through times in life that we have to carry some burdens. God himself is conscious of our burdens. That's the reason why we have precious verses like:

Psalm 55:22

22) Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

Matthew 11:28

28)  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

            Being God's children, we don't have to cling to our burdens and try to carry them ourselves; we have the privilege of casting our burdens to God. And He promises to sustain us. Literally, God will not just carry our loads, He promises to carry us too. Then, Christ added that He will give us rest. What a real blessing!

            However, most often God uses his own children to be the instruments of His blessing. Many times, we are the hands and shoulders of God that will be used to carry the burdens of other believers. Let's consider together how we can apply this in our church:

I           MAKE THE DISTINCTION:

            As we lend a hand in carrying the burdens of others, we have to make the distinctions between the burden mentioned in verse 2, and the burden mentioned in verse 5. There seems to be a contradiction in these two verses, but in reality Paul was not using the same word.

            First of all, the burden in verse 2 refers to the heavy, crushing loads - more than one person could carry without help. While in verse 5, the word burden refers to a little load you carry on your back.  

            Evidently, there are burdens that Christians should carry by themselves such as responsibilities. We all have responsibilities we cannot delegate to others.  In my own ministry, there are things I cannot give to somebody else because I am accountable for them. To give them up is disobedience and a lost of opportunity. Therefore the heavy burdens in verse 2 are the trials of life.  These are the burdens we can help other Christians carry.  And when we do this, Paul declared that we fulfill the law of Christ. What law is this? The law of love:

John 13:34

34) "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

            In this life, all of us will face some great burdens; all of us will go through great difficulties.  We should never isolate ourselves from the church. We should allow others to help us and minister to us. Of course, when we expect to be ministered to, we should find opportunities to minister to others as well. No doubt, the mutual care within the church will demonstrate the love of Christ. Let's do our best to maintain this in our church.

II         MEND THE DEFEATED:

            There are many burdens we can help carry, but to be more specific, Paul in verse 1 emphasized those who have stumbled and fallen into sin. Carefully Paul uses the phrase "caught in a sin." The thought is that of someone running from sin but sin, being faster, overtakes and catches him.  In the King James Version, the phase used is "overtaken in a fault." The word overtaken carries the idea of being surprised, so it is not a case of deliberate disobedience.  Now, how are we help in this situation?

            The attitude should never be critical and judgmental, as many Legalists would do. They were the self-righteous people who were bringing some problems in the Galatian church. They were people who insisted that salvation must be by faith plus the works of the Law of Moses. Paul's exhortation to us is to restore. This word means to make something right by bringing back to its former condition. The word was used for setting a broken bone or mending a torn net. Practically speaking, Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe in his book, Caring People, suggested three ways:

•A.     Restoring, not rejoicing - Some people enjoy it when other Christians fall because they think it makes them look good. Yet, when one member of the body hurts, it hurts all of us.

•B.     Restoring, not revealing - We are not called to tell the world about the sin of fellow believers. In fact the exhortation is ‘love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8)

•C.     Restoring not rejecting - If somebody falls into sin, we should not reject him, judge him, or condemn him. This is the attitude of the Pharisees that Jesus often corrected.

Instead of rejoicing, revealing, or rejecting, we should be restoring - just like mending the torn nets. For fishermen, if nets aren't mended, they can't be used to catch fishes. Same principle, if Christians are not restored, God can't use them to catch "fish" or win the lost. So to help and minister to those who are under burdens can eventually result to their productivity.  

III        MARK THE DESIGNATION:

            Lastly, going back to verse one, you will also find the designation of those who should take the initiative of ministering - "you who are spiritual."

            To understand the idea, you have to go back in chapter 5 and establish the context of being spiritual. Paul did a lengthy discussion of the contrast of carnal and spiritual believers.

Galatians 5:16, 19-23

16) So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

19) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

20) idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

21) and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

            Christians are either living gratifying their fleshly desires or living under the guidance and control of the Holy Spirit. Those who are carnal choose to please themselves even if it would mean indulging in sins. On the other hand, spiritual Christians are sensitive of God's presence, so they choose to live obediently and righteously. Notice, that the manifestation of spirituality is found in some godly attitudes. These are the attitudes required in bearing the burdens of others. For example:

• Ø Humility (v. 3; Eph. 4:2) - This is the attitude, which allows one to be aware that what had happened to the person who had fallen into sin can also happen to him. He does not think too highly of himself.
• Ø Gentleness - opposite to rudeness or harshness, this carries the idea of tenderness and kindness.
• Ø Patience - Being long-suffering and persevering. This is the spirit which never gives up on someone for it endures to the end even in times of difficulty.

Although, every believer who belong to the church must help in carrying the burdens of others, those who are spiritual can be highly effective because of the attitudes they can manifest. Therefore, people who are more mature and spiritual must be more sensitive in fulfilling this calling. But again, I believe, they are not the only ones who should be conscious of helping others. We must all be prepared to help when God affords us the opportunity.

Are your eyes open to the needs and struggles of others? When was the last time you took the time to carry someone and their burdens? I am convinced that there is someone in your life that you can encourage or help today. Or find someone in BCI that you can minister to. You know, I believe that God's heart is closest to people who carry other people's burden. Why? Because God is always in the business of burden- bearing. The Gospel itself demonstrate this truth - Jesus carried upon himself our heaviest burden on the cross. So, if we have the desire to be Christlike, let's help carry the burdens of others.  BCI will be a much better church when we are committed in bearing one another's burden.